A fee charged by an insurer or other agency responsible for administering a group employee benefit plan to cover expenses related to record keeping and…

The expenses that an organization incurs not directly tied to a specific function such as manufacturing/production or sales. These expenses are related…

An arrangement in which an organization funds its own employee benefit plan such as a pension plan or health insurance program but hires an outside firm…

Any type of payment that is made ahead of its normal schedule, such as paying for a good or service before you actually receive the good or service. Advance…

A pension plan that is funded concurrently with the employee's accrued benefits, such that the funds are set aside well before the employee's retirement…

An approach that requests that all risk components be calculated internally within a financial institution. The advanced internal rating-based (AIRB)…

An action that denies an individual or business credit, employment, insurance or other benefits. An adverse action is generally taken by a business or…

A professional opinion made by an auditor indicating that a company's financial statements are misrepresented, misstated, and do not accurately reflect…

A type of loan classification in which the loan or other asset is considered, to some degree, to be impaired. It is an asset that is considered by bank…

A type of credit card issued by a bank and a charitable organization whose logo appears on the card. Each time the card is used, a percentage of the transaction…

A type of promise or contract which requires a party to do something. For example, a bond covenant that provides that the issuer will maintain adequate…

A company's total operating income after taxes. This non-GAAP measure excludes any after-tax benefits or charges such as effects from accounting changes…

The amount of money that an individual or company has left over after all federal, state and withholding taxes have been deducted from taxable income…

A financial performance ratio, calculated by dividing net income after taxes by net sales. A company's after-tax profit margin is important because it…

The practice of inappropriately misconstruing income statements for the purpose of pleasing investors and inflating stock prices. Hiding losses within…

A method of portfolio management and asset allocation that attempts to achieve maximum return. Because their aim is capital growth, aggressive investors…

A method used by accountants and investors to evaluate and identify any irregularities within a company's account receivables. Aging is achieved by sorting…

A description of the bond premium when the bond market value is greater than the par value. In international markets, agio can also sometimes refer to…

A valuation account used to estimate the portion of a bank’s loan portfolio that will ultimately be uncollectible. When a loan goes bad, the asset is…

An estimation made by a company and documented on its balance sheet for receivables that might go uncollected. It is standard practice for a company…

1. A measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis. Alpha takes the volatility (price risk) of a mutual fund and compares its risk-adjusted performance…

A depreciation schedule with a straight-line recovery period that generally mirrors the class life of the asset's depreciation. Taxpayers who elect to…

A non-refundable tax credit awarded to taxpayers who use non-alcohol alternative fuels that are either sold commercially by the taxpayer or used in the…

A predictive model created by Edward Altman in the 1960s. This model combines five different financial ratios to determine the likelihood of bankruptcy…

The gain or loss resulting from a sale of an asset. The amount realized encompasses all forms of compensation, including cash, the value of any property…

A reference to auditors performing more careful due diligence when auditing companies, in order to prevent accounting errors. This extra level of accounting…

A form of capitalism that is usually associated with the United Kingdom and the United States, but also characterizes the economies of such countries…

The maximum dollar amount that may be contributed to a participant's retirement account under a defined-contribution plan. For instance, the maximum…

A common sales measure technique used by insurance companies in the United Kingdom where the sales of a given entity are estimated by taking the value…

The percentage rate at which a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund replaces its investment holdings on an annual basis. Turnover is meant to adjust for…

1. To convert a rate of any length into a rate that reflects the rate on an annual (yearly) basis. This is most often done on rates of less than one year…

A short-term obligation that is issued for temporary financing needs by a municipality. The principal payoff may be covered by a future longer-term bond…

A term used in the insurance industry to refer to a specific definition of disability when writing disability insurance policies. If you get into an accident…

A term used in cost accounting to denote the cost assigned to something, which may be different from the actual cost. Cost accounting, which compares…

A ratio used to measure the quality of a fund's investment picking ability. It compares the fund's alpha (or the adjusted return of the fund assuming the…

An increase in the value of an asset over time. The increase can occur for a number of reasons including increased demand or weakening supply, or as a…

1. The act of setting aside money for a specific purpose. A company or a government appropriates funds in order to delegate cash for the necessities of…

A business production strategy where products ordered by customers are produced quickly and are customizable to a certain extent. The assemble-to-order…

1. A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit…

A test that determines a company's ability to cover debt obligations with its assets after all liabilities have been satisfied. It is calculated as the…

An elective accounting method established by the Internal Revenue Code for tangible assets placed into service after 1970. Prior to the ADR system, there…

Using balance sheet assets (such as accounts receivable, short-term investments or inventory) to obtain a loan or borrow money - the borrower provides…

The part of a company's accounting records that detail the journal entries relating only to the asset side of the balance sheet. Asset ledgers will have…

A business's ability to take productive resources and manage them within its operations to produce subsequent returns. Asset performance is typically…

An incorrectly valued stock that is attractive because its combined asset value is greater than its market capitalization. This type of stock is called…

The strategic relocation of company assets in order to increase profitability. By redeploying assets, a company is restructuring itself in order to become…

An accounting rule established by Financial Accounting Standards Board Rule No. 143 in June 2001 that requires public companies to recognize the fair…

The process of buying an undervalued company with the intent to sell off its assets for a profit. The individual assets of the company, such as its equipment…

The amount of sales generated for every dollar's worth of assets. It is calculated by dividing sales in dollars by assets in dollars.Formula: Also known…

The process of determining the current worth of a portfolio, company, investment, or balance sheet item. The tools used for asset valuation include quantitative…