A liability account is a general ledger account in which a company records its debt, obligations, customer deposits and customer prepayments, certain deferred income taxes, etc. that are the result of a past transaction. Common liability accounts under the accrual method of accounting include Accounts Payable, Accrued Liabilities (amounts owed but not yet recorded in Accounts Payable), Notes Payable, Unearned Revenues, Deferred Income Taxes (certain temporary timing differences), etc.
2. Explain the difference between revenues and receipts?
A company's revenues are amounts it has earned as the result of business activities such as selling merchandise or performing services. Under the accrual method of accounting, revenues are reported on the income statement in the period in which they are earned even when a dependable customer is allowed to pay 60 days later. In this example, when the revenues are earned the company will credit a revenues account and will debit the asset account Accounts Receivable.
The accrual method of accounting reports revenues on the income statement when they are earned even if the customer will pay 30 days later. At the time that the revenues are earned the company will credit a revenue account and will debit the asset account Accounts Receivable. When the customer pays 30 days after the revenues were earned, the company will debit Cash and will credit Accounts Receivable.
The accrual method of accounting also requires that expenses and losses be reported on the income statement when they occur even if payment will take place 30 days later. For example, if a company has a $15,000 repair done on December 15 and the vendor allows for payment on January 15, the company will report a repair expense and a liability of $15,000 as of December 15. On January 15 the company will credit Cash and will debit the liability account.
4. Described balance sheet accounts?
Balance sheet accounts are one of two types of general ledger accounts. Income statement accounts make up the other type. Balance sheet accounts are used to sort and store transactions involving assets, liabilities, and owner's or stockholders' equity. Examples of a corporation's balance sheet accounts include Cash, Accounts Receivable, Investments, Buildings, Equipment, Accumulated Depreciation, Notes Payable, Accounts Payable, Payroll Taxes Payable, Paid-in Capital, Retained Earnings, etc.
Balance sheet accounts are described as permanent or real accounts because at the end of the accounting year the balances in these accounts are not closed. Instead, the end-of-the-accounting-year balances will be carried forward to become the beginning balances in the next accounting year. This is different from the income statement accounts, which begin each accounting year with zero balances.
5. Described statement of cash flows?
The statement of cash flows is one of the main financial statements. It is to accompany the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of stockholders' equity. The statement of cash flows (also known as the cash flow statement) reports.
★ The major sources and uses of cash during the period of the income statement.
★ A reconciliation of the change in an organization's cash and cash equivalents (which are reported on the beginning and ending balance sheets).
★ Supplementary information including the amount of income taxes paid, the amount of interest paid, and significant noncash investing and financing activities (such as issuing common stock in exchange for land).
6. What is "net" for Secretary Accounts Officer?
Net usually refers to the combination of positive and negative amounts. For example, the amount of net sales is the combination of the amount of gross sales (a positive amount) and some negative amounts such as sales returns, sales allowances, and sales discounts. Hence, if gross sales are 990 and sales returns are 10, sales allowances are 5, and sales discounts 20, the net sales are 955.
7. What you know about income statement?
The income statement is a key financial statement which reports on a company's profitability during a relatively short period of time such as the past year, month, 13 weeks, etc. The heading of the income statement informs the reader of the period covered.
The main components of the income statement are:
★ Revenues
★ Expenses
★ Certain gains and losses
8. Described statement of comprehensive income?
This financial statement begins with the bottom line of the income statement and then lists the items considered to be other comprehensive income. Some of these items involve currency translation, hedging, available-for-sale securities, and pensions.
9. Explain statement of income?
This financial statement is also known as the statement of operations, statement of earnings, or income statement. It reports the corporation's revenues, expenses, gains and losses (except for items stipulated as other comprehensive income) for a period of time such as a year, quarter, 13 months, etc.
10. Described about statement of cash flows?
This statement reports the major causes for the change in cash and cash equivalents during the accounting period. The cash flows are presented as operating, investing, or financing activities.
11. What you know about balance sheet in accounting?
This statement of financial position reports a corporation's assets, liabilities and stockholders' equity as of the final instant of the date shown in its heading (December 31, January 31, June 30, etc.)
12. Described about noncurrent assets in accounting?
A noncurrent asset is an asset that is not likely to turn to unrestricted cash within one year of the balance sheet date. (This assumes that the company has an operating cycle of less than one year.)
A non-current asset is also referred to as a long-term asset.
Non-current assets are reported under the following balance sheet headings:
★ Investments (long-term)
★ Property, plant and equipment
★ Intangible assets
★ Other assets
13. Described about statement of stockholders equity?
This financial statement is often presented as the statement of shareholders' equity, statement of equity, statement of changes in stockholders' equity, etc. It reports all of the changes in stockholders' equity which occurred during the accounting period.
