turnover of labour 228 forecast turnover. 2. the number of times something is used or sold in a period, usu- ally one year, expressed as a percentage of a total turnover of labour turnover of labour /tnəυvər əv lebə / noun same as labour turnover turnover ratio turnover ratio /tnəυvə reʃiəυ/ noun a measure of the number of times a busi- ness’s stock is turned over in a given year, calculated as the cost of sales divided by the stock’s average book value turnover tax turnover tax /tnəυvə tks/ noun same as VAT turnround turnround /tnraυnd/ noun 1. the value of goods sold during a year divided by the average value of goods held in stock 2. the act of making a company profitable again (NOTE: [all senses] The US term is turna- round.) two-way analysis two-way analysis /tu we ə | nləss/ noun an analysis of business activity that looks at price and quantity in relation to materials and labour, and budget and vol- ume in relation to overheads, but does not consider spending and efficiency Accounting.fm Page 228 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM U UBR UBR abbreviation uniform business rate UITF UITF abbreviation Urgent Issues Task Force ultimate holding company ultimate holding company /ltmət həυldŋ kmp(ə)ni / noun the top com- pany in a group consisting of several layers of parent companies and subsidiaries umbrella organisation umbrella organisation /m | brelə ɔənazeʃ(ə)n / noun a large organisation which includes several smaller ones unaccounted for unaccounted for /nə | kaυntd fɔ/ adjective lost without any explanation ć Several thousand units are unaccounted for in the stocktaking. unadjusted trial balance unadjusted trial balance /nədstd traəl bləns / noun a trial balance that has not yet been adjusted at a period end for items such as closing stock unappropriated profits unappropriated profits /nəprəυprietd prɒfts/ plural noun profits that have neither been distributed to a company’s shareholders as dividends nor set aside as specific reserves unappropriated retained earnings unappropriated retained earnings /nəprəυprietd r | tend nŋz/ plural noun retained earnings no portion of which has been assigned to a special purpose unaudited unaudited /n | ɔdtd/ adjective having not been audited ć unaudited accounts unaudited statement unaudited statement /n | ɔdtd stetmənt / noun a financial statement in which an auditor prepares and presents sta- tistics but does not give an audit opinion on them unauthorised unauthorised /n | ɔθərazd/, unauthor- ized adjective not permitted ć unauthorised access to the company’s records ć unau- thorised expenditure unavoidable costs unavoidable costs /nəvɔdəb(ə)l kɒsts/ plural noun costs that will be incurred regardless of what business deci- sions are taken and that cannot be recovered unbalanced unbalanced /n | blənst/ adjective refer- ring to a budget which does not balance or which is in deficit unbanked unbanked /n | bŋkt/ adjective referring to a person who does not have a bank account uncalled uncalled /n | kɔld/ adjective referring to capital which a company is authorised to raise and has been issued but for which pay- ment has not yet been requested uncashed uncashed /n | kʃt/ adjective having not been cashed ć uncashed cheques uncommitted credit lines uncommitted credit lines /nkəmtd kredt lanz / plural noun a borrowing arrangement that a bank provides but may choose to withdraw at any time unconsolidated unconsolidated /nkən | sɒldetd/ adjective not grouped together, as of shares or holdings unconsolidated subsidiary unconsolidated subsidiary /nkənsɒldetd səb | sdiəri/ noun a sub- sidiary that is not included in the consoli- dated financial statements of the group to which it belongs. An unconsolidated subsid- iary would appear on a consolidated balance sheet as an investment. uncontrollable uncontrollable /nkən | trəυləb(ə)l/ adjective not possible to control ć uncon- trollable inflation uncontrollable costs uncontrollable costs /nkən | trəυləb(ə)l kɒsts/ plural noun costs appearing on a management accounting statement that are regarded as not within the control of that particular level of manage- ment uncrossed cheque uncrossed cheque /nkrɒst tʃek/ noun a cheque which does not have two lines across it, and can be cashed anywhere (NOTE: They are no longer used in the UK, but are still found in other countries.) undated undated /n | detd/ adjective with no date indicated or written ć She tried to cash an undated cheque. undated bond undated bond /n | detd bɒnd/ noun a bond with no maturity date under- under- /ndə/ prefix less important than or lower than Accounting.fm Page 229 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM underabsorbed overhead 230 underabsorbed overhead underabsorbed overhead /ndərəbzɔbd əυvəhed/ noun an absorbed overhead which ends up by being lower than the actual overhead incurred underabsorption underabsorption /ndərəb | zɔpʃ(ə)n/ noun a situation where the actual overhead incurred is higher than the absorbed over- head. Opposite overabsorption undercapitalised undercapitalised /ndə | kptəlazd/, undercapitalized adjective without enough capital ć The company is severely undercap- italised. undercharge undercharge /ndə | tʃɑd/ verb to ask someone for too little money ć She under- charged us by £25. underemployed capital underemployed