Lexicon
One word per concept, used identically in code, UI copy, and documentation. Terminology drift is the fastest way to make a financial product feel amateur to the people who use it professionally.
Foundations
The words a first month of bookkeeping is made of. They are the most-used terms in the system and the ones most often used loosely elsewhere, so they are defined here first — the rest of this lexicon assumes them.
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double-entry | Recording every transaction as equal debits and credits, so the ledger proves itself | "two-sided", "balanced accounting" | Convention; the Codification governs recognition |
| Accounting equation | Assets = liabilities + equity. True after every single entry, not just at period end. | "balance sheet formula" | CON 8, Ch. 4, ¶E61 |
| Debit | The left column. It increases assets and expenses, and decreases liabilities, equity and revenue. | "positive", "plus", "money in" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Credit | The right column. It increases liabilities, equity and revenue, and decreases assets and expenses. | "negative", "minus", "money out" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Asset | A present right of the entity to an economic benefit (FASB CON 8 ¶E16) | "what we own" (a leased asset is controlled, not owned) | CON 8, Ch. 4, ¶E16 |
| Liability | A present obligation of the entity to transfer an economic benefit (FASB CON 8 ¶E37) | "debt" (debt is one kind of liability) | CON 8, Ch. 4, ¶E37 |
| Equity | The residual interest in the assets that remains after deducting liabilities (FASB CON 8 ¶E61) | "net worth", "capital" alone | CON 8, Ch. 4, ¶E61 |
| Revenue | Inflows or enhancements of assets, or settlements of liabilities, from delivering goods or services — recognized when control transfers, not when cash arrives | "income" (income is after costs), "turnover" | CON 8 ¶E80; ASC 606 |
| Expense | Outflows or using up of assets, or incurrences of liabilities, from delivering goods or services — recognized when incurred, not when paid | "cost" unqualified, "spend" | CON 8, Ch. 4, ¶E81 |
| General ledger / GL | The complete set of accounts, holding every posted entry | "the database", "the books" in UI copy | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Journal | The chronological record of entries, before they are summarized by account | "log", "history" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| T-account | The two-column sketch of one account — debits left, credits right | "ledger card" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Trial balance | Every account's balance in two columns, proving that total debits equal total credits | "account list", "TB" in UI copy | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Accounts receivable / AR | What customers owe us for invoices already issued | "debtors", "receivables" unqualified in mixed context | ASC 310 |
| Accounts payable / AP | What we owe vendors for bills already received | "creditors", "payables" unqualified in mixed context | ASC 405 |
| Accrual basis | Recognizing revenue when earned and expense when incurred, regardless of when cash moves | "the accrual method" | CON 8, Ch. 4, App. A |
| Cash basis | Recognizing revenue and expense only when cash moves. Not GAAP for any entity — it is a special purpose framework (AICPA AU-C 800), and for tax a method IRS Pub. 538 and IRC §448 limit by entity type and gross receipts | "simple accounting" | Not GAAP — special purpose framework; tax rules in IRS Pub. 538 |
| Matching principle | Recognizing an expense in the same period as the revenue it helped produce | "matching" alone (that is reconciliation) | CON 8, Ch. 4, App. A — expense recognition |
| Prepaid expense | Cash paid before the benefit is consumed — an asset until it is | "prepayment" (that is a customer paying us early) | ASC 340-10 |
| Deferred revenue / Contract liability | Consideration received, or unconditionally due, before the goods or services are transferred — a liability until the performance obligation is satisfied. ASC 606 calls it a contract liability | "unearned income", "revenue" | ASC 606-10-45 — contract liability |
| Depreciation | Spreading the cost of a fixed asset over the periods it serves | "write-down", "amortization" | ASC 360-10-35-4 |
| Amortization | Spreading the cost of a finite-lived intangible, a prepaid or a debt discount over the periods it serves | "depreciation" | ASC 350-30-35 (intangibles), ASC 340-10 (prepaids) |
| Gross profit | Net revenue less cost of revenue, as an amount | "margin" (margin is the ratio, not the amount) | ASC 220 |
| Net income | Revenues and gains less expenses and losses, including income tax, for the period — the bottom line of the P&L, before any allocation to non-controlling interests | "profit" in a statement, "earnings" unqualified | ASC 220 |
| Retained earnings | Accumulated net income not distributed to owners — where the P&L lands on the balance sheet | "reserves", "profit" | ASC 505 |
| Cash flow statement | Where the cash went in a period, reconciled from net income | "cash statement", "cash report" | ASC 230 |
Core ledger
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journal entry | A balanced set of debit and credit lines posted to the GL | "transaction" (which is a business event) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Transaction | A business event — a payment, a sale, a purchase | "activity", "item" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Posting | Committing an entry to the ledger, making it immutable | "saving", "submitting" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Account | A GL account in the chart of accounts. Always qualify when a bank account is meant. | bare "account" in mixed context | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Chart of accounts | The account structure | "categories" | Not prescribed by GAAP; presentation per Reg S-X 5-02 |
| Dimension | A non-account axis: entity, department, project | "tag", "label" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Normal balance | The side that increases an account — debit for assets and expenses, credit for liabilities, equity and revenue, inverted for a contra account | "positive balance" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Contra account | An account with the opposite normal balance to its type, presented as a deduction from its parent — accumulated depreciation against PP&E, the allowance against AR | "negative account" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Control account | A GL account whose balance is the total of a subledger — AR, AP, fixed assets — and is posted only from it | "summary account" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Subledger | The detail, by customer, vendor or asset, whose total must equal its control account in the GL | "sub-account" (a child account in the chart) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Period | A fiscal reporting window | "date range", "timeframe" | ASC 270 |
| Basis | Cash or accrual | "method" | CON 8, Ch. 4, App. A |
| Reversal | An offsetting entry that undoes a posted entry | "delete", "undo" | Bookkeeping mechanic and internal control — not codified |
