The use of borrowed funds at a fixed rate of interest in an effort to boost the rate of return from an investment. Increased leverage causes the risk and return on an investment to also increase.
Derivatives
A tradable financial instrument whose value is dependent on the value of an underlying financial asset or a combination of assets. For instance, an option is a derivative because the value of the option changes in relation to the performance of an underlying stock. Other examples would include futures contracts and mortgage-backed securities. Investors often use derivatives to hedge a portfolio or improve overall returns.
Hedging
Taking a position in a futures market opposite to a position held in the cash market to minimize the risk of financial loss from an adverse price change; or a purchase or sale of futures as a temporary substitute for a cash transaction that will occur later. One can hedge either a long cash market position (e.g., one owns the cash commodity) or a short cash market position (e.g., one plans on buying the cash commodity in the future).
Operating Profit
Income from a company’s ordinary business activities which excludes interest and income tax expenses. Also known as Earnings before interest and, taxes
CAPITALIZED INTEREST
Interest incurred on funds (borrowed) used in the construction of fixed assets is capitalized to the cost of the asset. Usually, such interest is reduced from the total interest expenditure and only net is shown in the income statement.
Accounts Receivable
Money which is owed to a company by customers who have bought goods and services on credit. It is a current asset that will repeatedly turn into cash as customers pay their bills. Also known as receivables
Inventory
Merchandise that is purchased and/or produced and stored for eventual sale.
Inventories are defined in ARB43, CHAPTER 4 as follows:
"Inventory represents those items of tangible property:
Which are held for sale in the ordinary course of business of the company (or)
In the process of production for such sale (or)
Such materials or supplies that are held for use in such a process
Depreciation
The periodic write-off of a capital asset (a building, vehicle, piece of equipment, etc.) over the asset’s useful life. This allows a business to claim a deduction for assets which would otherwise not be able to be deducted in just one year.
Accounting charge for the decline in value of an asset spread over its economic life. Depreciation includes deterioration from use, age, and exposure to the elements, as well as decline in value caused by obsolescence, loss of usefulness, and the availability of newer and more efficient means of serving the same purpose. It does not include sudden losses caused by fire, accident, or disaster. Depreciation is often used in assessing the value of property (e.g., buildings, machinery) or other assets of limited life (e.g., a leasehold or copyright) for tax purposes
Amortization
The reduction of a debt incurred, for example, in the purchase of stocks or bonds, by regular payments consisting of interest and part of the principal made over a specified time period upon the expiration of which the entire debt is repaid. A mortgage is amortized when it is repaid with periodic payments over a particular term. After a certain portion of each payment is applied to the interest on the debt, any balance reduces the principal.
The allocation of the cost of an intangible asset, for example, a patent or copyright, over its estimated useful life that is considered an expense of doing business and is used to offset the earnings of the asset by its declining value. If an intangible asset has an indefinite life, such as good will, it cannot be amortized.
Amortization is not the same as depreciation, which is the allocation of the original cost of a tangible asset computed over its anticipated useful life, based on its physical wear and tear and the passage of time. Amortization of intangible assets and depreciation of tangible assets are used for tax purposes to reduce the yearly income generated by the assets by their decreasing values so that the tax imposed upon the earnings of assets is less. Amortization differs from depletion, which is a reduction in the book value of a natural resource, such as a mineral, resulting from its conversion into a marketable product. Depletion is used for a similar tax purpose as amortization and depreciation—to reduce the yearly income generated by the asset by the expenses involved in its sale so that less tax will be due.
Minority interest
Minority interest in business is ownership of a company that is less than 50% of outstanding shares. Revenue and expense from "minority interests" are sometimes reported on the income statement of the owning company.
Deferred expense
An expense that is paid before the corresponding benefit is fully received, such as a prepaid insurance premium. For accounting purposes, the expense is listed as an asset until the paid-for benefit is obtained, and is usually prorated over a number of subsequent accounting periods.
Deferred income
Any income that is received before it is due or before it is earned. Rent paid in advance is an example of deferred income that is received during one accounting period but earned in later accounting period. Interest received that applies to a subsequent period of the loan term is also deferred income. The crediting of the income is deferred until such time as it is earned. Until then, it is listed on a balance sheet as a current liability.
Capital Employed
1. The total amount of capital used for the acquisition of profits.
2. The value of all the assets employed in a business.
3. Fixed assets plus working capital.
4. Total assets less current liabilities.
Senior debt
A class of corporate debt that has priority with respect to interest and principal over other classes of debt and over all classes of equity by the same issuer.
Loans or debt securities that have claim prior to junior obligations and equity on a corporation's assets in the event of liquidation.
A bond or other form of debt that takes priority over other debt securities sold by the issuer
Junior debt
Debt that is either unsecured or has a lower priority than that of another debt claim on the same asset or property. Also called subordinated debt.
Deferred tax
Is an accounting term, meaning future tax liability or asset, resulting from temporary differences between book (accounting) value of assets and liabilities, and their tax value.
Tangible
Possessing a physical form that can be touched or felt.
Tangible refers to that which can be seen, weighed, measured, or apprehended by the senses. A tangible object is something that is real and substantial. An automobile is an example of tangible personal property.
Intangible asset
An asset that has no substance or physical properties. Intangible assets include goodwill, patent rights, permits, copyrights and licenses.
Underwriter
A company or other entity that administers the public issuance and distribution of securities from a corporation or other issuing body. An underwriter works closely with the issuing body to determine the offering price of the securities buys them from the issuer and sells them to investors via the underwriter's distribution network
What are deferred taxes?
The need for deferred tax accounting arises because companies often postpone or pre-pay taxes on profits pertaining to a particular period.
When a company arrives at its profits or losses for a period, it does so after deducting all the expenses, including the tax for the period, from the revenues earned. But a company's profits/losses reported to investors often differ, sometimes substantially, from the profits the taxman lays claim to.
What are the situations in which there is a deferred tax liability?
There may be a difference in the way certain items of expense are allowed to be treated for tax purposes and how a company actually treats them.
Tax laws allow 100% depreciation in the first year after a company acquires certain assets. But a company may actually write off the depreciation over a larger number of years in its financials. The company may charge depreciation at lower rates than allowed under tax laws. Or it may use a different method of charging depreciation.
Tax laws may allow a company to deduct certain expenses in full in a single year, but it may phase out the charge over a number of years.
How should companies account for this?
Under the old system of accounting only for current taxes, the company's profits would be artificially high in the first year (due to the tax savings).
The profits would, however, be lower in the subsequent years, as the tax laws in the subsequent years would not recognize the depreciation charge or the amortised expense, as the case may be.
But the new accounting standard requires that a company carve out a part of its current year's profits (equal to the future tax liability on such transactions) as a deferred tax liability. The deferred tax liability serves the purpose of a reserve, which will be drawn down in the future years to meet the company's higher tax liability in those years.
When does a company create a deferred tax asset?
The tax laws may not recognize some of the expenses that a company has charged off in its accounts. For instance, provisions made at the discretion of the management, such as those for bad debts, which are not fully recognised by tax authorities. And expenses which are accounted for on an accrual basis (that is, when they become due and not when they are actually paid). Companies may charge off duty, cess and tax dues against profits when they become due, but they would be recognized for tax computation only when actually paid.
In such cases, a company is actually pre-paying taxes pertaining to future years. For the year, the profits that the taxman calculates would be higher than those computed in the company's books of accounts.
So, while the company shells out a disproportionately high tax in the current year, it would save on tax in the years when the expenses or provisions actually materialise.
Why account for deferred taxes?
By recognizing deferred tax liabilities in its books, a company makes sure that the tax liability for any particular year is reflected in that year's financials and does not carry over to future profits.
It brings investors one step closer to understanding exactly how much of a company's profits for a period are from its operations (rather than from
CASH FLOW STATEMENT
Statement showing from what sources cash has come into the business and on what the cash has been spent. The net result is reflected in the balance of the cash account as of a certain period of time. This is a valuable tool in financial statement analysis. Statement of cash flows
One of the quarterly financial reports any publicly traded company is required to disclose to the SEC and the public. The document provides aggregate data regarding all cash inflows a company receives from both its ongoing operations and external investment sources, as well as all cash outflows that pay for business activities and investments during a given quarter
Analysis of CASH FLOW included as part of the financial statements in annual reports of publicly held companies as set forth in Statement 95 of the FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (FASB). The statement shows how changes in balance sheet and income accounts affected cash and cash equivalents and breaks the analysis down according to operating, investing, and financing activities. As an analytical tool, the statement of cash flows reveals healthy or unhealthy trends and makes it possible to predict future cash requirements. It also shows how actual cash flow measured up to estimates and permits comparisons with other companies
EPS
Calculated by dividing a company’s net profit by the number of common shares outstanding. It is a gauge of a company’s performance. EPS = net profit after taxes – preferred dividends / number of common shares outstanding
Return on Capital, also known as Return On Invested Capital (ROIC) is defined as:
NOPLAT / Invested Capital
Usually expressed as a percentage.
NOPLAT = Net Operating Profit Less Adjusted Tax - used to normalise effects of company's capital structure. It's the net profit with a few costs backed out, cost of interest and depreciation (accrual accounting of capital expenditures).
When the ROIC is greater than the cost of capital (usually measured as weighted average cost of capital), the company is creating value. When it is less than the cost of capital, value is destroyed. The cost of capital is just one of many costs in a company, so a company that has a profit on its income statement must by definition be "creating value".
Tier 1 capital
Tier 1 capital is the core measure of a bank's financial strength from a regulator's point of view. It consists of the types of capital considered the most reliable and liquid, primarily equity. Examples of Tier 1 capital are common stock, preferred stock that is irredeemable and non-cumulative, and retained earnings.
The theoretical reason for holding capital is that it should provide protection against unexpected losses. Note that this is not the same as expected losses-- provisions and reserves are for expected losses.
Collateral offered by a debtor to a lender to secure a loan, called collateral security
Deferred compensation
Compensation earned by an individual, the receipt of which is postponed until a later date, usually upon termination of employment or retirement. Typically, the deferred amounts are invested on the recipient's behalf and may be supplemented by contributions by the company. If the compensation arrangement meets certain requirements, an individual may not pay income taxes on the compensation until he or she receives a distribution of some or all of the deferred amounts.
Lease: A contract through which an owner of equipment (the lessor) conveys the right to use its equipment to another party (the lessee) for a specified period of time (the lease term) for specified periodic payments.
Leases can be classified as Operating leases and Capital leases
Capital Lease: A lease that meets at least one of the criteria outlined in paragraph 7 of FASB 13 and, therefore, must be treated essentially as a loan for book accounting purposes. The four criteria are:
1. Title passes automatically by the end of the lease term.
2. Lease contains a bargain purchase option (i.e., less than the fair market value).
3. Lease term is greater than 75% of estimated economic life of the equipment.
4. Present value of lease payments is greater than 90% of the equipment's fair market value
Bargain Purchase Option: An option given to the lessee to purchase the equipment on lease at a price that is less than the expected fair market value so that, at the inception of the lease, it is reasonable to assume that the lessee will definitely purchase the equipment on the option date
Operating Lease: A lease, which is treated as a true lease (as opposed to a loan) for book accounting purposes. As defined in FASB 13, an operating lease must have all of the following characteristics:
(i) Lease term is less than 75% of estimated economic life of the equipment.
(ii) Present value of lease payments is less than 90% of the equipment's fair market value.
(iii) Lease cannot contain a bargain purchase option (i.e., less than the fair market value).
(iv) Ownership is retained by the lessor during and after the lease term.
Bargain Purchase Option: An option given to the lessee to purchase the equipment on lease at a price that is less than the expected fair market value.
An operating lease is accounted for by the lessee without showing an asset (for the equipment) or a liability (for the lease payment obligations) on his balance sheet. Periodic payments are accounted for by the lessee as Rental Expenses (operating expenses) of the period
American Depositary Receipts
Issued by U.S. banks, APRs represent shares of stock in a foreign company and are listed on NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ. Foreign stocks are traded on U.S. exchanges in the form of American Depositary Receipts. ADRs are subject to SEC regulation
General notes about Dividends: Dividends are the Pro rata distribution of earnings to the owners of the corporation. Dividends become a liability of the corporation when the Board of Directors declares them.
Source for the payment of dividend: Dividends are paid from Retained Earnings. Traditionally, corporations were not allowed to declare dividends in excess of the amount of retained earnings. Alternatively, a corporation could pay dividends out of retained earnings and additional paid in capital but could not exceed the total of these categories In other words they could not impair legal capital by the payment of dividends.
What is the Mode of dividend payment?
Dividends may be distributed in the form of cash, property, scrip or stock.
Cash dividends are either a given dollar amount per share or a percentage of par or stated value. Property dividends consist of the distribution of any assets other than cash (e.g. inventory or equipment). Scrip dividends are promissory notes due at some time in the future. Some times bearing interest until final payment is made.
