Phoenix Arizona CPA | Arizona Tax Accountant | Arizona Income Tax

Assets

An asset may be defined as anything of use to future operations of the enterprise and belonging to the enterprise. For example, building, land, machinery, cash, debtors (amount due from customers) goodwill etc.

Equity

In broad sense the term equity refers to total claims against the enterprise. It is further divided into two categories:

(1) Owners claim-capital and (2) Outsiders’ claim-liability (3) Liability: Amounts owed by the enterprise to the outsiders i.e. to all others except the owner. For example, trade creditors, bank overdraft etc. (4) Capital: The excess of assets over liabilities of the enterprise. It is the difference between the total assets and the total liabilities of the enterprise. For example, if on a particular date the assets of the business amount to $ 1,00,000 and liabilities to $ 30,000 then the capital on the date would be $ 70,000. It is also known as net worth. Read the rest of this entry »

Complete financial accounting course or tutorial covers a range of following topics. It is being evaluated that how computers have affected traditional accounting methods and practices.   Financial Accounting with Double Entry Bookkeeping Principles of Accounting Basic Book of Accounting - Journal Accounting Ledger Accounting Sub Journals - Cash Cook Subsidiary Accounting Books Accounting Verification by Trial Balance Banking Transactions Bank Reconciliation Statement Depreciation Rectification Of Accounting Errors Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account Single Entry Bookkeeping Accounting System Non Profit Organization Accounting Capital and Revenue Reserves and Provisions Read the rest of this entry »

While installing your new accounting software you have most likely been asked whether you would like to use one of the default charts of accounts included with the program or develop your own. Unless you are very familiar with setting up a set of financial books you will want to choose from one of the selections offered. And even if you have the experience choosing one of the defaults will save you a great deal of time. But you may ask what if I don’t need all these accounts and how do I know which accounts I should keep. And should I use a numbering system or not? Let me help you by explaining just what a Chart of Accounts is and how to adjust the default list to your needs.

First of all a Chart of Accounts in its simplest definition is a list of accounts used to track all financial transactions that flow through a business. This list is typically broken in to eight segments: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, Cost of Goods Sold, General and Administrative Expenses, Other Income and Other Expenses. You might see Equity referred to as Read the rest of this entry »

If your business has employees, it’s going to have to account for benefits and payroll. Let’s explore the term ‘payroll’ and look at some things that are included in benefits and payroll accounting.

Within payroll accounting there are specific things that must be accounted for. These include such things as salaries, wages, commissions and bonuses paid to employees, overtime pay and various payroll costs and taxes.

Payroll costs and taxes are made up of Medicare, social security, state and federal income tax, unemployment tax and worker compensation insurance. There are also paid benefits extended to employees such as vacations, holidays, sick days, health insurance, profit-sharing plans and retirement plans. Read the rest of this entry »

It is important to know in business where money is coming in and where it is going out. As such, accounting is one of the most vital processes in any business. It is even more important than developing products and selling. The management of the flow of revenues and expenditures is what ultimately makes a business fail or succeed.

Accounting is simply called the language of business. The requirements of every business may vary,  but the general requirements of a business like collecting, classifying, reporting and analyzing of financial data is what constitutes the crux of accounting.

An enterprising businessman always looks for opportunities to make accounting simple. Without proper accounting process, your prospering business can take an unexpected nosedive towards bankruptcy. That is where the importance of accounting lies. Accounting is a critical component of a prospering business. It plays a role in every financial decision you make, like that of purchasing machineries and vehicles, equipment and supplies, to increasing production, selecting inventory quantity etc. But if you lack any extensive background in accounting, where do you begin? Read the rest of this entry »

Working for an employer has its perks. One of them is you get a W-2 summarizing your earnings and taxes paid. But what if your employer didn’t issue one to you?

The W-2 form is what is known as an information tax return. Actually known as a Wage and Tax Statement, the W-2 tells the IRS two things – what you were paid and what the employer paid out in wages. The employer will actually file all the W-2s at the same time, giving the IRS a record of all wages paid that it can match against deductions and payroll taxes. Read the rest of this entry »

The typical American business comes in all types and sizes.  In fact, one might argue that there is no such thing as a “typical” American business.  The business community in this country consists of multinational corporations having tens of thousands of employees, countless small sole proprietors with just a single employee and virtually everything else in between.  One thing that almost all of them have in common is that they must deal with the responsibility of paying employees and complying with numerous payroll related tax and regulatory Read the rest of this entry »

If you are in business, then guess what - you are either an accountant by default or you need to hire one. Why? People ask that question while letting the year roll by until taxes come due. Oh no! Why do I have penalties?

Simple, you are not an accountant and you should have hired on. So the first rule of business accounting is to hire one if you are not one. Second rule of business accounting is to hire an accountant to review your accounting before filing taxes. Read the rest of this entry »

Thinking about changing payroll services? Smaller payroll companies often charge substantially less than their larger, nationally recognized counterparts. The main reason for this discrepency is that the smaller companies do not have the overhead of the larger companies, so they can pass the savings along to clients. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study reveals that outsourcing payroll functions reduces payroll tax penalties. The study, conducted by Empagio Human Resources Outsourcing, was conducted online during the month of September 2006. 209 financial and human resource executives participated in the study. The titles of these people ranged from CEO, CFO, president, vice-president, director, and manager. The results of the study did not reveal the sizes of the companies represented. Read the rest of this entry »