| Suspense account | A temporary holding account for an amount that must be posted before its correct account is known — cleared to zero before close, never reported | "miscellaneous", "ask my accountant" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Clearing account | An account that should net to zero once both sides of a flow have posted — payroll clearing, GR/IR, a payment processor clearing account; a residual balance is the exception | "suspense account" (unknown destination, not a known flow) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Fiscal year | The twelve-month (or 52–53 week) reporting year an entity has chosen, which need not start in January | "year" unqualified, "calendar year" | IRS Pub. 538 — accounting periods |
| Transposition error | Two digits swapped when an amount is keyed — 54 entered as 45. The trial balance goes out by a difference that is always divisible by nine, which is how it is found | "typo", "rounding difference" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Error of commission | The right amount posted to the wrong account of the right type — a payment applied to the wrong customer, an expense coded to the wrong department. Debits still equal credits, so the trial balance will not find it | "error of principle" (wrong type of account) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Error of principle | An entry posted to the wrong type of account in breach of an accounting rule — a repair capitalized as an asset, a loan receipt booked as revenue. The trial balance still balances; only review finds it | "error of commission" (right type, wrong account) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Idempotency key | A unique value sent with a write request so a retried request is applied once — the API returns the original result instead of posting a second invoice, payment or journal | "transaction ID", "dedupe" | Engineering convention — not codified (Stripe, Xero Idempotency-Key, QBO requestid) |
Close
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | The process of finalizing a period | "month end" as a verb | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Cutoff | Recording each transaction in the period in which it occurred — the boundary tested at every period end | "period end" | Audit assertion (AICPA AU-C 315) — not codified in GAAP |
| Reconciliation | Comparing our record to an external party's | "matching" alone | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Tie-out | Proving a GL balance against supporting evidence | "reconciliation" (different control) | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Roll-forward | Opening → movements → closing, proven | "rollup" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Adjusting entry | A close entry to apply accrual accounting | "correction" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Accrual | An expense incurred, or revenue earned, before it is invoiced — recorded at period end so it lands in the right period | "estimate" | Accrual basis; ASC 405 |
| Deferral | Cash paid or received ahead of the expense or revenue it relates to, held on the balance sheet — as a prepaid or deferred revenue — until consumed or earned | "accrual" (the opposite timing) | ASC 340-10 |
| Flux analysis | Explaining period-over-period variances | "variance report" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Materiality | Whether a misstatement or omission would likely change the judgment of a reasonable user of the statements — judged on size and nature together, never a fixed percentage | "significance", "the 5% rule" | SEC SAB No. 99 |
| Sign-off | Formal approval that a section is complete | "done", "complete" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Restatement | Revising previously issued statements to correct an error material to them ("Big R") — comparatives are relabeled Restated and the error disclosed | "fixing", "revision" (immaterial errors) | ASC 250-10-45-23 |
| Revision | Correcting an immaterial prior-period error that would be material if corrected in the current period by adjusting the comparatives ("little r") — labeled As revised, no reissuance | "restatement" (material errors) | SEC SAB No. 108 |
| Out-of-period adjustment | Correcting a prior-period error in the current period, permitted only when the error is immaterial to both periods | "catch-up", "plug" | ASC 250-10-45 |
| Subsequent event | An event after the balance sheet date but before the statements are issued — recognized if the condition existed at the balance sheet date, disclosed only if it arose after | "post-close event" | ASC 855-10-25 |
| Accrued liability | An obligation for goods or services received but not yet invoiced or paid — wages, interest, professional fees — recorded by an accrual | "accrued AP", "provision" (a provision is an uncertain estimate) | ASC 405 |
| Reversing entry | An entry dated the first day of the next period that exactly offsets a period-end accrual, so the real invoice can be coded normally without double-counting | "undo", "auto-delete" | Bookkeeping mechanic — not codified |
| True-up | The adjustment that replaces an estimate with the actual amount once it is known | "correction" (an estimate change is not an error) | ASC 250-10-45-17 — change in estimate |
| Reclassification | Moving an amount from one account or line to another without changing net income or total equity — current portion of debt, a miscoded bill | "adjustment" unqualified | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Lead schedule | The working paper that lists each GL account in a balance sheet or P&L caption with its balance and the schedule or reconciliation that supports it | "summary", "TB extract" | Audit working-paper convention — not codified |
| Closing entry | The year-end entry that zeroes every temporary account — revenue, expense, gains, losses, dividends or drawings — into retained earnings, so the new year's P&L starts at nil. Most ledger software performs it virtually | "adjusting entry", "reversing entry" | Bookkeeping mechanic — not codified |
| Temporary account / Nominal account | An account that measures one period only — revenue, expense, gain, loss, dividends declared — and is closed to retained earnings at year end | "P&L category" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Permanent account / Real account | A balance sheet account — asset, liability or equity — whose closing balance carries forward as the next period's opening balance | "balance account" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Soft close | A period state in which routine posting has stopped and only adjusting entries by a controller are accepted. In common usage also an abbreviated month-end that estimates rather than fully reconciles — directional numbers, never the basis for external reporting | "closed", "draft close" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Hard close | A close in which every step is done — reconciliations, accruals, review, sign-off — and the period is locked against posting, so its statements can go to lenders, investors and auditors | "final" unqualified, "year-end" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
Receivables
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice | A claim on a customer | "bill" (that's what we owe) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Credit note | A reduction of what a customer owes | "refund", "credit memo" (pick one — we use credit note) | ASC 606-10-32 — variable consideration |