Finally stock dividends are distributed in the form of shares. According to the US GAAP if stock dividend affects the market price of the common stock it will not be treated as stock dividend but it will be treated as split. And if market price is not affected with the stock dividend then it will be treated as stock dividend.
Global Depositary Receipt – GDR
1. A bank certificate issued in more than one country for shares in a foreign company. The shares are held by a foreign branch of an international bank. The shares trade as domestic shares, but are offered for sale globally through the various bank branches.
2. A financial instrument used by private markets to raise capital denominated in either U.S. dollars or euros
1. A GDR is very similar to an American Depositary Receipt.
2. These instruments are called EDRs when private markets are attempting to obtain euros.
Gross Income:
1. An individual's total personal income before taking taxes or deductions into account.
2. A company's revenue minus cost of goods sold. Also called "gross margin" and "gross profit".
• Your gross income is how much you make before taxes. It is the figure people are looking for when they ask how much you gross a month.
• This is an important number when analyzing a company, it indicates how efficiently management uses labor and supplies in the production process. Keep in mind that gross income varies significantly from industry to industry.
Net Income – NI: A company's total earnings (or profit). Net income is calculated by taking revenues and adjusting for the cost of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. This number is found on a company's income statement and is an important measure of how profitable the company is over a period of time. The measure is also used to calculate earnings per share.
Often referred to as "the bottom line" since net income is listed at the bottom of the income statement. In the U.K., net income is known as "profit attributable to shareholders".
2. An individual’s income after deductions, credits and taxes are factored into gross income. Deductions and credits are subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income, which is used to calculate income tax. Net income is income tax subtracted from taxable income.
Derivative: In finance, a security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.
What is the weighted average of outstanding shares? How is it calculated?
The amount of shares outstanding in a company will often change due to a company issuing new shares, repurchasing and retiring existing shares, and other financial instruments such as employee options being converted into shares.
The weighted average of outstanding shares is a calculation that incorporates any changes in the amount of outstanding shares over a reporting period. It is an important number, as it is used to calculate key financial measures such as earnings per share (EPS) for the time period.
Let's look at an example:
Say a company has 100,000 shares outstanding at the start of the year. Halfway through the year, it issues an additional 100,000 shares, so the total amount of shares outstanding increases to 200,000. If at the end of the year the company reports earnings of $200,000, which amount of shares should be used to calculate EPS: 100,000 or 200,000? If the 200,000 shares were used, the EPS would be $1, and if 100,000 shares were used, the EPS would be $2 - this is quite a large range!
This potentially large range is the reason why a weighted average is used, as it ensures that financial calculations will be as accurate as possible in the event the amount of a company's shares changes over time. The weighted average number of shares is calculated by taking the number of outstanding shares and multiplying the portion of the reporting period those shares covered, doing this for each portion and, finally, summing the total. The weighted average number of outstanding shares in our example would be 150,000 shares.
The earnings per share calculation for the year would then be calculated as earnings divided by the weighted average number of shares ($200,000/150,000), which is equal to $1.33 per share.
Mutual Funds: These are open-end funds that are not listed for trading on a stock exchange and are issued by companies which use their capital to invest in other companies. Mutual funds sell their own new shares to investors and buy back their old shares upon redemption. Capitalization is not fixed and normally shares are issued as people want them.
Letters of Credit:
Letter of Credit is a letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer's payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In the event that the buyer is unable to make payment on the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase.
Revolving Credit
Revolving Credit is a line of credit where the customer pays a commitment fee and is then allowed to use the funds when they are needed. It is normally used for operating purposes, fluctuating each month depending on the customers current cash flow needs.
Commercial Paper
Commercial Paper is a short-term debt instrument issued by a corporation, typically for the financing of accounts receivable, inventories and meeting short-term liabilities. The debt is usually issued at a discount, reflecting prevailing market interest rates.
Capital Expenditure
Funds used by a company to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as property, industrial buildings or equipment. This type of outlay is made by companies to maintain or increase the scope of their operation. These expenditures can include everything from repairing a roof to building a brand new factory.
Capital Gain
An increase in the value of a capital asset (investment or real estate) that gives it a higher worth than the purchase price. The gain is not realized until the asset is sold. A capital gain may be short term (one year or less) or long term (more than one year) and must be claimed on income taxes.
Recurring Revenue
The portion of a company's revenue that is highly likely to continue in the future. This is revenue that is predictable, stable and can be counted on in the future with a high degree of certainty
Nonrecurring Charge
An expense occurring only once on a company's financial statement
EPS:
The portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. EPS serves as an indicator of a company's profitability.
Calculated as: NI - Dividend on Preferred Stock
________________________________
Avg Outstanding Shares
In the EPS calculation, it is more accurate to use a weighted-average number of shares outstanding over the reporting term, because the number of shares outstanding can change over time. However, data sources sometimes simplify the calculation by using the number of shares outstanding at the end of the period.
Diluted EPS expands on the basic EPS by including the shares of convertibles or warrants outstanding in the outstanding shares number.
Diluted EPS
A performance metric used to gauge the quality of a company's earnings per share (EPS) if all convertible securities were exercised. Convertible securities refers to all outstanding convertible preferred shares, convertible debentures, stock options (primarily employee based) and warrants. Unless the company has no additional potential shares outstanding (a relatively rare circumstance) the diluted EPS will always be lower than the simple EPS.
Common Stock
A security that represents ownership in a corporation. Holders of common stock exercise control by electing a board of directors and voting on corporate policy. Common stockholders are on the bottom of the priority ladder for ownership structure. In the event of liquidation, common shareholders have rights to a company's assets only after bondholders, preferred shareholders and other debtholders have been paid in full.
In the U.K., these are called "ordinary shares".
Preferred Stock
A class of ownership in a corporation that has a higher claim on the assets and earnings than common stock. Preferred stock generally has a dividend that must be paid out before dividends to common stockholders and the shares usually do not have voting rights.
The precise details as to the structure of preferred stock is specific to each corporation. However, the best way to think of preferred stock is as a financial instrument that has characteristics of both debt (fixed dividends) and equity (potential appreciation). Also known as "preferred shares".
Dividend
Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders. The dividend is most often quoted in terms of the dollar amount each share receives (i.e. dividends per share or DPS). It can also be quoted in terms of a percent of the current market price, referred to as dividend yield.
Going Concern
A term for a company that has the resources needed in order to continue to operate. If a company is not a going concern, it means the company has gone bankrupt.
Mutual Fund
A security that gives small investors access to a well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the fund. Shares are issued and can be redeemed as needed
Gross Income
1. An individual's total personal income before taking taxes or deductions into account.
2. A company's revenue minus cost of goods sold. Also called "gross margin" and "gross profit".
Net Income - NI
1. A company's total earnings (or profit). Net income is calculated by taking revenues and adjusting for the cost of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. This number is found on a company's income statement and is an important measure of how profitable the company is over a period of time. The measure is also used to calculate earnings per share.
Often referred to as "the bottom line" since net income is listed at the bottom of the income statement. In the U.K., net income is known as "profit attributable to shareholders".
2. An individual’s income after deductions, credits and taxes are factored into gross income. Deductions and credits are subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income, which is used to calculate income tax. Net income is income tax subtracted from taxable income.
Securities And Exchange Board Of India - SEBI:
The regulatory body for the investment market in India. The purpose of this board is to maintain stable and efficient markets by creating and enforcing regulations in the market place.
Securities And Exchange Commission - SEC
A government commission created by Congress to regulate the securities markets and protect investors. In addition to regulation and protection, it also monitors the corporate takeovers in the U.S. The SEC is composed of five commissioners appointed by the U.S. President and approved by the Senate. The statutes administered by the SEC are designed to promote full public disclosure and to protect the investing public against fraudulent and manipulative practices in the securities markets. Generally, most issues of securities offered in interstate commerce, through the mail or on the internet, must be registered with the SEC.
Sunk Cost
A cost that has been incurred and cannot be reversed. Also referred to as "stranded cost."
Retained Earnings
The percentage of net earnings not paid out as dividends, but retained by the company to be reinvested in its core business or to pay debt. It is recorded under shareholders' equity on the balance sheet.
Calculated by adding net income to (or subtracting any net losses from) beginning retained earnings and subtracting any dividends paid to shareholders:
RE = Beginning RE + NI - Dividends
Also known as the "retention ratio" or "retained surplus".
Fixed Asset
A long-term tangible piece of property that a firm owns and uses in the production of its income and is not expected to be consumed or converted into cash any sooner than at least one year's time.
Financial Asset
An asset that derives value because of a contractual claim. Stocks, bonds, bank deposits, and the like are all examples of financial assets.
Capitalized Interest
The amount of accrued interest that is added to an original principal loan amount because the borrower either has not made large enough payments or has made no payments at all. In such a situation, the borrower is paying interest on interest.
Net Worth
The amount by which a company or individual's assets exceed their liabilities.
Interim Dividend
A dividend payment made before a company's AGM and final financial statements. This declared dividend usually accompanies the company's interim financial statements.
Final Dividend
The final dividend declared at a company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) for any given year. This amount is calculated after all financial statements are recorded and the directors are aware of the company's profitability and financial health.
GROSS WORKING CAPITAL
Total cash and cash equivalents (CURRENT ASSETS); used when discussing cash flow as opposed to discussing assets.
NET WORKING CAPITAL
More precise wording for WORKING CAPITAL to differentiate from GROSS WORKING CAPITAL. See WORKING CAPITAL
A measure of both a company's efficiency and its short-term financial health. The working capital ratio is calculated as:
WC = CA - CL
WORKING CAPITAL:
Positive working capital means that the company is able to pay off its short-term liabilities. Negative working capital means that a company currently is unable to meet its short-term liabilities with its current assets (cash, accounts receivable, inventory).
Also known as "net working capital".
Futures:
A financial contract obligating the buyer to purchase an asset (or the seller to sell an asset), such as a physical commodity or a financial instrument, at a predetermined future date and price. Futures contracts detail the quality and quantity of the underlying asset; they are standardized to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. Some futures contracts may call for physical delivery of the asset, while others are settled in cash. The futures markets are characterized by the ability to use very high leverage relative to stock markets.
Futures can be used either to hedge or to speculate on the price movement of the underlying asset. For example, a producer of corn could use futures to lock in a certain price and reduce risk (hedge). On the other hand, anybody could speculate on the price movement of corn by going long or short using futures.
Option:
A privilege sold by one party to another that offers the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) a security at an agreed-upon price during a certain period of time or on a specific date
Derivative:
In finance, a security whose price is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.
Fixed Cost
A cost that remains constant, regardless of any change in a company's activity.
Variable Cost
A cost that changes in proportion to a change in a company's activity or business.
Depletion
An accounting term describing the amortization of assets that can be physically reduced.
Depreciation
1. In accounting, an expense recorded to allocate a tangible asset's cost over its useful life. Since it is a non-cash expense, it increases free cash flow while decreasing reported earnings.
2. A decrease in the value of a particular currency relative to other currencies.
ADR:
A negotiable certificate issued by a U.S. bank representing a specified number of shares (or one share) in a foreign stock that is traded on a U.S. exchange. ADRs are denominated in U.S. dollars, with the underlying security held by a U.S. financial institution overseas. ADRs help to reduce administration and duty costs that would otherwise be levied on each transaction.
Debenture:
A type of debt instrument that is not secured by physical asset or collateral. Debentures are backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer. Both corporations and governments frequently issue this type of bond in order to secure capital. Like other types of bonds, debentures are documented in an indenture.
Goodwill
An account that can be found in the assets portion of a company's balance sheet. Goodwill can often arise when one company is purchased by another company. In an acquisition, the amount paid for the company over book value usually accounts for the target firm's intangible assets.
Venture Capital
Financing for new businesses. In other words, money provided by investors to startup firms and small businesses with perceived, long-term growth potential. This is a very important source of funding for startups that do not have access to capital markets. It typically entails high risk for the investor, but it has the potential for above-average returns.
Net Asset Value
1. In the context of mutual funds, the total value of the fund's portfolio less liabilities. The NAV is usually calculated on a daily basis.
2. In terms of corporate valuations, the book value of assets less liabilities.
Provision:
A legal clause or condition contained within a contract that requires or prevents either one or both parties to perform a particular requirement by some specified time. Specified requirements can include, but are not limited to, sunset, soft call, anti-dilution, and anti-greenmail provisions.
Intangible Asset
An asset that is not physical in nature. Corporate intellectual property (items such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, business methodologies), goodwill and brand recognition are all common intangible assets in today's marketplace. An intangible asset can be classified as either indefinite or definite depending on the specifics of that asset. A company brand name is considered to be an indefinite asset, as it stays with the company as long as the company continues operations. However, if a company enters a legal agreement to operate under another company's patent, with no plans of extending the agreement, it would have a limited life and would be classified as a definite asset.
