ACCOUNTING TERMINOLOGY-GLOSSARY
From the basics of accounting principles to advanced concepts like "contingency," "depletion," and "substance over form," we leave no stone unturned in equipping you with the knowledge to navigate financial discussions with confidence.
Acceptance
The
drawee’s signed assent on bill of exchange, to the order of the drawer. This
term is also used to describe a bill of exchange that has been accepted.
Accounting policies
Accounting
policies are the specific accounting principles and the methods of applying
those principles adopted by an enterprise in the preparation and presentation
of financial statements.
Accrual
Recognition
of revenues and costs as they are earned or incurred (and not as money is
received or paid). It includes recognition of transactions relating to assets
and liabilities as they occur irrespective of the actual receipts or payments.
Accrual/Mercantile Basis of Accounting
The
method of recording transactions by which revenues, costs, assets and
liabilities are reflected in the accounts in the period in which they accrue.
The ‘accrual basis of ac-counting’ includes considerations relating to
deferrals, allocations, depreciation and amortisation. This basis is also
referred to as mercantile basis of accounting.
Accrued Asset
A
developing but not yet enforceable claim against another person which
accumulates with the passage of time or the rendering of service or otherwise.
It may arise from the rendering of services (including the use of-mon-ey) which
at the date of accounting have been partly performed, and are not yet billable.
Accrued Expense
An
expense which has been incurred in an accounting period but for which no
enforcea-ble claim has be-come due in that period against the enterprise. It
may arise from the purchase of servic-es (including the use of money) which at
the date of accounting have been only partly performed, and are not yet
billable.
Accrued Liability
A
developing but not yet enforceable claim by another person which accumulates
with the passage of time or the receipt of service or otherwise. It may arise
from the purchase of services (including the use of money) which at the date of
accounting have.
Accrued Revenue
Reve-nue
which has been earned in an accounting period but in respect of which no
enforceable claim has become due in that period by the enterprise. It may arise
from the ren-dering of services (including the use of mon-ey) which at the date
of accounting have been partly performed, and are not yet billable.
Accumulated Depletion
The
total to date of the periodic depletion charges on wasting assets.
Accumulated Depreciation
The
total to date of the periodic depreciation charges on depreciable assets.
Advance
Payment
made on account of, but before completion of, a contract, or before acquisition
of goods or receipt of services.
Amortised Value
The
amortizable amount less any portion already provided by way of amortization.
Annual Report
The
information provided annually by the management of an enterprise to the owners
and other interested per-sons concerning its operations and financial position.
It includes the information statutori-ly required, e.g., in the case of a
company, the balance sheet, profit and loss statement and notes on accounts,
the auditor’s report thereon, and the report of the Board of Directors. It also
includes other information voluntarily provided e.g., value add-ed statement,
graphs, charts, etc.
Appropriation Account
An
account sometimes included as a separate section of the profit and loss
statement showing application of profits towards dividends, reserves, etc.
Assets
Tangi-ble
objects or intangible rights owned by an enterprise and carrying probable
future benefits.
Authorised Share Capital
The
number and par value, of each class of shares that an enterprise may issue in
accordance with its instrument of incorporation. This is sometimes re-ferred to
as nominal share capital.
Average Cost
The
cost of an item at a point of time as determined by applying an average of the
cost of all items of the same nature over a period. When weightages are also
applied in the computation, it is termed as weighted average cost.
Bad Debts
Debts
owed to an enterprise which are considered to be irrecoverable
Balance Sheet
A
statement of the financial position of an enterprise as at a given date, which
exhibits its assets, liabili-ties, capital, reserves and other account balances
at their respective book values.
Bill of Exchange
An
instrument in writing containing an unconditional order, signed by the maker,
directing a certain person to pay a certain sum of money only, to or to the
order of a certain person or to the bearer of the instrument.
Bonus Shares
Shares
allotted by capitalization of the reserves or surplus of a corporate
enterprise.
Book Value
The
amount at which an item appears in the books of account or financial statements.
It does not refer to any particular basis on which the amount is determined
e.g., cost, replacement value, etc.
Borrowing costs
Borrow-ing
costs are interest and other costs incurred by an enterprise in connection with
the borrowing of funds.