capital /ndərmplɔd kpt(ə)l/ noun capital which is not producing enough interest underlease underlease /ndəlis/ noun a lease from a tenant to another tenant underlying inflation rate underlying inflation rate /ndəlaŋ n | fleʃ(ə)n ret/ noun the basic inflation rate calculated on a series of prices of con- sumer items, petrol, gas and electricity, and interest rates. Compare headline inflation rate underspend underspend /ndə | spend/ verb to spend less than you should have spent or were allowed to spend understandability understandability /ndə | stndə | blti/ noun when referring to financial information, the quality of being sufficiently clearly expressed as to be understood by anybody with a reasonable knowledge of business understate understate /ndə | stet/ verb to enter in an account a figure that is lower than the actual figure ć The company accounts understate the real profit. undersubscribed undersubscribed /ndəsb | skrabd/ adjective referring to a share issue in which applications are not made for all the shares on offer, and part of the issue remains with the underwriters undertake undertake /ndə | tek/ verb to agree to do something ć We asked the research unit to undertake an investigation of the market. ć They have undertaken not to sell into our territory. (NOTE: undertaking – undertook – undertaken) undertaking undertaking /ndətekŋ/ noun 1. a business ć He is the MD of a large commer- cial undertaking. 2. a promise, especially a legally binding one ć They have given us a written undertaking not to sell their prod- ucts in competition with ours. undervaluation undervaluation /ndəvljυ | eʃ(ə)n/ noun the state of being valued, or the act of valuing something, at less than the true worth undervalued undervalued /ndə | vljud/ adjective not valued highly enough ć The dollar is undervalued on the foreign exchanges. ć The properties are undervalued on the com- pany’s balance sheet. ‘…in terms of purchasing power, the dol- lar is considerably undervalued, while the US trade deficit is declining month by month’ [Financial Weekly] underwrite underwrite /ndə | rat/ verb 1. to accept responsibility for something 2. to insure, to cover a risk ć to underwrite an insurance policy 3. to agree to pay for costs ć The gov- ernment has underwritten the development costs of the project. (NOTE: underwriting – underwrote – has underwritten) ‘…under the new program, mortgage bro- kers are allowed to underwrite mortgages and get a much higher fee’ [Forbes Maga- zine] underwriter underwriter /ndəratə/ noun a person or company that underwrites a share issue or an insurance underwriting underwriting /ndəratŋ/ noun the action of guaranteeing to purchase shares in a new issue if no one purchases them underwriting fee underwriting fee /ndəratŋ fi/ noun a fee paid by a company to the underwriters for guaranteeing the purchase of new shares in that company underwriting syndicate underwriting syndicate /ndəratŋ sndkət / noun a group of underwriters who insure a large risk undischarged bankrupt undischarged bankrupt /ndstʃɑdd bŋkrpt/ noun a person who has been declared bankrupt and has not been released from that state undistributable profit undistributable profit /ndstrbjutəb(ə)l prɒft/ noun profit that is not legally available for distribution to shareholders as dividends undistributable reserves undistributable reserves /ndstrbjutəb(ə)l r | zvz/ plural noun same as capital reserves undistributed profit undistributed profit /ndstrbjutd prɒft / noun profit which has not been dis- tributed as dividends to shareholders unearned income unearned income /nnd nkm/ noun same as investment income unemployed unemployed /nm | plɔd/ adjective not having any paid work unemployment unemployment /nm | plɔmənt/ noun 1. the state of not having any work 2. the number of people in a country or region who are willing to work but cannot find jobs Accounting.fm Page 230 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM 231 unlimited liability ‘…tax advantages directed toward small businesses will help create jobs and reduce the unemployment rate’ [Toronto Star] unemployment pay unemployment pay /nm | plɔmənt pe / noun money given by the government to someone who is unemployed unexpired cost unexpired cost /nkspaəd kɒst/ noun the net book value, or depreciated his- torical cost of an asset, not yet charged to the profit and loss account unfair competition unfair competition /nfeə kɒmpə | tʃ(ə)n/ noun the practice of trying to do better than another company by using tech- niques such as importing foreign goods at very low prices or by wrongly criticising a competitor’s products unfavourable variance unfavourable variance /n | fev(ə)rəb(ə)l veəriəns/ noun same as adverse variance unfunded debt unfunded debt /nfndd det/ noun short-term debt requiring repayment within a year from issuance ungeared ungeared /n | əd/ adjective with no bor- rowings unguaranteed residual value unguaranteed residual value /nrəntid r | zdjuəl vlju/ noun the residual value of a leased asset that a com- pany is not sure it will ever be in a position to sell uniform accounting policies uniform accounting policies /junfɔm ə | kaυntŋ pɒlsiz/ plural noun the use of the same accounting policies for all the companies in a group, for the prepa- ration of consolidated financial statements