| Refund | Returning cash already received | "credit" | ASC 606-10-32-10 — refund liability |
| Write-off | Removing an uncollectible receivable against the allowance for credit losses — under the allowance method it has no P&L effect; the expense was taken in the provision | "credit note", "bad debt expense" | ASC 326 |
| Application | Assigning received cash to specific invoices | "matching", "allocation" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Unapplied cash | Customer cash received but not yet assigned to an invoice. It reduces that customer's AR; only a net credit balance is reclassified to a liability at period end | "overpayment", "credit balance" | ASC 405 |
| Aging | Grouping open receivables or payables into buckets by days past due date — current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+ | "outstanding" | ASC 326 |
| Dunning | The sequence of collection communications | "chasing", "reminders" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Promise to pay | A customer commitment to a date and amount | "PTP" in UI copy | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Payer | The party paying us | "customer" when specifically about payment | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Payment terms | The agreed timing of payment and any early-payment discount — Net 30, Net 30 EOM, 2/10 net 30, due on receipt; the due date that aging is measured from | "terms" unqualified in UI copy | Commercial practice — not codified |
| Allowance for credit losses | The contra-asset holding the expected credit losses on receivables, so AR is presented at the amount expected to be collected | "bad debt reserve", "allowance for doubtful accounts" (pre-CECL) | ASC 326-20 |
| CECL | Current expected credit losses — the ASC 326 model that books lifetime expected losses from day one using history, current conditions and reasonable forecasts. ASU 2025-05 adds a practical expedient for current AR and contract assets | "incurred loss" (the model it replaced) | ASC 326-20; ASU 2025-05 |
| Bad debt expense | The P&L charge that builds the allowance for credit losses — the provision, not the write-off | "write-off" | ASC 326-20 |
Payables
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill | A claim against us | "invoice" (that's what we issue) | ASC 405 |
| Purchase order | A commitment to buy | "order" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Goods receipt | Confirmation that goods arrived | "delivery" | ASC 330 |
| Three-way match | Agreeing the purchase order, the goods receipt and the vendor invoice — quantity and price, line by line, within tolerance — before a bill is approved for payment | "matching" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Payment run | A batch of payments released together | "batch", "payout" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Vendor | A party we buy from | "supplier" (pick one — we use vendor) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Payee | The party receiving a payment | "recipient" in an accounting context | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| GR/IR | Goods received / invoice received — the clearing account credited at receipt and debited when the vendor invoice arrives; its balance is received-not-yet-invoiced | "accrued AP" alone | ASC 330 |
| Two-way match | Agreeing the vendor invoice to the purchase order, without a receipt — used for services and where nothing physical arrives | "three-way match" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Early-payment discount | A reduction offered for paying before the net due date — 2/10 net 30 is 2% off if paid in 10 days, an annualized return of about 37% | "rebate", "prompt-pay credit" | Commercial practice — not codified |
Cash
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available balance | Spendable now | "balance" unqualified | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Current balance | Posted, including uncleared items | "actual balance" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Pending | Submitted or authorized, not settled | "processing", "in progress" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Bank-posted | Recorded by the bank (distinct from posting an entry to the ledger) | "cleared" (a reconciliation state) | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Settled | Finally and irrevocably transferred | "complete", "done" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Reconciled | Matched to a bank statement line | "verified", "confirmed" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Deposit in transit | A receipt recorded in the book cash account but not yet on the bank statement — added to the bank balance in a reconciliation | "pending deposit" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Outstanding check | A check recorded as paid in the books but not yet presented to the bank — deducted from the bank balance in a reconciliation | "uncleared check" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified |
| Sweep | An automatic transfer between our own accounts at a set time or threshold — typically excess balances into a concentration or investment account | "transfer" unqualified | ASC 230-10-45 — not a cash flow |
| Cash equivalents | Short-term, highly liquid investments readily convertible to known cash amounts, with an original maturity of three months or less — treasury bills, money market funds | "cash" unqualified | ASC 230-10-20 |
| Restricted cash | Cash legally or contractually unavailable for general use — escrow, collateral, compensating balances. Presented separately, but included with cash in the statement of cash flows since ASU 2016-18 | "available cash" | ASC 230-10-45-4; ASU 2016-18 |
| Positive pay | A bank fraud control: the company sends the bank a file of issued checks (or approved ACH debits) and the bank returns any presented item that does not match for a decision | "check verification" | Banking practice — not codified |
| ACH | The Automated Clearing House network — the US batch system for electronic credits and debits under Nacha rules; same-day to two-day settlement, with limited return rights | "bank transfer" unqualified, "wire" | Nacha Operating Rules |
| Wire transfer | A payment settled individually and in full — domestically over Fedwire, cross-border through correspondent banks via SWIFT — same-day and final once sent, which is why it carries the highest fraud risk | "ACH", "bank transfer" unqualified | Federal Reserve — Fedwire Funds Service |
| Stale-dated check | A check presented more than six months after its date, which the bank may refuse — still a liability on our books until voided or escheated | "expired check" | UCC §4-404 |
| Escheatment / Unclaimed property / Escheat | Remitting unclaimed property — uncashed vendor checks, customer credit balances — to the state after its dormancy period | "writing back" to income | State unclaimed property law — not codified in GAAP |
| Chargeback / Dispute | A card payment reversed by the cardholder's issuing bank on a cardholder claim — fraud, goods not received, not as described. The processor debits the merchant the amount plus a fee; the merchant may contest it with evidence (representment) | "refund" (merchant-initiated), "return" | Card network rules (Visa Core Rules, Mastercard Chargeback Guide) — not codified |
