Account - Formal record that represents, in words, money or other unit of measurement, certain resources, claims to such resources, transactions or other events that result in changes to those resources and claims.

Account Payable - Amount owed to a CREDITOR for delivered goods or completed services.

Account Receivable - Claim against a DEBTOR for an uncollected amount, generally from a completed transaction of sales or services rendered.

Accountant - Person skilled in the recording and reporting of financial transactions. (See CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT.)

Accountants' Report - Formal document that communicates an independent accountant's: (1) expression of limited assurance on FINANCIAL STATEMENTS as a result of performing inquiry and analytic procedures (Review Report); (2) results of procedures performed (Agreed-Upon Procedures Report); (3) non-expression of opinion or any form of assurance on a presentation in the form of financial statements information that is the representation of management (Compilation Report); or (4) an opinion on an assertion made by management in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (Attestation Report). An accountants' report does not result from the performance of an AUDIT. (See AUDITORS' REPORT)

Accounting - Recording and reporting of financial transactions, including the origination of the transaction, its recognition, processing, and summarization in the FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

Accounting Change - Change in (1) an accounting principle; (2) an accounting estimate; or (3) the reporting entity that necessitates DISCLOSURE and explanation in published financial reports.

Accounting Principles Board (APB) - Senior technical committee of the AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS (AICPA) which issued pronouncements on accounting principles from 1959-1973. The APB was replaced by the FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (FASB).

Accrual Basis - Method of ACCOUNTING that recognizes REVENUE when earned, rather than when collected. Expenses are recognized when incurred rather than when paid.

Accumulated Depreciation - Total DEPRECIATION pertaining to an ASSET or group of assets from the time the assets were placed in services until the date of the FINANCIAL STATEMENT or tax return. This total is the CONTRA ACCOUNT to the related asset account.

Additional Paid in Capital - Amounts paid for stock in excess of its PAR VALUE or STATED VALUE. Also, other amounts paid by stockholders and charged to EQUITY ACCOUNTS other than CAPITAL STOCK.

Adverse Opinion - Expression of an opinion in an AUDITORS' REPORT which states that FINANCIAL STATEMENTS do not fairly present the financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES (GAAP).

Affiliated Company - Company, or other organization related through common ownership, common control of management or owners, or through some other control mechanism, such as a long-term LEASE.

Agency Fund - Fund consisting of ASSETS where the holder agrees to remit the assets, income from the assets, or both, to a specified beneficiary in due course or at a specified time.

Agreed-Upon Procedures Report - See ACCOUNTANTS'REPORT.

AICPA - See AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS.

Alternative Dispute Resolution - An alternative to formal litigation which includes techniques such as arbitration, mediation, and a non-binding summary jury trial.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) - Tax imposed to back up the regular income tax imposed on CORPORATION and individuals to assure that taxpayers with economically measured income exceeding certain thresholds pay at least some income tax.

American Depository Receipts (ADRs) - Receipts for shares of foreign company stock maintained by an intermediary indicating ownership.

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) - National professional membership organization that represents practicing CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS (CPAs). The AICPA establishes ethical and auditing standards as well as standards for other services performed by its members. Through committees, it develops guidance for specialized industries. It participates with the FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (FASB) and the GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (GASB) in establishing accounting principles.

Amortization - Gradual and periodic reduction of any amount, such as the periodic writedown of a BOND premium, the cost of an intangible ASSET or periodic payment Of MORTGAGES or other DEBT.

Analytical Procedures - Substantive tests of financial information which examine relationships among data as a means of obtaining evidence. Such procedures include: (1) comparison of financial information with information of comparable prior periods; (2) comparison of financial information with anticipated results (e.g., forecasts); (3) study of relationships between elements of financial information that should conform to predictable patterns based on the entity's experience; (4) comparison of financial information with industry norms.

Annual Report - Report to the stockholders of a company which includes the company's annual, audited BALANCE SHEET and related statements of earnings, stockholders' or owners' equity and cash flows, as well as other financial and business information.

Annuity - Series of payments, usually payable at specified time intervals.

Anti-dilution - Condition that may increase the computation of EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS) or decrease loss per share solely because of the inclusion of COMMON STOCK equivalents, such as STOCK OPTIONS, WARRANTS, convertible DEBT or convertible PREFERRED STOCK, nomination or selection of the independent auditors.

Assembly of Financial Statements - The providing of various accounting or data-processing services by an accountant, the output of which is in the form of financial statements ostensibly to be used solely for internal management purposes.

Assertion - Explicit or implicit representations by an entity's management that are embodied in financial statement components and for which the auditor obtains and evaluates evidential matter when forming his or her opinion on the entity's financial statements.

Audit Engagement - Agreement between a CPA firm and its client to perform an AUDIT.

Audit Risk - The risk that the auditor may unknowingly fail to modify appropriately his or her opinion on financial statements that are materially misstated.

Audit Sampling - Application of an AUDIT procedure to less than 100% of the items within an account BALANCE or class of transactions for the purpose of evaluating some characteristic of the balance or class.

Auditing Standards - Guidelines to which an AUDITOR adheres. Auditing standards encompass the auditor's professional qualities, as well as his or her judgment in performing an AUDIT and in preparing the AUDITORS' REPORT. Audits conducted by independent CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA) usually in accordance with GENERALLY ACCEPTED AUDITING STANDARDS (GAAS), which consist of standards approved and adopted by the membership of the AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS (AICPA).

Auditor - Person who AUDITS financial accounts and records kept by others.

Auditors'Report - Written communication issued by an independent CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA) describing the character of his or her work and the degree of responsibility taken. An auditors' report includes a statement that the AUDIT was conducted in accordance with GENERALLY ACCEPTED AUDITING STANDARDS (GAAS), which require that the AUDITOR plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the FINANCIAL STATEMENTS are free of material misstatement, as well as a statement that the auditor believes the audit provides a reasonable basis for his or her opinion. (See ACCOUNTANTS' REPORT.)