Bond/Debenture
A
formal document constituting acknowledgment of a debt by an enterprise usually
given under its common seal and normally containing provisions regarding
payment of interest, repayment of principal and security, if any. It is
transferable in the appropriate manner.
Call
A
demand pursuant to terms of issue to pay a part or whole of the balance
remaining payable on shares or debentures after allotment.
Called-up Share Capital
That
part of the subscribed share capital which shareholders have been required to
pay.
Capital
Generally
refers to the amount invested in an enterprise by its owners e.g.
paid-upsharecapital in a corpo-rate enterprise. It is also used to refer to the
interest of owners in the assets of an enterprise.
Capital Assets
As-sets,
including investments not held for sale, conversion or consumption in the
ordinary course of business.
Capital Commitment
Future
liability for capital expenditure in respect of which contracts have been made.
Capital Employed
The
finances deployed by an enterprise in its net fixed assets, investments and
working capital. Capital employed in an operation may, however, exclude
investments made outside that operation.
Capital Profit/Capital Loss
Ex-cess
of the proceeds realised from the sale, transfer, or exchange of the whole or a
part of a capital asset over its cost. When the result of this computation is
negative, it is referred to as capital loss.
Capital Reserve
A
reserve of a corporate enterprise which is not available for distribution as
dividend.
Capital Work-in-progress
Expenditure
on capital assets which are in the process of construction or completion.
Cash
Cash
comprises cash on hand and demand deposits with banks
Cash equivalents
Cash
equivalents are short term, highly liquid investments that are readily
convertible into known amounts of cash and which are subject to an
insignificant risk of changes in value.
Cash Basis of Accounting
The
method of recording transactions by which revenues and costs and assets and
liabili-ties are reflected in the accounts in the period in which actual
receipts or actual payments are made.
Cash Discount
A
reduction granted by a supplier from the invoiced price in consideration of
immediate payment or payment within a stipulated period.
Cash Profit
The
net profit as increased by non-cash costs, such as depreciation, amortization,
etc. When the result of the computation is negative, it is termed as cash loss.
Carrying amount
Carry-ing
amount is the amount at which an asset is recognized in the balance sheet, net
of any accumulated amortization and accumulated impairment losses thereon.
Charge
An
encumbrance on an asset to secure an indebtedness or other obligations. It may
be fixed or floating.
Cheque
A
bill of exchange drawn upon a specified banker and not expressed to be payable
otherwise than on demand.
Collateral Security
Securi-ty
which is given in addition to the principal security against the same liability
or obligation.
Costs of disposal
Costs
of disposal are incremental costs directly attributable to the disposal of an
asset, excluding finance costs and income tax expense.
Contingency
A
contingency is a condition or situation, the ultimate outcome of which, gain or
loss, will be known or determined only on the occurrence, or non-occurrence, of
one or more uncertain future events.
Contingent Asset
An
asset the existence, ownership or value of which may be known or determined
only on the occurrence or non- occurrence of one or more uncertain future
events.
Contingent Liability
An
obligation relating to an existing condition or situation which may arise in
future depending on the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain
future events.
Contra Account
One
or two or more accounts which partially or wholly off-set another or other
accounts.
Cost
The
amount of expenditure incurred on or attributable to a specified article,
product or activity.
Cost of Purchase
The
purchase price including duties and taxes, freight inwards and oth-er
expenditure directly attributable to acquisition, less trade discounts,
rebates, duty drawbacks, and subsidies in respect of such purchase.
Cost of Goods Sold
The
cost of goods sold during an accounting period. In manufacturing operations, it
includes
(i)
cost of materials;
(ii)
labour and factory overheads; selling and administrative expenses are normally
excluded.
Conversion Cost
Cost
incurred to convert raw materials or components into finished or semi-finished
products. This normally in-cludes costs which are specifically attributable to
units of production, i.e., direct labour, direct expenses and subcontracted
work, and production overheads as applicable in ac-cordance with either the
direct cost or absorption costing method. Production overheads ex-clude
expenses which relate to general administration, finance, selling and
distribution.
Convertible Debenture
A
debenture which gives the holder a right to its conversion, wholly or partly,
in shares in accordance with the terms of issue.
