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Auditing Terms - AAccelerated Cost Recovery System (ACRS) - (tax depreciation method)
acceptable quality level (AQL) - (a quality standard that allows a prespecified number of defects)
acceptable risk of assessing control risk too low (ARACR) - (risk an auditor is willing to take if the assessment of controls, and the resulting control risk estimate, is wrong)
access control list (ACL) - (computerized table controlling access to a system, by listing users and the type of access each user is allowed)
account current (AC) - (statement issued by an isurance company on a monthly basis to its agents showing commissions, premiums written, cancellations of policies, and endorsements)
account executive (AE) - (brokerage firm employee who advises and handles orders for clients)
account sales (AS) -
Accountants International Study Group (AISG) - (orgnization examining common accounting interests/challenges)
Accountants for the Public Interest (API) - (organization focusing on public policy questions)
Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) - (organization promoting Islamic principles for financial institutions)
Accounting and Financial Women's Alliance (AFWA) - (organization of women CPAs and corporate accountants)
Accounting Information System (AIS) - (system providing internal management reports and external reports) (a systematic device and methods used for gathering, processing, and reporting accounting information)
Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC) -
accounting period (AP) - (period of time chosen to report accounting results - a period at the end of which accounts are made up, balances are struck, and a profit or loss is arrived at)
Accounting Principles Board (APB) - (former body of the AICPA - replaced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB))
Accounting Research Bulletin (ARB) - (AICPA publication with recommended procedures)
Accounting Series Releases (ASRS) - (Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official accounting/auditing pronouncements)
Accounting Standards Board (ASB) - (official UK body for issuing accounting standards)
Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) - (Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) system of organizing pronouncements)
Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AccSEC) - (AICPA accounting standards body dealing with technical accounting and reporting issues)
Accounting Standards Steering Committee (ASSC) -
accounts payable (AP) - (money owed to someone else)
accounts receivable (AR) - (money due to be received from someone else)
Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation (ACAT) - (non-profit organization which accredits qualified professionals in accounting)
accrued liability (AL) - (the liability arising from accrued costs or expenses that have been incurred but not yet paid)
accumulated adjustments account (AAA) - (an S corporation account containing the accumulated taxable income adjusted for changes/modifications made to stock basis)
Accumulated Benefit Obligation (ABO) - (estimated liability of a pension plan assuming immediate termination)
Accumulated Earnings Tax (AET) - (tax on corporations that pile up earnings without distributing them to stockholders)
accumulated post-retirement benefit obligation (APBO) - (accumulated benefit obligation - actuarial present value of pension benefits owed to employees for services before the pension plan went into effect)
accumulated surplus (AS) -
accumulated taxable income (ATI) - (tax base on which the accumulated earnings tax is levied)
active account (AA) - (an account which has frequent entries)
active asset (AA) - (an asset that is used in actual operations and earns income)
active capital (AC) - (working capital - capital in productive use represented by the amount by which current assets exceed current liabilities)
activity based budgeting (ABB) - (budgeting methodology)
activity based costing (ABC) - (method of allocating costs to products)
activity-based management (ABM) - (organizational approach to evaluating performance)
actual cash value (ACV) - (the cost of replacing damaged or destroyed property minus depreciation)
actual cost (AC) - (cost actually incurred)
actual cost of work performed (ACWP) - (the real costs of work charged against the completed activities of a project)
additional paid-in capital (APIC) - (the capital paid in by stockholders when buying stock, in excess of the par value or stated value of the stock)
additional voluntary contribution (AVC) - (extra contribution to a pension plan)
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) - (a broadcast-based protocol which resolves the Internet Protocol (IP) address with the hardware address)
Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) - (mortgage agreement between a financial institution and a real estate buyer stipulating predetermined adjustments of the interest rate at specified intervals)
adjusted business income (ABI) - (income minus losses from an active business carried on in Canada)
adjusted cost basis (ACB) - (cost of a property or partnership interest plus the costs incurred to acquire it (Canada))
adjusted current earnings (ACE) - (alternative minimum taxable income after adjustments)
adjusted debit balance (ADB) - (position of a margin account after subtracting the amount owing the broker from the credit balance on the special miscellaneous account)
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) - (federal tax term - taxpayer's gross income minus above-the-line deductions)
adjusted ordinary gross income (AOGI) - (adjusted gross income of a personal holding corporation)
