Business / Accounting Glossary

Unearned Income: Money received for which no exchange was made, such as a gift.

Unearned Revenues: Amounts received before they have been earned.

Units-Or-Production Depreciation Method: The depreciation method in which the cost of an asset is allocated to each period on the basis of the productive output or use of the asset during the period.

Unlimited Liability: The lack of a ceiling on the amount of liability a proprietor or partner must assume: meaning that if business assets are not sufficient to settle creditor claims, the personal assets of the . . . View Full Definition

Unrealized Gains And Losses: Gains and losses resulting from changes in the value of securities that are still being held.

Unrecorded Expenses: Expenses incurred during a period that have not been recorded by the end of that period.

Unrecorded Revenues: Revenues earned during a period that have not been recorded by the end of that period.

Useful Life: The term used to describe the life over which an asset is expected to be useful to the company: cost is assigned to the periods benefited from using the asset.

Value Added Tax (VAT): Value Added Tax, or VAT as it is usually called is a sales tax which increases the price of goods. At the time of writing the UK VAT standard rate is 17.5%, there is also a rate for fuel whi . . . View Full Definition

Vendor-Specific Objective Evidence (VSOE): A method for determining the individual value of each item within a contract in order to recognize partial revenue before the entire contract is fulfilled.

Vertical Analysis Of Financial Statements: A technique for analyzing the relationships between items on an income statement or balance sheet by expressing all items as percentages.

Wage: Payment for work, usually as calculated in periods of an hour rather than longer. (See Salary.)

Wages: Payments made to the employees of a business for their work on behalf of the business. These are classed as expense items and must not be confused with 'drawings' taken by sole-proprietors a . . . View Full Definition

Wants: Desires for economic goods or services, not necessarily accompanied by the power to satisfy them.

Wealth: Accumulated assets such as money and/or possessions, often as a result of saving and investing.

Work In Progress: The value of partly finished (ie. partly manufactured) goods.

Write-Off: Depreciating an asset to zero in one go.

Zero Based Account (ZBA): Usually applied to a personal account (checking) where the balance is kept as close to zero as possible by transferring money between that account and, say, a deposit account.

Zero Based Budget (ZBB): Starting a budget at zero and justifying every cost that increases that budget.

Zero-Interest Bonds: Bonds issued with no promise of interest payments: only a lump sum payment will be made.

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