Cumulative Dividend
A
dividend payable on cumulative preference shares which, if unpaid, accumulates
as a claim against the earnings of a corporate enterprise, before any
distribution is made to the other shareholders.
Cumulative Preference Shares
A
class of preference shares entitled to payment of cumulative dividends.
Preference shares are always deemed to be cumulative, unless they are expressly
made non-cumulative.
Current Assets
Cash
and other assets that are expected to be converted into cash or consumed in the
production of goods or rendering of services in the normal course of business.
Current Liability
Liability
including loans, deposits and bank overdraft which falls due for payment in a
relatively short period, normally not more than twelve months.
Deferral
Postpone-ment
of recognition of a revenue or expense after its related receipt or payment (or
incurrence of a liability) to a subsequent period to which it applies. Common
examples of deferrals include prepaid rent and taxes, un-earned subscriptions
received in advance by newspapers and magazine selling companies, etc.
Deficiency
The
excess of liabilities over assets of an enterprise at a given date. The debit
balance in the profit and loss statement.
Deficit
The
debit balance in the profit and loss statement.
Depletion
A
measure of exhaustion of a wasting asset represented by periodic write off of
cost or other substituted value.
Depreciation
Depreciation
is a measure of the wearing out, consumption or other loss of value of a
depreciable asset arising from use, effluxion of time or obsolescence through
technology and market changes. Depreciation is allocated so as to charge a fair
proportion of the depreciable amount in each accounting period dur-ing the
expected use-ful life of the asset. Depreciation includes amortisation of
assets whose useful life is predetermined.
Depreciable amount
Deprecia-ble
amount of a depreciable asset is its historical cost, or other amount
substituted for historical cost in the financial statements, less the estimated
residual value.
Depreciable assets
Depreciable
assets are assets which are expected to be used during more than one accounting
period; and have a limited useful life; and are held by an enterprise for use
in the production or supply of goods and services, for rent-al to others, or
for administrative purposes and not for the purpose of sale in the ordinary
course of business.
Depreciation Method
Any
method of calculating depreciation for an accounting period.
Depreciation Rate
A
percentage applied to the historical cost or the substituted amount of a
depreciable asset (or in case of diminish-ing balance method, the historical
cost or the substituted amount less accumulated depreciation).
Diminishing Balance Method
A
method under which the periodic charge for depreciation of an asset is computed
by apply-ing a fixed percentage to its historical cost or substituted amount
less accumulated depreciation (net book value). This is also referred to as
written down value method.
Discount
A
reduction from a list price, quoted price or invoiced price. It also refers to
the price for obtaining payment on a bill before its maturity.
Dividend
A
distribution to shareholders out of profits or reserves available for this
purpose.
Entity Concept
The
view of the relationship between the accounting entity and its owners which
regards the entity as a separate person, distinct and apart from its owners.
Equity Share
A
share which is not a preference share. Also sometimes called ordinary share.
Exchange difference Ex-change difference is the difference resulting from
reporting the same number of units of a foreign currency in the reporting
currency at different exchange rates.
Expenditure
Incur-ring
a liability, disbursement of cash or transfer of property for the purpose of
obtaining assets, goods or services.
Expense
A
cost relating to the operations of an accounting period or to the revenue
earned during the period or the benefits of which do not extend beyond that
period.
Expired Cost
That
portion of an expenditure from which no further benefit is expected. Also
termed as expense. Extraordinary items Extraordi-nary items are income or
expenses that arise from events or transactions that are clearly distinct from
the ordinary activities of the enterprise and, there-fore, are not expected to
recur frequently or regularly.
Fair value
Fair
value is the amount for which an asset could be exchanged or a liability settled
between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arm’s length transaction.
Fair Market Value
The
price that would be agreed to in an open and unrestricted market between
knowledgea-ble and willing parties dealing at arm’s length who are fully
informed and are not under any compulsion to transact.
First Charge
A
charge having priority over other charges.
First In, First Out (FIFO)
Computa-tion
of the cost of items sold or consumed during a period as though they were sold
or consumed in order of their acquisition.
Fixed asset
As-set
held with the intention of being used for the purpose of producing or providing
goods or services and is not held for sale in the normal course of business.
