Accelerated Depreciation
Accelerated method of depreciation of a fixed asset for income tax purposes. It provides for faster recovery of cost than traditional straight-line methods

Account Statement
A record of transactions and their effect on account balances

Accounts Payable
Liabilities owed by a company to creditors for goods or services

Accounts Receivable
Money owed to a company for goods or services by its customers

Accountant's Opinion
Statement signed by an independent public accountant describing the scope of the examination of an organization's books and records.

Accrual Basis
A method of accounting where income and expenses are recognized as they are incurred or earned. Cash may or may not have been received or paid.

Acquisition
One company acquiring a controlling interest in another company

Activity-based costing (ABC)
Method of assigning indirect costs to products and services

Actuary
Highly skilled mathematician typically employed by insurance companies to determine premiums, reserves, pension and annual retirement of equipment using statistical techniques

Additional Paid-In Capital
Capital contributed in excess of par (or stated) value by investors

Ad Valorem
Method of levying a tax or duty on goods by using their estimated value as the tax base. Ad Valorem in Latin means "depending on the value of the item"

Adverse Opinion An opinion issued by an independent auditor stating that a company's financial statement's do not accurately reflect the company's current financial position.

Affidavit
A written statement made under oath before an authorized person, such as a notary public

Affiliate
Typically used to mean inter-company relationships.
Two companies are affiliated when one company owns less than a majority of the voting stock of the other.

Agent
A person that has been authorized to act on behalf of another person, the principal, in transactions involving a third party.

Alien corporation
A company incorporated in a foreign country.

Alpha coefficient
A mathematical estimate of the amount of return expected from the inherent values of an investment. It measures the portion of an investment's return from specific (nonmarket) risk

American Depositary Receipt (ADR)
A share issued under a deposit agreement representing the underlying ordinary share which trades in the issuer's home market

Amortization
Writing off ("liquidating") the cost of an asset. It is typically called depreciation for plant assets, depletion for wasting assets (natural resources) and amortization for intangibles

Annual Report
A report on the operations of a company (including financial statements) prepared once a year for shareholders.

Annuity
A payment made at a regular interval (quarterly, yearly, etc) for a specified or an uncertain length of time. Fixed Annuity, the payment is paid out in regular installments. Variable Annuity, the payment depends on the value of an underlying investment

Arbitrage
The act of simulatneously purchasing goods in one market and selling them in another market at a higher price

Arbitration
The settlement of disputes between two parties by a third party known as an arbitrator

Articles of Association
These are the guidelines that explain the internal organization of the company. They are filed along with the memorandum of association when registering a company.

Ask (Asking) Price
The price at which a stock is offered for sale. In open-end shares, the price at which the purchaser may buy stock from the investment firm. In closed-end shares, the lowest price at which the stock is offered for sale in the market synonymous with offering price.

Asset
Anything (tangible or intangible) having commercial or exchange value that is owned by an individual or a business

Assignment
Written transfer of property or rights from a person or business to another

Audit
Examination of a company's accounting documents by a professional

Austerity program
A program typically instituted by governments to reduce the level of consumption in a country in order to free resources for other purposes, reduce imports, balance payments, etc

Authorized Shares
The maximum amount of shares of any class that can be issued by a corporation under the terms of its articles of incorporation