Paid In Capital:
Capital received from investors in exchange for stock. This is recorded as an entry on the balance sheet.
Paid-Up Capital:
The total amount of shareholder capital that has been paid in full by shareholders.
P/E Ratio: Market Value per Share
EPS
Letter A
ABNORMAL RETURNS is the difference between the actual return and that is expected to result from market movements (normal return).
ABNORMAL SPOILAGE is spoilage that is not part of everyday operations. It occurs for reasons such as the following: out-of-control manufacturing processes, unusual machine breakdowns, and unexpected electrical outages that result in a number of spoiled units. Some abnormal spoilage is considered avoidable; that is, if managers monitor processes and maintain machinery appropriately, little spoilage will occur. To highlight these types of problems so that they can be monitored, abnormal spoilage is recorded in a Loss from Abnormal Spoilage Account in the general ledger and is not included in the job costing inventory accounts (work in process, finished goods, and cost of goods sold).
ABOVE THE LINE, in accounting, denotes revenue and expense items that enter fully and directly into the calculation of periodic net income, in contrast to below the line items that affect capital accounts directly and net income only indirectly.
ABOVE THE LINE, for the individual, is a term derived from a solid bold line on Form 1040 and 1040A above the line for adjusted gross income. Items above the line prior to coming to adjusted gross income, for example, can include: IRA contributions, half of the self-employment tax, self-employed health insurance deduction, Keogh retirement plan and self-employed SEP deduction, penalty on early withdrawal of savings, and alimony paid. A taxpayer can take deductions above the line and still claim the standard deduction.
ABSOLUTE CHANGE is a numerical change in an empirical value, e.g. cost of goods was reduced by $9.00.
ABSORB is to assimilate, transfer or incorporate amounts in an account or a group of accounts in a manner in which the first entity loses its identity and is "absorbed" within the second entity. For example, see ABSORPTION COSTING.
ABSORBED COSTS incorporates both variable and fixed costs.
ABSORPTION see ABSORB.
ABSORPTION COSTING is the method under which all manufacturing costs, both variable and fixed, are treated as product costs with non-manufacturing costs, e.g. selling and administrative expenses, being treated as period costs.
ABSORPTION VARIANCE is the variance from budgeted absorption costing of manufactured product. See also ABSORPTION COSTING.
ACAT (Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation) is a national organization established in 1973 as a non-profit independent testing, accrediting and monitoring organization. The Council seeks to identify professionals in independent practice who specialize in providing financial, accounting and taxation services to individuals and small to mid-size businesses. Professionals receive accreditation through examination and/or coursework and maintain accreditation through commitment to a significant program of continuing professional education and adherence to the Council's Code of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct.
ACB normally refers to 'adjusted cost base.'
ACCELERATED DEPRECIATION is a method of calculating depreciation with larger amounts in the first year(s).
ACCEPTANCE is a drawee's promise to pay either a TIME DRAFT or SIGHT DRAFT. Normally, the acceptor signs his/her name after writing "accepted" (or some other words indicating acceptance) on the bill along with the date. That "acceptance" effectively makes the bill a promissory note, i.e. the acceptor is the maker and the drawer is the endorser.
ACCOMODATION ENDORSEMENT is a) the guarantee given by one legal entity to induce a lender to grant a loan to another legal entity. b) a banking practice where one bank endorses the acceptances of another bank, for a fee, qualifying them for purchase in the acceptance market.
ACCOUNT is the detailed record of a particular asset, liability, owners' equity, revenue or expense.
ACCOUNT AGING usually refers to the methods of tracking past due accounts in accounts receivable based on the dates the charges were incurred. Account aging can also be used in accounts payable, to a lesser degree, to monitor payment history to suppliers.
ACCOUNT ANALYSIS is a way to measure cost behavior. It selects a volume-related cost driver and classifies each account from the accounting records as a fixed or variable cost. The cost accountant then looks at each cost account balance and estimates either the variable cost per unit of cost driver activity or the periodic fixed cost.
ACCOUNTANT'S OPINION is a signed statement regarding the financial status of an entity from an independent public accountant after examination of that entities records and accounts.
ACCOUNT CURRENT is a running or continued account between two or more parties, or a statement of the particulars of such an account.
ACCOUNT DISTRIBUTION is the process by which debits and credits are identified to the correct accounts.
ACCOUNT GROUP, in accounting, is a designation of a group of accounts of like type (for example: accounts receivable and fixed assets).
ACCOUNTING is primarily a system of measurement and reporting of economic events based upon the accounting equation for the purpose of decision making. Generally, when someone says "accounting" they are referring to the department, activity or individuals involved in the application of the accounting equation.
ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS are the assumptions underlying the preparation of financial statements, i.e., the basic assumptions of going concern, accruals, consistency and prudence.
ACCOUNTING CONVENTION see CONVENTION.
ACCOUNTING CYCLE is the sequence of steps in preparing the financial statements for a given period.
ACCOUNTING DIVERSITY is the recognition that many diverse national and international accounting standards exist in the world.
ACCOUNTING ENTITY ASSUMPTION states that a business is a separate legal entity from the owner. In the accounts the business’ monetary transactions are recorded only.
ACCOUNTING ENTITY is an organization, institution or being that has its own existence for legal or tax purposes. An accounting entity is often an organization with an existence separate from its individual members--for example, a corporation, partnership, trust, etc. See also ACCOUNTING ENTITY ASSUMPTION.
ACCOUNTING EQUATION is a mathematical expression used to describe the relationship between the assets, liabilities and owner's equity of the business model. The basic accounting equation states that assets equal liabilities and owner's equity, but can be modified by operations applied to both sides of the equation, e.g., assets minus liabilities equal owner's equity.
ACCOUNTING EVENT is when the assets and liabilities of a business increase/decrease or when there are changes in owner's equity.
ACCOUNTING INCOME is the income derived through historical accrual based accounting. Income = the change in net assets occurring during the period excluding transactions with owners; i.e. transaction based.
ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT AND DISCLOSURE is the concepts of measurement and information disclosure required for decision making.
ACCOUNTING PACKAGE/SOFTWARE, usually, is a commercially available software program or suite that, with little customization, will satisfy the accounting system needs of the purchasing entity.
ACCOUNTING PERIOD is the time period for which accounts are prepared, usually one year.
ACCOUNTING RATIO is the result of dividing one financial statement item by another. Ratios help analysts interpret financial statements by focusing on specific relationships.
ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (ASB) makes, improves, amends and withdraws accounting standards. Many of ASBs specialize in the various fields or sectors of accounting.
ACCOUNTING THEORY tries to describe the role of accounting and is composed of four types of accounting theory: classical inductive theories, income theories, decision usefulness theories, and information economics / agency theories: a. Classical inductive theories are attempts to find the principles on which current accounting processes are based; b. Income theories try to identify the real profit of an organization; c. Decision usefulness theories attempt to describe accounting as a process of providing the relevant information to the relevant decision makers; and, d. The information economics / agency theories of accounting see accounting information as a good to be traded between rational agents each acting in their own self-interest.
ACCOUNTING TIMING DIFFERENCE is the effect that a defered accounting event would have on the financials if taken into consideration e.g., the release of a deferred tax asset to the income statement as a deferred tax expense (ie the reversal of an accounting timing difference).
ACCOUNTING TREATEMENT is the methods, processes and decisions as to any given accounting decision as to how a transaction is to be or is handled in compliance to GAAP and all applicable statutes.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE (AP) are trade accounts of businesses representing obligations to pay for goods and services received.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE TO SALES measures the speed with which a company pays vendors relative to sales. Numbers higher than typical industry ratios suggest that the company is using suppliers assets (cash owed) to fund operations.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE is a current asset representing money due for services performed or merchandise sold on credit.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE LEDGER is the bookkeeping ledger in which all accounts for which cash assets owed to an organization is maintained.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE RESERVE is a reserve against bad debt. See also RESERVE and RESERVE ACCOUNTS.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TURNOVER is the ratio of net credit sales to average accounts receivable, which is a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills.
ACCRETION is the adjustment of the difference between the price of a bond purchased at an original discount and the par value of the bond; or, asset growth through internal growth, expansion or natural causes, e.g. the aging of wine or growth of timber/trees.
ACCRUAL is the recognition of revenue when earned or expenses when incurred regardless of when cash is received or disbursed.
ACCRUAL BASIS OF ACCOUNTING is wherein revenue and expenses are recorded in the period in which they are earned or incurred regardless of whether cash is received or disbursed in that period. This is the accounting basis that generally is required to be used in order to conform to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in preparing financial statements for external users.
ACCRUAL CONCEPT see ACCRUAL BASIS OF ACCOUNTING.
ACCRUED ASSETS are assets from revenues earned but not yet received.
ACCRUED EXPENSES are expenses incurred during an accounting period for which payment is postponed.
ACCRUED INCOME is income earned during a fiscal period but not paid by the end of the period.
ACCRUED INTEREST is interest earned but not paid since the last due date.
ACCRUED INVENTORY functions as a "clearing" account to establish a liability for inventory physically received into the warehouse, but for which a vendor invoice had not yet arrived.
ACCRUED LIABILITY are liabilities which are incurred, but for which payment is not yet made, during a given accounting period. Some examples in a manufacturing environment would be: wages, taxes, suppliers/vendors, etc.
ACCRUED PAYROLL is a liability arising from employees' salary expense that has been incurred but not paid.
ACCRUED REVENUE is the accumulated revenue as they have been recognized over a given period.
ACCUMLATED ADJUSTMENT ACCOUNT (AAA) under Section 1368(e)(1) of the IRS Code provides that the term “accumulated adjustment account” (AAA) means an account of the S corporation which is adjusted for the S period in a manner similar to the adjustments under § 1367 (except that no adjustment shall be made for income (and related expenses) which is exempt from tax under title 26 and the phrase “(but not below)” shall be disregarded in § 1367(b)(2)(A)) and no adjustment shall be made for Federal taxes attributable to any taxable year in which the corporation was a C corporation.
ACCUMULATED AMORTIZATION is the cumulative charges against the intangible assets of a company over the expected useful life of the assets.
ACCUMULATED DEPRECIATION is the cumulative charges against the fixed assets of a company for wear and tear or obsolescence.
ACH is Automated Clearing House.
ACID-TEST RATIO is an analysis method used to measure the liquidity of a business by dividing total liquid assets by current liabilities.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF INDEBTEDNESS is a written recognition of debt that is enforceable in law, e.g. memorandum check, bank draft, or loan contract.
ACMA is an acronym for Associate Chartered Management Accountant.
ACQUISITION is one company taking over controlling interest in another company. See also MERGER and POOLING OF INTERESTS.
ACQUISITION COST is the amount, net of both trade and cash discounts, paid for property, plus transportation costs and ancillary costs.
ACR is Accounts Receivable. See ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE.
ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC) is a costing system that identifies the various activities performed in a firm and uses multiple cost drivers (non-volume as well as the volume based cost drivers) to assign overhead costs (or indirect costs) to products. ABC recognizes the causal relationship of cost drivers with activities.
ACTIVITY BASED MANAGEMENT (ABM) converts Activity Based Costing (ABC) into a system to manage an organization. Activity Based Management not only focuses on product, service, customer, channel costing, it also emphasizes: cost drivers (root cause analysis), action plans to improve to achieve strategic objectives, and, performance measures for activities and processes.
ACTIVITY DRIVERS, in activity based costing (ABC), activity costs are assigned to outputs using activity drivers. Activity drivers assign activity costs to outputs based on individual outputs’ consumption or demand for activities. For example, a driver may be the number of times an activity is performed (transaction driver) or the length of time an activity is performed (duration driver) see DURATION DRIVERS, INTENSITY DRIVERS, TRANSACTION DRIVERS.
ACTIVITY RATIO is any accounting ratio that measures a firm's ability to convert different accounts within their balance sheets into cash or sales.
ACTUAL COST is the amount paid for an asset; not its retail value, market value or insurance value.
ACTUALS is jargon used when speaking of an actual number experienced through some point in time as opposed to a number that is budgeted or projected into the future, e.g., year-to-date sales, expenses, product produced, etc.
ACTUARIAL METHOD means the method of allocating payments made on a debt between the amount financed and the finance or other charges where the payment is applied first to the accumulated finance or other charges and any remainder is subtracted from, or any deficiency is added to the unpaid balance of the amount financed.
ACTUARIAL SCIENCE applies mathematical and statistical methods to finance and insurance, particularly to the assessment of risk. Actuaries are professionals who are qualified in this field.
ADA, among others, is Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
ADD-INS is: a. something designed or intended for use in conjunction with another, e.g. accessories to a primary product in a purchase order; or, b. an accessory software program that extends the capabilities of an existing application.
