From time to time accounting records may present unusual account balances. For example, a customer may have a credit balance in accounts receivable or a vendor may have a debit balance in accounts payable. This article provides examples of such situations and directions on how to approach them from the accounting standpoint. Offsetting assets and liabilities is also discussed.

IRS classification of tax-exempt organizations like those under IRS Code 501(c)(3), 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), 501(c)(6), 501(c)(7), 501(c)(19) is described.

Companies may build (construct) some of their fixed assets because such assets may not be available for purchase from other companies or because it is cheaper to do so. An important aspect of constructing own assets from the accounting standpoint is the cost accumulation. In this article we will discuss which expenditures should be included in the cost of self-constructed assets (interest capitalization is not covered in this article).

Income taxes are usually a significant expense of a company. For example, many corporations pay income taxes in 30-40% range. In this article, we will discuss a basic concept that applies to the payment of federal, state, or local income taxes. We will limit our discussion to taxes paid by corporations. We will not cover, in this article, temporary differences and the allocation of income taxes between financial statement periods. These topics will be discussed in later articles.

Declining balance methods of depreciation, specifically the double-declining balance method, do not take into consideration the salvage value of an asset when determining the depreciable basis. Some people wonder why that is the case. This article provides the answer.

There are two types of working capital: permanent working capital and temporary working capital. In this article you will learn the difference between the two and how each of them can be financed (funded).

Notes receivable and how they are different from accounts receivable as well as an example of journal entries involving notes receivable.

US GAAP allows application of alternative accounting principles to certain types of accounting transactions or balances. Investors, creditors, and other users of financial information need to understand which accounting principles are utilized by a company. Such principles are to be described in the summary of significant accounting policies.

Consignment inventory is one of the marketing methods used to attract customers. One variation of consignment is when a seller delivers goods to a customer (buyer) but retains the title to the goods until the buyer uses the goods. In this article we explore accounting for this type of consignment arrangement.

Budgeting is important for any organization. Preparing a master budget requires preparing financial budgets as well as an operating budget, which in turn consists of many components such as sales budget, production budget, costs of goods sold budget, etc. In this article we will learn to prepare a simple production budget, which is an important component of the operating budget. Production budget is used to prepare other components of the operating budget, including direct materials purchases budget, direct labor budget, etc.