| Processor reserve / Rolling reserve | Card settlements a payment processor withholds against future chargebacks and refunds — a rolling percentage held for a set number of days, a fixed amount, or an upfront hold. It is the merchant's receivable from the processor, not cash on hand | "cash", "available balance" | Processor agreement — not codified |
| Day-count convention | The rule that turns a date range into a fraction of a year for interest — 30/360, actual/360, actual/365, actual/actual. The same rate on the same loan accrues a different amount under each | "days" unqualified, "interest method" | Market convention (ISDA definitions) — not codified |
| Dormancy period | The time without owner contact after which property — an uncashed vendor check, a customer credit balance, unpaid wages — is presumed abandoned and must be reported to the state. Commonly three years for vendor checks and one year for wages, varying by state and property type | "expiry", "write-back period" | State unclaimed property law (Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act) — not codified in GAAP |
Statements
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement | P&L, balance sheet, or cash flow | "report" (a report is generated ad hoc) | ASC 205 |
| P&L / Income statement | Performance over a period | "profit report" | ASC 220 |
| Balance sheet | Assets, liabilities and equity at a point in time, proving the accounting equation | "statement of position" in US copy (IFRS: statement of financial position) | ASC 210 |
| As at / As of | The point-in-time label for a balance sheet | "for the period" | Reg S-X, 17 CFR 210 |
| For the period ended | The label for a P&L or cash flow | "as of" | Reg S-X, 17 CFR 210 |
| Comparative | A prior period column | "previous", "last" | Reg S-X 3-01, 3-02 |
| Consolidated | Presenting a parent and the entities it controls as one economic entity, with intercompany balances and transactions eliminated | "group" alone | ASC 810 |
| Standalone | A single entity, without consolidation | "individual", "solo" | ASC 810 |
| Elimination | A consolidation-only entry removing intercompany balances, transactions and unrealized profit, so the group does not report trading with itself | "adjustment" | ASC 810 |
| Presentation currency | The currency the statements are shown in. ASC 830 calls it the reporting currency; IAS 21 the presentation currency — we use the latter | "functional currency" (a different decision) | ASC 830 |
| Functional currency | The currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity generates and spends cash — a judgment from cash-flow, sales-price, expense and financing indicators | "local currency" | ASC 830-10-45 |
| Translation | Converting an entity's functional-currency statements into the presentation currency — assets and liabilities at the closing rate, income and expense at average — with the difference recorded in OCI as the CTA | "conversion" | ASC 830-30 |
| Remeasurement | Restating foreign-currency monetary balances, or books kept in a currency other than the functional one, into the functional currency — differences go to the P&L | "revaluation" | ASC 830-20 |
| CTA | Cumulative translation adjustment — the running total of translation differences, held in AOCI until the foreign entity is sold or substantially liquidated | "FX adjustment" | ASC 830-30-45 |
| Cost of revenue / COGS | The direct costs of producing the goods or delivering the services sold in the period — the line gross profit is measured after | "expenses" unqualified, "opex" | Reg S-X 5-03 |
| Operating income | Gross profit less operating expenses — the result of the core business before interest, other income and tax | "EBIT" (which adds back non-operating items), "EBITDA" | ASC 220 |
| Other comprehensive income / OCI | Gains and losses that bypass net income by standard — translation adjustments, unrealized gains on available-for-sale debt securities, cash-flow hedges, pension remeasurements — accumulated in AOCI within equity | "other income" | ASC 220-10 |
| Current asset | An asset expected to be realized, sold or consumed within twelve months of the balance sheet date or the operating cycle, if longer | "short-term asset" | ASC 210-10-45 |
| Current liability | An obligation expected to be settled with current assets, or by creating another current liability, within twelve months or the operating cycle, if longer | "short-term debt" | ASC 210-10-45 |
| Non-GAAP financial measure | A numerical measure of performance, position or cash flow that adjusts a GAAP figure — EBITDA, free cash flow, adjusted net income. A registrant publishing one must reconcile it to the most comparable GAAP measure | "adjusted" unlabeled, "pro forma" | Reg G — SEC Release 33-8176 |
| Direct method | Presenting operating cash flows as gross receipts and payments by major class — cash from customers, cash paid to suppliers and employees. Encouraged by ASC 230, but it must still be accompanied by the reconciliation from net income | "cash receipts report" | ASC 230-10-45-25 |
| Indirect method | Presenting operating cash flows by starting from net income and adjusting for non-cash items and changes in working capital — the method most entities use. ASC 230 also calls it the reconciliation method | "cash reconciliation" (a bank reconciliation is a different control) | ASC 230-10-45-28 |
| Income tax expense / Provision for income taxes | The P&L charge for income taxes — current tax payable for the period plus the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities | "taxes paid", "tax payable" | ASC 740-10-20 — glossary |
Controls
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Segregation of duties | Splitting authorization, recording, custody of assets and reconciliation across different people, so no one person can both commit and conceal an error or fraud — at minimum, preparer ≠ approver | "permissions" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Approval | Formal authorization of a specific version | "sign-off" (reserved for close sections) | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Evidence | Documentation supporting a recorded amount | "attachment", "file" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Audit trail | The immutable record of every state change | "history", "log" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Exception | A break requiring investigation | "error", "issue" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| Finding | An identified control or accounting problem | "issue" | Internal control — SOX §404 |
| ICFR | Internal control over financial reporting — the process designed to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are reliable, which management of an SEC registrant must assess annually | "internal audit" | SEC Release 33-8238; Rule 13a-15(f) |
| Material weakness | A deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in ICFR such that there is a reasonable possibility a material misstatement will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis | "finding" unqualified, "audit issue" | PCAOB AS 2201 |
| Significant deficiency | A control deficiency less severe than a material weakness yet important enough to merit the attention of those overseeing financial reporting | "material weakness" | PCAOB AS 2201 |