ADDITIONAL PAID IN CAPITAL is the amounts paid for stock in excess of its par value; included are other amounts paid by stockholders and charged to equity accounts other than capital stock.
ADEA is Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
ADEQUATE DISCLOSURE is sufficient information in footnotes, as well as financial statements, indicative of a firm's financial status.
ADF, in invoicing, is After Deducting Freight.
AD HOC is being concerned with a particular end or purpose, e.g., a ad hoc committee established to handle a specific subject.
ADI, in invoicing, is After Date of Invoice.
ADJUNCT ACCOUNT is an account that accumulates either additions or subtractions to another account. Thus the original account may retain its identity. Examples include premiums on bonds payable, which is a contra account to bonds payable; and accumulated depreciation, which is an offset to the fixed asset.
ADJUSTED BASIS see BASIS.
ADJUSTED BOOK VALUE: Your MBA performs two types of adjusted book value analysis. Tangible Book Value and Economic Book Value (also known as Book Value at Market).
• Tangible Book Value is different than book value in that it deducts from asset value intangible assets, which are assets that are not hard (e.g., goodwill, patents, capitalized start-up expenses and deferred financing costs).
• Economic Book Value allows for a book value analysis that adjusts the assets to their market value. This valuation allows valuation of goodwill, real estate, inventories and other assets at their market value.
ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE is a non-GAAP financial measure of earnings per share. Dependent upon the entity, it may or may not include what would normally be included in a GAAP sanctioned earnings per share calculation.
ADJUSTING ENTRIES are special accounting entries that must be made when you close the books at the end of an accounting period. Adjusting entries are necessary to update your accounts for items that are not recorded in your daily transactions.
ADJUSTMENT can be either: 1. an increase or decrease to an account resulting from ADJUSTING ENTRIES; or, 2. changing an account balance due to some event, e.g., adjustment of an account due to the return of merchandise for credit.
ADMINISTRATIVE/ADMINISTRATION COST see INDIRECT COST.
ADMITTED ASSETS are assets whose values are permitted by state law to be included in the annual statement.
ADMITTED VALUE see ADMITTED ASSETS.
ADR is American Depository Receipts.
ADSCR is Average Debt Service Coverage Ratio.
ADVANCE is an amount paid before it is earned, e.g. payment ahead of actual expenditures or phase completion of a construction project.
ADVANCED ACCOUNTING covers accounting operations, patterns, merger of public holding companies, foreign currency operations, changing financial statement prepared in foreign and local currencies. Advanced accounting also includes a variety of advanced financial accounting issues such as lease contracts, pension funds, end of service severance payments, etc.
ADVERSE OPINION is expressed if the basis of accounting is unacceptable and distorts the financial reporting of the corporation. If auditors discover circumstances during the course of the audit that make them question whether they can issue an unqualified opinion, they should always discuss those circumstances with the client before issuing the opinion, in order to determine whether it is possible to rectify the problem.
ADVICE NOTE is a written piece of information e.g. about the shipping status of the goods.
ADVISING BANK is a bank in the exporter's country handling a letter of credit.
AFE, dependent upon usage, is an acronym for Authorization for Expenditure or Average Funds Employed.
AFFILIATE is a relationship between two companies when one company owns substantial interest, but less than a majority of the voting stock of another company, or when two companies are both subsidiaries of a third company.
AFUDC is Accumulated Funds Used During Construction or Allowance for Funds Used During Construction.
AGED TRIAL BALANCE alphabetically lists accounts receivable with outstanding balances. It displays one balance for every account by age and is typically produced only once on demand to check receivable details against other reports.
AGENCY is the relationship between a principal and an agent wherein the agent is authorized to represent the principal in certain transactions.
AGENCY COSTS is the incremental costs of having an Agent make decisions for a principal.
AGGREGATE is the sum or total.
AGGREGATE THEORY is a theory of partnership taxation in which a partnership is considered as an aggregate of individual co-owners who have bound themselves together with the intention of sharing gains and loses; under this theory, the partnership itself has no existence separate and apart from its members.
AGI (Annual Gross Income) is annualized total income prior to exclusions and deductions.
AGING see ACCOUNT AGING.
AGING OF RECEIVABLES see ACCOUNT AGING.
AGREED UPON PROCEDURES are used when a client retains an external auditor to perform specific tests and procedures and report on the results. Examples might include special reviews of loan portfolio or internal control systems. In performing agreed-upon procedures, the auditor provides no opinion, certification, or assurance that the assertions being made in the financial statements are free from material misstatement. The users of reports based on agreed-upon procedures must draw their own conclusions on the results of the tests reported. For example, an external auditor could be asked to look at a certain number of corporation loan files and document which of the required forms are in the files. The auditor would report on the selection and the results of the procedures performed but would not provide a formal opinion with conclusions drawn from the results of the procedures.
AICPA is the American Institute [of] Certified Public Accountants.
AIR WAYBILL is a bill of lading and contract between the shipper and the airline for delivery of goods to a specified location, and sometimes with specified delivery date/time. Non-negotiable, but serves as receipt from the airline to prove that goods were received.
ALLOCATE is to distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose. Examples: a. spread a cost over two or more accounting periods; b. charge a cost or revenue to a number of departments, products, processes or activities on a rational basis.
ALLOCATION is the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan, e.g., allocating costs is the assignment of costs to departments or products over various time periods, products, operations, or investments. See ALLOCATE.
ALLONGE is a piece of paper attached to a negotiable instrument to allow space for writing endorsements.
ALL OTHER CURRENT ASSETS relates to any other current assets. Does not include prepaid items.
ALL OTHER CURRENT LIABILITIES includes any other current liabilities, including bank overdrafts and accrued expenses.
ALL OTHER EXPENSES (NET) includes miscellaneous other income and expenses (net), such as interest expense, miscellaneous expenses not included in general and administrative expenses, netted against recoveries, interest income, dividends received and miscellaneous income.
ALL OTHER NON-CURRENT ASSETS are prepaid items and any other non-current assets.
ALL OTHER NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES means any other non-current liabilities, including subordinated debt, and liability reserves.
ALLOWANCE, within Sales, is a concession granted to customers for unsatisfactory goods or services. Reduces sales because a portion of the sale has not been earned.
ALLOWANCE FOR BAD DEBTS is an account established to record a subtraction from ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, to allow for those accounts that will not be paid.
ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL ACCOUNTS see ALLOWANCE FOR BAD DEBTS.
ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBTFUL DEBTS see ALLOWANCE FOR BAD DEBTS.
ALLOWANCE FOR NOTES RECEIVABLE LOSSES is an account maintained at a level considered adequate to provide for probable losses. The provision is increased by amounts charged to earnings and reduced by net charge-offs. The level of allowance is based on management’s evaluation of the portfolio, which takes into account prevailing and anticipated business and economic conditions and the net realizable value of securities held.
ALLOWANCE FOR UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS see ALLOWANCE FOR BAD DEBTS.
ALLOWANCE METHOD is the accepted way to account for bad debt. Bad debt expense may be based on the percent of credit sales for the period, an aging of the accounts receivable balance at the end of the period, or some other method, e.g., percent of accounts receivable.
ALPHA is the measurement of returns from an investment in excess of market returns. It represents the amount expected from fundamental causes, e.g. the growth rate in earnings per share. This contrasts with BETA, which is a measure of risk or volatility.
ALTERNATE PAYEE ENDORSEMENT, normally, it is when one payee endorses a draft over to another entity, then the new or alternate payee endorses the draft near the original payees endorsement (signature).
ALTMAN, EDWARD developed the "ALTMAN Z-SCORE" by examining 85 manufacturing companies. Later, additional "Z-Scores" were developed for private manufacturing companies (Z-Score - Model A) and another for general/service firms (Z-Score - Model B). VentureLine selects the "Z-Score" appropriate for each firm based upon the questionnaire input from the listing company. A "Z-Score" is only as valid as the data from which it was derived i.e. if a company has altered or falsified their financial records/books, a "Z-Score" derived from those "cooked books" is of highly suspect value.
• ORIGINAL Z-SCORE (For Public Manufacturer) If the Z-Score is 3.0 or above - banruptcy is not likely. If the Z-Score is 1.8 or less - bankruptcy is likely. A score between 1.8 and 3.0 is the gray area. Probabilities of bankruptcy within the above ranges are 95% for one year and 70% within two years. Obviously a higher Z-Score is desirable.
• MODEL A Z-SCORE (For Private Manufacturer) Model A is appropriated for a private manufacturing firm. Model A should not be applied to other companies. A Z-Score of 2.90 or above indicates that bankruptcy in not likely, buyt a Z-Score of 1.23 or below is a strong indicator that bankruptcy is likely. Probabilities of bankruptcy within the above ranges are 95% for one year and 70% within two years. Obviously a higher Z-Score is desirable.
• MODEL B Z-SCORE (For Private General Firm) Model B Z-Score is appropriate for a private general non-manufacturing firm. A Z-Score of 2.60 or above indicates that bankruptcy in not likely, buyt a Z-Score of 1.10 or below is a strong indicator that bankruptcy is likely. Probabilities of bankruptcy within the above ranges are 95% for one year and 70% within two years. A Z-Score between the two is the gray area. Obviously a higher Z-Score is desirable.
ALTMAN Z-SCORE reliably predicts whether or not a company is likely to enter into bankruptcy within one or two years:
• If the Z-Score is 3.0 or above - bankruptcy is not likely.
• If the Z-Score is 1.8 or less - bankruptcy is likely.
• A Z-Score between 1.8 and 3.0 is the gray area, i.e., a high degree of caution should be used.
Probabilities of bankruptcy within the above ranges are 95% for one year and 70% within two years. A Z-Score between the two is the gray area. Obviously a higher Z-Score is desirable. It is best to assess each individual company's Z-Score against that of the industry. In low margin industries it is possible for Z-Scores to fall below the above. In such cases a trend comparison to the industry over consecutive time periods may be a better indicator. It should be remembered that a Z-Score is only as valid as the data from which it was derived i.e. if a company has altered or falsified their financial records/books, a Z-Score derived from those "cooked books" is of lesser use.
AM can be: Asset Management, Account Manager, After Market, Audit Manager, or Accounting Management.
AMALGAMATION is a consolidation or merger, as of several corporations. In business, the distinction being that the surviving entity incorporates the asset base of others into its base.
AMORTIZATION 1. is the gradual reduction of a debt by means of equal periodic payments sufficient to meet current interest and liquidate the debt at maturity. When the debt involves real property, often the periodic payments include a sum sufficient to pay taxes and hazard insurance on the property. 2. is the process of spreading the cost of an intangible asset over the expected useful life of the asset. For example: a company pays $100,000 for a patent, they amortize the cost over the 16 year useful life of the patent. 3. the deduction of capital expenses over a specific period of time. Similar to depreciation, it is a method of measuring the "consumption" of the value of long-term assets like equipment or buildings.
ANALYSIS CODES, in accounting, represent software driven analysis methods which are independent of the normal grouping of account codes. An analysis code allows management to collect and monitor income and expenditure for a particular function or event that is not captured by the use of a project code or class, i.e. allows for much finer segmentation.
ANCILLARY relates to something extra or of lesser importance. For example, ancillary revenue would be revenue derived from the provisioning of products or services that are not considered to be primary to the generation of revenue.
ANGEL INVESTOR is a private wealthy individual that has no association with a venture capital firm, investment fund, etc. The "angel" invests his/her private money into what he/she believes to be promising opportunities, i.e., normally startup companies. Sometimes two or more "angels" will jointly invest into opportunities to spread the risk.
ANNUALIZE is a statistical technique whereby figures covering a period of less than one year are extended to cover a 12-month period. The technique, to be accurate, must take seasonal variations into consideration.
ANNUAL REPORT is the requirement for all public companies to file an annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing the preceding year's financial results and plans for the upcoming year. Its regulatory version is called "Form 10 K." The report contains financial information concerning a company's assets, liabilities, earnings, profits, and other year-end statistics. The annual report is also the most widely-read shareholder communication.
ANNUITY, in finance, is a series of fixed payments, usually over a fixed number of years; or for the lifetime of a person, in which case it would be called a life-contingent annuity or simply life annuity.
ANOMALY, generally, is a deviation from the common rule. It is an irregularity that is difficult to explain using existing rules or theory. In securities, it is an unexplained or unexpected price or rate relationship that seems to offer an opportunity for an arbitrage-type profit, although not typically without risk. Examples include the tendency of small stocks to outperform large stocks, of stocks with low price-to-book value ratios to outperform stocks with high price-to-book value ratios, and of discount currency forward contracts to outperform premium currency forward contracts.
ANR is Average Number of Runs or Average Not Ready (call centers).
AOP is either Adjusted Operating Profit or Annual Operations Plan.
AP is Accounts Payable.
APB is Accounting Principles Board or an Accounting Principles Board opinion (GAAP).