Fixed Cost
That
cost of production which by its very nature remains relatively unaffected in a
defined period of time by variations in the volume of production.
Fixed Deposit
Deposit
for a specified period and at specified rate of interest.
Fixed or Specific Charge
A
charge which attaches to a particular asset which is identified when the charge
is created, and the identity of the asset does not change during the
subsistence of the charge.
Floating Charge
A
general charge on some or all assets of an enterprise which are not attached to
specific assets and are given as security against a debt.
Financial Instrument
A
financial instrument is any contract that gives rise to both a financial asset
of one enterprise and a financial liability or equity shares of another enterprise.
Foreign currency
Foreign
currency is a currency other than the reporting currency of an enterprise.
Forfeited Share
A
share to which title is lost by a member for non-pay-ment of call money or
default in fulfilling any engagement between members or expulsion of members
where the articles specifically provide therefor.
Free Reserve
A
reserve the utilization of which is not restricted in any manner.
Functional Classification
A
system of classification of expenses and revenues and the corresponding assets
and liabilities to each function or activity, rather than by reference to their
nature.
Fund
An
account usually of the nature of a reserve or a provision which is represented
by specifically earmarked assets.
Fundamental Accounting Assumptions
Basic
accounting assump-tions which underlie the preparation and presentation of
financial statements. They are going concern, consistency and accrual. Usually,
they are not specifically stated be-cause their acceptance and use are assumed.
Disclosure is necessary if they are not followed.
Gain
A
monetary benefit, profit or advantage resulting from a transaction or group of
transactions.
General Reserve
A
revenue reserve which is not earmarked for a specific purpose.
Going Concern Assumption
An
accounting assumption according to which an enterprise is viewed as continuing
in operation for the foreseeable future. It is assumed that the enterprise has
neither the inten-tion nor the necessity of liquidation or of curtailing
materially the scale of its operations.
Goodwill
An
intangible asset arising from business connections or trade name or reputation
of an enterprise.
Gross Margin or Gross Profit
The
excess of the proceeds of goods sold and services rendered during a period over
their cost, before taking into account administration, selling, distribution
and financing expenses. When the result of this computation is negative it is
referred to as gross loss.
Government
Govern-ment
refers to government, government agencies and similar bodies whether local,
national or international.
Government grants
Government
grants are assistance by government in cash or kind to an enterprise for past
or future compliance with certain conditions. They exclude those forms of
government assistance which cannot reasonably have a value placed upon them and
transactions with government which cannot be distinguished from the normal
trad-ing transactions of the enterprise.
Gross book value
Gross
book value of a fixed asset is its historical cost or other amount substituted
for historical cost in the books of account or financial statements. When this
amount is shown net of accumulated depreciation, it is termed as net book
value.
Income and Expenditure Statement
A
financial statement, often prepared by non-profit making enterprises like
clubs, associ-ations etc. to present their revenues and expenses for an
accounting period and to show the excess of revenues over expenses (or vice
versa) for that period. It is similar to profit and loss statement and is also
called revenue and expense statement.
Intangible Asset
Asset
which does not have a physical identity e.g. goodwill, patents, copyright etc.
Inventories are assets: held for sale in the ordinary course of business; in
the process of production for such sale; or in the form of materials or
supplies to be consumed in the production process or in the rendering of
services.
Investment
Expenditure
on assets held to earn interest, income, profit or other benefits.
Investments
Assets
held not for operational purposes or for rendering services i.e. assets other
than fixed as-sets or current assets (e.g. securities, shares, debentures,
immovable properties).
Issued Share Capital
That
portion of the authorized share capital which has actually been offered for
subscription. This includes any bonus shares allotted by the corporate
enterprise.
Joint venture
A
joint venture is a contractual arrangement whereby two or more parties
undertake an economic activity, which is subject to joint control.
Last In, First Out (LIFO)
Computation
of the cost of items sold or consumed during a period on the basis that the
items last acquired were sold or consumedfirst.
Liability
The
financial obligation of an enterprise other than owners’ funds.
Lien
Right
of one person to satisfy a claim against another by holding or retaining possession
of that other’s assets/property.
