Mastering Adjusting Entries
136 pages [55 self-teaching + 81 self-quizzes with detailed answers]
Section 1: Why we use accruals, deferrals and other adjustments.The difference between cash basis and accrual basis accounting.
Section 2: Accrued revenue. How to record accrued revenue. Examples of different kinds of accrued revenue. Computing and accruing interest receivable. How failure to accrue revenue affects the financial statements.
Section 3: Accrued expenses. How to record accrued expenses.Examples of different kinds of accrued expenses. Computing and recording interest payable. How failure to accrue expenses affects the financial statements.
Section 4: Revenue collected in advance (unearned revenue). How to record unearned revenue. How to accrue revenue earned when the revenue collected was originally recorded in a revenue account v. an unearned revenue account.
Section 5: Prepaid (deferred) expenses. Recording prepayments and adjustments. How to accrue expenses when prepayments were recorded in an expense account v. a prepaid (asset) account.
Section 6: Other adjusting entries. How to compute and record the adjusting entry for bad debt expense for tax purposes v. book purposes. Adjusting entries for depreciation and various cash accounts.
Section 7: From unadjusted to adjusted trial balance. The chart of accounts. Preparing the unadjusted trial balance, entering the adjustments and preparing the adjusted trial balance. A summary of how the adjusted trial balance is used to prepare the income statement, balance sheet and statement of retained earnings. Basics of the post-closing trial balance.
Mastering Correction of Accounting Errors
130 pages [67 self-teaching + 63 self-quizzes with detailed answers]
Section 1: Where errors occur and how to find them. 10 common causes of errors. 5 areas where most errors occur. How to analyze errors to correct them.
Section 2: Performing the bank reconciliation. Step-by-step instructions on how to do a bank reconciliation and record the required journal entries. How to correct errors found on the bank statement or in the ledger Cash account.
Section 3: Using the trial balance to find errors. Finding and correcting errors in the trial balance or errors that do not show up on a trial balance.
Section 4: Correcting current-period accrual errors.
Correcting accrued expenses: How to correct an accrued expense recorded for too little or too much or omitted entirely. Correcting journal entries when the expense was originally recorded in an expense account v. a prepaid (asset) account. Impact on the financial statements if each kind of error is not corrected.
Correcting accrued revenues: How to correct accrued revenue recorded for too little or too much or omitted entirely. Correcting journal entries when the original entry was recorded in a revenue v. unearned revenue account. Impact on the financial statements if each kind of error is not corrected.
Section 5: Correcting current-period deferral errors.
Correcting deferred expenses: How to correct too little or too much expense recognized or deferred. Correcting journal entries when the prepayment was recorded in an expense account v. prepaid (asset) account. Impact on the financial statements if each kind of error is not corrected.
Correcting deferred revenues: How to correct too little or too much revenue recognized or deferred. Correcting journal entries when a payment received in advance was recorded in a revenue v. unearned revenue account. Impact on the financial statements if each kind of error is not corrected.
Mastering Payroll
136 pages [55 self-teaching + 81 self-quizzes with detailed answers]
Section 1: Who is an employee? How to classify—and pay—employees, independent contractors, leased employees, temporary help, agency referrals.
Section 2: Federal v. state laws. How to know if your employer or employees are covered by key federal laws. Minimum wage rules. The enterprise test.
Section 3: Paying employees. Who is paid overtime; computations. Paying for nonproductive time (showering, changing, etc.). When you can dock employee pay.
Section 4: Required payroll data. Information, data and forms for each employee. How long to keep each kind of information.
Section 5: Form W-4 and state withholding forms. How it must be completed. When you must reject a W-4. Rules on withholding a flat dollar percentage or dollar amount of tax.
Section 6: Withholding and depositing taxes. How to withhold FICA and federal income tax. The monthly, semiweekly and Wednesday-Friday rules. The “lookback period.” Form 941-X.
Section 7: Filing federal reporting forms. Computing Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA). Who must file a 940, W-2, W-3, 941 and Schedule B, and 945. Backup-tax rules.
Section 8: When wages are taxable. When wages are earned v. when they are paid. Handling wages paid in January for December work.
Section 9: Other federal and state requirements. Handling the 1099, 1099-MISC, 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-R, 1096. State unemployment insurance (SUI). Each state’s due dates for filing the state W-2 and distributing copies to employees.
