Definition of Balance of Payments Accounts

Balance of Payments Accounts

A statement of a country's transactions with other countries.

Capital Account

That part of the balance of payments accounts that records demands for and supplies of a currency arising from purchases or sales of assets.

Current Account

That part of the balance of payments accounts that records demands for and supplies of a currency arising from activities that affect current income, namely imports, exports, investment income payments such as interest and dividends, and transfers such as gifts, pensions, and foreign aid.

Official Settlements Account

An account within the balance of payments accounts showing the change in a country's official foreign exchange reserves. It is used to measure a balance of payments deficit or surplus.

Accounts payable

Money owed to suppliers.

Accounts receivable

Money owed by customers.

Accounts receivable turnover

The ratio of net credit sales to average accounts receivable, a measure of how
quickly customers pay their bills.

Average age of accounts receivable

The weighted-average age of all of the firm's outstanding invoices.

Balance of payments

A statistical compilation formulated by a sovereign nation of all economic transactions
between residents of that nation and residents of all other nations during a stipulated period of time, usually a
calendar year.

Balance of trade

Net flow of goods (exports minus imports) between countries.

Balance sheet

Also called the statement of financial condition, it is a summary of the assets, liabilities, and
owners' equity.

Balance sheet exposure

See:accounting exposure.

Balance sheet identity

Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Total Stockholders' Equity

Balanced fund

An investment company that invests in stocks and bonds. The same as a balanced mutual fund.

Balanced mutual fund

This is a fund that buys common stock, preferred stock and bonds. The same as a
balanced fund.

Basic balance

In a balance of payments, the basic balance is the net balance of the combination of the current
account and the capital account.

Clearing House Automated Payments System (CHAPS)

A computerized clearing system for sterling funds
that began operations in 1984. It includes 14 member banks, nearly 450 participating banks, and is one of the
clearing companies within the structure of the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).

Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS)

An international wire transfer system for high-value
payments operated by a group of major banks.

Compensating balance

An excess balance that is left in a bank to provide indirect compensation for loans
extended or services provided.

Coupon payments

A bond's interest payments.

Double-declining-balance depreciation

Method of accelerated depreciation.

Interest payments

Contractual debt payments based on the coupon rate of interest and the principal amount.

IRA/Keogh accounts

Special accounts where you can save and invest, and the taxes are deferred until money
is withdrawn. These plans are subject to frequent changes in law with respect to the deductibility of
contributions. Withdrawals of tax deferred contributions are taxed as income, including the capital gains from
such accounts.

Lag response of prepayments

There is typically a lag of about three months between the time the weighted
average coupon of an MBS pool has crossed the threshold for refinancing and an acceleration in prepayment
speed is observed.

Net cash balance

Beginning cash balance plus cash receipts minus cash disbursements.

Off-balance-sheet financing

Financing that is not shown as a liability in a company's balance sheet.

Payments netting

Reducing fund transfers between affiliates to only a netted amount. Netting can be done on
a bilateral basis (between pairs of affiliates), or on a multi-lateral basis (taking all affiliates together).

Payments pattern

escribes the lagged collection pattern of receivables, for instance the probability that a
72-day-old account will still be unpaid when it is 73-days-old.

Prepayments

payments made in excess of scheduled mortgage principal repayments.

Receivables balance fractions

The percentage of a month's sales that remain uncollected (and part of
accounts receivable) at the end of succeeding months.

Remaining principal balance

The amount of principal dollars remaining to be paid under the mortgage as of
a given point in time.

Target cash balance

Optimal amount of cash for a firm to hold, considering the trade-off between the
opportunity costs of holding too much cash and the trading costs of holding too little cash.

Zero-balance account (ZBA)

A checking account in which zero balance is maintained by transfers of funds
from a master account in an amount only large enough to cover checks presented.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

Amounts a company owes to creditors.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Amounts owed to a company by customers that it sold to on credit. Total accounts receivable are usually reduced by an allowance for doubtful accounts.

BALANCE SHEET

A “snapshot” statement that freezes a company on a particular day, like the last day of the year, and shows the balances in its asset, liability, and stockholders’ equity accounts. It’s governed by the formula:
Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders’ Equity.

Declining balance

An accelerated depreciation method that calculates depreciation each year by applying a fixed rate to the asset’s book (cost–accumulated depreciation) value. Depreciation stops when the asset’s book value reaches its salvage value.

Accounts

‘Buckets’ within the ledger, part of the accounting system. Each account contains similar transactions (line items) that are used for the production of financial statements. Or commonly used as an abbreviation for financial statements.

Balanced Scorecard

A system of non-financial performance measurement that links innovation, customer and process measures to financial performance.

Balance Sheet

A financial statement showing the financial position of a business – its assets, liabilities and
capital – at the end of an accounting period.

Accounts payable

Amounts owed by the company for goods and services that have been received, but have not yet been paid for. Usually accounts payable involves the receipt of an invoice from the company providing the services or goods.

Accounts receivable

Amounts owed to the company, generally for sales that it has made.

Allowance for doubtful accounts

A contra account related to accounts receivable that represents the amounts that the company expects will not be collected.

