P
Banking Terms - PParticipation Certificate (PC) - (certificate representing an undivided interest in a pool of conventional mortgage loans)
passive activity loss (PAL) - (loss produced by passive investment activities)
payable through account (PTA) - (service offered by some U.S. banks in which a bank account of a foreign financial institution is set up in a U.S. bank, allowing foreign customers to write checks and make deposits with a U.S. bank address/location)
payable upon proper identification (PUPID) - (funds transfer transaction in which there may be no specific receiving account and the beneficiary is not a bank customer, but which will be released to the individual when they provide proof of identity)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) - (federal corporation established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to guarantee basic pension benefits in covered pension plans)
personal computer (PC) - (small computer system, referred to as a PC or workstation, designed for individual users, inexpensively priced, and based on microprocessor technology)
Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) - (designation in personal financial planning awarded by the AICPA to those who have met practice requirements and passed an examination)
PHP (Personal Home Page) Hypertext (Pre)Processor (PHP) - (widely used, server-side open-source scripting language)
Personal Identification Number (PIN) - (numeric identification code used by bank customers when making transactions at a self-service electronic banking terminal, such as an automated teller machine)
PIP - dealer's term for the minimum price change in floating foreign exchange rates
Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (PDCA) - (management method for implementing continuous improvement in an organization's operations)
Planned Amortization Class bond (PAC) - (collateralized mortgage obligation tranche class bond which has a relatively stable schedule of payments providing investors with greater security)
Pledged Account Mortgage (PAM) - (type of graduated payment mortgage where principal and interest payments are supplemented by payments from a special savings account - funds are drawn from the pledged savings account, acting as additional collateral during the early years of the loan)
Point-of-Sale (POS) - (retail payment system in which sales and payment information are collected electronically at the time of the sale, usually by an electronic transaction terminal, such as an electronic cash register, with the payment information passed on to the financial institution and the sales data forwarded to the retailer's management information system for updating of sales records)
Political Risk Insurance (PRI) - (insurance coverage for business firms operating abroad to insure them against loss due to political upheavals including war, revolution, confiscation, incontrovertibility of currency, and similar losses)
Politically Exposed Person (PEP) - (current or former senior foreign political figure, their immediate family, and their close associates)
Power of Attorney (PA) (POA) - (legal document authorizing someone to act as an agent on behalf of another)
Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) - (programming language for writing utilities that perform large amounts of string handling, text file processing, and interaction with the operating system)
preauthorized checks (PAC) - (prearranged check payments from a bank account for the payment of a third party)
preauthorized electronic debits (PAD) - (prearranged electronic deductions from a bank account for the payment of a third party)
Price Level Adjusted Mortgage (PLAM) - (form of graduated payment mortgage in which the rate of interest paid remains fixed, but the outstanding balance is adjusted for inflation according to an appropriate price index)
Primary Account Number (PAN) - (14-digit or 16-digit number code embossed on the face side of a bank card, and also encoded on the magnetic stripe)
Prime Underwriting Facility (PUF) - (form of revolving underwriting facility (lending arrangement) in which the lender's yield is pegged to the bank prime rate - typically involves a short-term note having a maturity of one to three years)
Principal Exchange Rate Linked Security (PERL) - (bond paying semiannual interest, with a yield tied to foreign exchange rates)
Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance (PITI) - (the four itemized components of a mortgage payment as listed in a borrower's mortgage statement)
Principal Only Strip (PO) - (mortgage security consisting of the principal portion of stripped mortgage-backed securities - principal payments have been separated from the interest payments collected from a pool of mortgage pass-through securities)
Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) - (division of the AICPA for CPA firms serving nonpublic companies)
Private Company Council (PCC) - (body created by the Financial Accounting Foundation to work with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in order to establish alternatives to GAAP for private entities)
Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO) - (trade finance corporation owned by a consortium of U.S. commercial banks and industrial companies that arranges fixed rate medium-term and long-term loans to foreign buyers)
Private Investment Company (PIC) - (company, frequently organized as a corporation, incorporated in countries that impose low or no taxes, which issues shares to individuals or to a trust, and which offers confidentiality and secrecy)
Private Market Value (PMV) - (aggregate market value of a company if each of its parts operated independently and had its own stock price)
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) - (mortgage insurance provided by a commercial insurer, as opposed to a government agency, when the mortgage loan-to-value ratio is below 80% of the property's appraised value at loan closing)
Private Sector Adjustment Factor (PSAF) - (pricing markup that adjusts service fees charged by a Federal Reserve Bank for check clearing and other services)
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) - (federal legislation intended to discourage class-action lawsuits by disenchanted investors by raising the pleading standards for fraud actions; introducing proportionate liability for defendants; allowing disclaimer language for forcasting to serve as a defense; and limiting attorneys' fees)
Process Value Analysis (PVA) - (analytical method of identifying all activities and relating them to the events that cause or drive the need for the activities and the resources consumed)
Producer Price Index (PPI) - (monthly report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which measures changes in U.S. wholesale prices)
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) - (management tool for planning, coordinating, and controlling large, complex projects, such as formulation of a master budget, construction of buildings, installation of computer systems, and scheduling of the closing of accounting books)
Program-Planning-Budgeting System (PPBS) - (planning-oriented approach to developing a program budget)
Projected Benefit Obligation (PBO) - (actuarial present value, as of a date, of all benefits attributed by the pension benefit formula to employee service performed before that date)
Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) - (actions which federal banking regulators can take to resolve problems of undercapitalized institutions - banks with a higher level of debt or claims on their cash, than money they own free and clear of outside creditor claims)
Proof of Deposit (POD) - (verification of the dollar amount on a check or draft being deposited by a comparison of the hand-written amount on a check with the amount written on the accompanying deposit slip)
Public Accountant (PA) - (someone performing professional accounting services for the public - licensed by a state - not licensed to provide audit services)
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) - (private sector, nonprofit corporation created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to oversee the auditors of public companies)
Public Oversight Board (POB) - (group consisting mostly of nonaccountants that oversees activities of CPA firms belonging to the AICPA's SEC practice section)
Purchasing Agent (PA) - (individual within an organization responsible for purchasing equipment or supplies)