uniform business rate uniform business rate /junfɔm bzns ret / noun a tax levied on business property which is the same percentage for the whole country. Abbreviation UBR ( NOTE: The uniform business rate is then multiplied by the rateable value of the prop- erty to give the total rates to be paid in that year.) uniformity uniformity /jun | fɔmti/ noun the prin- ciple of using common measurements, accounting standards and methods of pres- entation across different organisations, to ensure comparability unincorporated unincorporated /nn | kɔpəretd/ adjective referring to a business which has not been made into a company, i.e. which is operating as a partnership or a sole trader unissued capital unissued capital /nʃud kpt(ə)l/ noun capital which a company is authorised to issue but has not issued as shares unissued stock unissued stock /nʃud stɒk/ noun capital stock which a company is authorised to issue but has not issued unit unit /junt/ noun 1. a single product for sale 2. a single share in a unit trust unitary taxation unitary taxation /junt(ə)ri tk | seʃ(ə)n/ noun a method of taxing a corpo- ration based on its worldwide income rather than on its income in the country of the tax authority unit contribution margin unit contribution margin /junt kɒntr | bjuʃ(ə)n mɑdn/ noun the profit made on each unit sold unit cost unit cost /junt kɒst/ noun the cost of one item, i.e. the total product costs divided by the number of units produced unitholder unitholder /junt | həυldə/ noun a per- son who holds units in a unit trust uniting of interests uniting of interests /ju | natŋ əv ntrəsts / noun the international accounting standards term for merger accounting unit level activities unit level activities /junt lev(ə)l k | tvtiz/ plural noun business activities undertaken each time a unit is produced unit-linked insurance unit-linked insurance /junt lŋkd n | ʃυərəns/ noun an insurance policy which is linked to the security of units in a unit trust or fund unit of account unit of account /junt əv ə | kaυnt/ noun a standard unit used in financial trans- actions among members of a group, e.g. SDRs in the IMF unit price unit price /junt pras/ noun the price of one item units of production method of depreciation units of production method of depreciation /junts əv prə | dkʃən meθəd əv d | priʃi | eʃ(ə)n/ noun a method of calculating depreciation that determines the cost of an asset over its use- ful economic life according to the number of units it is expected to produce over that period unit trust unit trust /junt trst/ noun an organi- sation which takes money from small inves- tors and invests it in stocks and shares for them under a trust deed, the investment being in the form of shares (or units) in the trust (NOTE: The US term is mutual fund.) unlawful unlawful /n | lɔf(ə)l/ adjective against the law, not legal unlimited company unlimited company /n | lmtd kmp(ə)ni / noun a company where the shareholders have no limit as regards liabil- ity unlimited liability unlimited liability /n | lmtd laə | blti/ noun a situation where a sole trader or each partner is responsible for all a firm’s debts with no limit on the amount each may have to pay Accounting.fm Page 231 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM unliquidated claim 232 unliquidated claim unliquidated claim /nlkwdetd klem / noun a claim for unliquidated dam- ages unliquidated damages unliquidated damages /nlkwdetd dmdz/ plural noun damages which are not for a fixed amount of money but are awarded by a court as a matter of discretion unlisted company unlisted company /n | lstd kmp(ə)ni / noun a company whose shares are not listed on the Stock Exchange unlisted securities unlisted securities /n | lstd s | kjυərtiz/ plural noun shares that are not listed on the Stock Exchange unpaid unpaid /n | ped/ adjective not paid unprofitable unprofitable /n | prɒftəb(ə)l/ adjective not profitable unquoted company unquoted company /n | kwəυtd kmp(ə)ni / noun a company whose shares are not listed on the stock exchange unquoted investments unquoted investments /n | kwəυtd n | vestmənts/ plural noun investments which are difficult to value, e.g. shares which have no stock exchange listing or land of which the asset value is difficult to esti- mate unquoted shares unquoted shares /nkwəυtd ʃeəz/ plural noun shares that have no Stock Exchange quotation unrealisable gains unrealisable gains /nrəlazəb(ə)l enz / plural noun apparent increases in the value of assets that could not be turned into realised profit unrealised capital gain unrealised capital gain /nrəlazd kpt(ə)l en / noun an investment which is showing a profit but has not been sold unrealised loss unrealised loss /nrəlazd lɒs/ noun same as paper loss unrealised profit unrealised profit /n | rəlazd prɒft/ noun same as paper profit unredeemed pledge unredeemed pledge /nrdimd pled / noun a pledge which the borrower has not claimed back because he or she has not paid back the loan unregistered unregistered /n | redstəd/ adjective used for describing a company that has not been registered on the official list of compa- nies held, in the UK, at Companies House unrestricted income funds unrestricted income funds /nrstrktd nkm fndz/ plural noun a charity’s funds that are available to its trus- tees to use for the purposes set out