APB 18 is the Accounting Principles Board Equity Method of Accounting for Investments in Common Stock.
APIC is an acronym for Additional Paid-In-Capital (finance/business).
APPLIED RESEARCH is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake.
APPORTION is to divide and share out according to a plan.
APPRECIATION is the increase in the value of an asset in excess of its depreciable cost, which is due to economic, and other conditions, as distinguished from increases in value due to improvements or additions made to it.
APPROPRIATE / APPROPRIATED / APPROPRIATION is distribution of net income to various accounts and / or the allocation of retained earnings for a designated purpose, e.g. plant expansion.
APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT is a separate account for which specific dollar amounts are authorized and appropriated.
AR is Accounts Receivable.
ARBITRAGE is the movements of funds to take advantage of differences in exchange or interest rates; such movements quickly eliminate any such differences.
ARGUMENT IN ACCOUNTING usually revolves around the premise that characterizes fair values of assets as being more relevant but less reliable than their historical costs, with fair value being ultimately more informative only if its increased relevance outweighs its reduced reliability.
ARM’S LENGTH TRANSACTION is a transaction that is conducted as though the parties were unrelated, thereby avoiding any semblance of conflict of interest.
AROE is Adjusted Return on Equity.
ARPU is Average Revenue Per User.
ARR is an acronym for Accounting Rate of Return.
ARREARS is an unpaid overdue debt, or the state of being behind in payments, e.g. an account in arrears.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION is the primary legal document of a corporation; they serve as a corporation's constitution. The articles are filed with the state government to begin corporate existence. The articles contain basic information on the corporation as required by state law.
ARTICLES OF PARTNERSHIP is the contract creating a partnership.
ARTICULATION, in business, is the shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made. In the spoken word, it is expressing in coherent verbal form.
ASB see ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD.
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is a trading block of countries in SE Asia. Originally formed as an anti-communist military alliance, it is now focused on developing a free trade agreement among member nations.
AS-IS CONDITION is the transfer of title to a property in an existing condition with no warranties or representations.
ASK PRICE, in the context of the over-the-counter market, the term "ask" refers to the lowest price at which a market maker will sell a specified number of shares of a stock at any given time. The term "bid" refers to the highest price a market maker will pay to purchase the stock. The ask price (also known as the "offer" price) will almost always be higher than the bid price. Market makers make money on the difference between the bid price and the ask price. That difference is called the "spread".
ASSESSED VALUE is the estimated value of property used for tax purposes.
ASSESSMENT is a. proportionate share of a shared expense; or, b. amount of tax or other levied special payment due to a governmental municipality or association.
ASSET is anything owned by an individual or a business, which has commercial or exchange value. Assets may consist of specific property or claims against others, in contrast to obligations due others. (See also Liabilities).
ASSET AVAILABILITY is the stated condition or availability of an asset for usability. The subject asset is not available if it is already in use, at capacity, undergoing maintenance, broken, etc.
ASSET EARNING POWER is a common profitability measure used to determine the profitability of a business by taking its total earning before taxes and dividing that by total assets.
ASSET REVALUATION RESERVE is an accounting concept and represents a reassessment of the value of a capital asset as at a particular date. The reserve is considered a category of the equity of the entity. An asset is originally recorded in the accounts at its cost and depreciated periodically over its estimated useful life as a measure of the amount of the asset's value consumed in that period. In practice, the actual useful life of an asset can be miscalculated or an event can cause a change to the useful life. Consequently, assets occasionally need to be revalued in order to reflect a more close approximation to their "worth" in the accounts. When the asset is revalued, the offsetting entry (in a double entry accounting system) would be either made to the profit or loss accounts or to the equity of the entity.
ASSET REVERSION is asset recovery by the sponsoring employer through termination of a defined benefit pension fund and/or of assets in excess of amounts required to pay accrued benefits of a pension fund. In the U.S., assets recovered through reversion are subject to corporate income tax and an excise tax.
ASSET SALE is the sale of certain named assets of a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. Usually the seller retains ownership of the cash and cash equivalents (such as Accounts Receivable) and the liabilities of the entity. The seller then will pay the liabilities with the cash, any down payment and the cash equivalents as they become cash. Assets named are typically trade name, trade fixtures, inventory, leasehold rights, telephone number rights and goodwill. Assets sold can be tangible or intangible.
ASSETS HELD FOR SALE are those assets, primarily long-term assets, that an entity wishes to dispose of or liquidate through sale to others.
ASSET TURNOVER RATIO is a general measure of a firm's ability to generate sales in relation to total assets. It should be used only to compare firms within specific industry groups and in conjunction with other operating ratios to determine the effective employment of assets.
ASSET VALUATION is the process of determining the current worth of a portfolio, company, investment, or balance sheet item. The term is often used to describe the worth of an asset which may be incorporated into company accounts, where the ownership of the asset is not necessarily to be transferred but the valuation is required for the balance sheet, company takeovers, share flotation or mortgages.
ASSIGNED VALUE is a value that serves as an agreed-upon reference for comparison; normally derived from or based upon experimental work of some national or international organization.
ASSOCIATE, in business, is a person brought together with a company or another person into a relationship in any of various intangible ways.
ASSUMPTION, generally, is one or more beliefs or unconfirmed facts that contribute to a conclusion. Specifically, it is the act of taking on the responsibility or assuming the liabilities of another.
ASSURANCE has been defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as "Independent Professional Services that improve information quality or its context". Such services are very broad and could include assessments of various industries, e.g., Internet security or quality of health facilities.
ATA (Accredited Tax Advisor), in the US, is a national credential conferred by Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation to professionals who handle sophisticated tax planning issues, including ownership of closely held businesses, qualified retirement plans and complicated estates.
ATM see AUTOMATED/AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE.
ATP is an acronym for After Tax Profit, Accredited Tax Preparer, and possibly more.
ATP (Accredited Tax Preparer), in the US, is a national credential conferred by Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation to professionals who have a thorough knowledge behind the existing tax code and tax preparation of individuals, corporate and partnership tax returns.
AT RISK is the exposure to the danger of economic loss; frequently used in the context of claiming tax deductions. For example, a person can claim a tax deduction in a limited partnership if the taxpayer can show it is at risk of never realizing a profit and of losing its initial investment.
ATTEST is to authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity.
AT THE MONEY is an option where the strike price is approximately equal to the underlying price.
ATTRITION a reduction in numbers usually as a result of resignation, retirement, or death.
AUCTION MARKET is a trading system in which buyers enter competitive bids and sellers enter competitive offers simultaneously. This, as opposed to the over-the-counter market, where trades are negotiated. Examples: the NYSE and the AMEX. It is sometimes called double auction market.
AUDIT is the inspection of the accounting records and procedures of a business, government unit, or other reporting entity by a trained accountant for the purpose of verifying the accuracy and completeness of the records. It could be conducted by a member of the organization (internal audit) or by an outsider (independent audit). A CPA audit determines the overall validity of financial statements. A tax audit (IRS in the U.S.) determines whether the appropriate tax was paid. An internal audit generally determines whether the company’s procedures are followed and whether embezzlement or other illegal activity occurred.
AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION (ABC) is a third-party organization that verifies the circulation of print media through periodic audits.
AUDIT COMMITTEE, in a larger or more sophisticated corporation, the board may find it useful to appoint an audit committee whose oversight extends not only to external audits, but also to internal audits, internal controls, and external reporting. Ideally, an audit committee is composed of three to five non-management directors and, as needed, outsiders with accounting and financial expertise. In a smaller corporation the audit committee may be a single director with financial expertise and audit experience who takes the lead in exercising the board's audit oversight responsibility.
AUDIT EVIDENCE includes written and electronic information (such as checks, records of electronic fund transfers, invoices, contracts, and other information) that permits the auditor to reach conclusions through reasoning.
AUDIT FAILURE is an Instance where the auditor said that the financial statements were fairly stated when in fact, they were not.
AUDITING STANDARDS provide minimum guidance for the auditor that helps determine the extent of audit steps and procedures that should be applied to fulfill the audit objective. They are the criteria or yardsticks against which the quality of the audit results are evaluated.
AUDIT OPINION LETTER is a signed representation by an auditor as to the reliability and fairness of a set of financial statements. It is usually presented at the beginning of an audit report.
AUDITOR is an accountant usually certified by a national professional association of accountants, if one exists in the corporation’s country, or certified by another country's recognized national association of accountants. Corporations will often work with both internal auditors and external auditors.
AUDIT PLAN/PLANNING is developing an overall strategy for the expected conduct and scope of the audit. The nature, extent, and timing of planning varies with the size and complexity of the entity, experience with the entity, and knowledge of the entity's business.
AUDIT REPORT is a signed, written document which presents the purpose, scope, and results of the audit. Results of the audit may include findings, conclusions (opinions), and recommendations.
AUDIT RISK is a combination of the risk that material errors will occur in the accounting process and the risk the errors will not be discovered by audit tests. Audit risk includes uncertainties due to sampling (sampling risk) and to other factors (non-sampling risk).
AUDIT SCHEDULES are the information formats developed by the external auditors to guide the corporation in the preparation of particular information presented in a particular manner that facilitates the audit. These should always be completed by the corporation prior to the start of the audit.
AUDIT SCOPE refers to the activities covered by an internal audit. Audit scope includes, where appropriate: audit objectives; nature and extent of auditing procedures performed; Time period audited; and related activities not audited in order to delineate the boundaries of the audit.
AUDIT STRATEGY is a game plan to attack audit issues before they are raised. Reasons and justifications for all positions must be understood and the foundation laid for taking the position.
AUDIT TRAIL is a step-by-step record by which financial, business, and quality assurance data can be traced to its source. For example: checking the validity of an accounting entry through the step-by-step record by which accounting data can be traced to their source.
AUTHORITATIVE PRONOUNCEMENT is a formal declaration of opinion sanctioned by established authority.
AUTHORIZATION OF STOCK is the provision in a corporate charter giving permission to issue stock.
AUTHORIZATION SCHEDULE is the guideline under which the subject activity is controlled and authorized. For example, expenditure spending may be controlled by amounts and the managerial level required authorizing or approving a preset trigger amount. As the amount increases over certain preset levels, higher managerial authority is required for approval.
AUTHORIZED CAPITAL STOCK is the maximum number of shares of common stock that can be issued under a company's Articles of Incorporation. Issued shares are normally less than the number of authorized shares.
AUTHORIZED STOCK see AUTHORIZED CAPITAL STOCK.
AUTOMATED/AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE (ATM) is an unattended machine (outside some banks) that dispenses money or allows an individual to conduct unassisted business transactions with the ATM when a personal coded card is used.
AUXILIARY JOURNAL is a journal in which accounting information is stored both before and after the transfer to the General Ledger.
AVAILABLE FOR SALE is a term that means exactly what is says, i.e. an asset is available for purchase and transfer of ownership upon reaching an agreed upon price.
AVAL is a term meaning inseparable from the financial instrument. This gives a guarantee and is abstracted from the performance of the underlying trade contract: Article 31 of the 1930 Geneva Convention of the Bills Of Exchange states that the aval can be written on the bill itself or on an allonge. US Banks are prohibited from avalizing drafts.
AVALIZOR is an institution or person who gives an aval.
AVERAGE AGE OF INVENTORY is calculated by the formula: 365 / inventory turnover.
AVERAGE COST is total cost for all units bought (or produced) divided by the number of units.
AVERAGE COST METHOD is using a weighted average cost for items in inventory rather than actual cost for each specific item.
AVERAGE FUNDS EMPLOYED see FUNDS EMPLOYED.
AVERAGE SETTLEMENT PERIOD is calculated:
For Debtors = Trade Debtors X 365 days / Credit Sales
For Creditors = Trade Creditors X 365 days / Credit Purchases.
AVOIDABLE COST is the amount of expense that would not occur if a particular decision were to be implemented (e.g., if an employee is laid off at a company that is self-insured for unemployment compensation, the avoidable cost is total direct salary less payments for unemployment benefits plus savings in employee benefits).
AXIOM, generally, it is a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits; in logic, it is a proposition that is not susceptible of proof or disproof; its truth is assumed to be self-evident.
Letter P
PACKING CREDIT is any loan or advance granted or any other credit provided by a bank to an exporter for financing the purchase, processing, manufacturing or packing of goods prior to shipment, on the basis of letter of credit opened in his favor or in favor of some other person, by an overseas buyer or a confirmed and irrevocable order for the export of goods from the producing country or any other evidence of an order for export from that country having been placed on the exporter or some other person, unless lodgment of export orders or letter of credit with the bank has been waived.
PACKING LIST is a statement of the contents of a container, usually put into the container so that the quantity of merchandise may be counted by the person who opens the container. Also known as a packing slip.
PACKING SLIP see PACKING LIST.