Long-term Liability
Liability
which does not fall due for payment in a relatively short period, i.e.,
normally a period not more than twelve months.
Lease
A
lease is an agreement whereby the lessor conveys to the lessee in return for a
pay-ment or series of payments the right to use an asset for an agreed period
of time.
Materiality
An
accounting concept according to which all relatively important and relevant
items, i.e., items the knowledge of which might influence the decisions of the
user of the financial statements are disclosed in the financial statements.
Mortgage
A
transfer of interest in specific immovable property for the purpose of securing
a loan advanced, or to be advanced, an existing or future debt or the
performance of an en-gagement which may give rise to a pecuni-ary liability.
The security is redeemed when the loan is repaid or the debt discharged or the
obligations performed.
Net Assets/Shareholders’ funds/Net Worth
The
excess of the book value of assets (other than fictitious assets) of an
enterprise over its liabilities. This is also referred to as net worth or
shareholders’ funds.
Net Fixed Assets
Fixed
assets less accumulated depreciation thereon up-to-date.
Net Profit/Net loss
The
excess of revenue over expenses during a particular accounting period. When the
re-sult of this computation is negative, it is referred to as net loss. The net
profit may be shown before or after tax.
Net realizable value
Net
realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of
business less the estimated costs of completion and the estimated costs
necessary to make the sale.
Obsolescence
Diminution
in the value of an asset by reason of its becoming out-of date or less useful
due to technological changes, improvement in production meth-ods, change in
market demand for the product or service out-put of the asset, or legal or
other restrictions.
Operating Profit
The
net profit arising from the normal operations and activities of an enterprise
without taking account of extraneous transactions and expenses of a purely
financial nature.
Paid-up Share Capital
That
part of the subscribed share capital for which consideration in cash or
otherwise has been received. This includes bonus shares allotted by the
corporate enterprise.
Preference Share Capital
That
part of the share capital of a corporate enterprise which enjoys preferential
rights in respect of payments of fixed dividend and repayment of capital.
Preference shares may also have full or partial participating rights in surplus
profits or surplus capital.
Preliminary Expenses
Expenses
relating to the formation of an enterprise. These include legal, accounting and
share issue expenses incurred for formation of the enterprise.
Prepaid Expense
Payment
for expense in an accounting period, the benefit for which will accrue in the
subsequent accounting period(s).
Prime Cost
The
total cost of direct materials, direct wages and other direct production
expenses.
Prior Period Item
Prior
period items are income or expenses which arise in the current period as a
result of errors or omissions in the preparation of the financial statements of
one or more prior periods.
Profit/Loss
A
general term for the excess of revenue over related cost. When the result of
this com-putation is negative it is referred to as loss.
Profit and Loss Account
A
financial statement which presents the revenues and expenses of an enterprise
for an accounting period and shows the excess of revenues over expenses (or
vice versa). It is also known as profit and loss account.
Promissory Note
An
instrument in writing (not being a bank note or currency note) containing an
unconditional undertaking, signed by the maker, to pay a certain sum of money
only to, or to the order of, a certain person or to the bearer of the
instrument.
Provision
An
amount written off or retained by way of providing for depreciation or
diminu-tion in value of assets or re-tained by way of providing for any known
liability the amount of which cannot be determined with substantial accuracy.
Provision for Doubtful Debts
A
provision made for debts considered doubtful of recovery.
Prudence
A
concept of care and caution used in accounting according to which (in view of
the un-certainty attached to future events) profits are not anticipated, but
recognised only when realised, though not necessarily in cash. Under this
concept, provision is made for all known liabilities and losses, even though
the amount cannot be determined with certainty and represents only a best
estimate in the light of available information.
Redeemable Preference Share
The
preference share that is repayable either after a fixed or determinable period
or at any time decided by the management (by giving due notice), under certain
condi-tions prescribed by the instrument of incorporation or the terms of
issue.
Redemption
Repay-ment
as per given terms normally used in connection with preference shares and
debentures.
Reserve
The
portion of earnings, receipts or other surplus of an enterprise (whether
capital or revenue) appropriated by the management for a general or a specific
purpose other than a provision for depreciation or diminution in the value of
assets or for a known liability. The reserves are primarily of two types:
capital reserves and revenue reserves.