in the charity’s governing document unsecured creditor unsecured creditor /nskjυəd kredtə / noun a creditor who is owed money, but has no security from the debtor for the debt unsecured debt unsecured debt /nskjυəd det/ noun a debt which is not guaranteed by a charge on assets or by any collateral unsecured loan unsecured loan /nskjυəd ləυn/ noun a loan made with no security unsubsidised unsubsidised /n | sbsdazd/, unsub- sidized adjective with no subsidy unused allowances unused allowances /n | juzd ə | laυənsz/ plural noun part of the married couple’s allowance or the blind person’s allowance which is not used because the recipient does not have enough income, and which can then be passed to their spouse up front up front /p frnt/ adverb in advance ˽ money up front payment in advance ć They are asking for £100,000 up front before they will consider the deal. ć He had to put money up front before he could clinch the deal. upside potential upside potential /psad pə | tenʃəl/ noun the possibility for a share to increase in value. Opposite downside risk upturn upturn /ptn/ noun a movement towards higher sales or profits ć an upturn in the economy ć an upturn in the market Urgent Issues Task Force Urgent Issues Task Force /dənt ʃuz tɑsk fɔs / noun a committee of the UK Accounting Standards Board that con- siders major urgent and emerging account- ing issues. Its pronouncements are known as UITF Abstracts. Abbreviation UITF usage method usage method /jusd meθəd/ noun a method of depreciating a machine, by divid- ing its cost less residual value by the number of units it is expected to produce or the length of time it is expected to be used useful economic life useful economic life /jusf(ə)l ikənɒmk laf / noun the period during which an entity expects to derive economic benefit from using an asset such as a machine and over which it can be depreci- ated. Also called depreciable life usury usury /juəri/ noun the lending of money at high interest utilisation utilisation /jutla | zeʃ(ə)n/, utilization noun the act of making use of something ‘…control permits the manufacturer to react to changing conditions on the plant floor and to keep people and machines at a high level of utilization’ [Duns Business Month] utilise utilise /jutlaz/, utilize verb to use something Accounting.fm Page 232 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM V vacant possession vacant possession /vekənt pə | zeʃ(ə)n/ adjective being able to occupy a property immediately after buying it because it is empty ć The property is to be sold with vacant possession. valuation valuation /vlju | eʃ(ə)n/ noun an esti- mate of how much something is worth ć to ask for a valuation of a property before mak- ing an offer for it valuation of a business valuation of a business /vljueʃ(ə)n əv ə bzns / noun the act of estimating the value of a business. This can be done on var- ious bases, such as an assets basis, its break- up value, its value as a going concern, etc. value value /vlju/ noun the amount of money which something is worth ć the fall in the value of sterling ć She imported goods to the value of £2500. ć The valuer put the value of the stock at £25,000. ˽ to rise or fall in value to be worth more or less í verb to estimate how much money something is worth ć He valued the stock at £25,000. ć We are having the jewellery valued for insurance. value added value added /vlju dd/ noun 1. the difference between the cost of the materials purchased to produce a product and the final selling price of the finished product 2. the amount added to the value of a product or service, being the difference between its cost and the amount received when it is sold. Also called net output value-added activity value-added activity /vlju dd k | tvti/ noun business activity that improves a product or service at a cost that the cus- tomer is willing to pay value-added statement value-added statement /vlju dd stetmənt / noun a simplified financial statement that shows how much wealth has been created by a company. A value-added statement calculates total output by adding sales, changes in stock, and other incomes, then subtracting depreciation, interest, taxa- tion, dividends, and the amounts paid to sup- pliers and employees. Value Added Tax Value Added Tax /vlju dd tks/ noun full form of VAT value-adding cost value-adding cost /vlju dŋ kɒst / noun a business cost that increases the market value of a product or service value analysis value analysis /vlju ə | nləss/ noun analysis by a producer of all aspects of a fin- ished product to determine how it could be made at minimum cost ć Value analysis showed an excessive amount of rubber was used in manufacturing the product. value chain value chain /vlju tʃen/ noun the sequence of activities a company carries out as it designs, produces, markets, delivers, and supports its product or service, each of which is thought of as adding value ‘Competition is no longer limited to the realm of the enterprise. Entire value chains are now starting to act as formidable enti- ties, competing against each other for sim- ilar markets.’ [Harvard Business Review] value chain costing value chain costing /vlju tʃen kɒstŋ/ noun a costing model that takes into account all aspects of the chain of pro- duction, from design to after-sales value in use value in use /vlju n jus/ noun the present value of the estimated future net cash flows from an object, including the amount expected from its disposal at the end of its useful life. Value in use replaces book value when an asset suffers impairment. valuer valuer /vljυə/ noun a person who esti- mates how much money something is worth variable annuity variable annuity /veəriəb(ə)l ə | njuəti/ noun an annuity based on funds invested in common stock, which varies with the value of the stock, as opposed to a fixed annuity variable costing variable costing /veəriəb(ə)l kɒstŋ/ noun a method of recording inventoried costs that records only the variable manufac- turing costs, not the fixed costs variable cost percentage variable cost percentage /veəriəb(ə)l kɒst pə | sentd/ noun a ratio arrived at by dividing total variable costs by total sales variable costs variable costs /veəriəb(ə)l kɒsts/ plu- ral noun production costs which increase Accounting.fm Page 233 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM variable rate 234 with the quantity of the product made, e.g. wages or raw materials variable rate variable rate /veəriəb(ə)l ret/ noun a rate of interest on a loan which is not fixed, but can change with the current bank interest rates. Also called floating rate variable rate loan variable rate loan /veəriəb(ə)l ret ləυn / noun a bank loan carrying an interest rate that varies according to fluctuations in a particular index variance variance /veəriəns/ noun the discrepancy between the actual cost of an asset or busi- ness activity and the standard or expected cost variance accounting variance accounting /veəriəns ə | kaυntŋ/ noun a method of accounting by means of which planned activities (quanti- fied through budgets and standard costs and revenues) are compared with actual results VAT VAT /vi e ti, vt/ noun a tax on goods and services, added as a percentage to the invoiced sales price ć The invoice includes VAT at 17.5%. ć The government is propos- ing to increase VAT to 22%. ć Some items (such as books) are zero-rated for VAT. ć He does not charge VAT because he asks for payment in cash. Full form Value Added Tax ‘…the directive means that the services of stockbrokers and managers of authorized unit trusts are now exempt from VAT; pre- viously they were liable to VAT at the standard rate. Zero-rating for stockbro- kers’ services is still available as before, but only where the recipient of the service belongs outside the EC’ [Accountancy] VAT declaration VAT declaration /vt deklə | reʃ(ə)n/ noun a statement declaring VAT income to the VAT office VAT group VAT group /vt rup/ noun in the United Kingdom, a group of related compa- nies that is treated as one taxpayer for VAT purposes VAT inspection VAT inspection /vt n | spekʃ(ə)n/ noun a visit by officials of HM Revenue and Customs to see if a company is correctly reporting its VAT VAT inspector VAT inspector /vt n | spektə/ noun a government official who examines VAT returns and checks that VAT is being paid VAT invoice VAT invoice /vt nvɔs/ noun an invoice which includes VAT VAT invoicing VAT invoicing /vt nvɔsŋ/ noun the sending of an invoice including VAT VATman VATman /vtmn/, vatman noun a VAT inspector (informal) VAT office VAT office /vt ɒfs/ noun the govern- ment office dealing with the collection of VAT in an area VAT paid VAT paid /vt ped/ adjective with the VAT already paid VAT receivable VAT receivable /vt r | sivəb(ə)l/ adjective with the VAT for an item not yet collected by a taxing authority VAT registration VAT registration /vt redstreʃ(ə)n/ noun the process of listing a company with a European government as eligible for the return of VAT in certain cases VC VC abbreviation venture capitalist VCT VCT abbreviation venture capital trust vending vending /vendŋ/ noun selling vendor vendor /vendə/ noun 1. a person who sells something, especially a property ć the solicitor acting on behalf of the vendor 2. a person who sells goods venture venture /ventʃə/ noun a commercial deal which involves a risk ć They lost money on several import ventures. ć She’s started a new venture – a computer shop. venture capital venture capital /ventʃə kpt(ə)l/ noun capital for investment which may eas- ily be lost in risky projects, but can also pro- vide high returns. Also called risk capital venture capital fund venture capital fund /ventʃə kpt(ə)l fnd / noun a fund which invests in finance houses providing venture capital ‘…the Securities and Exchange Board of India allowed new companies to enter the primary market provided venture capital funds took up 10 per cent of the equity. At present, new companies are allowed to make initial public offerings provided their projects have been appraised by banks or financial institutions which take up 10 per cent of the equity’ [The Hindu] venture capitalist venture capitalist /ventʃə kpt(ə)lst / noun a finance house or pri- vate individual specialising in providing venture capital. Abbreviation VC ‘…along with the stock market boom of the 1980s, the venture capitalists piled more and more funds into the buyout busi- ness, backing bigger and bigger deals with ever more extravagant financing struc- tures’ [Guardian] venture capital trust venture capital trust /ventʃə kpt(ə)l trst / noun a trust which invests in smaller firms which