Financial Lexicon
Schedule A – schedule to the Financial Acts under which tax is charged on income from land and buildings. A, AA, AAA – letters that indicate that a share, bond, or bank has a certain rating for reliability. « A » shares – ordinary shares with limited voting rights or no right to vote at all. ABA – American Bankers Association. abatement – the act of reducing: a tax abatement.above par – this describes a bond or other fixed-interest security whose market value is higher than the price at which it was issued. (Fr: au dessus du pair) above the line – normal business expenses and revenues that come above the net income or net profit in a profit and loss account or income statement. (Fr: hors taxe) absolute advantage – the ability to produce a particular good more cheaplythan other countries. (Fr: avantage absolue) absorption costing – see full costing. (Fr: coût global) absorption rate – rate at which production costs are increased to absorb higher overhead costs. a/c or acc or acct – account. (Fr: compte) accelerated depreciation – subtracting a high proportion of the cost of capital investments from taxable profit during the first years of use. (Fr: amortissementaccéléré) accelerator or acceleration principle – changes in the demand for consumer goods cause even greater changes in the demand for capital goods. (Fr: principe d’accélérateur) accepting houses – banks that buy (for a commission or fee) export merchants’ short-term bills of exchange, expecting the debtor to pay up at the right time. (Fr: maison d’acceptation) accommodation – money that is lentfor a short time. account – a statement of money paid or owed; an arrangement with a firm that allows credit for payments. (Fr: compte) accountability – the state of being responsible to someone for some actions (company directors are accountable to the company’s shareholders). (Fr: responsabilité) accountancy – the profession or business of an accountant. (Fr: comptabilité) accountant – personwho keeps and checks an organizations or an individual’s financial records. (Fr: comptable) account day or settlement day – the day on which all deals made during the previous 14-day account or accounting period on the London Stock Exchange must be settled. (Fr: jour du terme) accounting – keeping financial records (recording income and expenditure, and profits and losses, valuing assets andliabilities, etc.). (Fr: comptabilité) accounting-entity assumption – see separate-entity principle. (Fr: principe de séparation des patrimoines) accounting-period assumption – see time-period principle. (Fr: chiffres clefs reportés sur une courte période) accounting equation – the fundamental identity of the balance sheet: Assets = Liabilities + Owners’ Equity. (Fr: principe d’équilibre du bilan)accounting principles – a dozen or so concepts, conventions or doctrines generally observed in accounting. (Fr: méthode comptable) accounting standards – a country’s exact rules concerning valuation, measurement and disclosure. (Fr: le plan comptable) accounts – a company’s set of accounting records for a particular period. (Fr: comptes) accounts payable – see creditors. (Fr: compte (poste)fournisseurs) accounts receivable – see debtors. (Fr: compte (poste) clients) accrete (v) – to add to, esp. to add interest to a fund.

across-the-board – applying to everything or everyone. accrual – a gradual or automatic increase in an amount of money (e.g. interest), usually money owed to someone; (to accrue). (Fr: accumulation des intérêts) accrual basis – in a budget or balance sheet, estimatesexpenses and income for the period in which they are incurred rather than actually spent or received. (Fr: comptabilité en créances et en dettes) accrued expenses – expenses incurred at the date of the balance sheet, but not yet paid (e.g. wages, taxes and interest). (Fr: dépenses échues) accrued revenue – revenue earned but not yet received or recorded. (Fr: produits à recevoir) accumulate – to…