| Accounting information system | People, records, and methods that collect and process data from transactions and events, organize them in useful forms, and communicate results to decision makers.
|
 |
|
|
| Accounts payable ledger | Subsidiary ledger listing individual creditor (supplier) accounts.
|
|
|
|
| Accounts receivable ledger | Subsidiary ledger listing individual customer accounts.
|
|
|
|
| Batch processing | Accumulating source documents for a period of time and then processing them all at once such as once a day, week, or month.
|
|
|
|
| Business segment | Part of a company that can be separately identified by the products or services that it provides or by the geographic markets that it serves; also called segment.
|
|
|
|
| Cash disbursements journal | Special journal normally used to record all payments of cash; also called cash payments journal.
|
|
|
|
| Cash receipts journal | Special journal normally used to record all receipts of cash.
|
|
|
|
| Check register | Another name for a cash disbursements journal when the journal has a column for check numbers.
|
|
|
|
| Columnar journal | Journal with more than one column.
|
|
|
|
| Compatibility principle | Information system principle that requires an accounting system to conform with a company's activities, personnel, and structure.
|
|
|
|
| Computer hardware | Physical equipment in a computerized accounting information system.
|
|
|
|
| Computer network | Linkage giving different users and different computers access to common databases and programs.
|
|
|
|
| Computer software | Programs that direct operations of computer hardware.
|
|
|
|
| Control principle | Information system principle that requires an accounting system to aid managers in controlling and monitoring business activities.
|
|
|
|
| Controlling account | General ledger account, the balance of which (after posting) equals the sum of the balances in its related subsidiary ledger.
|
|
|
|
| Cost-benefit principle | Information system principle that requires the benefits from an activity in an accounting system to outweigh the costs of that activity.
|
|
|
|
| Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software | Programs that manage a company's vital operations, which range from order taking to manufacturing to accounting.
|
|
|
|
| Flexibility principle | Information system principle that requires an accounting system be able to adapt to changes in the company, its operations, and needs of decision makers.
|
|
|
|
| Information processor | Component of an accounting system that interprets, transforms, and summarizes information for use in analysis and reporting.
|
|
|
|
| Information storage | Component of an accounting system that keeps data in a form accessible to information processors.
|
|
|
|
| Input device | Means of capturing information from source documents that enables its transfer to information processors.
|
|
|
|
| Online processing | Approach to inputting data from source documents as soon as the information is available.
|
|
|
|
| Output devices | Means by which information is taken out of the accounting system and made available for use.
|
|
|
|
| Purchases journal | Journal normally used to record all purchases on credit.
|
|
|
|
| Relevance principle | Information system principle prescribing that its reports be useful, understandable, timely, and pertinent for decision making.
|
|
|
|
| Sales journal | Journal normally used to record sales of goods on credit.
|
|
|
|
| Schedule of accounts payable | List of the balances of all accounts in the accounts payable ledger and their total.
|
|
|
|
| Schedule of accounts receivable | List of balances for all accounts in the accounts receivable ledger and their total.
|
|
|
|
| Segment return on assets | Segment operating income divided by segment average (identifiable) assets.
|
|
|
|
| Special journal | Any journal used for recording and posting transactions of a similar type.
|
|
|
|
| Subsidiary ledger | List of individual sub-accounts and amounts with a common characteristic; linked to a controlling account in the general ledger.
|