| Compilation | An engagement in which an accountant presents financial statements from management's information without obtaining or giving any assurance — no audit, no review — and says so in the report; an accountant who is not independent must disclose it | "audit", "review", "certified statements" | AICPA SSARS — AR-C 80 |
Multi-entity
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intercompany | A balance or transaction between two entities in the same group — real in each entity's books, eliminated on consolidation | "related party" (wider — includes owners and directors) | ASC 810-10-45-1 |
| Non-controlling interest / NCI | The equity in a consolidated subsidiary not attributable to the parent — shown within equity, separately from the parent's, with its share of net income allocated on the P&L | "minority interest" (superseded term) | ASC 810-10-45-16 |
| Equity method | Accounting for an investee over which the investor has significant influence — presumed at 20–50% of the vote — as one investment line adjusted by the investor's share of its earnings | "consolidation", "proportionate consolidation" | ASC 323 |
| Transaction currency | The currency a single transaction is denominated in — the invoice's currency, which may differ from the entity's functional currency | "functional currency", "local currency" | ASC 830-20 |
| Monetary item | A balance fixed in currency units — cash, receivables, payables, debt — and therefore remeasured when exchange rates move; inventory, prepaids and PP&E are non-monetary | "cash item" | ASC 830-10-45-17 |
| Closing rate | The spot exchange rate at the balance sheet date, used to translate assets and liabilities and to remeasure monetary items | "current rate" in UI copy, "today's rate" | ASC 830-30-45-3 |
| Average rate | An average of exchange rates over the period, used as a practical proxy for transaction-date rates when translating income and expenses — its method stated | "blended rate" | ASC 830-30-45-3 |
| Realized FX gain or loss | The exchange difference crystallized when a foreign-currency item is settled — settlement-date rate versus the rate it was last carried at | "FX adjustment" | ASC 830-20-35-1 |
| Unrealized FX gain or loss | The exchange difference on an open foreign-currency monetary item at period end, recognized in the P&L and reversed or carried forward until settlement | "CTA" (translation, in OCI) | ASC 830-20-35-1 |
| Combined reporting | Filing one state income tax return for a unitary group — the members' income combined, then apportioned. Two rules decide whose in-state sales count in the numerator: Joyce (only members with nexus) and Finnigan (every member, once any member has nexus) | "consolidated return" (the federal election) | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| Water's-edge election | An election by a unitary group filing a combined state return to leave most foreign affiliates out of the combined report — in California a binding contract for 84 months | "worldwide combined report" | Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §25110 |
Revenue recognition
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance obligation | A promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service, or a series of substantially the same ones — the unit revenue is recognized by | "deliverable", "line item" | ASC 606-10-25-14 |
| Transaction price | The consideration an entity expects to be entitled to for the contract, including estimated variable consideration and excluding amounts collected for third parties such as sales tax | "contract value", "TCV" | ASC 606-10-32-2 |
| Standalone selling price / SSP | The price at which an entity would sell a good or service separately — the basis for allocating the transaction price across performance obligations | "list price" (only evidence of SSP, not SSP itself) | ASC 606-10-32-31 |
| Variable consideration | Any part of the price that can change — discounts, rebates, refunds, credits, usage, bonuses, penalties — estimated and included only to the extent a significant reversal is not probable | "estimated revenue" | ASC 606-10-32-5 |
| Contract asset | Revenue recognized ahead of an unconditional right to payment — the right still depends on something other than the passage of time | "unbilled receivable", "accrued revenue" | ASC 606-10-45-3 |
| Unbilled receivable | Revenue recognized where the right to payment is unconditional but the invoice has not yet been issued — a receivable, not a contract asset | "contract asset", "WIP" | ASC 606-10-45-4 |
| Remaining performance obligations / RPO | Transaction price allocated to obligations not yet satisfied — deferred revenue plus contracted, unbilled amounts — disclosed with when it is expected to be recognized | "backlog" (a sales term, broader or narrower by company), "bookings" | ASC 606-10-50-13 |
| Principal versus agent | Whether the entity controls a good or service before it passes to the customer — a principal reports revenue gross, an agent reports only its fee or commission net | "gross-up" | ASC 606-10-55-36 |
| Accrued revenue | Revenue earned and recognized before it is invoiced. ASC 606 splits it: an unbilled receivable where only time stands between it and payment, a contract asset where the right still depends on further performance | "deferred revenue" (the opposite timing), "contract asset" unqualified | ASC 606-10-45-3 |
| Contra-revenue account | An account with a debit balance netted against gross revenue — returns, allowances, sales discounts, rebates — so net revenue is presented after them | "expense", "cost of revenue" | Bookkeeping convention — not codified; ASC 606 reduces the transaction price |
| Material right | A customer option to buy additional goods or services at a discount it would not get without the contract — a renewal discount, loyalty points — accounted for as a separate performance obligation, deferring part of today's price | "marketing offer", "free gift" | ASC 606-10-55-42 |
| Breakage | The portion of a prepaid right a customer is expected never to exercise — unused gift card balances, unredeemed credits. Recognized in proportion to the pattern of redemption if the entity expects breakage; otherwise when redemption becomes remote. Amounts owed to a state under unclaimed property law are a liability, not revenue | "forfeit income", "write-back" | ASC 606-10-55-48 |
Fixed assets & leases
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed asset / PP&E | A tangible asset held for use in operations over more than one period — property, plant and equipment — carried at cost less accumulated depreciation | "capex" (the spend, not the asset) | ASC 360-10 |
| Capitalization | Recording a cost as an asset rather than an expense because it brings a future benefit — then allocated to expense over that benefit | "capitalising" for financing, "capex" | ASC 360-10-30 |
| Capital expenditure / Capex | Cash spent acquiring or improving long-lived assets in the period — the investing outflow free cash flow subtracts | "fixed asset" | ASC 230-10-45-13 |
| Useful life | The period over which an asset is expected to contribute to cash flows, which sets the depreciation period — an estimate, revised prospectively | "tax life", "warranty period" | ASC 360-10-35-4 |