need capital to grow. Abbreviation VCT vertical equity vertical equity /vtk(ə)l ekwti/ noun the principle that people with different incomes should pay different rates of tax vertical form vertical form /vtk(ə)l fɔm/ noun one of the two styles of presenting a balance Accounting.fm Page 234 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM 235 vouching sheet allowed by the Companies Act. See Comment at balance sheet. Also called report form vertical integration vertical integration /vtk(ə)l nt | reʃ(ə)n/ noun same as backward inte- gration vested interest vested interest /vestd ntrəst/ noun a special interest in keeping an existing state of affairs virement virement /vaəmənt/ noun a transfer of money from one account to another or from one section of a budget to another visible visible /vzb(ə)l/ adjective referring to real products which are imported or exported visible exports visible exports /vzb(ə)l ekspɔts/ plural noun real products which are exported, as opposed to services visible imports visible imports /vzb(ə)l mpɔts/ plural noun real products which are imported, as opposed to services visible trade visible trade /vzb(ə)l tred/ noun trade involving visible imports and exports void void /vɔd/ adjective not legally valid volume volume /vɒljum/ noun a quantity of items volume discount volume discount /vɒljum dskaυnt/ noun the discount given to a customer who buys a large quantity of goods volume of output volume of output /vɒljum əv aυtpυt/ noun the number of items produced volume variances volume variances /vɒljum veəriənsz / plural noun differences in costs or revenues compared with budgeted amounts, caused by differences between the actual and budgeted levels of activity voluntary voluntary /vɒlənt(ə)ri/ adjective 1. done freely without anyone forcing you to act 2. done without being paid voluntary arrangement voluntary arrangement /vɒlənt(ə)ri ə | rendmənt/ noun same as scheme of arrangement voluntary liquidation voluntary liquidation /vɒlənt(ə)ri lkw | deʃ(ə)n/ noun a situation where a company itself decides it must close and sell its assets voluntary redundancy voluntary redundancy /vɒlənt(ə)ri r | dndənsi/ noun a situation where the employee asks to be made redundant, usu- ally in return for a large payment voluntary registration voluntary registration /vɒlənt(ə)ri red | streʃ(ə)n/ noun in the United King- dom, registration for VAT by a trader whose turnover is below the registration threshold. This is usually done in order to reclaim tax on inputs. voucher voucher /vaυtʃə/ noun 1. a piece of paper which is given instead of money 2. a written document from an auditor to show that the accounts are correct or that money has really been paid vouching vouching /vaυtʃŋ/ noun the process of checking accounting accuracy by matching vouchers and other documents with the details recorded in an account Accounting.fm Page 235 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM W wage wage /wed/ noun the money paid to an employee in return for work done, espe- cially when it is paid weekly and in cash ć She is earning a good wage or good wages for a young person. (NOTE: The plural wages is more usual when referring to the money earned, but wage is used before other nouns.) ‘European economies are being held back by rigid labor markets and wage struc- tures’ [Duns Business Month] ‘…real wages have been held down dra- matically: they have risen at an annual rate of only 1% in the last two years’ [Sunday Times] wage adjustments wage adjustments /wed ə | dstmənts/ plural noun changes made to wages wage claim wage claim /wed klem/ noun an act of asking for an increase in wages wage differentials wage differentials /wed dfə | renʃəlz/ plural noun same as pay differen- tials wage-earner wage-earner /wed nə/ noun a per- son who earns a wage wage indexation wage indexation /wed ndekseʃ(ə)n / noun the linking of increases to the percentage rise in the cost of living wage scale wage scale /wed skel/ noun same as pay scale wages costs wages costs /wedz kɒsts/ plural noun the costs of paying employees’ sala- ries. Along with other costs such as pension contributions and salaries, these costs typi- cally form the largest single cost item for a business. wages payable account wages payable account /wedz peəb(ə)l ə | kaυnt/ noun an account show- ing gross wages and employer’s National Insurance contributions paid during a period wages policy wages policy /wedz pɒlsi/ noun a government policy on what percentage increases should be paid to workers wall safe wall safe /wɔl sef/ noun a safe installed in a wall warehouse warehouse /weəhaυs/ noun a large building where goods are stored warehouse capacity warehouse capacity /weəhaυs kə | psti/ noun the space available in a ware- house warrant warrant /wɒrənt/ noun 1. an official doc- ument which allows someone to do some- thing 2.  share warrant í verb to guaran- tee ć All the spare parts are warranted. ‘…the rights issue will grant shareholders free warrants to subscribe for further new shares’ [Financial Times] warrantee warrantee /wɒrən | ti/ noun a person who is given a warranty warrantor warrantor /wɒrən | tɔ/ noun a person who gives a warranty warranty warranty /wɒrənti/ noun 1. a legal docu- ment which promises that a machine will work properly or that an item is of good quality ć The car is sold with a twelve- month warranty. ć The warranty covers spare parts but not labour costs. 