14. What is fiscal year for account officer?
A fiscal year usually refers to an accounting year that does not end on December 31. (The accounting year of January 1 through December 31 is usually referred to as a calendar year.) Some examples of the fiscal years used by U.S. corporations include:
★ The 12 months of February 1 through January 31
★ The 12 months of October 1 through September 30
★ The 12 months of June 1 through May 31
★ The 52 weeks (four 13-week quarters) ending on the Saturday closest to January 31 (This will require an occasional fiscal year of 53 weeks since 52 weeks X 7 days = 364 days vs. 365 days per year.)
15. What you know about sales?
Sales refers to the revenues earned when a company sells its goods, products, merchandise, etc. (If a company sells one of its non-current assets that was used in its business, the amount received is not recorded in its Sales account.)
The amounts recorded at the time of the sales transaction is also known as gross sales since there may be subsequent subtractions for sales returns, sales allowances, and early payment discounts. (Gross sales minus these subtractions results in the amount of net sales.)
These are the amounts earned through the sale of goods and the providing of services.
These include the cost of goods sold, SG&A expenses, and interest expense.
Assets are sometimes defined as resources or things of value that are owned by a company. Some examples of assets which are obvious and will be reported on a company's balance sheet include: cash, accounts receivable, inventory, investments, land, buildings, and equipment.
Gross profit is net sales minus the cost of goods sold. (Some people use the term gross margin and gross profit interchangeably. Others use gross margin to mean the gross profit ratio or the gross profit as a percentage of net sales.)
Gross profit is presented on a multiple-step income statement prior to deducting selling, general and administrative expenses and prior to non-operating revenues, non-operating expenses, gains and losses.
20. Define loss on disposal, net of tax?
An accounting loss on the sale of a business segment minus the income taxes that were saved (avoided, sheltered) because the loss was also deductible on the company's income tax return.
21. Explain accounting period?
An accounting period is a period of time such as the 12 months of January 1 through December 31, or the month of June, or the three months of July 1 through September 30. It is the period for which financial statements are prepared. For example, the income statement and the cash flow statement report the amounts occurring during the accounting period, and the balance sheet reports the amounts of assets and liabilties as of the final moment of the accounting period.
Revenues and gains minus expenses and losses.
23. Define accounts receivable, net?
The recorded amount of accounts receivable minus the allowance for doubtful accounts.
24. Define net cash provided by operating activities?
The combination of the cash inflows and the cash outflows from a company's operations (activities outside of its investing and financing activities).
25. Define net property, plant and equipment?
The recorded costs of the tangible non-current assets used in the business minus the related accumulated depreciation.
26. Explain net realizable value?
The amount to be received in the ordinary course of business minus the costs of completion and disposal.
27. Described about your track record for consistently achieving your targets?
An interviewer expects an account manager to be efficient in knowing how to meet targets within deadlines. He may ask the candidate about his track record for achieving targets. With this question, he gives the candidate an opportunity to provide examples of goals and strategies to achieve them. The interviewer may look for the candidate's strong communication skills as a vital tool in the candidate's examples.
28. What are your tactics, techniques, and the sales methods to increase revenues?
An account manager uses the information at his disposal to maintain and increase client interest. Staying current and doing marketing research are key factors to understanding what the customer is getting tired of and what he might become interested in. This information has to be effectively coordinated with the company departments in order to result in a product that will prevent the customer from leaving.
29. Explain stated interest rate of a bond payable?
The stated interest rate of a bond payable is the annual interest rate that is printed on the face of the bond. The stated interest rate multiplied by the bond's face amount (or par amount) results in the annual amount of interest that must be paid by the issuer of the bond. For example, if a corporation issues $10,000,000 of bonds having a stated interest rate of 6%, it is promising to pay interest of $600,000 each year (usually $300,000 semiannually).
The stated interest rate of a bond payable is also known as the face interest rate, the nominal interest rate, the contractual interest rate, and the coupon interest rate.
30. Can you define selling, general and administrative expenses?
These costs are reported as operating expenses on the income statement because they pertain to operating the main business during that accounting period. These costs may have expired, may have been used up, or may not have a future value that can be measured.
31. Described cost of goods sold?
These costs are reported as operating expenses on the income statement because of the matching principle. The revenues from the sale of merchandise must be matched with the cost of the merchandise that is sold.
32. Can you define selling, general and administrative expenses?
These costs are reported as operating expenses on the income statement because they pertain to operating the main business during that accounting period. These costs may have expired, may have been used up, or may not have a future value that can be measured.
33. Explain about premium on bonds payable?
Premium on bonds payable (or bond premium) occurs when bonds payable are issued for an amount greater than their face or maturity amount. This is caused by the bonds having a stated interest rate that is higher than the market interest rate for similar bonds.
34. Define operating expenses?
Operating expenses are the costs associated with a company's main operating activities and which are reported on its income statement.
35. You were fired twice. How did that make you feel?
After I recuperated from the shock both times, it made me feel stronger. It's true that I was fired twice, but I managed to bounce back both times and land jobs that gave me more responsibility, paid me more money, and were at better firms.
The morale here is very high. I've been exposed to the "seamy underbelly" of this business, but I'm still passionate about working in it.
