Accounting Terminology Guide

N

N

NASBA

Serves as a forum for the 54 State Boards of Accountancy, which administer the uniform CPA examination, license Certified Public Accountants and regulate the practice of public accountancy in the United States.

NASDAQ

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system, which is owned and operated by the National Association of Securities Dealers; a computerized system that provides brokers and dealers with price quotations for securities traded OVER-THE-COUNTER as well as for many NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE) listed securities.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system, which is owned and operated by the National Association of Securities Dealers; a computerized system that provides brokers and dealers with price quotations for securities traded OVER-THE-COUNTER as well as for many NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (NYSE) listed securities.

National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)

Serves as a forum for the 54 State Boards of Accountancy, which administer the uniform CPA examination, license Certified Public Accountants and regulate the practice of public accountancy in the United States.

Nationalization

Takeover of a private company's assets or operations by a government.

NAV

In mutual funds, the MARKET VALUE of a fund share, synonymous with bid price; BOOK VALUE of a company's different classes of securities, usually stated as NET ASSET value per BOND, net asset value per share of PREFERRED STOCK, and net book value per common share of COMMON STOCK.

Negative Assurance

Report issued by an ACCOUNTANT based on limited procedures that states that nothing has come to the accountant's attention to indicate that the financial information is not fairly presented.

Negligence

The omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do. Negligence is the failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances; it is the doing of some act which a person of ordinary prudence would not have done under similar circumstances or failure to do what a person of ordinary prudence would have done under similar circumstances. The term refers only to that legal delinquency which results whenever a man fails to exhibit the care which he ought to exhibit, whether it be slight, ordinary, or great. It is characterized chiefly by inadvertence, thoughtlessness, inattention, and the like, while "wantonness" or "recklessness" is characterized by willfulness. The law of negligence is founded on reasonable conduct or reasonable care under all circumstances of particular care. Doctrine of negligence rests on duty of every person to exercise due care in his conduct toward others from which injury may result.

Negotiable

Something that can be sold or transferred to another party in exchange for money or as settlement of an obligation.

Net

Figure remaining after all relevant deductions have been made from the gross amount.

Net Asset Value (NAV)

In mutual funds, the MARKET VALUE of a fund share, synonymous with bid price; BOOK VALUE of a company's different classes of securities, usually stated as NET ASSET value per BOND, net asset value per share of PREFERRED STOCK, and net book value per common share of COMMON STOCK.