Balance Sheet

One of the basic financial statements; it lists the assets, liabilities, and equity accounts of the company. The balance Sheet is prepared using the balances at the end of a specific day.

Declining-balance

A method of depreciation.

Permanent accounts

The accounts found on the balance Sheet; these account balances are carried forward for the lifetime of the company.

Temporary accounts

The accounts found on the Income Statement and the Statement of Retained Earnings; these accounts are reduced to zero at the end of every accounting period.

Trial balance

A listing of all the accounts and their balances on a specified day.

accounts payable

Short-term, non-interest-bearing liabilities of a business
that arise in the course of its activities and operations from purchases on
credit. A business buys many things on credit, whereby the purchase
cost of goods and services are not paid for immediately. This liability
account records the amounts owed for credit purchases that will be paid
in the short run, which generally means about one month.

accounts receivable

Short-term, non-interest-bearing debts owed to a
business by its customers who bought goods and services from the business
on credit. Generally, these debts should be collected within a month
or so. In a balance sheet, this asset is listed immediately after cash.
(Actually the amount of short-term marketable investments, if the business
has any, is listed after cash and before accounts receivable.)
accounts receivable are viewed as a near-cash type of asset that will be
turned into cash in the short run. A business may not collect all of its
accounts receivable. See also bad debts.

accounts receivable turnover ratio

A ratio computed by dividing annual
sales revenue by the year-end balance of accounts receivable. Technically
speaking, to calculate this ratio the amount of annual credit sales should
be divided by the average accounts receivable balance, but this information
is not readily available from external financial statements. For
reporting internally to managers, this ratio should be refined and finetuned
to be as accurate as possible.

balance sheet

A term often used instead of the more formal and correct
term—statement of financial condition. This financial statement summarizes
the assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity sources of a business at a
given moment in time. It is prepared at the end of each profit period and
whenever else it is needed. It is one of the three primary financial statements
of a business, the other two being the income statement and the
statement of cash flows. The values reported in the balance sheet are the
amounts used to determine book value per share of capital stock. Also,
the book value of an asset is the amount reported in a business’s most
recent balance sheet.

balanced scorecard (BSC)

an approach to performance
measurement that weighs performance measures from four
perspectives: financial performance, an internal business
perspective, a customer perspective, and an innovation and
learning perspective

Accounts payable

Acurrent liability on the balance sheet, representing short-term obligations
to pay suppliers.

Accounts receivable

A current asset on the balance sheet, representing short-term
amounts due from customers who have purchased on account.

Balance sheet

A report that summarizes all assets, liabilities, and equity for a company
for a given point in time.

Chart of accounts

A listing of all accounts used in the general ledger, usually sorted in
order of account number.

balance sheet

Financial statement that shows the value of the
firm’s assets and liabilities at a particular time.

common-size balance sheet

balance sheet that presents items as a percentage of total assets.

market-value balance sheet

Financial statement that uses the market value of all assets and liabilities.

zero-balance account

Regional bank account to which just enough funds are transferred daily to pay each day’s bills.

Balance of Merchandise Trade

The difference between exports and imports of goods.

Balance of Payments

The difference between the demand for and supply of a country's currency on the foreign exchange market.

Balance of Trade

See balance of merchandise trade.

Balanced-Budget Multiplier

The multiplier associated with a change in government spending financed by an equal change in taxes.

National Income and Product Accounts

The national accounting system that records economic activity such as GDP and related measures.

Accounts Payable

Amounts due to vendors for purchases on open account, that is, not evidenced
by a signed note.

Accounts Payable Days (A/P Days)

The number of days it would take to pay the ending balance
in accounts payable at the average rate of cost of goods sold per day. Calculated by dividing
accounts payable by cost of goods sold per day, which is cost of goods sold divided by 365.

Accounts Receivable

Amounts due from customers for sales on open account, not evidenced
by a signed note.

Accounts Receivable Days (A/R Days)

The number of days it would take to collect the ending
balance in accounts receivable at the year's average rate of revenue per day. Calculated as
accounts receivable divided by revenue per day (revenue divided by 365).

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

An estimate of the uncollectible portion of accounts receivable
that is subtracted from the gross amount of accounts receivable to arrive at the estimated collectible
amount.

Provision for Doubtful Accounts

An operating expense recorded when the allowance for
doubtful accounts is increased to accommodate an increase in uncollectible accounts receivable.

Unbilled Accounts Receivable

Revenue recognized under the percentage-of-completion
method in excess of amounts billed. Also known as cost plus estimated earnings in excess of
billings.

On-hand balance

The quantity of inventory currently in stock, based on inventory
records.

Projected available balance

The future planned balance of an inventory item,
based on the current balance and adjusted for planned receipts and usage.

Accounts Receivable

Money owed to a business for merchandise or services sold on open account.

Balance Sheet

A financial report showing the status of a company's assets, liabilities, and owners' equity on a given date.

Discounting of Accounts Receivable

Short-term financing in which accounts receivable are used as collateral to secure a loan. The lender does not buy the accounts receivable but simply uses them as collateral for the loan. Also called pledging of accounts receivable.

Progress Payments

Periodic payments to a supplier, contractor or subcontractor for work satisfactorily performed to date.

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