Some accounting rules and principles are more common than others – the time period assumption is common to cash basis accounting and all variations on accrual basis accounting, these being the ...

Matching Principle Is a Defining Requirement In conjunction with the concept of accrual basis accounting, it’s important for businesses to follow the matching principle. This concept states that ...

An entity may also elect to report financial data through the use of a fiscal year. A fiscal year arbitrarily sets the beginning of the accounting period to any date, and financial data is ...

The accounting cycle is an eight-step process that accountants and business owners use to manage a company’s books throughout a particular accounting period—typically throughout the fiscal ...

Robin L. Soster, Ashwani Monga, and William O. Bearden. "Tracking Costs of Time and Money: How Accounting Periods Affect Mental Accounting." Journal of Consumer Research: December 2010.

Temporary accounts are used to record accounting activity during a specific period. All revenue and expense accounts must end with a zero balance because they're reported in defined periods. They ...