Financial Awareness Glossary Terms

A statement that reports on the assets, liabilities and owners’ equity of an entity at a specific date.

  • Money which you owe to suppliers for products and services purchased on credit.

  • Money that is owed to you by a customer for products or services you have provided to them on credit.

  • Things you own, e.g. buildings, stock, vehicles.

  • The last day of your financial year.

  • A detailed account showing the amount that has been distributed to a beneficiary from a Trust and the amount that has been withdrawn by the beneficiary, like a bank account.  The balance shows the amount available to the beneficiary to withdraw at the end of a period.  When the balance is in brackets, it is overdrawn and the beneficiary has withdrawn too much.

  • These are the direct costs involved in getting goods / services ready to be sold, e.g. in a supermarket these would be the purchases of groceries to be sold.

  • People who you owe money to, e.g. suppliers, banks.

  • Cash and other assets that are reasonably expected to be converted to cash or used in the business within one year, e.g. stock on hand, cash in bank.

  • Obligations reasonably expected to be paid within the next year, e.g. creditors, PAYE.

  • An expense that spreads the value of an asset over its expected useful life.

  • A company report which presents financial information such as business activity, donations, employee remunerations, audit expenditure, etc.

  • Distributions of cash or other assets from a company to its shareholders.

  • Earnings Before Interest and Tax - a measure of your firm’s profit excluding interest and income tax expenses.

  • The difference between income and cost of goods / services sold.

  • An imputation credit (attached to dividends when they are paid out of a company) allows a company to pass on the benefit of the NZ Income Tax it has paid already to the shareholders of the company.  A shareholder can claim the credits they have received to offset the tax they are liable to pay on that dividend income.

  • Things you owe, e.g. bank loans, creditors.

  • The amount by which expenses exceed income.

  • The amount by which income exceeds expenses.

  • Assets that are not expected to be consumed or sold within one year, e.g. investments, goodwill.

  • Liabilities that are not expected to be paid within one year, e.g. bank loans, hire purchases.

  • Notes that clarify information presented in the financial statements, as well as expand on information where additional detail is needed.

  • The accumulated profit from the current and previous accounting periods that has not been distributed to owners.

  • The total amount paid in by shareholders for shares in the company.

  • This is the amount that would be returned to shareholders if all assets were liquidated and all its debts repaid.

  • The value of work which is currently being worked on, but not yet completed or invoiced.

  • A detailed account that shows the amount that has been distributed to a shareholder from the company, or funds that have been put into the company personally by a shareholder, and the amount withdrawn by the shareholder.  The balance shows the amount available to the shareholder to withdraw at the end of a period.  When the balance is in brackets this means it is overdrawn and the shareholder withdrawn too much.

  • A statement that reports on the income and expenses of an entity for a period, and the resulting net profit / loss.

  • A statement that reports on the assets, liabilities and owners’ equity of an entity at a specific date.