Under the cash basis of accounting...
1. Revenues are reported on the income statement in the period in which the cash is received from customers.
2. Expenses are reported on the income statement when the cash is paid out.
Under the accrual basis of accounting...
1. Revenues are reported on the income statement when they are earned—which often occurs before the cash is received from the customers.
2. Expenses are reported on the income statement in the period when they occur or when they expire—which is often in a period different from when the payment is made.
The accrual basis of accounting provides a better picture of a company's profits during an accounting period. The reason is that the income statement prepared under the accrual basis will report all of the revenues actually earned during the period and all of the expenses incurred in order to earn the revenues.
The accrual basis of accounting also provides a better picture of a company's financial position at a moment or point in time. The reason is that all assets that were earned are reported and all liabilities that were incurred will be reported.
The accrual basis of accounting is required because of the matching principle.
Under the accrual basis of accounting, revenues are reported on the income statement when they are earned. (Under the cash basis of accounting, revenues are reported on the income statement when the cash is received.) Under the accrual basis of accounting, expenses are matched with the related revenues and/or are reported when the expense occurs, not when the cash is paid. The result of accrual accounting is an income statement that better measures the profitability of a company during a specific time period.
For example, if I begin an accounting service in December and provide $10,000 of accounting services in December, but don't receive any of the money from the clients until January, there will be a difference in the income statements for December and January under the accrual and cash bases of accounting. Under the accrual basis, my income statements will show $10,000 of revenues in December and none of those services will be reported as revenues in January. Under the cash basis, my December income statement will show no revenues. Instead, the December services will be reported as January revenues under the cash method.
There will be a difference on the balance sheet, too. Under the accrual basis, the December balance sheet will report accounts receivable of $10,000 and the estimated true profit will be added to owner's equity or retained earnings. Under the cash basis, the $10,000 of accounts receivable will not be reported as an asset, and the true profit will not be included in owner's equity or retained earnings.
To illustrate a difference in expenses, we will assume that the heat and light expense that I used in my accounting service is metered by the utility on the last day of the month. The utilities that I used in December will appear on a bill that I receive in January and will pay on February 1. Under the accrual basis of accounting, the utilities that I used in December will be estimated and will be reported as an expense and a liability on the December financial statements. Under the cash basis of accounting, the utilities used in December will be recorded as an expense on February 1, when the utility bills are paid.
For financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the accrual method is required because of the matching principle.
A basis point is a hundredth (1/100) of a percentage point. Expressed another way, one percentage point is equal to 100 basis points. This means that if an interest rate drops by 1/2 of a percentage point (such as from 4% to 3.5%), the drop is 50 basis points. If an interest rate increases from 3.75% to 3.90%, the increase is 15 basis points.
In accounting, sales refers to the revenues earned when a company sells its goods, products, merchandise, etc. (If a company sells one of its noncurrent 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 salessince 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.)
Under the accrual basis or accrual method of accounting, goods sold on credit are reported as sales (revenue) when the goods have been transferred to the buyer. Usually this occurs before the seller receives payment from the buyer. The sales on credit are recorded with a debit to Accounts Receivable and a credit to Sales.
A company can have a profit but not have cash because profit is computed using revenues and expenses, which are different from the company's cash receipts and cash disbursements. In other words, there is a difference between revenues and receipts. There is also a difference between expenses and expenditures.
To illustrate, let's assume that a new company uses the accrual method of accounting. It provides $10,000 of services to its clients in its first month and the clients are allowed to pay in 30 days. The company will have $10,000 of revenues in its first month, but the cash will not be received until the second month. If the company's expenses are $7,000 in the first month, the company will report a profit of $3,000 but will not have received any cash from its clients.
Another company might have a profit of $60,000 in its first year, but during its first year it uses $65,000 of cash to acquire equipment that will be put into service at the beginning of the second year. This company will have a profit, but will not have the cash.
Other examples where cash is paid out, but the profits are not reduced at the time of the payment, include prepayments of insurance, payments to increase the inventory of merchandise on hand, and payments to reduce liabilities.