SN WIP: Danny/Accounting
Jun. 15th, 2004 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
out_therePrevious bits here and here.
***
"...And we'll be right back after this break," Dan said to the camera.
"Back in two and a half," Dave called out over the P.A.
Dan nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned his script over. "Hit me."
Casey leaned over and grabbed the accounting notes sitting on the desk, just out of camera view. "Definition of an expense," he prompted Dan.
"A future sacrifice of economic benefits," Dan recited, staring off to the side, "that the entity is presently obliged to make to other entities."
"Because…?"
"Because…" Dan scrunched up his forehead in concentration. "Because I said so?"
"Bzzt," Casey said, making a game show buzzer noise. "Try again. It's a result of…?"
"As a result of past transactions or other past events." Dan grinned brightly at Casey's answering nod.
"Quick example," Casey said, noting figures in the margin. "I buy two chairs for twenty bucks each. I spend thirty dollars refinishing them and then sell them as a set for a hundred dollars. I also spend twenty-five dollars on a good bottle of wine, to celebrate my business skills. What's the profit?"
"The revenue is a hundred." Dan scribbled down figures on the back of his script as he spoke. "The cost of goods sold is the cost price of forty dollars, plus the refinishing cost of thirty dollars. Both of those are expenses, giving you a gross profit of thirty dollars. However, you took twenty-five dollars of that as drawings, because you're an alcoholic," Dan added sharply, "so your net profit is five dollars."
Casey grinned. "I happen to enjoy a good bottle of wine."
"Guys?"
They both looked up at the cameras. "Yes, Dana?"
"Generally, you two don't make any sense during breaks. Tonight you're making even less sense than normal." There was a silence over their earpieces, and Casey could imagine the inter-control room bickering going on. "What's up?"
Casey looked at Dan and waited for Dan to explain. Dan gave him a 'what the hell' shrug, and said, "I'm studying accounting."
Someone snorted. "Obviously," Jeremy said snidely.
"Do you have a bone to pick?" Dan asked.
"Apart from the fact that it's a watered-down version of the mathematically-sound principles of economics?" Jeremy asked. "I have no problem with it."
Dan pulled a face. "You're a mathematical snob."
"I am indeed," Jeremy replied. Casey could just imagine Jeremy pushing up his glasses and smiling smugly. "I have worked my way up the pinnacle of arithmetic knowledge, and now I stand at the peak, looking down upon the lesser mathematicians."
"Before this leads to another lecture on mountain climbing," Dana interrupted, "I want to know why Dan's studying accounting."
"It's probably a girl," Natalie suggested.
"You think?" Dana asked.
"Probably," Natalie replied. "She's probably an accountant."
"You think I should ask?"
Casey rolled his eyes. "You do realise we can hear you?"
Dana cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Is it a girl, Dan?"
Dan grinned widely. "I'd call her a babe, but go ahead and refer to her as a girl if you wish."
Casey just shook his head and faced the camera's on-air light. "And now, we'll take you to Kelly Kirkpatrick…"
***
Casey stretched his feet up over the end of their couch, luxuriating in the afternoon sunshine that occasionally snuck through the office window. Dan was tapping away at the desk, working on tonight's script. Casey, on the other hand, had already finished his script and was relaxing on the couch. Or, more correctly, he was flicking through Dan's course outline and trying to work out what they hadn't covered.
"Accrual."
Dan stopped typing for a moment. "Accrual?"
"Accrual," Casey repeated. "We haven't gone over that."
"Isn't that just the system I'm already learning?" Dan asked, fingers moving over the keyboard again.
"But what's the difference between that and cash accounting?"
Dan sighed and the light tapping sound ceased. "In cash you record it in the cash receipts and cash payments journals first, and then post to the other ledgers. In accrual, you…"
Casey twisted his head to the side to watch Dan. "Mmm?"
"You record it in the other journals first…?" Dan tried hopefully.
