C
Auditing Terms - CCalifornia Public Employee's Retirement System (CalPERS) - (state pension fund/retirement system)
Call Data Distribution Function (CDDF) -
Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) -
cancellation of debt (COD) -
Capability Maturity Model (CMM) - (system/methodology for improving software development)
Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) - (guidelines/model used to identify best practices for improving software products/development)
capacity planning (CP) -
capital account (CA) -
capital appreciation (CA) -
capital asset (CA) -
Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) - (theory/method of evaluating securities/investor decisions)
capital cost allowance (CCA) -
capital expenditure (capex) -
capital expenditure (CE) -
capital gain (CG) - (gain from sale of a capital asset)
capital loss (CL) -
capital stock (CS) -
carried forward (C/F) -
carry forward (C/F) -
cash account (CA) -
cash-adjusted price/earnings ratio (CAPE) -
cash available for debt service (CADS) - (fund or cash available to pay long-term debt obligations)
cash collateral account (CCA) -
cash disbursements journal (CDJ) -
cash earnings (CE) -
cash flow after interest and taxes (CFAIT) -
cash flow after taxes (CFAT) -
cash income before taxes (CIBT) -
cash on delivery (COD) -
cash receipts journal (CR) (CRJ) -
cash reserve (CR) -
cash return on gross investment (CROGI) - (measure of financial performance)
cash surrender value (CSV) - (insurance policy cash value)
Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) - (wireless wide coverage area technology)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - (U.S. government agency responsible for collecting intelligence on foreign governments and foreign threats.)
central processing unit (CPU) - (computer hardware housing electronic circuits controlling/directing operations of a computer system)
certificate authority (CA) - (trusted third-party authenticator issuing digital certificates - cryptographic key systems)
certificate of deposit (CD) - (banking - fixed-interest time deposit)
certificate revocation list (CRL) - (listing of compromised, revoked, expired certificates)
Certification in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA) - (employee-based/focused risk identification)
certification/certificate practice statement (CPS) - (certificate authority listing of certificate policies, processes used, time limits for issuing of certificates)
Certified Financial Planner (CFP) -
Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA) -
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) -
certified general accountant (CGA) -
Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP) -
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) - (computer system auditing)
Certified Insolvency and Reorganization Accountant (CIRA) - (forensic accounting)
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) -
Certified Management Accountant (CMA) -
Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA) -
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) -
charitable remainder unit trust (CRUT) - (taxes/estate planning)
Chartered Accountant (CA) - (UK equivalent to an American CPA - Someone authorized to issue an audit opinion on a company's financial statements,)
Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (CACA) -
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) -
Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) -
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - (British professional organization)
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) -
Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (ChMFC) -
Chartered Public Accountant (CPA) -
chief accountant (CA) -
chief accounting officer (CAO) -
Chief Auditing Executive (CAE) - (most senior internal auditing position)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) -
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) -
Chief Information Officer (CIO) - (organizational officer responsible for computers and data processing)
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) -
Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) - (head of interanal auditing department)
Chief Investment Officer (CIO) -
chief operating officer (COO) -
chief privacy officer (CPO) - (position responsible for protecting customer, company, and employee data)
Chief Security Officer (CSO) - (position responsible for risk analysis and mitigation, maintenance of security program)
Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) - (Chinese professional accounting/audting organization)
Coalition for Envionmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) - (international public interest organization)
collateral investment account (CIA) -
collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) - (portfolio of purchased mortgages with shares sold to investors)
collect on delivery (COD) -
commercial paper (CP) -
Committee-Appointed Review Team (CART) -
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) - (corporate governance - fraudulent financial activities and reporting)
common stock (CS) -
Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance (CAGC) - (London-based international organization for British Commonwealth countries)
comparable profits method (CPM) - (transfer pricing technique)
completed job journal (CJJ) -
Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes (CNCC) - (French accounting/auditing organization)
Component Object Model (COM) - (system/standard allowing communication between different parts of an application or between applications on the same computer system)
Component Object Model/Distributed Component Object Model (COM/DCOM) - (communication within one application or computer system plus access to other network components)
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) - (official annual governmental report)
Computency Assessment Tool (CAT) - (web-based self testing)
