once again, I will fail to feel sympathy for our property manager

[AccountingDrone]

Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country Mexico is not a third world country
MEXICO
IS NOT
A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY

yes it is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned or not moving at all with either capitalism and NATO (which along with its allies represented the First World) or communism and the Soviet Union (which along with its allies represented the Second World). This definition provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on social, political, and economic divisions.

Check the included map, Mexico is clearly marked as original definition third world.

[Andara Bledin]

yes it is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World
Check the included map, Mexico is clearly marked as original definition third world.

Yeah, but that's the old definition, and no longer all that valid/relevant.

These days it's listed as a "newly industrialized" nation or some such. As of last year. Seems they don't really use that whole First/Second/Third world split in either the original or later meanings, much.

^-.-^

[iradney]

Hey guys - let's leave the "third/first world" classification debate for fratching, mk?

Thanks

[blas]

Anyone who isn't pals with me on FB.....yesterday we got a passive-aggresive note on our doors about remembering to close our storm windows now that it's winter.

It was in all CAPS and started out professional then went to downright mean and condenscending.

Bonus...we aren't allowed to tape anything to walls/doors here because of "ruining" the paint (OMG DEPRECIATING THE VALUE!) but they tape every note they put on our doors, and our doors were just repainted in 2008.

Yep, I'm lighting candles and I don't give a shit.

[Raveni]

Bonus...we aren't allowed to tape anything to walls/doors here because of "ruining" the paint (OMG DEPRECIATING THE VALUE!) but they tape every note they put on our doors, and our doors were just repainted in 2008.

Is your condo unit not individually owned? If all the units are owned by the developer or one investor who you rent from, you're pretty much just living in a crappy apartment and won't ever get any meaningful response.

[Treasure]

but it was wrong (anyone with even a basic understanding of accounting will know everything they need to know about how wrong it was with this one sentence, they had a negative accounts receivable... for those not familiar with accounting, assuming you are following GAAP as set by FASB, trust me those acronyms mean something , it is theoretically impossible to have a negative accounts receivable).

uumm.... from what I understand, if your AR is negative that means that you owe the people PAYING you - it means they over paid you, and should have credits to their account....

so it is theoretically possible - but not smart... at the end of the year i believe your AR should zero out,(but not always possible) as that would mean that everybody paid what they owed and there are no outstanding "collections".

(I am not an accountant, but my mother is the bookkeeper for the company we both work for - this was confirmed with her)

[dalesys]

Is your condo unit not individually owned? If all the units are owned by the developer or one investor who you rent from, you're pretty much just living in a crappy apartment and won't ever get any meaningful response.

Isn't that a condom-minimum? AKA, a finger-cot?

[reimero]

Unless, of course, the contract states that one of the things for which you are paying is a parking spot, in which case you have a breach of contract claim and can do fun things like withhold rent or take them to small claims court.

[smileyeagle1021]

uumm.... from what I understand, if your AR is negative that means that you owe the people PAYING you - it means they over paid you, and should have credits to their account....

so it is theoretically possible - but not smart... at the end of the year i believe your AR should zero out,(but not always possible) as that would mean that everybody paid what they owed and there are no outstanding "collections".

(I am not an accountant, but my mother is the bookkeeper for the company we both work for - this was confirmed with her)

The loophole that allows that though is very rapidly being closed... the United States is one of the few countries that you can do that and not be wrong (notice I didn't say that it was right). Most countries require you either follow an accrual basis or a cash basis, but the US allows a hybrid basis (which is rapidly being chipped away). If they are under a cash basis they cannot report any accounts recievable, everything is redcorded when cash changes hands (regardless of when the service is actually provided), and on accrual basis everything is recorded when the service is provided (regardless of when cash changes hands). And under true accrual based accounting there is the accounts receivable account (an asset, because you have provided the service already and are therefor entitled to cash) and a prepaid revenue account (a liability, because you have not yet provided the asset and thus are not yet entitled to the cash).
So while yes, for the time being it is still not incorrect, pretty much any accounting student past their first year can tell you that it is a really stupid idea because when (not if, but when) the US aligns its accounting rules to the rest of the world, that practice will not be allowed and the company will have a shitload of work to do recreating their accounts and records to be compliant.