"It's got nothing to do with journals." Casey waved his hand and amended, "Not directly, at least. It's about recognising revenues and expenses."
"I think I'd recognise them when I saw them."
"You think they're going to walk up to you and say, 'Hi, I'm an Expense'?" Casey asked with a grin.
"It could happen," Dan said as his grin turned into an almost leer. He dropped his voice to sizzling tone. "Hi, I'm Expense. I'd like you to meet my sister, Revenue. We've been looking for a smart guy to give us a good posting."
Casey blinked, swallowed and blinked again. "Danny, only *you* could make accounting sound like an ad for a sex-line."
Dan winked. "It's a talent."
"But it's not a talent that will help you pass."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let me finish the golf highlights," Dan said and then lowered his voice again, "and then I'm all yours."
Casey quickly turned back to the notes in his hand.
***
"Accrual sounds like a nice word."
Casey groaned. "Danny…"
"It does," Dan continued. "Accrual, accrual, accrual. There's the open sound of a vowel to start it, the sharp kick of the c's to give it some bite, the soft u that rolls across your tongue, and the gentle stop of the l. Accrual. It's a nice word."
"So it is."
"How come it isn't a nice idea? Huh, Casey?" Dan asked, poking him in the ribs. "Huh? Why does such a nice word have to be joined with such a horrible idea."
Casey let his head drop onto the table. "It's a perfectly simple idea. You just don't get it."
"I don't get it because it's ridiculous. It's nonsensical. None of these examples make sense."
"Use the phrase 'insane troll logic' one more time, Danny, and I swear you won't have to worry about the exam." Casey raised his head to find Dan starting to grin. "You won't be alive to see it," Casey amended.
Dan sighed. "Want to try explaining it to me one more time?"
"Do I want to…" Casey sighed crankily. "No. I don't. I want to accept the fact that if you fail, it will be because your mind refuses to see sense!"
Dan stared at him, which was just unfair. Totally unfair of Dan to let himself look so hurt, to widen his eyes, and make it clear that his smile was obviously false. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Dan said lightly, ducking his head.
"Fine. One more time. But you owe me a round at Anthony's," Casey grumbled.
Dan beamed. "One beer, on me. That's cheap at twice the price."
Casey shrugged and reached for the accounting notes. "You know what I don't get, Dan?"
"Why Leonard Cohen is cool?"
"No," Casey said, glaring at Dan. "Well, yes, but that wasn't what I was going to say."
"He just is cool, Casey. Accept it."
"You are, relatively speaking, a smart guy."
Dan nodded. "I'd agree with that."
"So why don't you get this?"
"Because it's insane-" Dan snapped his mouth shut, and Casey would have bet good money that the next two words Dan was about to say was 'troll logic.' Dan took a deep breath. "It's insane that accounting, a system that by its very nature should be boring, reliable and consistent – much like you," Dan said with a quick grin, "accepts the idea that if you do it this way, an expense isn't an expense. If you're paying in order to earn money, it should be an expense. No quibbles, no exceptions."
Casey thought for a moment. "It's still an expense."
"It's an asset! An expense is an asset, except for when it's not, and sometimes revenue is a liability. It's totally insane."
"Danny? Breathe."
Dan glowered at him. "I'm just saying…"
"You're saying that you're confused about the asset/liability thing, right?"
"Why, Casey? That's all I want to know." Dan raised his hands in a pleading motion. "Can't you tell me why?"
"Because you haven't recognised it yet."
Dan hung his head. "Do you get the feeling we're walking around in logical circles?"
"Vicious logical circles," Casey agreed. He tapped his pen on the table top, trying not to think about how long they'd wasted on this subject this evening. It felt like they'd been arguing over theory for hours. Actually, Casey thought as he glanced at the clock, it has been hours. "Maybe we're approaching this the wrong way."
Dan smiled hopefully. "You think?"
"Maybe we should be looking at practical examples."
