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Key financial and accounting terms explained

Written by Aico Team | Mar 26, 2024 9:07:13 AM

Use our glossary to understand the key financial and accounting terms used on our website and in Aico.

A

accounting date

posting date, GL date

The date when a journal posting is recognised in an ERP system.

The accounting date defines the financial period to which the posting belongs in the general ledger. The accounting date and transaction date can be the same.

accrual

 

An expense or income that has incurred in one accounting period but has not been paid or received by the end of it.

accrual journal

accrual journal entry

A journal entry that is used for posting accrued expense or income in one accounting period and that will be reversed in a future accounting period.

adjustment entry

adjusting entry, adjusting journal entry, correcting entry

A journal entry that is done if an error is discovered in an account.

Adjustment entries are typically needed if there is an incorrect amount in a previously posted entry or if an entry was recorded in the wrong account.

C

cash payment journal

cash payments journal

A journal that is used for recording all petty cash transactions that a company pays.

cash receipt journal

cash receipts journal

 

A journal that is used for recording all petty cash payments that a company receives.

closing entry

closing journal entry

A journal entry that is done at the end of an accounting period to bring the temporary account balances to zero and and transfer their balances to permanent accounts.

 

See also opening entry.

credit

An accounting entry in the right column of an account record in double-entry bookkeeping.

A credit entry decreases an asset or expense account but increases a capital, liability, or revenue account.

D

 

 

debit

An accounting entry in the left column of an account record in double-entry bookkeeping.

 

A debit entry decreases a capital, liability, or revenue account, but increases an asset or expense account.

document

A unique record of an event, created based on a document template and processed and archived in Aico.

In Aico, documents are typically related to financial and accounting events.

Examples of Aico documents:

  • journals

  • requests

  • account reconciliation documents

  • closing tasks

 

document template

A pre-structured model for generating documents that share similar content and layout.

In Aico, you can create system-specific and company-specific document templates.

double entry

A bookkeeping method where every financial transaction involves a minimum of two accounts and the total sums of debit and credit amounts of a transaction must be equal.

See also: credit and debit.

G

general ledger

GL, G/L

A master set of accounts that a company uses to keep track of its financial transactions and to prepare financial statements.

See also sub-ledger.

J

journal

A chronological record of financial transactions in a general ledger of a legal entity.

A journal can be considered a collection of financial data extracted from journal entries and vouchers.

journal entry

journal

A document that contains the details of a financial transaction and is kept as an entry in a book, spreadsheet, or in accounting software.

Transactions are first recorded in a journal and then posted to a ledger.

journal template

A document template for creating different types of journal entries in Aico.

In addition to accrual journals, recurring journals, and reversal journals, there can be other types of journal entries in customers’ Aico systems.

M

manual journal

manual journal entry

A journal entry that a user records using an accounting software.

O

opening entry

The first entry done at the beginning of an accounting period.

See also closing entry.

P

period end

The date that defines the end of an accounting period.

R

recurrence master template

A journal that is used as a model for generating recurring journals in Aico.

Recurrence master templates are never posted. The recurrence pattern is defined by recurrence rules.

 

See also recurrence rules.

recurrence rules

A set of rules in a recurrence master template which defines the repeating pattern for recurring journal entries in Aico.

 

recurring journal

recurring entry, recurring journal entry

A journal that is used for handling financial transactions that are repeated at certain intervals within a predefined time span.

reversal date

The day on which the original journal entry is undone.

reversal journal

reversal journal entry

A journal that is used to undo an existing journal entry.

The accounting date defines the financial period to which the posting belongs in the general ledger. The accounting date and transaction date can be the same.

S

sub-ledger

subledger

A set of accounts that is used for storing detailed information on financial transactions.

See also general ledger.

supporting documentation

supporting data

Additional information attached to a transaction to provide additional information and evidence.

Supporting documentation ensures the accuracy and/or completeness of the transaction.

See also voucher.

T

transfer entry

transfer journal entry

A journal entry that is used for moving expenses or revenues from one account to another.

V

voucher

Written information supporting and confirming a journal entry.

Vouchers can be used for recording various transactions, for example, sales, payments, receipts, and journals.

In Aico Journals, a voucher clarifies or confirms why a certain journal entry (and related transaction) has been made.

See also supporting documentation.

W

workflow

A series of manual or automatic actions which are required to complete a task and which comprise a process in Aico.

An example of a workflow is a sequence of actions that must be completed for a journal to be approved. During the workflow, actions are performed by users or user groups assigned to a certain user role. The status of the document changes during the workflow and available statuses depend on the document type, user role, and process phase. A workflow can be sequential, which means that each step depends on the completion of the previous step, or parallel, where two or more steps can occur concurrently.