adjusted present value (APV) - (net present value of an asset financed by equity, plus the present value of cash flows from financing)
adjusting journal entry (AJE) - (an entry used at the close of a period to record income and expenses and other adjustments)
Advance Computerized Execution System (ACES) - (NASD (National Association of Securities Dealers) automated trading system)
Advanced Detection System (ADS) - (National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) automated surveillance system, used to monitor member firms' trading and reporting in order to uncover operational irregularities)
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) - (a public encryption algorithm supporting large key block sizes)
African Development Bank Group (ADBG) - (international financial institution promoting economic development in Africa)
after-tax operating income (ATOI) - (after-tax profit)
Agency for International Development (AID) - (agency created to administer assistance programs to less developed countries)
Airport Revenue Bond (ARB) - (tax-exempt bond issued by a city, county, state, or airport authority to support the expansion and operations of an airport)
Align, Plan and Organize (APO) - (skill categories/good practice planning guidance)
all or none (AON) - (investment banking - offering giving the issuer the right to cancel the whole issue if the underwriting is not fully subscribed; securities - buy or sell order preventing partial transactions)
Allied Member (AM) - (general partner or voting stockholder of a member firm of the New York Stock Exchange who is not personally a member)
allocated loss adjustment expense (ALAE) - (an allocation of expenses incurred in investigating and settling claims)
allowance for depreciation (AFD) - (reserve for depreciation on the value of fixed assets)
allowance for sampling risk (ASR) - (audit analysis/procedure)
Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) - (IRS system used in computing alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) depreciation)
alternative minimum tax (AMT) - (a tax designed to ensure that wealthy individuals, trusts, estates, and corporations pay at least some income tax)
alternative practice structure (APS) -
alternative trading system (ALT) (ATS) - (Electronic Communications Networks (ECN) - electronic systems providing alternatives to traditional location-based stock markets for securities trading)
American Accounting Association (AAA) - (accounting academicians/theory)
American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) - (nonprofit organization designed to educate investors about investment basics)
American Bankers Association (ABA) - (national trade association representing commercial banks)
American Bar Association (ABA) - (organization representing practicing attorneys)
American Business Conference (ABC) - (organization advocating policies promoting economic growth, tax reform, trade, and business standards)
American Business Law Association (ABLA) -
American Business Women's Association (ABWA) -
American Depositary Receipt (ADR) - (receipt for the shares of a foreign-based corporation held in the vault of a U.S. bank and entitling the shareholder to all dividends and capital gains)
American Depositary Share (ADS) - (share issued under a deposit agreement representing the underlying share of a foreign-based corporation)
American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) - (U.S. national labor union)
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) - (professional organization of practicing CPAs)
American Institute for Management (AIM) -
American Management Association (AMA) -
American Municipal Bond Assurance Corporation (AMBAC) - (private company providing insurance on municipal bond offerings in the event of default)
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) - (U.S. standards organization)
American Retail Federation (ARF) -
American Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA) - (federation of state societies absorbed by the AICPA in 1936)
American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) - (professional accounting organization)
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) - (computer code converting a character into a binary number allowing different microcomputers and information services to communicate with each other)
American Stock Exchange (AMEX) - (Manhattan-based securities/options trading exchange)
American Stock Exchange (ASE) - (Manhattan-based options exchange)
American Stock Exchange Commodities Exchange (ACE) -
American Women's Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA) - (professional accounting organization of CPAs)
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) - (group of laws prohibiting discrimination based on disability)
Amsterdam Exchanges (AEX) -
Amsterdam Stock Exchange (ASE) -
Analysis and Evaluation (A&E) -
analytical procedures (AP) - (audit procedures involving the evaluation of financial information by studying expected relationships between financial and non-financial data)
annual loss expectancy (ALE) - (an estimate of the frequency of a loss in a twelve-month period combined with an estimate of the dollar amount size of the loss if it occurs)
annual percentage rate (APR) - (cost of credit that consumers pay expressed as a simple annual percentage)
annual percentage yield (APY) - (amount of interest, expressed as a percentage rate, that a deposit account would earn in a year at a stated interest rate)
annual return (AR) - (the tax return, filed annually, covering a one-year period)
application program/programming interface (API) - (a set of routines and protocols that allow different parts or processes within a system to communicate)