Revaluation Reserve
A
reserve created on the revaluation of assets or net assets of an enterprise
represented by the surplus of the estimated replacement cost or estimated
market val-ues over the book values thereof.
Residual value
Residual
value is the amount which an enterprise expects to obtain for an asset at the
end of its useful life after deducting the expected costs of disposal.
Revenue/Income
Revenue
is the gross inflow of cash, receivables or other consideration arising in the
course of the ordinary activities of an enterprise from the sale of goods, from
the render-ing of services, and from the use by others of enterprise resources
yielding interest, royal-ties and dividends. Revenue is measured by the charges
made to customers or clients for goods supplied and services rendered to them
and by the charges and rewards aris-ing from the use of resources by them. In
an agency relationship, the revenue is the amount of commission and not the
gross inflow of cash, receivables or other consideration.
Revenue Reserve
Any
reserve other than a capital reserve.
Right Share
An
allotment of shares on the issue of fresh capital by a corporate enterprise to
which a shareholder is entitled on payment, by virtue of his holding certain
shares in the enterprise in proportion to the number of shares already held by
him. (Shares allotted to certain categories of debenture holders pursuant to
the rights enjoyed by them are sometimes called right shares)
Sales Turnover/Gross Turnover/Gross Sales
The
aggregate amount for which sales are effected or services rendered by an
enterprise. The terms gross turnover and net turnover (or gross sales and net
sales) are sometimes used to distinguish the sales aggregate before and after
deduction of returns and trade discounts.
Secured Loan
Loan
secured wholly or partly against an asset.
Share Capital
Aggre-gate
amount of money paid or credited as paid on the shares and/ or stocks of a
corporate enterprise.
Share Discount
The
excess of the face value of shares over their issue price.
Shareholders’ Equity
The
interest of the shareholders in the net assets of a corporate enterprise.
However, in the case of liquidation it is represented by the residual assets
after meeting prior claims.
Share Issue Expenses
Costs
incurred in connection with the issue and allotment of shares. These include
legal and professional fees, advertising expenses, printing costs, underwriting
commis-sion, brokerage, and also expenses in connection with the issue of
prospectus and allotment of shares.
Share warrants
Share
warrants or options are financial instruments that give the holder the right to
acquire equity shares.
Securities Premium
The
excess of the issue price of shares over their face value.
Sinking Fund
A
fund created for the repayment of a liability or for the replacement of an
asset.
Straight Line Method
The
method under which the periodic charge for depreciation is computed by dividing
the depreciable amount of a depreciable asset by the estimated num-ber of years
of its useful life.
Subscribed Share Capital
That
portion of the issued share capital which has actually been subscribed and
allotted. This includes any bonus shares allotted by the corporate
enterprise.
Substance over Form
An
accounting concept according to which the substance and not merely the legal
form of transactions and events governs their accounting treatment and
presentation in financial statements.
Sundry Creditors / Trade Creditors/Trade payables
Amount
owed by an enterprise on account of goods purchased or services received or in
respect of contractu-al obligations. Also termed as trade creditors or account
payables or Trade payables.
Sundry Debtors / Trade Debtors/ Trade Receivables
Per-son
from whom amounts are due for goods sold or services rendered or in respect of
contractual obligations. Also termed as debtors, trade debtors, account
receivables, trade receivables.
Surplus
Cred-it
balance in the profit and loss statement after providing for proposed
appropriations, e.g., dividend or reserves
Trade Discount
A
reduction granted by a supplier from the list price of goods or services on
business considerations other than for prompt payment.
Unexpired Cost
That
portion of an expenditure whose benefit has not yet been exhausted.
Unissued Share Capital
That
portion of the authorised share capital for which shares have not been offered
for subscription.
Unpaid Dividend
Divi-dend
which has been declared by a corporate enterprise but has not been paid, or the
war-rant or cheque in respect whereof has not been dispatched within the
prescribed period.
Useful life
Use-ful life is either
(i) the period over which a depreciable asset is expected to be used by the enterprise; or
(ii) the number of production or similar units expected to be obtained from the use of the asset by the enterprise
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