Glossary

Accountant

Person who provides accounting services to private or public businesses and who is responsible for preparing financial statements, records, plans, as well as, tax returns for these firms.

Accounting Valuation

Valuation of assets in accounting which plays an important role in drawing accurate conclusions about a company's liquidity or its value in liquidation. Valuation is usually based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Accounts Payable

Money a debtor owes to creditors (suppliers) for purchased products or services that are to be paid according to the terms and conditions agreed upon with the supplier.

Accounts Receivable

Current and overdue amounts of money owed to a certain company (creditor) from which customers have purchased products or received services. The sums are to be paid back according to the terms and conditions agreed upon between both sides, meaning the Creditor and the Debtor.

Account Statement

A record of all transactions that have been made and their effect on the account balance over a specified period of time, for a certain account. A bank account statement lists the debits and credits that appeared over the relevant time period, a brokerage account statement is a more detailed register showing the long and short positions, purchases, sales, and other transactions.

Agent

A person appointed to act on behalf of the principal in business and to assist in the structuring of a private equity transaction.

Allowance

A reduction in quality or quantity that is acceptable and treated as normal spoilage in a manufacturing operation; a mark down that is given due to a specific circumstance.

Annual Return

A required return, submitted yearly to the Registrar of Companies, containing a company's business description, such as capital and shares with a list of current shareholders, their personal information and number of shares held.

Asset

Anything valuable economically (cash, accounts receivable, cars, owned land and other property) that is owned by an individual or corporation and is expected to provide benefits to the company, as it can be commuted into cash. Assets on a balance sheet are equal to the sum of liabilities, common stock, preferred stock, and retained earnings; In accounting, assets are divided into the following categories: current assets (cash and other liquid items), long-term assets (real estate, plant, equipment), prepaid and deferred assets (expenditures for future costs such as insurance, rent, interest), and intangible assets (trademarks, patents, copyrights, goodwill).

Associated Companies

Companies by which some common link or bond are considered to be associated.

Auditors Report

A report created by the auditors (accountants) in order to confirm that they have inspected a business’ ledger to check if it has been prepared in a proper way, according to accounting standards and whether it represents a true and fair view of the company.

BACS

Abbreviation for Bank Automated Clearing System; a debit and credit system used for making direct transfers to/from clients’ accounts.

Bad Debt

Money owed to a company or individual that is considered irrecoverable and hence is likely to be written off as a loss.

Bad Debt Ratio

A parallel comparing the amount of sales for which money has successfully been collected and those for which payment is not collectable.

Balance Sheet

An annually created statement that shows the financial position of a company at a certain date.

Bankruptcy

The state of not being capable of paying off debts; it is implemented by a court which serves a bankruptcy order to a company or individual.

Bill of Activities

A report containing a list of all the activities and associated costs used by a cost object (product/department)

Bill of Exchange

Document that is sent by the drawer to the drawee with requesting debt payment on demand within a stated period of time.

Bill of Lading

Document supplied to a shipper or consignor by a carrier that defines contractual terms and conditions for the delivery of goods. It is the carrier`s receipt for the items and also proof that they have been or will be received.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

Lists all the items that are essential to produce one unit of a certain good; the listing also contains the quantity of each item required to complete one unit and a guide which indicates all the steps of assembly.

Bill of Sale

Document that transfers items and other interests from a supplier to a purchaser, which defines the terms and conditions of the whole transaction.

Bookkeeper

One whose responsible for performing accounting support functions within the company, which include recording financial transactions and dealing with the firm`s ledger.

Bookkeeping

Recording all financial transactions performed within a company on a regular daily basis, carried out by the firm`s bookkeeper; there are two general methods of bookkeeping: single-entry, which is more common for smaller companies as they are able to control simple bookkeeping transactions and double-entry, which is an accounting technique of registering each transaction as both a debit and credit.

Book-to-bill ratio

A ratio which equates the amount of new orders with the amount of deliveries of specific items. If the ratio is greater than 1, the firm has more orders than can be delivered; if it equals 1, the amount of orders equals the amount of deliveries; a company has less orders than it can deliver if the ratio is under 1. The ratio is a monthly figure used very often within companies in the chip (semiconductor) and technology sector.

Capital

Money invested in a firm and currently possessed by it.

Cash

Money, hard cash, petty cash, or current accounts in the bank with marketable securities.

Cash Flow

Amount of money received and spent by a company throughout a specified period of time

CHAPS

Abbreviation for Clearing House Automated Payments System; a computerized clearing system for payments made in pounds sterling which are processed within 24 hours but incur a transaction fee.

Common Cost

An expense that is shared by different products, departments, or jobs, which is also called indirect cost .

Company Number/Company Index Number/Company Registration Number

An individual number that is given to a Limited company when it is formed which it keeps, even if it changes its name, until it is liquidated.

Conditions of Sale

Terms of Trade; Terms and Conditions included in the contract, upon which services are provided and items sold.

Controller

Chief accounting executive of an organization who is in charge of the Accounting Department. The responsibilities that belong to a controller are: (a) planning for control; (b) preparing financial reports and interpretations; (c) tax administration; (d) development of accounting systems and also management audits; (e) internal audits.