Dan cast a dirty look toward his textbook. "I think I can live without another example of Mr and Mrs Suitably Anonymous."
Casey snorted and closed the textbook, pushing it far away from both of them. "How about… imagine you run a store."
"What kind of store?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Casey, if I'm running my own business, I want to know what I'm selling."
"A furniture store, okay?"
Dan grimaced. "Furniture?"
"Furniture."
"Does it have to be furniture?"
Casey sighed. "Is there a reason it shouldn't be furniture?"
"If I wanted to talk about running a furniture store, and pretend it was exciting, I'd call my dad," Dan said, his voice deceptively casual. "Can't I do something else?"
"What else can you do?"
Dan smirked. "I can host a sports show."
"You can't run a business from that."
"Calvin does."
Casey fought the urge to kick Dan under the table. "We're keeping this simple, so it needs to be a simple business. Is there anything else you can do?"
Dan thought for a moment, and then said, "I can kiss."
Casey closed his eyes for a long second, but when he opened them, Dan was still smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "You can kiss?"
"I'm very good at it."
Casey breathed in and decided to go along with it. "Fine. You run a kissing booth…"
"That counts? Damn." Dan pulled a face. "I should have picked something exciting."
"Exciting? Danny, just stick to the kissing booth."
"I could have sold elephant rides," Dan said earnestly.
"You run a kissing booth," Casey said firmly.
Dan sighed, and then nodded. "I run a kissing booth."
"In this booth, you sell kisses for a dollar-"
"A dollar? I don't think so, Casey." Dan leaned back in his chair, gesturing widely. "I'm a good kisser. I believe in quality, rather than quantity. I'd charge more than a dollar."
Dan was starting to wear at Casey's patience. Admittedly, he'd been doing that for at least the last six years, but this was starting to get annoying. "How much," he ground out between clenched teeth.
Dan picked up on his tone and sat up straight. "Twenty dollars."
"Twenty dollars." Casey sighed and grabbed a twenty out of his wallet. He placed it on the table, and passed it to Dan. "So, if someone pays you twenty bucks, and you kiss them now, which is within the same reporting period, how do you record it?"
Dan settled into his serious face. "Twenty dollars to bank, twenty dollars to revenue."
"Okay. Now, cash reporting is all about recording it when *received* in cash. Right?"
Dan nodded. "Cash revenue is always revenue. I get that."
"So, if I give you twenty dollars, and buy a kiss for next year, how do you record it?"
Dan sounded a little less certain. "Twenty dollars to bank, twenty dollars to revenue?"
"Exactly. But if it was under the accrual system, what happens?"
Dan slumped in his seat, guessing wildly. "It's twenty dollars to liability and twenty dollars to revenue?"
Casey stopped and blinked. "What happened to the cash?"
"That's the other system," Dan said, his brows furrowing, "isn't it?"
"That's why you keep stuffing the question up." Casey grinned, suddenly seeing the problem. "What happened to the cash, Dan?"
Dan stared at him in confusion. "What?"
Casey picked up the twenty dollar note, and waved it in front of Dan. "I give you the twenty dollars, right? On the understanding that in the future, you will pay me back with a kiss." He held the note out to Dan. "Right?"
Dan took the note warily. "Okay, I get that. And because I owe you the kiss, it becomes a liability?"
"Yes, but what happened to the cash?"
"Huh?"
"The twenty dollars cash, in your hand. What happened to it after I gave it to you?"
Dan blinked at the green note. "I banked it?"
"Yes. So you record it as twenty dollars to bank, and twenty dollars to owed kisses."
"But what about the revenue?"
"The revenue happens when it's earned, not when it's paid. You don't earn that revenue until you kiss me."
Dan dragged his lower lip between his teeth. "So, in a future reporting period, when I kiss you, that's when it becomes revenue?"
Casey nodded. "Until then, it's just proof that you owe me a service."