[dalesys]

...the company will have a shitload of work to do recreating their accounts and records to be compliant.

So that would be recreational accounting?

(rather than (pro)creative)

[telecom_goddess]

Yep, I'm lighting candles and I don't give a shit.

YAY!!!!! I am pals with you on FB post a pic there

[Primer]

If they are under a cash basis they cannot report any accounts receivable, everything is recorded when cash changes hands (regardless of when the service is actually provided), and on accrual basis everything is recorded when the service is provided (regardless of when cash changes hands). And under true accrual based accounting there is the accounts receivable account (an asset, because you have provided the service already and are therefor entitled to cash) and a prepaid revenue account (a liability, because you have not yet provided the asset and thus are not yet entitled to the cash).

Perhaps an unearned revenue account?

I'll admit it's been awhile since I was involved in accounting, but is it going away from recording when anything of value "changes hands?" (revenue earned, money received, merchandise handed over, etc.)

[Kogarashi]

Yeah, we get similar here. "Only one car per apartment in the lot; rest on the street. Don't let your guests here. Parking passes only; cars with no passes will be towed. Yadda yadda yadda."

Since we started taking my oldest to preschool this year, I've been noticing the lot being more full than it should. There are two cars right outside our stairwell that I'm pretty sure both belong to our upstairs neighbors.

Well, we got an e-mail yesterday from the housing office basically saying, "Hey, we've heard there are cars without permits in the lot. If yours is one of these, get a permit on it by this afternoon 'cause we're coming in with the tow truck tomorrow." Took them long enough to notice (and yes, residents have mentioned this over the past two months). I noticed this morning when I got back from taking Oldest to preschool that there were five empty parking spaces, when normally there's maybe one. And one of the two vehicles I'd mentioned before, the one sans parking permit, was parked on the street (fair game parking). No, that's not suspect at all.

And I'll wager that vehicle's back in the lot by next week. ::grumpy face::

[smileyeagle1021]

Perhaps an unearned revenue account?

I'll admit it's been awhile since I was involved in accounting, but is it going away from recording when anything of value "changes hands?" (revenue earned, money received, merchandise handed over, etc.)

unearned is probably more correct.
I'm taking intermediate accounting right now, which at least at UVU is the class where they say "there's accounting and then there is accounting... and we aren't sure which one we are teaching you either"
This is the class that goes into allocated expenses and revenues (for things such as construction projects where the amount that has been 'earned' does not necessarily line up with the amount that has been billed to date) and inventory management (which inventory management in the United States is the most convoluted in the world... everywhere else, the first product you buy is assumed to be the first you sell, and when recording cost of goods sold remove the oldest items from inventory first... in the US you can do that, or you can do weighted averages of costs, you can do a last in first out assumption, you can even say "to hell with actually counting inventory, we're going to guess based on how much revenue was".)
So, long story short, ultimately yes there is a recording of every time anything changes hands... the changes are in how it is being reported, with a lot of emphasis on how revenue is reported (believe it or not, there is as of yet no firm rule for when and how to recognize revenue... just a series of 20 something examples where the FASB has explained how they would report for that example).

[Andara Bledin]

....you can even say "to hell with actually counting inventory, we're going to guess based on how much revenue was".

Hey, we've got vendors who work on that principle!

We buy a lot of surplus. Most of our stock comes in the form of lots, and there are a lot of companies that rather than actually counting what they have, they just weight it on a scale, give you a guesstimate of what's in the box, and let you make an offer.

Hell, US Customs auctions run a lot like this. >_< Only they'll tell you that they have three different sizes of boxes, and how many boxes total, but not how many of each size. Plus, they won't tell you that anywhere from 5 to 50 of said boxes happen to also be empty. >_< I only wish I were joking.

^-.-^