| Salvage value | The amount expected from disposing of an asset at the end of its useful life, net of disposal costs — the floor depreciation stops at | "scrap" alone, "fair value" | ASC 360-10-35-4 |
| Net book value / NBV | Cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment — the carrying amount of an asset | "market value", "fair value" | ASC 360-10 |
| Impairment | Writing an asset down because its carrying amount is not recoverable — for long-lived assets, a recoverability test on undiscounted cash flows, then a write-down to fair value | "depreciation", "write-off" | ASC 360-10-35-17 |
| Goodwill | The excess of the consideration paid in a business combination over the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired — not amortized by public companies, tested for impairment at least annually | "intangible asset" unqualified, "brand value" | ASC 350-20 |
| Intangible asset | A non-physical asset other than goodwill — software, customer lists, patents, trademarks — amortized over its useful life unless indefinite-lived | "goodwill" | ASC 350-30 |
| Right-of-use asset / ROU asset | The lessee's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term — the lease liability plus prepaid lease payments and initial direct costs, less incentives received | "leased asset" (owned by the lessor) | ASC 842-20-30-5 |
| Lease liability | The present value of the lease payments not yet paid, discounted at the rate implicit in the lease or, if not determinable, the incremental borrowing rate | "rent payable" | ASC 842-20-30-1 |
| Operating lease | Under ASC 842, a lessee lease that is not a finance lease — on the balance sheet, with a single straight-line lease cost in the P&L | "off-balance-sheet lease" (no longer, since ASC 842) | ASC 842-20-25-6 |
| Finance lease | A lease that effectively transfers control of the asset — ownership transfer, purchase option reasonably certain, major part of life or substantially all of fair value, or a specialized asset — expensed as amortization plus interest | "capital lease" (ASC 840 term) | ASC 842-10-25-2 |
| Incremental borrowing rate / IBR | The rate the lessee would pay to borrow, on a collateralized basis over a similar term, an amount equal to the lease payments — the discount rate when the implicit rate is unknown | "cost of capital", "WACC" | ASC 842-20-20 — glossary |
| Short-term lease | A lease with a term of twelve months or less and no purchase option the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise — may be kept off the balance sheet by policy election | "month-to-month" alone | ASC 842-20-25-2 |
Equity & financing
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | A distribution of earnings to shareholders, declared by the board — a liability from the declaration date and a reduction of retained earnings, never an expense | "expense", "drawings" (an owner's withdrawal from an unincorporated business) | ASC 505 |
| Accumulated deficit | Retained earnings below zero — cumulative losses exceeding cumulative earnings, presented as a negative within equity, as at almost every venture-funded startup | "negative equity" (equity can stay positive after paid-in capital) | ASC 505 |
| Liquidation preference | A preferred stockholder's right to be paid a stated amount — usually 1× the original issue price plus declared but unpaid dividends — before common stockholders in a sale or liquidation. Non-participating preferred takes the greater of that or its as-converted share; participating preferred takes both | "valuation", "debt" | NVCA model certificate of incorporation |
| 83(b) election | An election, filed with the IRS within 30 days of receiving restricted stock, to be taxed on its value at grant rather than as it vests — at a founder's purchase price, usually no tax at all, and the capital gain holding period starts at once | "early exercise" (which makes the election possible) | IRC §83(b) |
| Qualified small business stock / QSBS / Section 1202 | Original-issue stock of a domestic C corporation with gross assets of $75 million or less at issuance that lets holders exclude gain on sale — for stock issued after 4 July 2025, 50% after three years, 75% after four and 100% after five, up to the greater of $15 million or ten times basis per issuer. Stock issued earlier keeps the old rules: $50 million of gross assets, five years, $10 million | "small business stock" unqualified | IRC §1202 |
| Default alive | Whether, with expenses held where they are and revenue growing at its recent rate, a company reaches profitability on the cash it already has. If not, it is default dead and its runway ends in a raise | "profitable", "runway" | Startup convention (Paul Graham, 2015) — not codified |
| Quality of earnings / QoE | A diligence analysis, usually by an accounting firm before an acquisition or financing, of whether reported EBITDA is sustainable — normalizing and non-recurring adjustments, proof of cash, the net working capital peg. It gives no assurance and is not an audit | "audit", "review" | Transaction diligence practice — not codified |
Tax
| Term | Definition | Not | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary difference | A difference between an asset or liability's tax basis and its book carrying amount that will reverse in future years — the source of deferred taxes | "permanent difference" (never reverses) | ASC 740-10-25-20 |
| Deferred tax asset / DTA | Future tax savings from deductible temporary differences and carryforwards, measured at enacted rates | "tax refund receivable" | ASC 740-10-30-5 |
| Deferred tax liability / DTL | Future tax payable on taxable temporary differences — typically accelerated tax depreciation — measured at enacted rates | "income tax payable" (current, due now) | ASC 740-10-30-5 |
| Valuation allowance | The reduction of a deferred tax asset to the amount more likely than not (over 50%) to be realized | "reserve" | ASC 740-10-30-5 |
| Effective tax rate / ETR | Total income tax expense divided by pre-tax income, reconciled to the statutory rate in the notes — by category and jurisdiction under ASU 2023-09 | "statutory rate", "marginal rate" | ASC 740-10-50-12; ASU 2023-09 |
| Sales tax nexus | The connection with a state that obliges a seller to collect its sales tax — physical presence, or economic nexus from sales into the state above a threshold (commonly $100,000) since South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) | "registration" | South Dakota v. Wayfair, 585 U.S. 162 (2018) |
| Form 1099-NEC | The IRS information return for nonemployee compensation paid to a contractor in the course of business — required at $600 a year for payments through 2025 and $2,000 from 2026 (indexed from 2027), due to the recipient and the IRS by 31 January | "1099" unqualified, "payslip" | IRS — About Form 1099-NEC |
| Form W-9 | The IRS form a US payee gives a payer to certify its name, tax classification and taxpayer identification number — collected before the first payment, because it drives 1099 reporting and backup withholding | "tax form" unqualified | IRS — About Form W-9 |
| FUTA | The federal unemployment tax an employer pays — 6.0% of the first $7,000 of each employee's wages, reduced to a net 0.6% by the state credit unless the state is a credit-reduction state; filed on Form 940 | "SUTA", "payroll withholding" (FUTA is employer-only) | IRS — About Form 940 |
