The EDGAR Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Becoming a Savvy Investor
By Tom Taulli

Glossary

A-C

Accelerated Filer
A company that has a market value of more than $75 million. This type of company must abide by shorter deadlines for the filing of financial statements.
Accounts Payable
Money that a company owes its suppliers and other short-term creditors (usually with terms of less than three months).
Accrual Accounting
A method of accounting that records transactions in terms of when revenues are earned and expenses incurred not when cash changes hands.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
An estimate of the uncollectibility of outstanding accounts receivable.
Amortization
A process that expenses the value of an intangible asset over time.
Annual Report
A financial disclosure of the results of a company for the past year, although it is usually a marketing piece to entice shareholders.
Balance Sheet
A financial statement that includes a company's assets, liabilities, and equity.
Bankruptcy
A process that is managed by a federal judge to restructure a company's operations.
Best Efforts Offering
An IPO in which an investment bank will not guarantee any proceeds to the firm, but will instead make its best efforts to raise capital.
Bond
A loan that is issued to the public in an offering similar to an IPO (except an IPO is an offering of stock).
Cap Ex
Short for capital expenditures.

See also Capital Expenditures.

Capital Expenditures
Investments in property, plant, and equipment.
Capital Lease
After a lease term expires, a company may get ownership in the underlying property if it meets a variety of criteria (although...
Copyright Tom Taulli 2004 under license agreement with Books24x7
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