Section 10: Journal entries. How to record salary, deductions and employer/employee payroll expense, payment of taxes, premiums, pension contributions and more.
Glossary of key terms.
Appendix of sample payroll forms with instructions: W-4, 940, 940-Sched. A, 941, 941-Sched. B, 941-X, 944, 945, 945-A, W-2, W-3, W-2c and W-3c, I-9, 1099-MISC, SS-8.
Mastering Inventory
196 pages [94 self-teaching + 102 self-quizzes with detailed answers]
Section 1: Introduction. What to include in merchandise costs, when and how to record the journal entries. How inventory is reported on the income statement as cost of goods sold and on the balance sheet as ending inventory.
Section 2: The perpetual method. How to compute and record journal entries for purchases (net or gross) . . . sales . . . purchase discounts . . . returns and allowances . . . customer sales returns . . . and inventory shrinkage.
Section 3: The periodic method. How to compute and record journal entries for purchases (net v. gross), sales, discounts, returns and allowances, sales returns, inventory shrinkage and closing out the inventory-related accounts at year end.
Section 4: Weighted average costing. How to compute ending inventory and COGS using weighted average costing (periodic method) and moving average costing (perpetual method).
Section 5: First-in, first-out (FIFO) costing. Clear explanations of FIFO under the perpetual v. periodic method, including how to compute and record purchases, sales, COGS and ending inventory.
Section 6: Last-in, first-out (LIFO) costing. How to compute and record purchases, sales, COGS, ending inventory and LIFO layers. When and how to compute LIFO liquidations.
Section 7: The lower of cost or net realizable value (LCNRV) rule. How to compute and apply LCNRV by item v. group v. total inventory. How to handle purchase commitments that are followed by a decline in the value of inventory, then a recovery.
Mastering Depreciation
204 pages [122 self-teaching + 82 self-quizzes with detailed answers]
Section 1:Depreciation for book v. tax purposes. Two ways to compute depreciation. Recording depreciation if the financial statements must undergo a compilation or review.
Section 2:Depreciation under GAAP (for book purposes).Determining the cost of an individual asset v. group of assets v. contributed assets under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Determining the asset’s estimated life, residual value and book value. Journal entries for a manufacturing v. nonmanufacturing company. How depreciation appears on the financial statements.
Section 3:The straight-line method. How to compute, allocate and book straight-line depreciation. How to set up and maintain the depreciation schedule using this method.
Section 4:The units of production method. How to compute, allocate and book units of production depreciation. How to set up and maintain the depreciation schedule using this method.
Section 5:The declining balance method. How to compute, allocate and book declining balance depreciation. How to set up and maintain the depreciation schedule using this method.
Section 6:The sum-of-the-years’-digits method. How to compute, allocate and book sum-of-the-years’-digits depreciation. How to set up and maintain the depreciation schedule using this method.
Section 7:Depreciation for tax purposes. How to depreciate equipment and buildings under MACRS. How to apply the half-year convention . . . mid-quarter convention . . . mid-month convention. How to use IRS tables. Applying the Section 179 deduction. How to set up and maintain the tax depreciation schedule.
Section 8:Depreciating vehicles for tax purposes. Annual IRS limits for cars. How IRS limits apply to unmodified SUVs, pickups and vans weighing up to 6,000 lbs. Sec. 179 and depreciation if these vehicles are modified or weigh over 6,000 lbs. How to handle employee personal use of company vehicles in a sole proprietorship, S corp, C corp or partnership. How to set up and maintain the tax depreciation schedule.
Mastering Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention
78 pages [45 self-teaching + 33 quizzes/answers]
Section 1: Employee inventory theft. Red flags of false sales, phony write-offs and other theft schemes. 5 controls that prevent theft.
Section 2: Preventing employee theft. 4 key factors to check before hiring. How to use a fidelity bond for employees who have access to cash. Controls against theft, fraud.
Section 3: Check fraud. How to prevent—or spot—forged company checks, payroll-related check fraud, customer check fraud. Systems that prevent check fraud.
Section 4: Credit card fraud. 10 schemes that use lost or stolen credit cards. How to spot a counterfeit Visa, MasterCard or American Express card. Recommended rules for company credit cards.
Section 5: How vendors can cheat you. Forms of bribery. Telemarketing scams that target businesses. How to check out a suspicious vendor before you buy.
Appendix A: Forms, Patterns and Red Flags of Bribery
Appendix B: Operations That Support Frauds and Scams