computed upper exception rate (CUER) - (estimated upper limit of the occurence rate of unverified items in an audit sample)
computer aided/assisted design (CAD) - (computer/program graphics software used in engineering or architecture fields to create visual models)
computer-aided software engineering (CASE) - (use of software packages to automate system programming, analysis, design, and development)
computer-assisted audit technique(s) (CAAT) - (automated methods of data analysis, efficiency)
computer-assisted engineering (CAE) - (software/systems used for designing/development of manufacturing systems)
computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) - (use of computerized systems in the manufacturing process)
Computer-Based Testing (CBT) -
Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) -
computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) - (use of computerized systems in the manufacturing process)
computer-intensive manufacturing (CIM) - (high-level computer control/involvement in/automation of manufacturing process)
computer security incident reponse team (CSIRT) - (team/staff responsible for investigating/responding to breaches/incidents)
Computerized Accounting Tool Services (CASTA) -
computerized numeric control (CNC) - (component of computer-assisted manufacturing)
Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) - (regional professional accounting organization)
confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) - (core goals/principles of information security)
configuration management database (CMDB) -
consolidated retained earnings (CRE) - (parent/subsidiary combined reporting)
consolidated return year (CRY) -
construction in progress (CIP) - (method of recording costs for construction projects)
Constructive Cost Model (CCM) (COCOMO) - (method of estimating project costs for large system development)
Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) - (British professional accounting umbrella group)
consulting services (CS) - (CPA firm services other than audit, accounting, and tax)
consumer-to-government (C-to-G) -
consumer price index (CPI) - (economics - measure of price changes in consumer goods)
contemporaneous reserve accounting (CRA) - (banking - method of calculating reserve requirements under US Federal Reserve regulations)
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) -
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) - (government - plan to continue operations after a disaster)
continuous audit/auditing (CA) - (systems - real-time continuous testing of computer systems) (interim auditing/permanent staffing at audited businesses)
continuous improvement (CI) - (organizational goals/philosophy)
continuous and intermittent simulation (CIS) - (continuous auditing technique involving analysis of program instruction execution code for audit selection)
contractual settlement day accounting (CSDA) - (stocks/securities/brokerage firms)
contribution margin (CM) -
Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) - (information systems auditing framework developed by ISACA)
Control Risk Self Assessment (CRSA) - (methodology using employee identification of areas of risk)
Control Self Assessment (CSA) - (assessment of controls made by staff and management of the unit or units involved)
controlled foreign corporation (CFC) - (corporation in a foreign country owned (over 50%) by U.S. citizens)
conventional absorption accounting (CAA) -
corporate development officer (CDO) -
corporate social reporting (CSR) - (social/environmental reporting practice)
corporate social responsibility (CSR) - (social/environmental goals/activities)
Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) - (federal board created to set standards for government contracts/reporting procedures - ceased to exist in 1980/duties transferred)
cost-benefit analysis (CBA) - (method of decision-making which compares benefits with costs to determine the value of a decision)
cost of equity (COE) -
cost and freight (CFR) - (measure of cost of goods manufactured plus shipping costs)
cost of goods sold (COGS) (CGS) - (raw materials costs plus direct costs of producing goods)
cost, freight, and insurance (CFI) - (measure of costs limited to goods production plus shipping costs)
cost improvement cost (CIC) -
cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) - (measure of costs limited to manufacturing costs plus costs related to shipping)
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) - (addition to wages or benefits to compensate for inflation)
cost per unit (CPU) - (cost accounting method)
cost performance index (CPI) - (project earnings to costs ratio)
cost of quality (COQ) -
cost reduction analysis (CRA) -
cost of risk (COR) -
cost of sales (COS) - (cost of goods sold) (raw materials costs plus direct costs of producing a product/goods)
cost of sales adjustment (COSA) -
cost-volume-profit (CVP) - (budgeting/projections - relationship between costs/sales and net income at different activity levels)
cost of work performed (CWP) -
credit (CR) - (right-hand side of account entry)
credit account (CA) -
credit equivalent value (CEV) - (credit risk exposure of off-balance sheet transaction)
credit memorandum (CM) -
critical path analysis (CPA) - (decision-making philosophy/method for improving efficiency)
critical path method (CPM) - (planning/cost control technique)
cumulative abnormal return (CAR) -
cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) - (foreign currency exchange rates)
current account (CA) -
current asset (CA) -
current cost accounting (CCA) -
current cost of supplies (CCS) -
current liability (CL) -
current market value (CMV) - (stock/investment portfolio)
current ratio (CR) - (current assets to current liabilities comparison)
current value accounting (CVA) - (asset/liability revaluation)
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) - (government/agency within the Department of Homeland Security)