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Accounting
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10-Q
A 10-Q is a quarterly report required by the SEC for publicly traded companies. The 10-Q ordinarily includes financial statements  more...
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account
Account, in its simplest bookkeeping form, is a record of money paid and owed. A banking account is an  more...
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account reconciliation
Account reconciliation is a banking term referring to the process of confirming that the balance in one's checkbook matches the  more...
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account statement
An account statement is a document that provides information about a specified account for a given period of time.  more...
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accountant
An accountant provides accounting services to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental entities. Because accounting services range widely, an accountant  more...
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accounts payable
Accounts payable are obligations due to trade creditors. Let's say a company buys widgets for its inventory for $50. The  more...
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accounts receivable
Accounts receivable are obligations due to the company from customers. Suppose a company sells a customer $50 in merchandise.  more...
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accrual basis accounting
Accrual basis accounting is a system of accounting that matches revenues and expenses, respectively, to the period they were earned  more...
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acquisition cost
Acquisition cost is the pretax amount of money it costs to gain title to any property. Acquisition cost usually  more...
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annual report
An annual report is a document that the SEC requires all publicly-traded companies to provide to shareholders each fiscal year.  more...
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asset
An asset can include anything that provides economic value to a company. An asset might be obvious - such as  more...
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asset/equity ratio
The asset/equity ratio shows the relationship of the total assets of the firm to the portion owned by shareholders, also  more...
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back pay
Back pay is a payment due for work done prior to the current pay period. Back pay may be  more...
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bad debt
Bad debt is the portion of a company's receivables that are uncollectible. Companies account for bad debt either by the  more...
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balance
In accounting, the balance of an account is defined as the sum of all debits and credits to that account.  more...
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balance sheet
A balance sheet is a snapshot of the financial position of a company. On the left side are the assets,  more...
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balanced budget
A balanced budget is a budget in which income equals expenditures. In other words, if a country takes in X  more...
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book value
Book value has two accounting meanings. Book value is the value of an asset on a balance sheet, which  more...
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bottom line
Bottom line is an informal term for net income. It derives from the position of net income on the income  more...
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calendar year
Calendar year defines the year as designated by the Gregorian calendar in common use as beginning on January 1st and  more...
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cancelled check
A cancelled check is a check that has been approved by a bank or another financial institution. Once a check  more...
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capital appreciation
Capital appreciation is defined as any increase in the market price of a stock. Investors who are long the  more...
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cash
Cash consists of paper currency and coins. In the U.S. cash existed as coins until 1862, when the first  more...
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cash asset ratio
The cash asset ratio – also known as the cash ratio – is a stringent test of a company's liquidity.  more...
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cash basis
Cash basis is an accounting method that recognizes revenue and expense only when cash is paid or received. The cash  more...
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cash flow
Cash flow is a company's net inflow or outflow of cash. A cash flow statement (formally known as the statement  more...
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Certified Public Accountant
A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a person licensed by a state board of accountancy to practice public accounting. The  more...
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CFA
CFA stands for Chartered Financial Analyst, a professional designation given by the CFA Institute to investment professionals. The CFA  more...
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Compound Annual Growth Rate
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) measures the annual change in earnings, an investment, or some other financial amount. The  more...
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consolidated financial statement
A consolidated financial statement presents the financial position or results of a parent company and its subsidiaries as if it  more...
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cooking the books
Cooking the books is an unethical practice of misrepresenting company’s financial standing. When cooking the books, corporations typically manipulate their  more...
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CPA
A CPA, the common acronym for Certified Public Accountant, is an accountant licensed by a state board to engage in  more...
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debit
A debit is a bookkeeping entry that results in the increase of an asset or a decrease in a liability  more...
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debt ratio
For a company, the debt ratio indicates the relationship between capital supplied by outsiders and capital supplied by shareholders. Often  more...
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debt/asset ratio
The debt/asset ratio measures the ratio of the company's assets that is financed by non-owners. The debt/asset ratio is computed  more...