| SUTA | The state unemployment insurance tax an employer pays on each employee's wages up to a state wage base, at an experience-rated rate assigned by the state | "FUTA", "SUI withholding" (employee contributions exist only in a few states) | US DOL — state unemployment insurance |
| Net operating loss / NOL | The excess of tax deductions over gross income for a year. Federal NOLs arising after 2017 carry forward indefinitely, cannot be carried back (farming aside), and may offset only 80% of taxable income computed before the NOL deduction | "tax loss" unqualified, "book loss" | IRC §172 |
| NOL deduction cap | A limit on how much of a year's income a loss carryforward may offset — federally 80% for post-2017 NOLs; in the states it varies: Pennsylvania caps pre-2025 losses at 40% and later ones at 50% in 2026, rising ten points a year to 80% from 2029, and some states suspend NOL deductions outright in deficit years | "NOL expiry" (a time limit rather than an amount limit) | IRC §172(a)(2); state law |
| Section 382 limitation | The annual cap on using pre-change NOLs and credits after an ownership change — a more-than-50-percentage-point increase in ownership by 5% shareholders over a rolling three-year testing period. The cap is the loss corporation's equity value immediately before the change times the IRS long-term tax-exempt rate; unused cap carries forward | "NOL expiry", "change of control" alone | IRC §382 |
| Section 174A | The OBBBA rule restoring immediate deduction of domestic research or experimental expenditures for tax years beginning after 2024, with an election to amortize over 60 months or more instead. Foreign research stays capitalized over 15 years under §174; small businesses could apply it back to 2022–2024 | "R&D credit" (a separate credit, §41) | Rev. Proc. 2025-28 |
| Payroll tax offset / Research credit against payroll tax | An election by a qualified small business — gross receipts under $5 million and none before the last five years — to apply up to $500,000 a year of its research credit against the employer share of Social Security and then Medicare tax. Elected on Form 6765 with a timely original return, claimed on Form 8974 from the next quarter | "refundable R&D credit" | IRS — Instructions for Form 8974 |
| De minimis safe harbor | An annual tax election to deduct, rather than capitalize, tangible property costing up to $2,500 per invoice or item — $5,000 with an applicable financial statement — provided the books expense the same amounts under an accounting policy in place at the start of the year | "capitalization threshold" (the book policy it relies on) | Treas. Reg. §1.263(a)-1(f) |
| Section 179 expensing / Section 179 | An election to deduct the cost of qualifying equipment and software in the year it is placed in service — up to $2,560,000 for 2026, phased out dollar for dollar above $4,090,000 of purchases, and limited to taxable business income | "bonus depreciation", "write-off" | IRC §179; Rev. Proc. 2025-32 |
| Bonus depreciation | Additional first-year tax depreciation under §168(k) — 100%, permanently, for qualified property acquired after 19 January 2025 under the OBBBA. Not limited to taxable income, so it can create an NOL; book depreciation is unaffected, creating a temporary difference | "Section 179", "accelerated depreciation" unqualified | IRC §168(k) |
| Economic nexus | A connection with a state created by economic activity alone — sales into the state above a threshold — rather than physical presence. The basis of remote-seller sales tax since South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018), and of many states' income and franchise taxes, where P.L. 86-272 still shields solicitation of tangible goods sales | "physical presence", "registration" | South Dakota v. Wayfair, 585 U.S. 162 (2018) |
| Marketplace facilitator | A platform — Amazon, Etsy, eBay — that every sales-tax state requires to collect and remit sales tax on sales it facilitates for third-party sellers; the seller does not collect again on those sales | "marketplace seller" (the third party) | State sales tax law — not codified in GAAP |
| Remote-seller grace period | The time a seller with no physical presence has, after crossing a state's economic nexus threshold, before it must register and collect — immediately, the first day of a following month, or the next calendar year, depending on the state | "amnesty", "safe harbor" | State sales tax law — not codified in GAAP |
| Use tax / Compensating tax | The buyer-side complement of sales tax, owed at the same rate on taxable goods and services used in a state when the seller did not collect sales tax — self-assessed and remitted by the buyer | "sales tax" (collected by the seller) | State sales and use tax law — not codified in GAAP |
| Exemption certificate / Resale certificate | The document a buyer gives a seller to claim a sales tax exemption — resale, manufacturing, an exempt organization — which the seller keeps to prove why it did not collect. New Mexico's version is the nontaxable transaction certificate (NTTC) | "tax ID", "W-9" | State sales tax law — not codified in GAAP |
| Vendor's compensation / Timely filing discount | The share of collected sales tax a seller may keep, in states that allow it, for filing and paying on time — usually a small percentage, often capped | "sales tax refund", "rebate" | State sales tax law — not codified in GAAP |
| Home-rule sales tax | A local sales tax that a home-rule city administers itself — its own license, return, base and audit — rather than through the state. Common in Colorado, Louisiana and Alabama | "local sales tax" unqualified | Colo. Const. art. XX, §6; state law |
| Gross receipts tax / GRT / Transaction privilege tax / B&O tax | A tax on a business's gross receipts with no deduction for costs, levied on the seller — Washington B&O, Ohio CAT, Nevada commerce tax, New Mexico GRT, Arizona TPT. An operating expense, not an income tax under ASC 740; Texas's margin tax, measured on a modified gross margin, is treated as an income tax | "sales tax" (a tax on the buyer), "income tax" | State tax law; ASC 740-10-15-4 |
| Municipal net profit tax / Net profits tax / Earnings tax | A city income tax on a business's net profits, usually paired with a tax on wages earned in the city — Ohio municipalities, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Kansas City and St. Louis. Filed with the city, not the state | "state income tax", "gross receipts tax" | Ohio Rev. Code ch. 718 |
| Apportionment / Single sales factor | Dividing a multistate business's taxable income among states by formula — historically property, payroll and sales; now in most states the sales factor alone | "allocation" (assigning nonbusiness income to one state) | Multistate Tax Compact art. IV (UDITPA); state law — not codified in GAAP |
| Market-based sourcing | Assigning receipts from services and intangibles to the state where the customer receives the benefit, for the sales factor — the rule in most states | "cost-of-performance sourcing" | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| Cost-of-performance sourcing | Assigning receipts from services to the state where the income-producing activity is performed — under the UDITPA rule, all of it to the state with the greater share of the costs of performance | "market-based sourcing" | Multistate Tax Compact art. IV, §17 (UDITPA) — not codified in GAAP |
