Accounting Standards
Regulations governing accounting procedures and reporting
Accounting System
A financial information system designed to record, classify, report and interpret financial data of an organization or company.
Accounts Payable
Amounts owed by a company or organization for goods and services rendered.
Accounts Receivable
Amounts due the company or organization for goods and services rendered.
Actuary
An expert on pension scheme assets and debts, life expectancy and risk for insurance purposes.
Advance Directive
An advance health care directive, also known as living will, personal directive, is a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves because of illness or incapacity.
Annuity
A tax-sheltered investment sponsored by an insurance company that pays earnings and also has a death benefit. A regular amount paid out to someone from an investment that is linked to a managed fund.
APR (Annual Percentage Rate)
A percentage to show the amount of interest and other fees a person pays each year to receive a loan.
ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage)
A type of mortgage for which a person pays a variable amount based on interest rates increasing or decreasing.
Articles of Incorporation
The primary rules governing the management of a corporation in the United States and Canada, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.
Assets
Something of value owned.
ATM (Automated Teller Machine)
A computerized machine that allows bank customers to get information on their bank account, withdraw money or make a deposit without interaction with another person.
Audit
An independent examination of an organization’s records and accounts to make sure that they show a fair, accurate and legal reflection of the financial position of the company at the accounting date. Audits can be either internal or external.
Auditor Report
A report by an independent person or firm on an organization’s financial records. The report will be either “Unqualified” or “Qualified.”
Balance Sheet
A summary of an organizations assets (what it owns), liabilities (debts it owes) and equity (net worth) at a point in time. Assets are listed on the left-hand side liabilities and equities are listed on the right-hand side.
Balloon Payment
A higher than normal final payment for a loan in return for lower regular repayments.
Bankruptcy
A legal status of a person or corporation that cannot repay the debts it owes. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court.
Beneficiary
A person who receives a gift. The person(s) you name to receive your estate assets at your death.
Bequest
The act of giving or leaving personal property by a will.
Bond
A written promise made by governments and companies to repay any money borrowed, with interest, on a certain date in the future.
Budget
A plan of spending over a certain length of time, based on how much income a person(s) or organization anticipates having.
Bylaws
An organization’s internal operating rules. (The bylaws of each local Church of the Nazarene is the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene.)
Capital
An amount of money a person saves, invests or borrows, before interest or loss.
Capital Gain
Money a business or person makes if it sells a long-term asset, such as a building or equities for more than it cost.
Capital Gains Tax
A tax on gifts over a certain value or on a capital gain.
Cash Card
Also known as an ATM card – a plastic card that a person can use only at cash machines with a personal identification number (PIN) to withdraw cash, check their balance or print out a mini-statement.
Cash Flow
A record of all the money coming in minus all the payments as they are made, measured over a particular time.
Certificate of Insurance
A document that proves that a person is insured.
Codicil
An addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or a portion of one.
Collateral
An asset offered to or needed by a lender as security for a loan, such as a house for a mortgage.
Commision
A small fee charged as a percentage of the value of goods or services such as stock sale or purchase.
Compensation
The money and benefits received by an employee from an employer as a salary or wages.
Contents Insurance
Insurance that covers damage to and theft of a person’s possessions in their home.
Contract
An agreement between two or more parties, which is usually written and is binding on everyone concerned.
Conversion Rate
Also known as the exchange rate – a changing rate at which a person can change one currency for another, for example $1.00(USD) for $1.35(CAD).
Conveyance
A legal term to describe selling or giving property to another person or group.
Corporation
A company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity (legally a person) and recognized as such in law.
Cost Accounting
A type of accounting process that aims to capture a company’s costs of production by assessing the input costs of each step of production as well as fixed costs such as depreciation of capital equipment.
CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
The CPA is a license to provide accounting services directly to the public. The CPA is awarded by each of the 50 states for practice in that state additionally 49 of 50 states have a mobility agreement.
CPI (Consumer Price Index)
The CPI program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
Credit
Money that a bank, credit union or a credit card company has lent a person to buy goods or services.
Credit Card
A plastic card that lets a person buy something ‘on credit’ and pay for it later.
Credit Limit
The highest amount a lender or credit card company will lend a person at any time.
Credit Rating
A score of a person’s ability to repay debt such as loans and credit card bills. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.
Creditor
A person or company who is owed money.
Death Taxes
A tax on the transfer of the estate of a deceased person. The tax applies to property that is transferred via a will or according to state laws of intestacy. In addition to the federal estate tax, many states have enacted similar taxes. These taxes may be termed an “inheritance tax.”
Debenture
A document issued by a company, usually to a bank or credit union, that acknowledges that some or all of the organization’s assets are security for a debt.
Debit
A payment from an account or the cost of buying goods and services.
Debit Card
A plastic card that can be used instead of cash to pay for goods and services, or to withdraw money from an ATM. The transaction is immediately withdrawn from a bank or credit union account.
Debited
The result of money being taken out from an account.
Debt
Money owed to another person or to a company.
Debt Consolidation
Taking out a single loan to pay off a number of smaller, individual loans.
Debtor
An organization, company or person that owes a sum of money.
Deed
A document that confirms a person owns a particular property, usually given as security for mortgages.
Default
A failure to pay a debt on time.
Defined Contribution Pension
A type of pension plan to which a person makes payments each month and that pays out an amount related to how much the person has invested and how well the fund has performed.
Deposit
A sum of money placed or kept in a bank account. A sum payable as a first installment on the purchase of something or as a pledge for a contract, the balance being payable later.
Depreciation
The drop in the value of an asset due to wear and tear, age and whether it is going out of date, as recorded in an organization’s financial records.
Descendant
Someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past.
Direct Deposit
A secure and confidential method of payment (for example employee payroll) directly into a person’s bank or credit union account, using electronic fund transfer (EFT).