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deferred revenue
Deferred revenue is a liability that is created when monies are received by a company for goods and services not  more...
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deferred tax
Deferred tax represents a company's liability for taxes owed that is postponed to future periods. Deferred tax is primarily  more...
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deficit
Deficit is an economic condition in which spending exceeds income. One example of a deficit would be a situation, in  more...
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deficit spending
Deficit spending represents an overload of government expenditures over government revenue, creating a shortfall or deficit that needs to be  more...
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depreciation
Depreciation is the reduction in the value of an asset from wear-and-tear or obsolescence. Depreciation allowance encourages companies to invest  more...
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earnings
In everyday speech, earnings is often used interchangeably with income and profits to mean some positive financial increase. In investing,  more...
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Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) is an indicator of financial performance. Earnings before interest and taxes can be computed  more...
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earnings report
An earnings report is an official document published by a publicly-traded company itemizing earnings, expenses and net profit. An earnings  more...
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EBIT
EBIT is an acronym for Earnings Before Interest and Taxes. EBIT is defined as the operating profit without deductions for  more...
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equity
In business, equity refers to value of ownership. The term equity has a connotation of partial ownership, either because  more...
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extraordinary item
In financial accounting, an extraordinary item is a non-recurring event that materially affects the financial results of the entity for  more...
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Financial Accounting Standards Board
Since 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has had primary responsibility for establishing financial accounting and reporting standards for  more...
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Form 10-K
Form 10-K is an audited annual regulatory filing containing financial statements and management discussion of factors that may impact financial  more...
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Form 10-Q
A form 10-Q is a quarterly regulatory filing. A form 10-Q contains financial statements and management discussion of factors  more...
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GAAP
GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles - are a collection of guidelines and practices used by the accounting community. In  more...
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Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are the rules and practices under which financial statements are prepared. There is no single  more...
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liquidation value
The liquidation value of a company is an estimate of the value of a company’s assets if all assets were  more...
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liquidity ratio
A liquidity ratio measures a company's ability to pay its bills. The denominator of a liquidity ratio is the company's  more...
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net assets
Net assets (also known as owners equity, shareholders equity, or net worth) is the total assets minus the total liabilities  more...
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net book value
Net book value is the value of an asset on the books of the company. For example, suppose a company  more...
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net income
Net income is the revenues of a company minus all expenses incurred in generating those revenues. On the income statement,  more...
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net worth
Net worth is total assets minus its total liabilities. Put another way, net worth represents the owners' interest in company  more...
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one time charge
A one time charge is a charge against earnings that is unusual in nature and not expected to reoccur. An  more...
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pro forma
Pro forma financial statements are financial statements that include projections into the future. Interpretation of pro forma financials requires  more...
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profit and loss statement
The profit and loss statement (or income statement, or P&L) is one of the key financial statements a company publishes.  more...
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profit margin
Profit margin is shorthand for net profit margin, or earnings divided by sales. Thus if a company sells $100,000 in  more...
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quarterly report
A quarterly report is an interim report that management issues to shareholders each quarter during the fiscal year. The  more...
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quick ratio
The quick ratio is (cash + cash equivalents + accounts receivables)/current assets. The quick ratio is a measure of the  more...
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Return on Assets
Return on assets is net income divided by total assets. Thus if net income is $100,000 and total assets are  more...
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Return on Equity
Put simply, return on equity is net income divided by owners equity. Because it does not include creditors capital, the  more...
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risk adjusted return
The risk-adjusted return of an asset or a portfolio is the return it provides adjusted for how risky it is.  more...
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year-over-year
Year-over-year is a term used frequently in investment research and other reports to mean "compared with the same period in  more...
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Year-To-Date
In accounting and related reporting contexts, year-to-date signifies that reported figures reflect the period from the start of the year  more...
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YTD
YTD is the abbreviation for Year-To-date. YTD measures differences in a variety of factors affecting an investment from the beginning  more...
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