2. a prom- ise in a contract 3. a statement made by an insured person which declares that the facts stated by him are true wasting asset wasting asset /westŋ st/ noun an asset which becomes gradually less valuable as time goes by, e.g. a short lease on a prop- erty watchdog watchdog /wɒtʃdɒ/ noun an independ- ent person or organisation whose task is to police a particular industry, ensuring that member companies do not act illegally watered stock watered stock /wɔtəd stɒk/ noun shares that are worth less than the total cap- ital invested in the company WDA WDA abbreviation 1. writing-down allow- ance 2. written-down allowance WDV WDV abbreviation written-down value wealth tax wealth tax /welθ tks/ noun a tax on money, property or investments owned by a person wear and tear wear and tear /weər ən teə/ noun the deterioration of a tangible fixed asset as a Accounting.fm Page 236 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM 237 window dressing result of normal use. This is recognised for accounting purposes by depreciation. web web /web/ noun same as World Wide Web weight weight /wet/ noun a measurement of how heavy something is í verb to give an extra value to a factor weighted average weighted average /wetd v(ə)rd/ noun an average which is calculated taking several factors into account, giving some more value than others weighted average cost weighted average cost /wetd v(ə)rd kɒst /, weighted average price / wetd v(ə)rd pras/ noun the aver- age price per unit of stock delivered in a period calculated either at the end of the period (‘periodic weighted average’) or each time a new delivery is received (‘cumulative weighted average’) weighted average cost of capital weighted average cost of capital /wetd vərd kɒst əv kpt(ə)l/ noun the average cost of a company’s bor- rowing in relation to its total capital weighted index weighted index /wetd ndeks/ noun an index where some important items are given more value than less important ones weighting weighting /wetŋ/ noun an additional salary or wages paid to compensate for liv- ing in an expensive part of the country ć The salary is £15,000 plus London weighting. Wheat Report Wheat Report /wit r | pɔt/ noun a report produced by a committee in 1972 that set out to examine the principles and meth- ods of accounting in the United States. Its publication led to the establishment of the FASB. white knight white knight /wat nat/ noun a person or company which rescues a firm in finan- cial difficulties, especially one which saves a firm from being taken over by an unaccept- able purchaser White Paper White Paper /wat pepə/ noun a report issued by the UK government as a statement of government policy on a particular prob- lem. Compare Green Paper whole-life cost whole-life cost /həυl laf kɒst/ noun a cost calculated as life-cycle costs plus any after-purchase costs whole-life insurance whole-life insurance /həυl laf n | ʃυərəns/, whole-life policy /həυl laf pɒlsi / noun an insurance policy where the insured person pays a fixed premium each year and the insurance company pays a sum when he or she dies. Also called whole-of- life assurance wholesale wholesale /həυlsel/ adjective, adverb referring to the business of buying goods from manufacturers and selling them in large quantities to traders (retailers) who then sell in smaller quantities to the general public ć I persuaded him to give us a whole- sale discount. ˽ he buys wholesale and sells retail he buys goods in bulk at a whole- sale discount and then sells in small quanti- ties to the public wholesale banking wholesale banking /həυlsel bŋkŋ/ noun banking services between merchant banks and other financial institutions, as opposed to retail banking wholesale dealer wholesale dealer /həυlsel dilə/ noun a person who buys in bulk from manufactur- ers and sells to retailers wholesale price wholesale price /həυlsel pras/ noun the price charged to customers who buy goods in large quantities in order to resell them in smaller quantities to others wholesale price index wholesale price index /həυlsel pras ndeks / noun an index showing the rises and falls of prices of manufactured goods as they leave the factory wholesaler wholesaler /həυlselə/ noun a person who buys goods in bulk from manufacturers and sells them to retailers wholly-owned subsidiary wholly-owned subsidiary /həυlli əυnd səb | sdjəri/ noun a subsidiary which belongs completely to the parent company will will /wl/ noun a legal document where someone says what should happen to his or her property when he or she dies ć He wrote his will in 1984. ć According to her will, all her property is left to her children. wind up phrasal verb to end a meeting, or to close down a business or organisation and sell its assets ć She wound up the meeting with a vote of thanks to the committee. windfall profit windfall profit /wndfɔl prɒft/ noun a sudden profit which is not expected windfall profits tax windfall profits tax /wndfɔl prɒfts tks /, windfall tax /wndfɔl tks/ noun a tax on companies that have made large profits because of circumstances outside their usual trading activities. A windfall tax was imposed on the privatised utility com- panies in 1997. winding up winding up /wandŋ p/ noun liquida- tion, the act of closing a company and sell- ing its assets winding up petition winding up petition /wandŋ p pə | tʃ(ə)n/ noun an application to a court for an order that a company be put into liquida- tion window dressing window dressing /wndəυ dresŋ/ noun 1. the practice of putting goods on dis- play in a shop window, so that they attract customers 2. the practice of putting on a dis- play to make a business seem better or more profitable or more efficient than it really is Accounting.fm Page 237 Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:40 PM [...]