Definition of Indirect-Method Format

Indirect-Method Format

A format for the operating section of the cash-flow statement that
presents the derivation of cash flow provided by operating activities. The format starts with net
income and adjusts for all nonoperating items and all noncash expenses and changes in working capital accounts.

Asymmetric information

Information that is known to some people but not to other people.

Capitalization method

A method of constructing a replicating portfolio in which the manager purchases a
number of the largest-capitalized names in the index stock in proportion to their capitalization.

Current rate method

Under this currency translation method, all foreign currency balance-sheet and income
statement items are translated at the current exchange rate.

Direct estimate method

A method of cash budgeting based on detailed estimates of cash receipts and cash
disbursements category by category.

Expected value of perfect information

The expected value if the future uncertain outcomes could be known
minus the expected value with no additional information.

Flow-through method

The practice of reporting to shareholders using straight-line depreciation and
accelerated depreciation for tax purposes and "flowing through" the lower income taxes actually paid to the
financial statement prepared for shareholders.

Indirect quote

For foreign exchange, the number of units of a foreign currency needed to buy one U.S.$.

Information asymmetry

A situation involving information that is known to some, but not all, participants.

Information Coefficient (IC)

The correlation between predicted and actual stock returns, sometimes used to
measure the value of a financial analyst. An IC of 1.0 indicates a perfect linear relationship between predicted
and actual returns, while an IC of 0.0 indicates no linear relationship.

Information costs

Transaction costs that include the assessment of the investment merits of a financial asset.
Related: search costs.

Information services

Organizations that furnish investment and other types of information, such as
information that helps a firm monitor its cash position.

Information-content effect

The rise in the stock price following the dividend signal.

Informational efficiency

The speed and accuracy with which prices reflect new information.

Informationless trades

Trades that are the result of either a reallocation of wealth or an implementation of an
investment strategy that only utilizes existing information.

Information-motivated trades

Trades in which an investor believes he or she possesses pertinent
information not currently reflected in the stock's price.

Insider information

Relevant information about a company that has not yet been made public. It is illegal for
holders of this information to make trades based on it, however received.

Log-linear least-squares method

A statistical technique for fitting a curve to a set of data points. One of the
variables is transformed by taking its logarithm, and then a straight line is fitted to the transformed set of data
points.

Monetary / non-monetary method

Under this translation method, monetary items (e.g. cash, accounts
payable and receivable, and long-term debt) are translated at the current rate while non-monetary items (e.g.
inventory, fixed assets, and long-term investments) are translated at historical rates.

Normalizing method

The practice of making a charge in the income account equivalent to the tax savings
realized through the use of different depreciation methods for shareholder and income tax purposes, thus
washing out the benefits of the tax savings reported as final net income to shareholders.

Purchase method

Accounting for an acquisition using market value for the consolidation of the two entities'
net assets on the balance sheet. Generally, depreciation/amortization will increase for this method compared
with pooling and will result in lower net income.

Residual method

A method of allocating the purchase price for the acquisition of another firm among the
acquired assets.

Simple compound growth method

A method of calculating the growth rate by relating the terminal value to
the initial value and assuming a constant percentage annual rate of growth between these two values.

Statement-of-cash-flows method

A method of cash budgeting that is organized along the lines of the statement of cash flows.

Temporal method

Under this currency translation method, the choice of exchange rate depends on the
underlying method of valuation. Assets and liabilities valued at historical cost (market cost) are translated at
the historical (current market) rate.

Indirect costs

Costs that are necessary to produce a product/service but are not readily traceable to particular products or services – see overhead.

Allowance method

A method of adjusting accounts receivable to the amount that is expected to be collected based on company experience.

Direct method

A method of preparing the operating section of the Statement of Cash Flows that uses the company’s actual cash inflows and cash outflows.

Direct write-off method

A method of adjusting accounts receivable to the amount that is expected to be collected by eliminating the account balances of specific nonpaying customers.

Indirect method

A method of preparing the operating section of the Statement of Cash Flows that does not use the company’s actual cash inflows and cash outflows, but instead arrives at the net cash flow by taking net income and adjusting it for noncash expenses and the changes from last year in the current assets and current liabilities.

algebraic method

a process of service department cost allocation
that considers all interrelationships of the departments
and reflects these relationships in simultaneous
equations

direct method

a service department cost allocation approach
that assigns service department costs directly to revenueproducing
areas with only one set of intermediate cost
pools or allocations

dividend growth method

a method of computing the cost
of common stock equity that indicates the rate of return
that common shareholders expect to earn in the form of
dividends on a company’s common stock

FIFO method (of process costing)

the method of cost assignment that computes an average cost per equivalent
unit of production for the current period; keeps beginning
inventory units and costs separate from current period production
and costs

high-low method

a technique used to determine the fixed
and variable portions of a mixed cost; it uses only the highest
and lowest levels of activity within the relevant range

indirect cost

a cost that cannot be traced explicitly to a particular
cost object; a common cost

information

bits of knowledge or fact that have been carefully
chosen from a body of data and arranged in a meaningful way

judgmental method (of risk adjustment)

an informal method of adjusting for risk that allows the decision maker
to use logic and reason to decide whether a project provides
an acceptable rate of return

management information system (MIS)

a structure of interrelated elements that collects, organizes, and communicates
data to managers so they may plan, control, evaluate
performance, and make decisions; the emphasis of the
MIS is on internal demands for information rather than external
demands; some or all of the MIS may be computerized
for ease of access to information, reliability of input
and processing, and ability to simulate outcomes of
alternative situations