PAID-IN-CAPITAL is capital received from investors for stock, equal to capital stock plus paid-in capital, NOT that capital received from earnings or donations. Also called contributed capital.
PAID IN SURPLUS see PAID IN CAPITAL.
PAID-UP CAPITAL is the total amount paid by shareholders for their shares of capital stock.
P&A, dependent upon usage, can be: Parts & Accessories, Pay & Allowances, Personnel & Administration, or Price & Availability.
P&L see PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT.
PAPER is: a. amount received, by a seller of real estate, in the form of a mortgage or note rather than cash; b. a short-term debt security; c. customer buy and sell orders coming to a trading pit; d. money market instruments, commercial paper.
PAPER GAIN (LOSS) is an unrealized capital gain (loss) in an investment or portfolio.
PARENT COMPANY is a company of which others are subsidiaries.
PARENT ENTITY see PARENT COMPANY.
PARETO PRINCIPLE/LAW see 80-20 RULE.
PARI PASSU is to do or apply something at an equal pace or rate. In finance, it is used in reference to two class of securities or obligations that have equal entitlement to payment.
PARTNERSHIP is an unincorporated business that has more than one owner. It is different from a sole proprietorship in that a sole proprietorship can have only one owner.
PAR VALUE is a. the maturity value or face value, i.e., the amount that an issuer agrees to pay at the maturity date; b. the official exchange rate between two countries' currencies; or, c. the value of a security that is set by the company issuing it; unrelated to market value.
PAS could mean: Personal Accounting System, Personnel Accounting System, or Personnel Accounting Symbol.
PASSIVE ACTIVITY is defined in the US Tax Code as one or more trades, business or rental activity, that the taxpayer does not materially participate in managing or running. All income and losses from passive activities are grouped together on an income tax return and, generally, loss deductions are limited or suspended until the passive activity that generated them is disposed of in its entirety.
PATENT is a legal form of protection that provides a person or legal entity with exclusive rights to exclude others from making, using, or selling a concept or invention for the duration of the patent. There are three types of patents available: design, plant, and utility.
PAYABLE is an amount awaiting payment to be made, e.g. interest payable or taxes payable.
PAYABLES TURNOVER is calculated: Payables Turnover = Purchases / Payables.
PAYABLE TO SHAREHOLDERS normally refers to distribution of dividends to shareholders and / or repayment of notes held by shareholders.
PAYBACK PERIOD, in capital budgeting, is the length of time needed to recoup the cost of CAPITAL INVESTMENT. The payback period is the ratio of the initial investment (cash outlay, regardless of the source of the cash) to the annual cash inflows for the recovery period. The major shortcoming for the payback period method is that it does not take into account cash flows after the payback period and is therefore not a measure of the profitability of an investment project. For this reason, analysts generally prefer the DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW methods of capital budgeting; primarily, the INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN and the NET PRESENT VALUE methods.
PAY CYCLE is a set of rules that defines the criteria by which scheduled payments are selected for payment creation, e.g., payroll may be on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly pay cycle.
PAYMENT is the satisfaction of a debt or claim; primarily money paid to fulfill an obligation.
PAYMENT DUE DATE is the date on which a payment is due and payable.
PAYMENT ON ACCOUNT see ON ACCOUNT.
PAYOUT RATIO is dividends paid divided by company earnings over some period of time, expressed as a percentage.
PAYROLL BURDEN, in the U.S., includes the cost of your payroll administration, FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers’ compensation, etc., based on each $100.00 of payroll. For example: $100.00 of payroll earned + 37.56 payroll burden = $137.56 total payroll.
PBC LIST (PROVIDED BY CLIENT LIST) is a request by external auditors of items that will be required from the client by the auditor prior to the commencement of fieldwork. Such PBC lists are preliminary and will likely be expanded once the audit commences.
PBT see PROFIT BEFORE TAXES.
PC is an acronym for Professional Corporation (business legal entity).
PDI can mean Personal Disposable Income or Past Due Interest.
PEACHTREE is commercial accounting software developed and owned by Sage Software.
PEAK is the period of maximal use or demand or activity; for example, at peak commute hours, street traffic can be unbelievable. See OFF-PEAK.
PEGBOARD SYSTEM see ONE-WRITE SYSTEM.
PEG RATIO compares earnings growth and the Price Earnings Ratio. The PEG Ratio (formula) is the current Price Earnings Ratio divided by the expected long-term growth rate (per the earnings per share).
PENDING usually refers to either: 1. Not yet decided; or, 2. Being in continuance.
PENSION FUND is a fund reserved to pay workers' pensions when they retire from service. Also known as SUPERANNUATION FUND.
PENSION MAXIMIZATION is a controversial strategy, often espoused by life insurance agents, of using insurance to augment a company benefit plan. Under this arrangement, a retiree takes pension payments for his or her own life only and buys life insurance to provide for a surviving spouse. Also known as pension max.
PEP see PERSONAL EQUITY PLAN.
P/E RATIO (PRICE/EARNINGS RATIO) is a stock analysis statistic in which the current price of a stock (today's last sale price) is divided by the reported actual (or sometimes projected, which would be forecast) earnings per share of the issuing firm; it is also called the "multiple".
PER CAPITA INCOME is the mean income computed for every man, woman, and child in a particular group. It is derived by dividing the total income of a particular group by the total population in that group.
PERCENTAGE DESIGN, in construction, is the percentage expended for design and construction management services in proportion to total construction.
PERCENTAGE LEASE is a type of lease where the landlord charges a base rent plus an additional percentage of any profits realized by the business tenant.
PERCENTAGE OF COMPLETION METHOD OF ACCOUNTING is instituted if your revenues exceed $10,000,000 (3-year average) or your contracts will not be completed within a two-year period, you are generally required to use the percentage of completion accounting for contracts. There are many advantages to using to percentage of completion method including:
• It is the best measurement of income.
• Percentage of completion normally needs to be computed for financial statement purposes eliminating confusing timing differences from tax to financial statements.
• There is no increase in alternative minimum taxable income.
• Losses can be recognized on contracts before the job is complete.
• It is useful in leveling taxable income, permitting use of lower tax brackets each year.
• When using the percentage of completion method, it is important to carefully compute the percent complete, for it may have a great impact on your taxable income.
• Estimated costs to complete the contract, a component of calculating the percent to complete, determine what your taxable income will be. Also, carefully reviewing the over-head allocation may result in lower tax.
PER DIEM is a. one every day (e.g., save 10 man-hours per diem); or, b. payment of daily expenses and/or fees of an employee or an agent.
PERFORMANCE BUDGET is a budget format that relates the input of resources and the output of services for each organizational unit individually. Sometimes used synonymously with program budget.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS are those empirical data points that indicate how well, or poorly, an entity is performing against preset goals and objectives. Normally, in business or strategic planning, a company will set targets over a specified period that the business believes are attainable and track performance over time to those targets or objectives.
PERFORMING ASSET is an asset that provides a dependable annual financial return; for example, production machinery or, in transportation, an airliner.
PERIOD COST is an expense that is not inventoriable; it is charged against sales revenues in the period in which the revenue is earned (e.g., SG&A is a period cost). Also called period expense.
PERIODICITY CONCEPT is the concept that each accounting period has an economic activity associated with it, and that the activity can be measured, accounted for, and reported upon.
PERMANENCE is the quality or state of being permanent; primarily judged by durability and useful life. See ORDER OF PERMANENCE.
PERMANENT ACCOUNT is a set account that appears on the Balance Sheet, e.g. Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable.
PERPETUAL INVENTORY is an inventory accounting system whereby book inventory is kept in continuous agreement with stock on hand. A daily record is maintained of the dollar amount and physical quantity. There are periodic physical inventories taken to reconcile at short intervals.
PERPETUAL SUCCESSION is one of the legal distinctions between a business and a company. A company has perpetual succession meaning that a change in the membership does not affect the existence of the company whereas a business does not enjoy this perpetual succession. For example, in the case of a partnership, which is one form of business registration, a change in the membership affects the partnership.
PERPETUITY, in finance, is an annuity payable forever.
PERSISTENT EARNINGS is the level of earnings, from accounting to accounting period, that are continually recurring.
PERSONAL EQUITY is that portion of equity ownership that is held to ones own benefit or invested as an integral part of the assets of a legal entity.
PERSONAL EQUITY PLAN (PEP) was an investment plan in the U.K. that used to allow people over the age of 18 to invest in shares of U.K. companies. The plan encouraged investment by individuals. Discontinued in 1999, it was replaced by Individual Savings Accounts (ISA). It was done through an approved plan, qualifying unit trust, or investment trust. Investors received both income and capital gains free of tax.
PERSONAL LOAN is a short-term loan that is extended based on the personal integrity of the borrower.
PERSONAL PROPERTY means property of any kind except real property. It may be tangible (having physical existence) or intangible (having no physical existence, such as patents, inventions, and copyrights).
PERVASIVENESS OF ESTIMATES means that the estimates have to be complete, of high quality and in depth, i.e., they have to adequately cover the whole accounting entity.
PETTY CASH, normally, is an account and location where tangible cash is stored for usage in purchasing or the reimbursing of inexpensive out-of-pocket expenditures.
PHANTOM PROFIT is hypothetical profit, i.e., no cash flow is generated. Appreciation on any asset, e.g. stock, is considered phantom profit unless or until the asset is sold, thereby generating cash flow.
PHYSICAL INVENTORY is the counting of all merchandise or equipment on hand.
PHYSICAL STOCK-TAKE see PHYSICAL INVENTORY.
PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL is a legal concept through which a corporation's shareholders, who generally are shielded from liability for the corporation's activities, can be held responsible for certain actions.
PIGGYBACK, dependent upon usage, can mean: 1. On the back or shoulder or astraddle on the hip; 2. Two lenders participating in the same loan (piggyback loan); 3. Unauthorized access to a data processing system via an authorized user's legitimate connection (piggyback entry); 4. Haul by railroad car; 5. SEC registration of existing holdings of shares in a corporation combined with an offering of new public shares (piggyback registration); 6. Rights that entitle an investor to register and sell his or her stock whenever the company conducts a public offering (piggyback rights).
PINK PEARL is a type of a pencil-lead eraser that auditing companies use.
PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) refers to any private placement of securities of an already-public company that is made to selected accredited investors (usually to selected institutional accredited investors) wherein investors enter into a purchase agreement committing them to purchase securities and, usually, requiring the issuer to file a resale registration statement covering the resale from time to time of the securities the investors purchased in the private placement. PIPE transactions may involve the sale of common stock, convertible preferred stock, convertible debentures, warrants, or other equity or equity-like securities of an already-public company. There are a number of common PIPE transactions, including:
• the sale of common stock at a fixed price;
• the sale of common stock at a fixed price, together with fixed price warrants;
• the sale of common stock at a fixed price, together with resettable or variable priced warrants;
• the sale of common stock at a variable price;
• the sale of convertible preferred stock or convertible debt; and
• a venture-style private placement for an already-public company.
PISCAN DOCUMENT, a precursor of double entry bookkeeping, dates from the early 12th century. Records indicate that primitive bookkeeping with sequential transactions using Roman numerals was presented in paragraph form. Some of the record fragments are from an unknown Florentine banking firm dated from 1211. It was not yet double entry bookkeeping, but advancing in that direction. Other fragments include the Castra Gualfred and the Borghesia Company from 1259-67; Gentile de' Sassetti and Sons, 1274-1310; and Bene Bencivenni, 1277-96. The most complete records are from Rinieri Fini & Brothers, 1296-1305, and Giovanni Farolfi & Co., 1299-1300.
PITI is an acronym for Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance when dealing with property mortgages.
PLACEMENT is bank depositing Eurodollars with (selling Eurodollars to) another bank is said to be making a placement.
PLANT ASSET is a non-current physical asset applicable to manufacturing activities.
PLEDGE is a. the transfer or assignment of assets as collateral to secure payment of a debt obligation as when securities are pledged to a lender for a loan secured by the owner of the securities. When securities a pledged, the lender frequently requires the physical transfer of the collateral to preclude possibility of using the same asset for additional pledging; b. the deposit or placing of personal property as security for a debt or other obligation with a person called a pledgee. The pledgee has the implied power to sell the property if the debt is not paid. If the debt is paid, the right to possession returns to the pledgor; or, c. a written or oral agreement to contribute cash or other assets.
PLEDGE BOND see PLEDGED REVENUES.
PLEDGED ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE is short-term borrowing from financial institutions where the loan is secured by accounts receivable. The lender may physically take the accounts receivable but typically has recourse to the borrower; also called discounting of accounts receivable.
PLEDGED ASSET is an asset that is transferred to a lender as security for debt. The lender of the debt takes possession of the pledged asset, but does not have ownership unless default occurs.
PLEDGED REVENUES is funds generated from revenues and obligated to debt service or to meet other obligations specified by the bond contract.