| IRC conformity / Conformity date | How a state's income tax adopts the federal Internal Revenue Code — rolling (as currently amended), fixed-date (as of a stated date, updated by legislation) or selective. A fixed-date state may not follow §174A, bonus depreciation or other recent federal changes | "federal taxable income" unqualified | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| Refundable credit | A tax credit whose excess over the tax due is paid out in cash. Because it does not depend on taxable income, it is generally accounted for outside ASC 740 — as a reduction of the related cost or as other income | "deduction", "carryforward" | Tax law; ASC 740 scope judgment — not codified |
| Transferable credit | A tax credit the holder may sell for cash to another taxpayer — federal clean-energy credits under §6418, many state film and historic credits; New Jersey's program also lets technology companies sell NOLs | "refundable credit" (paid by the government) | IRC §6418; state law |
| Voluntary disclosure agreement / VDA | An agreement in which a business with unfiled state tax obligations comes forward before the state contacts it — often anonymously at first — and files and pays a limited lookback period, typically three to four years, with penalties waived and interest usually due | "amnesty" (a time-limited program), "audit settlement" | State tax agency programs; MTC National Nexus Program — not codified |
| Form 1099-K | The information return from a payment settlement entity reporting a payee's gross payment card and third-party network receipts — card transactions at any amount; third-party network transactions only above $20,000 and 200 transactions, the threshold the OBBBA retroactively reinstated. Gross of refunds, chargebacks and fees, so it never ties to revenue | "1099" unqualified, "sales report" | IRS — Form 1099-K threshold FAQs |
| Backup withholding | Federal income tax a payer must withhold at 24% from reportable payments — contractor fees, interest, dividends, card settlements — when the payee has not given a correct TIN or the IRS has notified the payer to withhold. Deposited and reported on Form 945 | "payroll withholding" | IRC §3406; IRS — Backup withholding |
| Combined Federal/State Filing Program / CF/SF | The IRS program that forwards 1099s filed electronically to participating states, satisfying their filing requirement — though many states still require direct filing, or a reconciliation return of their own | "state 1099 filing" unqualified | IRS Pub. 1220 |
| Form 7004 | The IRS application for an automatic extension of time to file business income tax returns — six months for Forms 1120, 1120-S and 1065 — filed by the original due date. It extends the time to file, not the time to pay | "tax extension" for payment | IRS — About Form 7004 |
| Worker classification | Deciding whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor — federally by the common-law control test (behavioral, financial and relationship facts), in some states by the stricter ABC test. It decides who withholds and pays employment taxes | "contractor status" chosen by contract alone | IRS — Independent contractor or employee |
| ABC test | A state test presuming a worker is an employee unless the hiring entity proves all three: (A) free from its control, (B) work outside the usual course of its business, and (C) customarily engaged in an independent trade — California (AB 5), Massachusetts, and New Jersey for unemployment | "IRS test", "common-law test" | Cal. Lab. Code §2775 |
| Voluntary Classification Settlement Program / VCSP | The IRS program letting an employer prospectively reclassify contractors as employees by paying 10% of one year's employment tax liability, computed at the reduced §3509 rates — no interest or penalties, and no audit of the prior classification. Applied for on Form 8952 | "amnesty" | IRS — VCSP |
| Social Security wage base / Contribution and benefit base | The maximum annual wages subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax, for employee and employer each — $184,500 in 2026, $176,100 in 2025, indexed every year. Medicare tax has no cap | "FUTA wage base", "Medicare wage base" | SSA — Contribution and benefit base |
| FUTA credit reduction | The cut to the 5.4% state credit against FUTA for employers in a state that has carried a federal unemployment loan for two consecutive 1 January balances and not repaid it by 10 November — 0.3 points, growing each further year. For 2025: California 1.2%, US Virgin Islands 4.5% | "SUTA increase" | US DOL — FUTA credit reductions |
| Paid family and medical leave / PFML | A state insurance program, funded by payroll contributions from employees, employers or both, that pays wage replacement during leave for a serious health condition, a new child or family care — in about a dozen states and DC, each with its own rate and wage base | "FMLA" (unpaid, federal job protection) | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| State disability insurance / SDI | A state program paying partial wages to employees off work with a non-work-related illness or injury, funded mainly by employee withholding — California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico | "workers' compensation" (work-related injury) | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| Monopolistic state fund | A state workers' compensation fund that is the only insurer allowed — North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming — so coverage cannot be bought privately (Ohio and Washington permit self-insurance) | "private carrier" | State law — not codified in GAAP |
| Large corporate filer | A Delaware corporation with stock listed on a national securities exchange that reports consolidated gross revenues or assets of $750 million or more — it pays a flat $250,000 annual franchise tax instead of the $200,000 maximum | "public company" unqualified | 8 Del. C. §503 |
| Assumed par value capital method | The alternative Delaware franchise tax calculation: assumed par (total gross assets ÷ issued shares) times authorized shares, taxed at $400 per $1,000,000, minimum $400 — usually far below the authorized shares method for a startup with millions of authorized shares | "authorized shares method" | Delaware Division of Corporations — franchise tax |
Words we don't use
| Banned | Why | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| "Oops", "Whoops" | Not a register for money | State what happened |
| Any emoji | Platform-inconsistent, untintable, unserious | An icon, or nothing |
| "Simply", "just" | Minimizes something the user found hard | Remove |
| "Sync failed" | Says nothing about consequences | "Couldn't reach Xero. No data changed." |
| "Are you sure?" | Asks nothing useful | Restate the action, amount and destination |
| "Invalid" | Doesn't say how to fix it | "Enter an amount of $0.01 or more" |
| "Total" for a subtotal | Precision matters here | "Total revenue" vs. "Net income" |
| "Balance" unqualified | Available vs. current is material | Say which |
| "Delete" on posted data | Impossible by design | "Reverse" |
| "Approve" by the preparer | Control violation | The action isn't offered |