"And when I kiss you," Dan said slowly, "I record it as twenty dollars from owed kisses, and twenty dollars to revenue?"
"You've got it." Casey smiled. "So, what would the actual entries be?"
Dan scribbled on his notebook. "When you give me the money, it's twenty dollars debit to bank, and twenty dollars credit to owed kisses, which increases the balance of both." Casey nodded and Dan continued, "When I kiss you, it's twenty dollars debit to owed kisses and twenty dollars credit to revenue."
Casey grinned and let Dan keep talking.
"So the two basically cancel each other out, and it's still twenty dollars to bank and twenty to revenue, the same as the cash basis."
"Except…?"
Dan frowned. "Except… the accrual method is spread across the different periods… and records it when it's earned. Or accrued."
Casey wrapped an arm around Dan's shoulder. "By golly, he's got it!"
"Since I'm high on the euphoria of this making sense, I'm not going to mock the My Fair Lady reference," Dan said, smiling brightly. "Well, not at the moment."
Casey raised an elbow. "Okay, prove your genius, Einstein. If you pay next years rent in this period, how do you record it? Under both systems?"
"For cash, you record it as a credit to the bank, and a debit to rent expense," Dan said easily. "For accrual, you record it in this period as a credit to bank and a debit to pre-paid rent, which is an asset."
"Why?"
"Because it's something they owe me." Dan stretched back on the chair. Somehow, he made the action look very smug. "And in the next period, I credit pre-paid rent, and debit rent expense. Because I rule."
Casey laughed. "You are the master of accounting."
"Yes, I am." Dan stood up proudly.
"Now do you want to try the questions from topic six?" Casey asked mildly.
Dan's face fell. "You just couldn't let me enjoy the moment, could you? You had to bring me down with the thought of further work."
"You can enjoy the moment after you ace the exam."
Dan groaned and flipped over to the first question. He muttered something under his breath that Casey ignored.
Glancing over Dan's notes half-heartedly, Casey realised something. He was missing his twenty. "What happened to my twenty?"
Dan looked up at him. "It got debited to my bank account."
"No, Dan," Casey said in a long-suffering tone, "what happened to my twenty dollar note?"
Dan stared at him blankly.
"The one we were using for example purposes?"
Dan grinned. "Oh, that twenty."
"Yeah, that twenty," Casey said, watching Dan suspiciously. "What happened to it?"
Dan turned back to his books. "It's in my wallet."
"Why?"
"It's being used to buy you that beer tonight."
Casey boggled at him. "Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"You can't shout me a beer with my own money."
"I'm a poor student. Surely you don't begrudge me one drink?"
Casey was still thinking of a reply when Natalie stuck her head around the door. "Guys? Rundown meeting?"
"Dan won't give me back my twenty dollars," Casey whined as they stood up.
Dan shrugged as they followed Natalie to the conference room. "You snooze, you lose, Casey."
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Stop being petty."
"It's my twenty bucks!"
"Do you want me to get Jeremy to calculate twenty dollars as a percentage of your total salary?" Natalie asked sharply.
"No," Casey replied sullenly. Dan smirked at him.
***
***
"...And we'll be right back after this break," Dan said to the camera.
"Back in two and a half," Dave called out over the P.A.
Dan nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned his script over. "Hit me."
Casey leaned over and grabbed the accounting notes sitting on the desk, just out of camera view. "Definition of an expense," he prompted Dan.
"A future sacrifice of economic benefits," Dan recited, staring off to the side, "that the entity is presently obliged to make to other entities."
"Because…?"
"Because…" Dan scrunched up his forehead in concentration. "Because I said so?"
"Bzzt," Casey said, making a game show buzzer noise. "Try again. It's a result of…?"
"As a result of past transactions or other past events." Dan grinned brightly at Casey's answering nod.
"Quick example," Casey said, noting figures in the margin. "I buy two chairs for twenty bucks each. I spend thirty dollars refinishing them and then sell them as a set for a hundred dollars. I also spend twenty-five dollars on a good bottle of wine, to celebrate my business skills. What's the profit?"
