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up vote 10 down vote

added by leeand00 Aug 5 '12 at 12:32

Accounts is more generic and usually refers to trade accounts (e.g. you buy some supplies "on account"). Notes payable are formal contracts, like a 90 day note from a lender. – andrewb Oct 1 '12 at 1:02

One is an asset and the other is a liability. – jhstuckey Mar 11 at 1:14

@jhstuckey, Incorrect, Accounts Payable and Notes Payable are both liability accounts. Accounts payable would be like a bill you received from a vendor. (normal course of business expenses) A note payable typically refers to some type of loan or structured debt. These can be classified as Short-term or long-term depending on when length of when the note is suppose to be repaid. These accounts are used to show the money still owed for Expenses and Assets already recorded. – Jordan Apr 3 at 22:56

@Jordan, thanks! I was certainly incorrect! Accounts Payable is the sum of what you owe people for stuff you've bought from them "on account". It exists only because there's this "lag time" between the time you get the good/service, and the time you pay for it. Notes Payable are "written promises to pay a certain sum of money on a specified future date." An example would be the bank lending you money for m months. You'd take the cash, and record your liability as a 'note payable.' – jhstuckey Apr 4 at 2:44

up vote 10 down vote

added by leeand00 Aug 5 '12 at 12:41

(I am totally biased here) – Chris Travers Oct 6 '12 at 3:37

up vote 9 down vote

added by rgvcorley Aug 17 '12 at 21:33

up vote 6 down vote

added by andrewb Oct 1 '12 at 1:04

Because of the prevalence of the double entry method. – jhstuckey Mar 11 at 1:14

up vote 6 down vote

added by Chris Travers Oct 6 '12 at 0:41

up vote 5 down vote

added by jmort253 Aug 5 '12 at 17:10

up vote 4 down vote

added by rfreytag Jul 31 '12 at 18:27

	Use the ROUND() formula function. Assuming your vaule of $1.085 appears in cell A1, you would write a formula in another formula like this: =ROUND(A1,2) – jevonearth Sep 6 '12 at 13:21
	Here's a link to the documentation for the ROUND() formula function: office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/… – jevonearth Sep 6 '12 at 13:22

up vote 4 down vote

added by leeand00 Aug 5 '12 at 12:33

I cannot be certain as my background isn't in Accounting, but I would imagine that when one is buying something on credit, the credit agreement is with the vendor, whereas when buying with a loan, the credit agreement is with a 3rd party such as a bank (while the vendor is paid off fully). – Umar Farooq Khawaja Dec 26 '12 at 11:16

up vote 3 down vote

added by Vadym Zhernovoi Aug 4 '12 at 19:24

up vote 3 down vote

added by leeand00 Aug 7 '12 at 4:01

up vote 2 down vote

added by Chris Travers Oct 6 '12 at 3:40

	They may seem that way because you're accustom to their meanings in English. However debit/credit in accounting-speak isn't the same as that. It's like a red-light. We've picked debits/credits to represent -/+ to accounts in an arbitrary fashion the same was red/yellow/green was chosen to represent go/stop/etc. – jhstuckey Mar 11 at 1:16
	jhstuckey, actually I think the conventional idea that these are arbitrary distinctions is incorrect. If you look at medieval debt accounting systems for the innumerate and compare to Pacioli's use of these Latin terms, they are anything but arbitrary. I don't really want to answer the question here, but I want to point out that there may be some potentially rich answers (regarding history of accounting) to this question. – Chris Travers May 2 at 2:39
	(I think those answers also make double entry accounting make sense in a way that a history-less perspective does not) – Chris Travers May 2 at 2:45

up vote 2 down vote

added by Marc DiMillo Jan 26 at 8:44

up vote 1 down vote

added by Chris Travers Oct 6 '12 at 3:47

up vote 1 down vote

added by user117521 Jan 29 at 3:02

up vote 1 down vote

added by Mark Feb 9 at 0:39

up vote 1 down vote

added by Vadym Zhernovoi Mar 30 at 11:40

up vote 0 down vote

added by jevonearth Sep 6 '12 at 13:29

up vote 0 down vote

added by boulder_ruby Nov 6 '12 at 18:21

up vote 0 down vote

added by leeand00 Mar 11 at 6:04

This is very vague. Do you have something more definite in mind? I mean I could give you a bunch of differences but they are pretty straight forward if you think about them. – Chris Travers May 14 at 10:00