Credit

The ability to acquire finance, goods, services or other materials without paying for them at the time of purchase but rather after a defined period of time agreed upon by the seller and buyer.

Credit Control

All methods practised by companies to recover debts from their customers (debtors) under terms and conditions (it usually includes cash collection via e-mail or telephone, performed in the Accounts Receivable department or through third-party cash collection agencies).

Credit Insurance

The type of Insurance that is utilized against bad debts in order to secure the creditor who is therefore more willing to accept liability for an agreed portion of the debt. This helps to inspire the creditor to recover payment from the debtor in a shorter period of time.

Credit/Payment Terms

An established time frame within which a customer that purchased products or services from a company is obligated to pay his debt.

Current Assets

All assets that can be converted into cash at any time (e.g. cash, stocks, debtors).

Current Liabilities

Sum of money (debts, obligations of a company) that are to fall due for payment within one year from the date of the Balance Sheet (e.g. creditors, short term debt, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other debts.).

Days Payable

A ratio of the average time a customer takes to pay the supplier, equivalent to accounts payable divided by annual credit purchases multiplied by 365.

Days Receivable

A measure of the average time a company's customers take to pay for purchases, equal to accounts receivable divided by annual sales on credit multiplied 365.

Debit

Opposite of credit; an accounting entry held on the left side of a double-entry bookkeeping system, which results in either an increase in assets or a decrease in liabilities or net worth.

Debt Collection Agency

A company which acts on behalf of its clients to recover bad debt/overdue accounts for goods and services sold.

Debtors

Customers who owe money to a business for provided services or sold supplies.

Debtors (Control Account)

A type of account within the nominal ledger that includes the overall balance of the Sales Ledger.

DSO

An abbreviation for Days Sales Outstanding; a financial indicator that shows the average number of days it takes to convert a company's accounts receivable into cash. This serves as an indicator of collection efficiency. It helps to determine if a change in receivables is due to change in sales or to another factor such as a change in payment terms. It is calculated by dividing the accounts receivable from sales and multiplying this by the number of days in the respective period. Also known as a Regular DSO.

Expenses

Costs that are absorbed due to the purchasing of items or services which directly help run the business. Items of a capital nature or purchased for re-sale are not included in the expenses.

Final Demand Letter

Formal letter sent from the creditor to the customer after second reminder letter has been received and the debt is still outstanding, this letter outlines that if the payment is not made within a certain period of time, further action will be taken to recover the debt.

Fixed Assets

Consists of all things that are owned by a business or bought for use within the business, which still hold a value at the year`s end. Items included in these assets are: land, real estate, vehicles, office and other type of equipment.

Insolvency

Lack of power to pay off debts as they fall due for payment, happens also when a debtors` liabilities exceed the total assets. The Insolvency Act 1986 regulates the law in this area. A person is declared insolvent, when his or her debts due to a creditor or creditors are in excess of £750.

Invoice

Bill written by a supplier or service provider and presented to the customer / consumer for payment.

Letter Before Action (LBA)

Formal letter sent from the creditor to the customer after the final demand letter has been received and the debt is still outstanding, this letter warns the customer that legal action will be taken against them(the debtor will be passed onto the legal department) in a specified period of time in order to recover the outstanding debt.

Overheads

All costs absorbed in the process of running a business, such as insurance, petrol, rent, staff wages and other expenses.

Private Company

Any company that is not a public company and has been registered, which means its existence is legal. There are fewer legal requirements for establishing this type of a company; for example, paid-up share capital requirement and small and medium-sized companies need not file full accounts and there is no minimum issued.

Reminder Letter

Formal letter sent from the creditor to the customer with outstanding debt, there are usually two reminder letters sent, politely requesting payment for purchased products and services.

Remittance Advice (RA)

A printed document which states the amount of payments being made; type of receipt and proof of payment usually used by firms processing either a purchase or a filed claim.

Sales

Total amount of cash collected for products and services provided. Sales can only be recognized after the transaction`s realization. It is also important that the delivery of the product or service takes place.

Sales Ledger

The register of day to day sales.

Third Party Debt Order

A legal proceeding performed by a third party in order to regain money that is owed to the debtor.

Trade Creditors & Accruals

Sum of money that is currently due to be paid off for items or services provided, whether invoiced or not.

Trading Address

The company`s address, different from the registered office from which they carry out business (trade) and where the firm`s assets are probable to be found.

Treasurer

Person who is mainly responsible for dealing with financial problems of a company, such as managing working capital, planning the finances, developing credit policy, and handling the investment portfolio in large companies, the Treasurer along with the Controller are responsible for reporting to the Vice-President of Finance.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

Value Added Tax, or VAT as it is usually called, is a form of sales tax which increases the cost of items. VAT is added to the price of items and in the UK its nominal value equals 17.5%.

Zero Balance Account (ZBA.)

A checking account that holds a balance of zero at all times. If a company needs to make a cheque payment, they transfer the exact sum of money for which the cheque will be written out into that account and once the cheque is cashed, the account`s balance becomes zero again