PLS see Profit and Loss Sharing.
PLUG is a variable that handles financial slack in the financial plan.
PLUG NUMBER see COST OF GOODS SOLD.
PNL is Profit and Loss (statement/analysis; business/accounting). See also PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT.
POINT OF is a positional determinant or modifier in that it is either the starting or ending position, e.g. point of sales, point of delivery, point of collection, or point of completed production.
POINTS are additional fee paid to a lender. Points are generally stated as a percent of the total amount borrowed and are in essence prepaid interest. Points paid can be deducted over the life of the loan.
POLITICAL COSTS HYPOTHESIS predicts that firms with low agency and political costs and effective shareholders' monitoring will distribute cash dividend and those with moderate agency and political costs may use stock dividends in lieu of cash dividends to separate themselves from firms having high agency and political costs. This indicates that cash dividend firms will face better long-term stock market valuation of their shares than stock dividend firms.
POOL is: 1. a group of people organized for a specific purpose or any communal combination of funds; 2. in capital budgeting, the concept that investment projects are financed out of a pool of bonds, preferred stock, and common stock, and a weighted-average cost; 3. in insurance, a group of insurers who share premiums; and 4. in investments, the combination of funds for the benefit of a common project, or a group of investors who use their combined influence to manipulate prices.
POOLING-OF-INTERESTS, in the US, is the method of accounting used in a business combination in which the acquiring company has issued voting common stock in exchange for voting common stock of the acquired company. The features of the method are that the acquired company's net assets are brought forward at book value, retained earnings and paid-in capital are brought forward, the net income is recognized for the full financial year regardless of the date of acquisition, and the expenses of pooling are immediately charged against earnings. In order to use the method there are a number of criteria to be met concerning the prior independence of the companies and the nature and timing of the acquisition. See POOLING OF INTEREST METHOD.
POOLING OF INTEREST METHOD is an accounting method for reporting acquisitions accomplished through the use of equity. The combined assets of the merged entity are consolidated using book value, as opposed to the PURCHASE METHOD, which uses market value. The merging entities` financial results are combined as though the two entities have always been a single entity. See POOLING-OF-INTERESTS.
POP is an acronym for, among others, Point Of Presence or Post Office Protocol (Internet e-mail protocol).
PORTFOLIO is a term for describing all the investments that an entity owns. A diversified portfolio contains a variety of investments.
POSITIVE ACCOUNTING THEORY is where theorists tend to explain why some accounting practices are more popular than others (e.g., because they increase management compensation). They tend to support their conclusions with inductive theory and empirical evidence as opposed to deductive methods. Generally avoid advocacy of one accounting rule as being better or worse than its alternatives. Positivists are inspired by anecdotal evidence, but anecdotal evidence is never permitted without more rigorous and controlled scientific investigation.
POST it the transfer of accounting entries from a journal of original entry into a ledger book, in chronological order according to when they were generated.
POST DATE is placing on a document or a check a date that follows the date of the initiation or execution of the document. For example, a post dated check cannot be cashed until the date written on the check.
POSTING, in bookkeeping, is to list on the company's records, such as to list the detail of sales and purchases on the accounts receivable or payable records.
POSTULATE, in logic, is a proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logical reasoning.
PPE can mean either Property, Plant, and Equipment, or Pay Period Ending.
PPI see PRODUCER PRICE INDEX.
PR is an acronym for, among others, 'public relations', 'payroll' and 'purchase request'.
PRACTICAL CAPACITY is where the cost of production is based on the 'practical capacity' of production facilities. Therefore, the proportion of overheads allocated to a unit of production is not to be increased as consequence of idle capacity of the plant.
PREDICTOR RATIOS: Most ratios are descriptive in nature; that is, they describe the firm as it is now. As you might expect, Predictor Ratios provide suggestions about likely future conditions for the firm. VentureLine provides two industry standard Predictor Ratios:
1. Altman Z-Score - a valid predictor or bankruptcy, and,
2. Sustainable Growth Rate - shows the degree to which a concern can grow using their retained earnings to fund growth.
PREEMPTIVE RIGHT is the right of a current stockholder to maintain the percentage ownership interest in the company by buying new shares on a pro rata basis before they are issued to the public.
PREFERENCE SHARE see PREFERRED STOCK.
PREFERENCE SHARE CAPITAL is capital raised by an entity through the sale of preferred shares.
PREFERRED CREDITOR is a creditor whose account takes legal preference for payment over the claims of others.
PREFERRED STOCK, usually, non-voting capital stock that pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets.
PREMIUM ON CAPITAL STOCK is excess received over the par value of stock issued. The premium account is shown under the paid-in capital section of stockholder's equity because it resulted from the issuance of stock. It is not an income statement account since the company earns profit by selling goods and services to outsiders, not by issuing shares of stock to owners.
PRE-OPERATING COSTS are costs that are deferred until the related assets are ready for revenue service at which time the costs are charged to operations.
PREPAID EXPENSES are amounts that are paid in advance to a vender or creditor for goods and services. Typically, insurance premiums are paid in advance of the coverage contained in the policy. Prepaid Expenses is a Current Asset for your business. This is because you have paid for something and someone owes you the service or the goods for which you prepaid.
PREPAYMENT is the payment of all or part of a debt prior to its due date.
PRESENT VALUE is the discounted value of a payment or stream of payments to be received in the future, taking into consideration a specific interest or discount rate. Present Value represents a series of future cash flows expressed in today's dollars. A given amount of money is almost always more valuable sooner than later, so present values are generally smaller than corresponding future values.
PRE-TAX INCOME/PROFIT see PROFIT BEFORE TAXES.
PRICE is the property of having material worth. Price is usually indicated by the amount of money something would bring if or when sold.
PRICE CEILING is a government-imposed limit on how high a price can be charged on a product.
PRICE EARNINGS MULTIPLE: The price-earnings ratio (P/E) is simply the price of a company's share of common stock in the public market divided by its earnings per share. Multiply this multiple by the net income and you will have a value for the business. If the business has no income, there is no valuation. If the common stock in not publicly traded, valuation of the stock is purely subjective. This may not be the best method, but can provide a benchmark valuation.
PRICE EARNING RATIO see PRICE EARNINGS MULTIPLE.
PRICE ELASTICITY is the degree to which customers respond to price changes (calculation: % change in quantity divided by % change in price). A value greater than 1 = customers exhibit a good sensitivity to price. A value less than 1 = customers are insensitive to price. Price Elasticity is if a small change in price is accompanied by a large change in quantity demanded, the product is said to be elastic (or responsive to price changes). A product is inelastic if a large change in price is accompanied by a small amount of change in demand.
PRICE FIXING is an illegal practice where competing companies agree, informally or formally, to jointly restrict or control prices within a specified range.
PRICE MIX is the value of the product determined by the producers. Price mix includes the decisions as to: Price level to be adopted; discount to be offered; and, terms of credit to be allowed to customers.
PRICE TO BOOK is a financial ratio that is derived by dividing a stock’s capitalization by its book value. Also called Market-to-Book.
PRICE TO EARNINGS RATIO (P/E) is a performance benchmark that can be used as a comparison against other companies or within the stock's own historical performance. For instance, if a stock has historically run at a P/E of 35 and the current P/E is 12, you may want to explore the reasons for the drastic change. If you believe that the ratio is too low, you may want to buy the stock. You will generally find a P/E ratio based on either the prior reporting year's earnings, or the earnings of the prior four quarters added together (LTM or Latest Twelve Months)
PRICE TO REVENUE is a financial ratio derived by dividing current stock price by revenue per share (adjusted for stock splits).
PRIMARY DEALER is a designation given by the Federal Reserve System to commercial banks or broker/dealers who meet specific criteria, including capital requirements and participation in Treasury auctions. A primary dealer is entitled and obligated to purchase and sell government securities with the Federal Reserve directly. They serve as the conduits for Federal Reserve open market activities. There are approximately 30-40 such dealers.
PRIMARY MARKET is the first sale of a newly issued security. Those securities are purchased in the primary market. All subsequent trading of those securities is done in the secondary market.
PRIME BROKERS are providers of back-office administration and stock lending for hedge funds.
PRIME COST is equal to the sum of DIRECT MATERIAL plus DIRECT LABOR.
PRIME RATE is the interest rate that banks charge to their preferred customers. Changes in the prime rate influence changes in other rates; mortgage interest rates for example.
PRINCIPAL is: a. a person who has controlling authority (e.g. the CEO or owner of a company) or is in a leading position (part owners of a legal entity); or, b. a matter or thing of primary importance, e.g. is the amount of a loan, excluding interest, or the amount you invest, excluding income.
PRINCIPLES-BASED ACCOUNTING provides for few exact rules and little implementation guidance. Instead, general principles are put forward and companies must ensure that their financial statements fairly and accurately represent these principles. Proponents argue that this type of system does not allow for less than ethical financial engineering, where complex transactions are undertaken in order to get around following specific rules-based accounting standards. Critics believe a principles-based system allows too much leeway for companies, because they generally do not have to follow specific rules, only wide-arching principles. See also RULES-BASED ACCOUNTING.
PRIOR PERIOD refers to accounting periods that have occurred in the past. See also ACCOUNTING PERIOD.
PRIVATE CORPORATION is a corporation that ownership is held by the private sector, i.e. individuals or companies.
PRIVATE EQUITY is equity securities of unlisted (non-publicly traded) companies. Private equities are generally illiquid and thought of as a long-term investment. Private equity investments are not subject to the same high level of government regulation as stock offerings to the general public. Private equity is also far less liquid than publicly traded stock.
PRIVATE PLACEMENT is investments in companies that are privately owned; i.e, they are companies that are not traded on a public stock exchange (e.g., NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX).
PRIVATE PLACEMENT (DEBT) is the sale of a bond or other security directly to a limited number of investors; used in the context of general equities. For example, sale of stocks, bonds, or other investments directly to an institutional investor like an insurance company, avoiding the need for the registration with the regulator if the securities are purchased for investment as opposed to resale.
PROCEEDS, generally in business, is the total amount brought in, e.g. the proceeds of a sale. In insurance, it is the net amount received (as for a check or from an insurance settlement) after deduction of any discount or charges.
PROCESS COSTING is a method of cost accounting applied to production carried out by a series of chemical or operational stages or processes. Its characteristics are that costs are accumulated for the whole production process and that average unit costs of production are computed at each stage.
PROCUREMENT, from a business perspective, is the purchasing of services or materials.
PRODUCER PRICE INDEX (PPI) measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. The prices included in the PPI are from the first commercial transaction for many products and some services.
PRODUCT is: a. the end result of the manufacturing process, b. commodities offered for sale, or c. an artifact that has been created by someone or some process.
PRODUCT COST is cost of inventory on hand, also called Inventoriable Cost. They are assets until the products are sold. Once they are sold, they become expense, i.e. Cost of Good Sold (COGS). All manufacturing costs are product costs, e.g., direct material, direct labor, and factory overhead.
PRODUCT INVOICE is an invoice associated with a tangible or physical item as opposed to a service or professional invoice. See PROFESSIONAL INVOICE and SERVICE INVOICE.
PRODUCTION BUDGET is used to propose how much you will manufacture (or buy in from suppliers) so that you can compensate for the demand (identified on your sales budget). If your maximum capacity for producing stock was 100 units for the month (due to available resources), it may not be necessary to produce this maximum (due to a lower demand) each month because it adds to expense and ties up finance. If you expect a high demand during a certain month(s), it may be that your manufacturing capacity cannot compensate. In which case, you may budget to manufacture excess in the months where you do not manufacture the maximum so that you can build up your supplies for the expected months with high demand. Alternatively, it may be a call to buy/hire more machinery/staff in that particular month to allow an increased capacity for production. See OPERATING BUDGET.
PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY usually is defined as including activities that have economic value in the marketplace. A more contemporary definition of productive activity includes any activity that produces a valued good or service, even if it is not actually paid for.
PRODUCTIVITY is a measured relationship of the quantity and quality of units produced and the labor required per unit of time.
PRODUCTIVITY RATIO is the ratio of outputs to inputs. The closer the ratio is to 1.0, the higher the productivity; the closer the ratio is to 0.0, the lower the productivity. Productivity is important because it relates to an organization's ability to compete, and to the overall wealth and standard of living of a nation. Productivity is affected by work methods, capital, quality, technology, and management.
PRODUCT MIX involves planning and developing the right type of product that will satisfy fully the needs of customers. A product has several dimensions. These dimensions are collectively called 'product mix'. Product mix for example may consist of size and weight of the product, volume of output, product quality, product design, product range, brand name, package, product testing, warranties and after sales services and the like.
PROFESSIONAL FEE is that fee charged for services from university trained professionals; primarily doctors, lawyers and accountants. The term is often expanded to include other university trained professions, e.g. pharmacists charging to maintain a medicinal profile of a client or customer.