Application Service Provider (ASP) - (external provider of software or services)
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) - (specialized hardware switches with dedicated high-speed bandwidth ports)
Appropriation and Expense (A&E) -
Arab Society for Certified Accountants (ASCA) - (regional accounting organization)
arithmetic logic unit (ALU) - (the area of the central processing unit that performs mathematical and analytical operations)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - (a branch of computer science in which human intelligence is simulated using computers)
As Soon As Possible (ASAP) -
Asian Currency Unit (ACU) - (unit of account for dollar-denominated deposits held in separate accounts in Asian banks and financial centers)
Asian Development Bank (ADB) - (international financial institution)
asset-backed security (ABS) - (a security collateralized by a particular asset, such as a loan, lease, or real estate)
Asset Depreciation Range (ADR) - (IRS tax classification system for depreciation costs)
Asset Depreciation Range System (ADRS) - (IRS tax classification system by which the asset depreciation range for an asset is determined)
Asset Management Account (AMA) - (account at a brokerage house, bank, or savings institution that combines banking services with brokerage features)
asset valuation reserve (AVR) - (reserve for stocks, bonds, real estate, mortgages, and similar invested assets)
Association for Accountancy and Business Affairs (AABA) - (British accounting/auditing organization)
Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) - (British professional accounting organization)
Association of Certified Accountants (ACA) - (UK)
Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants (ACCA) - (British professional accounting organization)
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - (international organization dealing with fraud/white collar crime)
Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA) - (UK equivalent to American CPA.)
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) - (British professional accounting organization)
Association of Government Accountants (AGA) - (organization of accountants employed in government)
Association of International Accountants (AIA) - (British-based professional accounting organization)
Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) - (professional organization for investment practitioners)
Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) -
asynchronous time division multiplexing (ATDM) - (information from data channels is allocated bandwidth as needed via dynamically assigned time slots)
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) - (a high-bandwidth, low-delay switching and multiplexing technology that allows integration of real-time voice, video, and data)
Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) - (principal stock exchange in Greece)
Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability (ACID) - (transaction processing systems - requirements/principles of data integrity)
attest function - (Process of examining, testing, and performing audit procedures in order to verify the accuracy of client accounting data as a basis for forming an opinion. The term is generally used by CPA's in order to issue an audit opinion about financial statements. More generally, it can apply to any process used to verify limited or specific areas of operations, such as internal controls.)
attestation standards (AT) - (standards applied to examinations or reviews of non-financial statement information)
Auction Market Preferred Stock (AMPS) - (preferred stock bought and sold through brokers on the securities exchanges)
Auction Preferred Stock (APS) - (adjustable-rate preferred stock)
Audit Command Language (ACL) - (audit-related software)
Auditing Practices Board (APB) - (auditing standards-setting body in the United Kingdom)
Auditing Standards Board (ASB) - (authoritative body of the AICPA setting standards for audit engagements)
Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) -
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) -
Authentication Header (AH) - (a protocol which provides authentication and integrity services for data packets in transmission)
Automated Bond System (ABS) - (New York Stock Exchange computerized system for bond trading)
Automated Clearing House (ACH) - (nationwide electronic network that processes debit and credit transactions between participating banks)
Automated Confirmation Transaction (ACT) - (postexecution service of NASDAQ that speeds price and volume reporting of securities trading)
Automated Customer Account Transfer (ACAT) -
Automated Order System (AOS) - (electronic system for execution of securities transactions)
automatic dividend reinvestment plan (ADR) - (plan under which stockholders can get more shares instead of receiving dividends)
automatic investment program (AIP) - (any program in which an investor can accumulate or withdraw funds automatically)
Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) - (unmanned location where the of a precoded credit or debit card provides access to bank teller services, including cash)
average annual return (AAR) - (the annual return of a mutual fund stated after all fees have been deducted)
average cost (AVCO) - (cost per unit)
average fixed cost (AFC) - (fixed costs per unit produced)
average rate of return (ARR) - (a rate of return calculated by using the average investment amount of two or more investments)
average unit cost (AUC) - (average cost per unit)
average variable cost (AVC) - (variable cost per unit)