method of least squares

see least squares regression analysis

method of neglect

a method of treating spoiled units in the
equivalent units schedule as if those units did not occur;
it is used for continuous normal spoilage

modified FIFO method (of process costing)

the method of cost assignment that uses FIFO to compute a cost per
equivalent unit but, in transferring units from a department,
the costs of the beginning inventory units and the
units started and completed are combined and averaged

net present value method

a process that uses the discounted
cash flows of a project to determine whether the
rate of return on that project is equal to, higher than, or
lower than the desired rate of return

risk-adjusted discount rate method

a formal method of adjusting for risk in which the decision maker increases the rate used for discounting the future cash flows to compensate for increased risk

simplex method

an iterative (sequential) algorithm used to solve multivariable, multiconstraint linear programming problems

six-sigma method

a high-performance, data-driven approach to analyzing and solving the root causes of business problems

step method

a process of service department cost allocation
that assigns service department costs to cost objects after
considering the interrelationships of the service departments
and revenue-producing departments

strict FIFO method (of process costing)

the method of cost assignment that uses FIFO to compute a cost per equivalent unit and, in transferring units from a department, keeps the
cost of the beginning units separate from the cost of the
units started and completed during the current period

weighted average method (of process costing)

the method of cost assignment that computes an average cost per
equivalent unit of production for all units completed during
the current period; it combines beginning inventory units
and costs with current production and costs, respectively,
to compute the average

Bootstrapping, bootstrap method

An arithmetic method for backing an
implied zero curve out of the par yield curve.

First in, first-out costing method (FIFO)

A process costing methodology that assigns the earliest
cost of production and materials to those units being sold, while the latest costs
of production and materials are assigned to those units still retained in inventory.

Indirect cost

A cost that is not directly associated with a single activity or event. Such
costs are frequently clumped into an overhead pool and allocated to various activities,
based on an allocation method that has a perceived or actual linkage between
the indirect cost and the activity.

Indirect labor

The cost of any labor that supports the production process, but which is
not directly involved in the active conversion of materials into finished products.

Moving average inventory method

An inventory costing methodology that calls for the re-calculation of the average cost of all parts in stock after every purchase.
Therefore, the moving average is the cost of all units subsequent to the latest purchase,
divided by their total cost.

Payback method

A capital budgeting analysis method that calculates the amount of
time it will take to recoup the investment in a capital asset, with no regard for the
time cost of money.

Purchase method

An accounting method used to combine the financial statements of
companies. This involves recording the acquired assets at fair market value, and the
excess of the purchase price over this value as goodwill, which will be amortized
over time.

information content of dividends

Dividend increases send good news about cash flow and earnings. Dividend cuts send bad news.

Indirect Taxes

Taxes paid by consumers when they buy goods and services. A sales tax is an example.

Benefit Ratio Method

The proportion of unemployment benefits paid to a company’s
former employees during the measurement period, divided by the total
payroll during the period. This calculation is used by states to determine the unemployment
contribution rate to charge employers.

Benefit Wage Ratio Method

The proportion of total taxable wages for laid off
employees during the measurement period divided by the total payroll during
the period. This calculation is used by states to determine the unemployment
contribution rate to charge employers.

Average-Cost Inventory Method

The inventory cost-flow assumption that assigns the average
cost of beginning inventory and inventory purchases during a period to cost of goods sold and
ending inventory.

Completed-Contract Method

A contract accounting method that recognizes contract revenue
only when the contract is completed. All contract costs are accumulated and reported as expense
when the contract revenue is recognized.

Direct-Method Format

A format for the operating section of the cash-flow statement that reports actual cash receipts and cash disbursements from operating activities.

Equity Method

Accounting method for an equity security in cases where the investor has sufficient
voting interest to have significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an
investee.

First-In, First-Out (FIFO) Inventory Method

The inventory cost-flow assumption that
assigns the earliest inventory acquisition costs to cost of goods sold. The most recent inventory
acquisition costs are assumed to remain in ending inventory.

Full-Cost Method

A method of accounting for petroleum exploration and development expenditures
that permits capitalization of all such expenditures, including those leading to productive
as well as nonproductive wells.

Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) Inventory Method

The inventory cost-flow assumption that assigns the most recent inventory acquisition costs to cost of goods sold. The earliest inventory
acquisition costs are assumed to remain in ending inventory.

Percentage-of-Completion Method

A contract accounting method that recognizes contract
revenue and contract expenses as progress toward completion is made.

Successful Efforts Method

A method of accounting for petroleum exploration and development
expenditures that permits capitalization of expenditures only on successful projects.

Medical Information Bureau

This organization was established in 1902. The Medical Information Bureau (M.I.B.) is a non-profit association of life insurance companies. Its purpose is to detect and deter fraud by providing warnings called, alerts, to member companies. For example, if an insurance applicant advised one insurance company of a heart attack and then applied to another insurance company omitting this history, codes, reported by the first insurance company, indicating a heart attack would alert the second insurance company to the undisclosed history. It is a rarity, however, that the alert is the only notice of a specific medical impairement as most applicants completely disclose their history.

Future-Oriented Financial Information

Information about prospective results of operations, financial position and/or changes in financial position, based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Future-oriented financial information is presented as either a forecast or a projection.

Net Present Value (NPV) Method

A method of ranking investment proposals. NPV is equal to the present value of the future returns, discounted at the marginal cost of capital, minus the present value of the cost of the investment.

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