PROFESSIONAL INVOICE is an invoice associated with professional services rendered, i.e. medical, legal or accounting services. See SERVICE INVOICE and PRODUCT INVOICE.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES are those services offered by university trained professionals, e.g. doctors, lawyers, and accountants for, normally, a professional fee.
PROFESSIONAL SUBSCRIBER means all other persons who do not meet the definition of Non-Professional Subscriber. SEE NON-PROFESSIONAL SUBSCRIBER.
PROFIT is the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses).
PROFITABILITY is company's ability to generate revenues in excess of the costs incurred in producing those revenues.
PROFITABILITY RATIOS are measures of performance showing how much the firm is earning compared to its sales, assets or equity.
PROFIT AFTER TAX (PAT) is the net profit earned by the company after deducting all expenses like interest, depreciation and tax. PAT can be fully retained by a company to be used in the business. Dividends, if declared, are paid to the share holders from this residue.
PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT shows the net profit which is left after all relevant business expenses have been deducted.
PROFIT AND LOSS SHARING (PLS) is the method utilized in Islamic banking to comply with the prohibition of interest. The Islamic solution, commonly referred to as Profit & Loss Sharing (PLS), suggests an equitable sharing of risks and profits between the parties involved in a financial transaction. In the banking business, there are three parties - the entrepreneur or the actual user of capital, the bank which serves as a partial user of capital funds and as a financial intermediary, and the depositors in the bank who are the suppliers of savings or capital funds. There are two different partnerships of the type mentioned in Islam: the partnership between the depositors and the bank, and the partnership between the entrepreneur (or the borrower) and the bank. Under this proposal, financial institutions will not receive a fixed rate of interest on their outstanding loans, rather, they share in profits or in losses of the business owner to whom they have provided the funds. Similarly, those individuals who deposit their funds in a bank will share in the profit/loss of the financial institution.
PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT (P&L) is also known as an income statement. It shows your business revenue and expenses for a specific period of time. The difference between the total revenue and the total expense is your business net income. A key element of this statement, and one that distinguishes it from a balance sheet, is that the amounts shown on the statement represent transactions over a period of time while the items represented on the balance sheet show information as of a specific date (or point in time).
PROFIT BEFORE TAXES (PBT) is a profitability measure that looks at a company's profits before the company has to pay income tax. This measure deducts all expenses from revenue including interest expenses and operating expenses, but it leaves out the payment of tax.
PROFIT CENTER is a section of an organization that is responsible for producing profit, e.g., a division of a corporation that is not a stand-alone entity but is required to produce profits within the corporation.
PROFIT MARGIN ON SALES is: a. Gross Profit Margin on Sales = Gross Profit/Sales * 100; or, b. Net Profit Margin on Sales = Net Profit After Tax/Sales * 100. See also GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON SALES.
PROFIT MULTIPLE: Profit and sales multiples are the most widely used valuation benchmarks used in valuing a business. The information needed are pretax profits and a market multiplier, which may be 1, 2, 3, or 4 and usually a ceiling of 5. The market multiplier can be found in various financial publications, as well as analyzing the sale of comparable businesses. This method is easy to understand and use. The profit multiple is often used as the valuation ceiling benchmark.
PRO-FORMA is to provide in advance to a prescribed form or to describe items
PRO-FORMA INVOICE is a price quote. It is written as an invoice, and, in effect, says: 'This is the purchase price and terms we are offering.'
PROGRAM BUDGET is a budget wherein inputs of resources and outputs of services are identified by programs without regard to the number of organizational units involved in performing various aspects of the program.
PROGRESSIVE TAX is an income tax system to where the more income that is made the higher the tax percentage that must be paid.
PROGRESS BILLINGS are interim billings for construction work or government contract work. The entry is to debit progress billings receivable and credit progress billings on construction in progress. Progress billings is a contra account to CONSTRUCTION-IN-PROGRESS.
PROJECTION is an approximation of future events. Usually a projection is made by extrapolating known information into the future period, considering events that could affect the outcome. See FORECAST, BUDGET.
PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE is not a standard term, but is sometimes used in contracts to delineate what orders/commitments may exist in the future. Dependent upon the contractual language, it may or may not be binding.
PROMISSORY NOTE, usually just called a 'note', is a NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT wherein the maker agrees to pay a specific sum at a definite time.
PROPORTIANATE UNIT CONCEPT is where a value or distribution is agreeing in amount, magnitude, or degree, e.g. a shareholder holding 1% outstanding shares of an entity is entitled to receive 1% of that entities declared dividend, i.e. it is in proportion.
PROPRIETARY is an account, item, or information belonging to a company or individual. See PROPRIETARY ASSET.
PROPRIETARY ASSET, usually, is any asset that is considered in the realm of intellectual property that should not be disclosed, e.g., all information having to do with clients/customers, including but not limited to names, addresses, telephone numbers and other contact information, as well as any other personal or business related information, as it may exist from time to time is a valuable, and unique proprietary asset to a company. Proprietary assets would also include trade secrets and undisclosed inventions.
PROPRIETARY THEORY is where no fundamental distinction is drawn between a legal entity and its owners, i.e. the entity does not exist separately from the owners for accounting purposes. The primary focus is to report information useful to the owners, and therefore the financial statements are prepared from their perspective. See ENTITY THEORY.
PROPRIETORS DRAW is when a business proprietor draws money for personal needs, but is taxed on business results (at individuals’ marginal rate) regardless of drawings.
PROPRIETORS FUNDS is owner's capital plus net profit minus owners drawings.
PROPRIERTORSHIP see SOLE PROPRIERTORSHIP.
PRO RATA is the basis for allocating an amount proportionally to the items involved. An amount may be proportionally distributed to assets, expenses, funds, etc.
PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEM (PPS), in healthcare, is a Medicare administered payment plan where providers are paid a predetermined sum for caring for a given number of consumers. The built in incentive is for providers to control costs, theoretically leading to more cost effective care.
PROSPECTIVE REIMBURSEMENT, in healthcare, is a reimbursement method where the third party payer set the amount of money for a particular service to be delivered to clients in agreement with the organization before the service is delivered.
PROSPECTUS is the disclosure document for an offering registered with the SEC. The final prospectus is issued on the effective date, i.e., when the offering is released by the SEC.
PROVISION, generally, is to prepare in advance for an event that is projected to place in the future. In accounting, it is an amount charged against profits for a specific liability (for example: bad debts, depreciation or taxes). A liability may be known, but the amount is often uncertain. This uncertainty may lead to an adjustment in a later income statement once the final amount of the liability is ascertained.
PROX see PROXIMO.
PROXIMO (usually abbreviated to 'PROX') means of or in the following month.
PROXY is a person authorized to act for another, e.g. a power of attorney document given by shareholders of a corporation authorizing a specific vote on their behalf at a corporate meeting.
PRUDENCE is having foresight and caution along with discretion, and to not act recklessly.
PRUDENCE CONCEPT, otherwise known as conservatism, says that whenever there are alternative procedures or values, the accountant will choose the one that results in a lower profit, a lower asset value and a higher liability value.
PTI is Pretax Income.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING means the performance of or offering to perform any engagement that will result in the issuance of an attest report that is in accordance with professional standards. "Practice of public accounting" also means the performance of or offering to perform services other than those described above, such as consulting services, personal financial planning services, or the preparation of tax returns or the furnishing of advice on tax matters by a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, professional association, corporation, or other business organization, that advertises to the public as a "certified public accountant" or "public accountant."
PUBLIC CORPORATION is a corporation formed by federal, state or local governments for specific public purposes.
PUBLIC DEBT OFFICE, in the U.S., is a part of the Department of Treasury and is responsible for the issuance, control, and payment of government issued securities in compliance to existing regulations.
PUBLIC FUNDS is money funded in government securities or through the levy of taxes from a governmental entity.
PUBLIC OFFERING is the sale of a new securities issue to the public by way of an underwriter, a transaction that must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP is either: a. Government ownership and operation of a productive facility for the purposes of providing some goods or services to citizens; or, b. In investments, portion of a corporations stock that is publicly traded and owned in the open market.
PURCHASE ACCOUNT is an account in which all inventory purchases are recorded; used with the periodic inventory method.
PURCHASE AGREEMENT is a contract stating the terms of a purchase.
PURCHASE DISCOUNT is a reduction in the purchase price, allowed if payment is made within a specified period.
PURCHASE METHOD is 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 (due to the creation of goodwill) compared to the POOLING OF INTEREST METHOD resulting in lower net income.
PURCHASE MONEY AGREEMENT is an agreement under which a person pledges the property or item bought as security.
PURCHASE MONEY INTEREST is that interest associated with the purchase money mortgage.
PURCHASE MONEY MORTGAGE (PMM) is seller financing as a part of the purchase price.
PURCHASE ORDER is a written authorization for a vendor to supply goods or services at a specified price over a specified time period. Acceptance of the purchase order constitutes a purchase contract and is legally binding on all parties.
PURCHASE REQUISITION is a written request for goods to be purchased. It is usually prepared by a department head or manager and sent to a firm's purchasing department.
PURCHASE RETURNS is a contra purchase account that records all credits from returned inventory purchases.
PURCHASES BUDGET is a budget of the expected usage of materials in production and the purchase of the direct materials required. See OPERATING BUDGET.
PURCHASING POWER is the value of a particular monetary unit in terms of the amount of goods or services that can be purchased with it, i,e, the ability to purchase, generally measured by income.
PURE COST is any direct readily verifiable cost assignable to the subject or item, e.g., the direct cost of producing a product.
PURE RESEARCH is motivated exclusively by the search for knowledge for its own sake.
PUSH-DOWN ACCOUNTING, in acquisitions, is an exception to the general rule that the acquiree’s carrying values are unaffected by the purchase may arise when substantially all of the acquiree’s shares are purchased by the acquirer. In that case, the acquirer may direct the acquiree to revalue its assets in accordance with the fair values attributed to those assets by the acquirer. This practice is known as push-down accounting, because the fair values are “pushed down” to the acquiree’s books. The net effect is the same as if the acquirer had formed a new subsidiary, which then purchased all of the assets and liabilities of the acquiree. There are two advantages to push-down accounting: a. The first is that the financial position and results of operations of the acquiree will be reported on the same economic basis in both the consolidated statements and its own separate entity statements. Without push-down accounting, for example, it would be possible for the subsidiary to report a profit on its own and yet contribute an operating loss to the parent’s consolidated results, if the consolidation adjustments are sufficient to tip the balance between profit and loss; and, b. The second advantage is that the process of consolidation will be greatly simplified for the parent. Since the carrying values will be the same as the acquisition fair values, there will be no need for many of the consolidation adjustments that otherwise will be required every time consolidated statements are prepared.
PUSH-PULL STRATEGY is the effective simultaneous use of a combination of two marketing strategies: PUSH = 1. (physical distribution definition) A manufacturing strategy aimed at other channel members rather than the end consumer. The manufacturer attempts to entice other channel members to carry its product through trade allowances, inventory stocking procedures, pricing policies, etc. 2. (sales promotion definition) The communications and promotional activities by the marketer to persuade wholesale and retail channel members to stock and promote specific products. PULL = 1. (physical distribution definition) A manufacturing strategy aimed at the end consumer of a product. The product is pulled through the channel by consumer demand initiated by promotional efforts, inventory stocking procedures, etc. 2. (sales promotion definition) The communications and promotional activities by the marketer to persuade consumers to request specific products or brands from retail channel members.
PUT is (1) A stipulated privilege of buying or selling a stated property, security, or commodity at a given price (strike price) within a specified time (for an American-style option, at any time prior to or on the expiration date). A securities option is a negotiable contract in which the seller (writer), for a certain sum of money called the option premium, gives the buyer the right to demand within a specified time the purchase (call) or sale (put) by the option seller of a specified number of bonds, currency units, index units, or shares of stock at a fixed price or rate called the strike price. Many options are settled for cash equal to the difference between the aggregate spot price and the aggregate strike price rather than by delivery of the underlying. In the U.S. and many other countries, stock options are usually written for units of 100 shares. Other units of underlying coverage are standard in other option markets. Options are ordinarily issued for periods of less than one year, but longer-term options are increasingly common. (2) Any financial contract that changes in value like an option (asymmetrically), even if the terms of the contract do not state the price relationship in terms of a right or privilege or in other language usually associated with options.
PUT OPTION is the right but not the obligation to sell an underlying at a particular price (strike price) on or before the expiration date of the contract. Alternatively, a short forward position with an upside insurance policy.
PUT WARRANT is a security that, in contrast to a conventional warrant, gives the holder the right to sell the underlying or to receive a cash payment that increases as the value of the underlying declines. Put warrants, like their call warrant counterparts, generally have an initial term of more than one year.
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