"The revenue is a hundred." Dan scribbled down figures on the back of his script as he spoke. "The cost of goods sold is the cost price of forty dollars, plus the refinishing cost of thirty dollars. Both of those are expenses, giving you a gross profit of thirty dollars. However, you took twenty-five dollars of that as drawings, because you're an alcoholic," Dan added sharply, "so your net profit is five dollars."
Casey grinned. "I happen to enjoy a good bottle of wine."
"Guys?"
They both looked up at the cameras. "Yes, Dana?"
"Generally, you two don't make any sense during breaks. Tonight you're making even less sense than normal." There was a silence over their earpieces, and Casey could imagine the inter-control room bickering going on. "What's up?"
Casey looked at Dan and waited for Dan to explain. Dan gave him a 'what the hell' shrug, and said, "I'm studying accounting."
Someone snorted. "Obviously," Jeremy said snidely.
"Do you have a bone to pick?" Dan asked.
"Apart from the fact that it's a watered-down version of the mathematically-sound principles of economics?" Jeremy asked. "I have no problem with it."
Dan pulled a face. "You're a mathematical snob."
"I am indeed," Jeremy replied. Casey could just imagine Jeremy pushing up his glasses and smiling smugly. "I have worked my way up the pinnacle of arithmetic knowledge, and now I stand at the peak, looking down upon the lesser mathematicians."
"Before this leads to another lecture on mountain climbing," Dana interrupted, "I want to know why Dan's studying accounting."
"It's probably a girl," Natalie suggested.
"You think?" Dana asked.
"Probably," Natalie replied. "She's probably an accountant."
"You think I should ask?"
Casey rolled his eyes. "You do realise we can hear you?"
Dana cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Is it a girl, Dan?"
Dan grinned widely. "I'd call her a babe, but go ahead and refer to her as a girl if you wish."
Casey just shook his head and faced the camera's on-air light. "And now, we'll take you to Kelly Kirkpatrick…"
***
Casey stretched his feet up over the end of their couch, luxuriating in the afternoon sunshine that occasionally snuck through the office window. Dan was tapping away at the desk, working on tonight's script. Casey, on the other hand, had already finished his script and was relaxing on the couch. Or, more correctly, he was flicking through Dan's course outline and trying to work out what they hadn't covered.
"Accrual."
Dan stopped typing for a moment. "Accrual?"
"Accrual," Casey repeated. "We haven't gone over that."
"Isn't that just the system I'm already learning?" Dan asked, fingers moving over the keyboard again.
"But what's the difference between that and cash accounting?"
Dan sighed and the light tapping sound ceased. "In cash you record it in the cash receipts and cash payments journals first, and then post to the other ledgers. In accrual, you…"
Casey twisted his head to the side to watch Dan. "Mmm?"
"You record it in the other journals first…?" Dan tried hopefully.
"It's got nothing to do with journals." Casey waved his hand and amended, "Not directly, at least. It's about recognising revenues and expenses."
"I think I'd recognise them when I saw them."
"You think they're going to walk up to you and say, 'Hi, I'm an Expense'?" Casey asked with a grin.
"It could happen," Dan said as his grin turned into an almost leer. He dropped his voice to sizzling tone. "Hi, I'm Expense. I'd like you to meet my sister, Revenue. We've been looking for a smart guy to give us a good posting."
Casey blinked, swallowed and blinked again. "Danny, only *you* could make accounting sound like an ad for a sex-line."
Dan winked. "It's a talent."
"But it's not a talent that will help you pass."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let me finish the golf highlights," Dan said and then lowered his voice again, "and then I'm all yours."
Casey quickly turned back to the notes in his hand.
***
"Accrual sounds like a nice word."
