In accounting, why are losses recognized and not gains?
449583
Losses recognized but not gains?  What accounting are you talking about?
38774
You must report the full amount of the winnings as income and claim the losses (up to the amount of the winnings) as an itemized deduction.  You cannot deduct the losses from your winnings and report the winnings as income.  The winnings and losses must be reported separately.  Therefore, if your standard deduction is greater than you itemized deductions, you will take the standard deduction and pay taxes on the winnings.  Charles Lewis, Altus Accounting and Tax Services, 70 Water St, Savannah, TN 38372 Ph 731-925-1070.
837413
net assets has to equal equity.  check your other comprehensive income accounts. that could be the source of your error.  it includes such things as some derivative costs, foreign currency gains and losses.  (sorry, i'm assuming u.s. accounting.  don't know if you use this concept in u.k.)
114378
Your confusion is understandable for someone who is not an accountant.  Those terms 'debit' and 'credit' (from your first 2 examples, at least) are relative to the BANK'S POINT OF VIEW not yours.  I'll explain.  The bank has a balance sheets with assets on the left and liabilities (things that it owes) on the right.  Assets must always equal Liabilities + Owner Equity (equity won't be explained here).  On the asset side, when a bank gains an asset, it receives a credit and when it loses an asset it receives a debit.  The reverse is true for liabilities.  When a bank gains a liability, it receives a debit, but it is credited when loses a liability.  When you take money out of your checking account, the bank loses assets and therefore records a DEBIT (remember, a loss of assets is a 'debit' on the asset side).  When you add money to your checking account, the bank gains assets, which is a CREDIT on the asset side. When you use a credit card, the store DEBITS your account because you have gained a liability, a promise to pay (remember, a liability goes UP when it is debited).  When you get a refund, your account is CREDITED because you have lost a liability (you are no longer obligated to pay that debt).  remember, a CREDIT on the liability side means that liabilities go DOWN!  So 'debit' and 'credit' don't mean 'down and up', it just refers to what action(s) is being taken and on what side of the balance sheet the action is taking place.
754840
It may have to do with the fact that companies can issue and sell new stock during a reporting period.  So to make the outstanding stock number more accurate, they weight it according to when it was issued, by number of days it has been issued.
1170151
The law is 3 years, but there are exceptions.  I exception is carry over of capital losses.  You can carry those over, I think for 5 years so that would mean that you have to have the documentation covering the loss for a total of 8 years.  That is just one example that I am aware of.  There are numerous others.  Another obvious example is any documentation of stocks that you purchased but did not sell until years later.  You need to keep them for 3 years following reporting of taxes on the sale.
145610
One, his answer is true, but, in competition, you loose money on one part, but make up profit in another.  Say like for instance in Wal-Mart.  Every customer needs household chemicals, foods, etc.  Not every item, will you be losing profit.  You still have your higher profit items, that a good merchant will push to make up for in sales.  For instance, if you are losing profit in paper towels, than you will cross merchandise a paper towel holder, that is at a 50% profit. Also, if you bring in the customer, there is still that high profit department, that a customer will shop.  A good business knows how to equal out the margin. The only downside to competion, is within the businesses.  If a business can't hang with another, or know how to manage, their money, staff, and most importantely, how to take care of the customer, than they will loose.  A good merchant doesnt see a loss, but see's profit.
119339
Profit/Loss?  see below
654497
Generally, if there is negative equity, reports will give N/A (not applicable).  The same goes for PE ratios when earnings are negataive.
1125788
It is perfecly fine.  For wash sale implications, it prevents you from holding shares in a specific stock while claiming a tax loss for that stock in a 30 day period.\n\nFor example:  if I had a large gain in GOOG (and I didn't want to pay taxes on it) but I had a large loss in AMTD (but didnt want to sell it because I thought it was a value) I could sell the AMTD, and buy it back, claiming the loss on the first sell against my gain on the GOOG stock.\n\nSame for short selling except if the stock price goes up you claim the loss.
110548
I understand that it is a miscelleneous itemized deduction, subject to the 2% floor.  You really need to see a CPA as this loss may not be recoverable.  There are certain circumstances where other rules may apply.  Annuities are not investments, they are life insurance contracts.  They exist to guarantee you an income for life so that you cannot outlive your investments.
1034981
dont you have to do an income statement? you have the revenue from the sales made and the other income, and you substract all the expenses (including the cost of goods sold and the income tax) and then you get the profit or loss
1181447
accural accounting will show that you are recognizing the expense and paying it when it is due. Take for example employee's pay. Your pay period runs sunday to sunday. Your quarter ends on a Wednesday. This must be recognized in your journal and ledger as it won't be on the employee's check. It must be explained so you will use accural accounting.\ncash accounting is like sales with cash when something is sold something is paid for. Record sales journalize then post.\nfor financial statements use accrual accounting as there will be areas that run beyond the fiscal period yet have to adhere to the GAAP
182514
It dosen't represent cash flow, so a cash flow statement must be made. You account for thengs you might not get. example you sell stuff on account, in accural you put it into a recievables accout, with increases your equity, however there is a chance you don't collect because they dan't pay. \n\nI am not sure which is the Primary but those are dissadvantages.
787195
If we have incurred an expense, then we owe the money to someone.\nAs we are making an adjustment, it means we have not yet received and posted an invoice, so the liabilty has not yet been registered.\nWe therfore need to increase the balance of a liability account.\n\nB is the correct answer.
934855
Out of context, they just mean left (debit) or right (credit) on the ledger.\n\nAccounting uses 5 types of accounts. 3 are balance sheet accounts (asset, liability and owners equity accounts) and 2 are income statement accounts (revenue and expense accounts). \n\nThe balance sheet has asset accounts on the left and liability and owners equity accounts on the right.  The income statement has revenue accounts and expense accounts.  Think of income statement accounts as sub-accounts in the owners equity section of the balance sheet and the debits and credits will make more sense.\n\nAsset accounts normally have a debit balance, so debits increase an asset account and credits decrease an asset account.\n\nLiabilities and owners equity accounts normally have a credit balance, so credits increase a liability or equity account and debits decrease a liability or owners equity account.\n\nThe basic accounting formula that must hold true at all times is:\n\nAssets = Liabilities + Owners equity  \n\n(that's why it's called a balance sheet!)\n\nAll accounting transactions are recorded using double entry bookkeeping where the total of the debits must equal the total of the credits.  One side of a transaction may increase one asset while decreasing another. This would happen when cash (an asset) is paid for inventory (another asset). Inventory is debited and cash is credited.  If the company buys inventory on credit, then the transaction would be: Inventory is debited and Accounts Payable is credited. Accounts Payable is a liability account. When that bill gets paid: Accounts payable is debited and cash is credited.\n\nRevenue increases owners equity, so a revenue item is a credit. Expenses decrease owners equity, so an expense item is a debit. If expenses exceed revenues for a period, it is a loss and a net debit. (It reduces owners equity) If revenues exceed expenses for a period, it is a profit and a net credit. (It increases owners equity.)
341291
In some ways, yes, beause it shows the speed at which your market is turning in cash rather than disbursing it in real time, at the very least, daily.  Your accounting profit is a rather static measure of your performance for the accounting period covered.