Current Liabilities Current liabilities are defined as: “Debts due to be paid with cash or with goods and services within one year, or within the entity’s operating cycle if the cycle is longer than a year.” (Hongren, Harrison & Oliver, 2012) These liabilities fit into three categories: Current liabilities of known amount; current liabilities that must be estimated; and contingent liabilities. According to the matching principle of accounting, expenses and revenues need to be reported during the same period that they are earned. This can be difficult if the exact amounts are not known. This is the purpose behind estimated and contingent liabilities. In order to provide accurate financial reports companies must record revenues and …show more content…
All of these liabilities are of known amounts and must be recorded as liabilities until the point in time when they are paid. Some liabilities, however, have amounts that are not known and must be estimated. One liability that the amount must be estimated is associated with warranties. Many companies offer warranty coverage of their products. It is important for the potential warranty expenses to be calculated in the same period as the products are sold. This expense is usually estimated as a percentage of sales revenue based on historical data relating to warranty claims. In accordance with the matching principle and GAAP standards, the revenue and warranty expense must be recorded within the same reporting period. This is the only way to ensure that revenues are not overstated and liabilities are not overstated. In this way the financial health of a company can be accurately assessed. Contingent liabilities are another type of liability that must be estimated. Contingent liabilities are potential liabilities that are contingent upon certain circumstances. They are only potentially liabilities, however, they must still be recorded as such in accordance with the matching principle. One example of a contingent liability is a pending lawsuit. If the lawsuit is lost then the company will need to pay, therefore the money must be thought of as already spent until the lawsuit is final. Another example of a contingent liability occurs when one company cosigns
Managements are required to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies; assets, liabilities, income and expenses in order to prepare consolidated financial statements. These assumptions and estimates are critical and they are made in
a. Information available before the financial statements are issued or are available to be issued indicates that it is probable that an asset had been impaired or a liability had been incurred at the date of the financial statements. Date of the financial statements means the end of the most recent accounting period for which financial statements are being presented. It is implicit in this condition that it must be probable that one or more future events
Rotated the right hand side of the throttle gently and slowly removed the feet to the foot rest.
A loss contingency as per ASC 450-10-20 is “An existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible loss to an entity that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. The term loss is used for conveniences to include many charges against income that are commonly referred to as expenses and others that are commonly referred to as losses.” Contingent liabilities depend on the occurrence of one or more future events to confirm the: amount payable, the payee, the date payable, or its existence.
This assignment will prepare you for the Final Paper by initiating the research process and helping you map out specific events and developments which you will explore in depth in your paper. Review the instructions for the Final Paper laid out in Week Five of the online course or the Components of Course Evaluation section of the Course Guide before beginning this project. Note, that for the Final Paper you will need to discuss at least six specific events or developments related to your chosen topic
31. Current liabilities are amounts that must be paid within a short period of time, usually less than a year. TRUE
“Accounting is the information system that measures business activity, processes the data into reports, and communicates the results to decision makers.” (Horngren & Harrison, 2007, p. 4) Decision makers within an organization need accurate accounting information to manage organizational activities and turn these efforts into success. Internal accounting accuracy plays just as important of a role outside of internal
1) Complete summary of the case study that identifies the key problems and issues, provides background information, relevant facts, the solution employed, and the results achieved.
A current liability is defined as a liability that must be paid within one accounting period.
Accounts payables are short term debts a company owes to its creditors. Notes payables are usually written contracts and long term debts companies have promises to pay its creditors. Accrued expenses are recognized by a company before they are paid for. An example of this would be a tax bill received from the town or city the company is located in. While all of these are recognized as current liabilities on a company’s financial reports they are all recorded in different time frames. Account payables are recognized when they are incurred and the payment of them is also due at the same time. Where both Notes payables and Accrued expenses are shown in the current liabilities but are due at a future date
Items of value to a company such as equipment or supplies needed for running an efficient business are called an asset. A liability is when a company owes for a service or pay for employees. After a liability is subtracted from an asset this becomes the owners interest in the company or owners’ equity. Regardless of the standards followed by accountants, they will always classify accounts into these three categories resulting in the Accounting Equation: (Editorial Board, 2012, p. 9- 10)
While inaccurate accounting can cause misleading information about the company, every successful company should develop an income statement and balance sheet when monitoring financial growth. Also, formulating a horizontal and ratio analysis creates an accurate trend of the company spending behavior and debt-to-ratio venerability. A balance sheet can be considered as the bloodline of the company, allowing a quick view of financial fluency which could be attractive to outside investors. Last but not least, the income statement presents a hard result of gains, liabilities, revenues and debt within a yearly
Contingent Liability is a condition that refers to the possibility of a future event happening and addresses the responsibility of the party liable should the event take place. In today’s real estate market both sellers and buyers may have contingencies stated in the terms and conditions for selling and purchasing a home. The most common contingent liability are guarantees to debt.
a) Contingent liabilities are potential losses by a company via unforeseen evenst such as court cases, product liability, or disaster. A contingent asset is one that provides unforeseen benefits to the company, which also results from an unforeseen future event. Because this cannot be foreseen in advance, it does not appear on the financial statements of the company, but it can appear on the financial statement notes. In the case of BP, amounts that the company can recover from third parties as part of its contractual rights can be considered contingent assets. These are only recognized int eh accounts if they are a virtual certainty to be received.
Assets in the financial statement are always required and show useful information to investors and understand where the information comes from. For instance, accounts receivable net which the organization does not expect to collect all of the money it is due from all patients and insurers, (Finkler, S.A., Ward, D.M. & Calabrese, I.D., 2013). The bad debts become about of the money due. Furthermore, accounts receivables, net represents gross charges less an allowance for poor debts, and many contractual allowances established with those third party payers. Typically, an example of a bad debt would show charges of a large sum of money delivered from a hospital. Then, the contractual allowances from