Casey groaned. "Danny…"
"It does," Dan continued. "Accrual, accrual, accrual. There's the open sound of a vowel to start it, the sharp kick of the c's to give it some bite, the soft u that rolls across your tongue, and the gentle stop of the l. Accrual. It's a nice word."
"So it is."
"How come it isn't a nice idea? Huh, Casey?" Dan asked, poking him in the ribs. "Huh? Why does such a nice word have to be joined with such a horrible idea."
Casey let his head drop onto the table. "It's a perfectly simple idea. You just don't get it."
"I don't get it because it's ridiculous. It's nonsensical. None of these examples make sense."
"Use the phrase 'insane troll logic' one more time, Danny, and I swear you won't have to worry about the exam." Casey raised his head to find Dan starting to grin. "You won't be alive to see it," Casey amended.
Dan sighed. "Want to try explaining it to me one more time?"
"Do I want to…" Casey sighed crankily. "No. I don't. I want to accept the fact that if you fail, it will be because your mind refuses to see sense!"
Dan stared at him, which was just unfair. Totally unfair of Dan to let himself look so hurt, to widen his eyes, and make it clear that his smile was obviously false. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Dan said lightly, ducking his head.
"Fine. One more time. But you owe me a round at Anthony's," Casey grumbled.
Dan beamed. "One beer, on me. That's cheap at twice the price."
Casey shrugged and reached for the accounting notes. "You know what I don't get, Dan?"
"Why Leonard Cohen is cool?"
"No," Casey said, glaring at Dan. "Well, yes, but that wasn't what I was going to say."
"He just is cool, Casey. Accept it."
"You are, relatively speaking, a smart guy."
Dan nodded. "I'd agree with that."
"So why don't you get this?"
"Because it's insane-" Dan snapped his mouth shut, and Casey would have bet good money that the next two words Dan was about to say was 'troll logic.' Dan took a deep breath. "It's insane that accounting, a system that by its very nature should be boring, reliable and consistent – much like you," Dan said with a quick grin, "accepts the idea that if you do it this way, an expense isn't an expense. If you're paying in order to earn money, it should be an expense. No quibbles, no exceptions."
Casey thought for a moment. "It's still an expense."
"It's an asset! An expense is an asset, except for when it's not, and sometimes revenue is a liability. It's totally insane."
"Danny? Breathe."
Dan glowered at him. "I'm just saying…"
"You're saying that you're confused about the asset/liability thing, right?"
"Why, Casey? That's all I want to know." Dan raised his hands in a pleading motion. "Can't you tell me why?"
"Because you haven't recognised it yet."
Dan hung his head. "Do you get the feeling we're walking around in logical circles?"
"Vicious logical circles," Casey agreed. He tapped his pen on the table top, trying not to think about how long they'd wasted on this subject this evening. It felt like they'd been arguing over theory for hours. Actually, Casey thought as he glanced at the clock, it has been hours. "Maybe we're approaching this the wrong way."
Dan smiled hopefully. "You think?"
"Maybe we should be looking at practical examples."
Dan cast a dirty look toward his textbook. "I think I can live without another example of Mr and Mrs Suitably Anonymous."
Casey snorted and closed the textbook, pushing it far away from both of them. "How about… imagine you run a store."
"What kind of store?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Casey, if I'm running my own business, I want to know what I'm selling."
"A furniture store, okay?"
Dan grimaced. "Furniture?"
"Furniture."
"Does it have to be furniture?"
Casey sighed. "Is there a reason it shouldn't be furniture?"
"If I wanted to talk about running a furniture store, and pretend it was exciting, I'd call my dad," Dan said, his voice deceptively casual. "Can't I do something else?"
"What else can you do?"
Dan smirked. "I can host a sports show."
"You can't run a business from that."
"Calvin does."
Casey fought the urge to kick Dan under the table. "We're keeping this simple, so it needs to be a simple business. Is there anything else you can do?"
Dan thought for a moment, and then said, "I can kiss."
