If you have invested any money in gold, you may be jumping for joy right now as the price of gold has climbed to an all-time high on Wednesday. Whereas the previous high for gold was set on March 18, 2008, at $1,003.20 an ounce, gold is now worth $1,020.20 an ounce due to a sagging dollar and concerns about inflation.
 
The dollar, however, has fallen to a one-year low thanks to increased optimism in global economic recovery and many investors’ desire to acquire riskier assets, such as stocks. According to most analysts, the weakness of the dollar is the main …read more

An asset is defined as something of current or future value owned by the company. Assets are shown on the balance sheet, which gives a snapshot of a company’s financial position at one point in time. Any time a business spends money, they are creating an expense or an asset in the financial statements.
Three characteristics of assets:
In order to be considered a true asset, the following must all be true:

There is probable future benefit that the asset contribute directly or indirectly to future net cash flows, that is it generates revenue for the company. (Or in the case of a non-profit, the …read more

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy . . .
You have this on your own computer, so you are part of the 1% in the world who have that opportunity.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness . . . you are more blessed than the many who will not …read more

I’ve always maintained that accounting is also for business. It’s concepts, relationships among accounts, system of balances are applicable in almost anything in life.
Accounting Solver presents a Balance Sheet for Living:

Health is like cash (in a business Balance Sheet) which you spend on what you have to do and/or want to do. The healthier you are, the more time you can have for family & friends, for yourself, for work; the more you can enjoy Nature (i.e., smell the roses); the better you can earn prestige or a good reputation. The more productive you can be …read more

I’ve always maintained that accounting is also for business. It’s concepts, relationships among accounts, system of balances are applicable in almost anything in life.
Accounting Solver presents a Balance Sheet for Living:
Just like Cash in a business Balance Sheet, Health in the Balance Sheet for Living is much affected by Liabilities. Among the Liabilities in a business Balance Sheet, the major items would be Notes Payable and Accounts Payable. In a Balance Sheet for Living, the major item would be Stress (on the job or from relationships).
Just like Notes Payable and Accounts Payable, Stress cannot be avoided; but they …read more

I’ve always maintained that accounting is also for business. It’s concepts, relationships among accounts, system of balances are applicable in almost anything in life.
Accounting Solver presents a Balance Sheet for Living:

As in any Balance Sheet for business, Equity is what you start out with or put into the business and which constitute your Assets. Following the basic accounting equation: Assets – Liabilities = Equity, after you deduct your Liabilities from your Assets, what is left is what you get out of the business or what you actually own.
It’s the same case in life (or your Balance Sheet …read more

I’ve always said that accounting is also for business. In other words, accounting is mostly common sense and is applicable (is being applied and should be applied) to almost anything we do –balancing work & leisure, measuring risks against rewards (in investments as in any endeavor), counting politicians’ promises against what they’ve actually accomplished, taking stock of what you have against what you want, weighing the advantages of eating out against having a home-cooked dinner, etc, etc.
As you run the rat race, have you wondered whether you’re just working to pay bills or enjoying a life beyond …read more

While Adam Smith introduced the invisible hand to economics, Thomas Malthus caused economics to be called the dismal science. Malthus observed that population was growing at a rate several times faster than food production, eventually leading to starvation and wars.
The World Grains Production Balance Sheet shows that there might be some truth in Malthus’ prediction:

Experts predict a food crisis in the near term. In developed economies, it is still just a more than usual increase in food prices. There are shortages in some countries. In others, there are food riots.

Can the balance be sustained?
Balance Sheet graphics …read more

Experts predict a food crisis in the near term. In developed economies, it is still just a more than usual increase in food prices. There are shortages in some countries. In others, there are food riots.
A ProForma Balance Sheet can show how the food crisis has developed:

On the ASSETS side, Demand has grown both as a result of population growth and the increasing personal disposable incomes and purchasing power in emerging economies (China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, etc).
While technology has improved yields per hectare of land planted to wheat, corn & rice (i.e., discoveries of high yielding varieties …read more

A company who has had a poor performance resorts to “accounting noise” to make it look better than it really is (e.g., Enron, WorldCom, etc).
In addition to fudging revenue figures (recording future / potential income that may or may not actually be realized) and fudging expense figures (postponing the recording of expenses into the future), one other common practice has to do with accounts receivable and notes receivable.
Before audit time, the company “sells” the over-aged receivables (in arrears for more than 90 days or notes in default) to a finance company or an affiliate with an agreement to “buy back” …read more