Accounting Terminology Guide

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401(k) Plan

Employee benefit plan authorized by Internal Revenue Code section 401(k), whereby an employer establishes an account for each participating employee and each participant elects to deposit a portion of his or her salary into the account. The amount deposited is not subject to income tax. This is the most common type of salary reduction plans.

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A Misstatement is Inconsequential

If a reasonable person would conclude after considering the possibility of further undetected misstatements that the misstatement either individually or when aggregated with other misstatements would clearly be immaterial to the FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. If a reasonable person could not reach such a conclusion regarding a particular misstatement, that misstatement is more than inconsequential.

Abatement

Complete removal of an amount due, (usually referring to a tax ABATEMENT a penalty abatement or an INTEREST abatement within a governing agency).

Absorption Costing

An approach to product costing that assigns a representative portion of all types of manufacturing costs--direct materials, direct labor, variable factory overhead, and fixed factory overhead--to individual products.

Accelerated Depreciation

Method that records greater DEPRECIATION than STRAIGHT-LINE DEPRECIATION in the early years and less depreciation than straight-line in the later years of an ASSET'S HOLDING PERIOD.

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.

Accountable Plan

Any reimbursement or other expense allowance arrangement of an employer that meets all of the following requirements (therefore excluding it from gross w-2 EARNED INCOME and tax): (1) it provides reimbursements advances or allowances including per diem and meals, to employees for any job related deductible business expense; (2) employees must be able to substantiate expenses covered in the plan; (3) employee must return any excess advances or payments.

Accountant

Person skilled in the recording and reporting of financial transactions.

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.

Accounting

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