Casey closed his eyes for a long second, but when he opened them, Dan was still smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "You can kiss?"
"I'm very good at it."
Casey breathed in and decided to go along with it. "Fine. You run a kissing booth…"
"That counts? Damn." Dan pulled a face. "I should have picked something exciting."
"Exciting? Danny, just stick to the kissing booth."
"I could have sold elephant rides," Dan said earnestly.
"You run a kissing booth," Casey said firmly.
Dan sighed, and then nodded. "I run a kissing booth."
"In this booth, you sell kisses for a dollar-"
"A dollar? I don't think so, Casey." Dan leaned back in his chair, gesturing widely. "I'm a good kisser. I believe in quality, rather than quantity. I'd charge more than a dollar."
Dan was starting to wear at Casey's patience. Admittedly, he'd been doing that for at least the last six years, but this was starting to get annoying. "How much," he ground out between clenched teeth.
Dan picked up on his tone and sat up straight. "Twenty dollars."
"Twenty dollars." Casey sighed and grabbed a twenty out of his wallet. He placed it on the table, and passed it to Dan. "So, if someone pays you twenty bucks, and you kiss them now, which is within the same reporting period, how do you record it?"
Dan settled into his serious face. "Twenty dollars to bank, twenty dollars to revenue."
"Okay. Now, cash reporting is all about recording it when *received* in cash. Right?"
Dan nodded. "Cash revenue is always revenue. I get that."
"So, if I give you twenty dollars, and buy a kiss for next year, how do you record it?"
Dan sounded a little less certain. "Twenty dollars to bank, twenty dollars to revenue?"
"Exactly. But if it was under the accrual system, what happens?"
Dan slumped in his seat, guessing wildly. "It's twenty dollars to liability and twenty dollars to revenue?"
Casey stopped and blinked. "What happened to the cash?"
"That's the other system," Dan said, his brows furrowing, "isn't it?"
"That's why you keep stuffing the question up." Casey grinned, suddenly seeing the problem. "What happened to the cash, Dan?"
Dan stared at him in confusion. "What?"
Casey picked up the twenty dollar note, and waved it in front of Dan. "I give you the twenty dollars, right? On the understanding that in the future, you will pay me back with a kiss." He held the note out to Dan. "Right?"
Dan took the note warily. "Okay, I get that. And because I owe you the kiss, it becomes a liability?"
"Yes, but what happened to the cash?"
"Huh?"
"The twenty dollars cash, in your hand. What happened to it after I gave it to you?"
Dan blinked at the green note. "I banked it?"
"Yes. So you record it as twenty dollars to bank, and twenty dollars to owed kisses."
"But what about the revenue?"
"The revenue happens when it's earned, not when it's paid. You don't earn that revenue until you kiss me."
Dan dragged his lower lip between his teeth. "So, in a future reporting period, when I kiss you, that's when it becomes revenue?"
Casey nodded. "Until then, it's just proof that you owe me a service."
"And when I kiss you," Dan said slowly, "I record it as twenty dollars from owed kisses, and twenty dollars to revenue?"
"You've got it." Casey smiled. "So, what would the actual entries be?"
Dan scribbled on his notebook. "When you give me the money, it's twenty dollars debit to bank, and twenty dollars credit to owed kisses, which increases the balance of both." Casey nodded and Dan continued, "When I kiss you, it's twenty dollars debit to owed kisses and twenty dollars credit to revenue."
Casey grinned and let Dan keep talking.
"So the two basically cancel each other out, and it's still twenty dollars to bank and twenty to revenue, the same as the cash basis."
"Except…?"
Dan frowned. "Except… the accrual method is spread across the different periods… and records it when it's earned. Or accrued."
Casey wrapped an arm around Dan's shoulder. "By golly, he's got it!"
"Since I'm high on the euphoria of this making sense, I'm not going to mock the My Fair Lady reference," Dan said, smiling brightly. "Well, not at the moment."