... loss or cancellation of a bad debt, or the removal of an asset’s value from a company’s accounts ć to allow for write-offs in the yearly accounts write-up / rait p/ noun a deliberate overvaluation of company assets writing-down allowance / raitiŋ daυn ə laυəns/ noun a form of capital allowance giving tax relief to companies acquiring fixed assets which are written down on a year-by-year basis works... financial year, when a company’s accounts are prepared ć The accounts department has started work on the year-end accounts year-end adjustment / jiər end ə d stmənt/ noun final adjustments to an entry in accounts to ensure complete accuracy in the presentation of a financial statement year-end closing / jiər end kləυziŋ/ noun the financial statements issued at the end of a company’s fiscal (tax) year... * Profit on ordinary activities after taxation * Extraordinary income * Extraordinary charges * Extraordinary profit * Tax on extraordinary profit * Profit for the financial year Transfers to Reserves Dividends Paid and Proposed 27 26 53 2,506 916 1,590 153 44 109 45 64 1,654 400 750 1,150 Retained profit for the financial year 504 About the Profit and Loss Account While two vertical and horizontal... 6,920 • PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT 3,090 10.010 About the Balance Sheet While vertical and horizontal balance sheets are permissible, most UK companies prefer the vertical format as illustrated The conventional form of horizontal balance sheet can be summarised as follows: Capital brought forward Profit for the year Capital at year end £ X X X Long term liabilities Current liabilities X X X Fixed Assets... useful indicators of a company's operational efficiency and it is possible that they will become more widely reported in future 'Value added' means the difference between the total value of output and the total cost of materials and services used in production The value added statement shows how this added value is applied: to pay works and managers, taxes and dividends, to maintain operating capacity (i.e... formats are permissible, most UK companies use the vertical format illustrated The horizontal profit and loss account format may be summarised as follows: Cost of sales Gross profit £ X X Expenses X X Sales £ X Gross profit X X X X In Germany and Italy only the vertical format is allowed According to the UK Companies Act a company must show all the items marked with * on the face of the profit and... time A variety of financial information, such as a company’s profits, losses or sales, may be displayed in this way Abbreviation YTD year-end adjustment | year-end closing yearly year of assessment | year to date yen /jen/ noun a unit of currency used in Japan (NOTE: It is usually written as ¥ before yen a figure: ¥2,700 (say two thousand seven hundred yen).) yield /ji ld/ noun the money produced as a. .. write off phrasal verb to cancel a debt, or to remove an asset from the accounts as having no value ć We had to write off £20,000 in bad debts ‘$30 million from usual company borrowings will either be amortized or written off in one sum’ [Australian Financial Review] write-down / rait daυn/ noun a reduction in the value of an asset as entered in the books of a business write-off / rait ɒf/ noun the total... loss account It must also disclose the value of certain items in the notes to the profit and loss account, such as: a) interest owed on bank and other loans b) rental income c) costs of hire of plant and machinery d) amounts paid to auditors e) turnover for each class of business and country in which sales are made f) number of employees and costs of employment Specimen Co Ltd Balance Sheet for the Year... USA T: 00 1 (941) 921-7747 F: 00 1 (941) 923-4093 www.aaahq.org/index.cfm Association of Chartered Accountants in the United States (ACAUS) 341 Lafayette Street Suite 4246 New York, NY 10012-2417 USA T: 00 1 (212) 334-2078 Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) PO Box 204 Collins St West VIC 8007 Australia T: 00 61 (3) 9617 7600 T: 00 61 (3) 9617 7608 www.aasb.com.au/ Institute of Chartered Accountants . discrepancy between the actual cost of an asset or busi- ness activity and the standard or expected cost variance accounting variance accounting /veəriəns ə | kaυntŋ/ noun a method of accounting. deliberate over- valuation of company assets writing-down allowance writing-down allowance /ratŋ daυn ə | laυəns/ noun a form of capital allowance giving tax relief to companies acquiring fixed. issued at the end of a company’s fiscal (tax) year yearly yearly /jəli/ adjective happening once a year ć We make a yearly payment of £1000. ć His yearly insurance premium has risen to £550. year