Casey raised an elbow. "Okay, prove your genius, Einstein. If you pay next years rent in this period, how do you record it? Under both systems?"
"For cash, you record it as a credit to the bank, and a debit to rent expense," Dan said easily. "For accrual, you record it in this period as a credit to bank and a debit to pre-paid rent, which is an asset."
"Why?"
"Because it's something they owe me." Dan stretched back on the chair. Somehow, he made the action look very smug. "And in the next period, I credit pre-paid rent, and debit rent expense. Because I rule."
Casey laughed. "You are the master of accounting."
"Yes, I am." Dan stood up proudly.
"Now do you want to try the questions from topic six?" Casey asked mildly.
Dan's face fell. "You just couldn't let me enjoy the moment, could you? You had to bring me down with the thought of further work."
"You can enjoy the moment after you ace the exam."
Dan groaned and flipped over to the first question. He muttered something under his breath that Casey ignored.
Glancing over Dan's notes half-heartedly, Casey realised something. He was missing his twenty. "What happened to my twenty?"
Dan looked up at him. "It got debited to my bank account."
"No, Dan," Casey said in a long-suffering tone, "what happened to my twenty dollar note?"
Dan stared at him blankly.
"The one we were using for example purposes?"
Dan grinned. "Oh, that twenty."
"Yeah, that twenty," Casey said, watching Dan suspiciously. "What happened to it?"
Dan turned back to his books. "It's in my wallet."
"Why?"
"It's being used to buy you that beer tonight."
Casey boggled at him. "Dan?"
"Yeah?"
"You can't shout me a beer with my own money."
"I'm a poor student. Surely you don't begrudge me one drink?"
Casey was still thinking of a reply when Natalie stuck her head around the door. "Guys? Rundown meeting?"
"Dan won't give me back my twenty dollars," Casey whined as they stood up.
Dan shrugged as they followed Natalie to the conference room. "You snooze, you lose, Casey."
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Stop being petty."
"It's my twenty bucks!"
"Do you want me to get Jeremy to calculate twenty dollars as a percentage of your total salary?" Natalie asked sharply.
"No," Casey replied sullenly. Dan smirked at him.
***
no subject
Date: 2004-06-14 11:49 pm (UTC)For the rest of my life, I will laugh like a dork when doing journal entries, and no one will know why.
Casey picked up the twenty dollar note, and waved it in front of Dan. "I give you the twenty dollars, right? On the understanding that in the future, you will pay me back with a kiss." He held the note out to Dan. "Right?"
ohmygodyoubrokemybrain.
Accrual is the bestest thing ever. *blissful sigh*
no subject
Date: 2004-06-14 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 12:03 am (UTC)Well, considering how often our fic-writing brainwaves coincide, you can probably see where this is heading. *g*
no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 12:06 am (UTC)Why yes, I do believe I can. *waggles eyebrows*
*takes self and her happy accrual-related thoughts off to bed*
no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 12:10 am (UTC)*laughs* I thought so.
*takes self and her happy accrual-related thoughts off to bed*
Sleep well. I'd wish you sweet dreams, but I'm sure they will be.
(Mind you, I did dream about Bengay last night, after discussing it with you.I can't remember much, other than... I somehow got hold of a confidential AIDS test for Matt Damon, stating that he'd slept with 504 men and 584 women. The only other thing I remember is flashes of Matt kissing his way down Ben's stomach. Odd dreams. Fun, but odd.)
no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 12:23 am (UTC)*sniggers* I'll be the cause of mindless giggling in accounting offices? That has to be a good thing.
ohmygodyoubrokemybrain.
*pets celli and her broken brain*
It's okay, babe. It's not like you really *needed* that organ, right?
Accrual is the bestest thing ever. *blissful sigh*
Hee! Well, personally, I still prefer the word depreciation to accrual, but there's just no way you explain depreciation in terms of hot-guys-kissing.