Balance Sheet A fundamental financial statement showing a company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity. Click Here for our lesson on What is a Balance Sheet?

Bad Debt Debt that is taken out for non-productive purposes, not increasing total wealth. Click Here for our lesson on Good Debt, Bad Debt

Back Load When the primary charges or payments as part of a contract are delayed until near the end of the contract or budgeting period.

Business to Customer (B2C) When a business primarily sells to individual customers.

Business to Business (B2B) When a business primarily sells to other businesses.

Average Daily Balance The average outstanding balance over the course of the month on a credit card. The total interest charge for a month is usually based on this amount. Related Lessons

Average Cost An accounting system that bases the calculation of profit or loss on the average purchase price of the assets being sold.

Automatic Payments Payments for recurring bills that are scheduled to be paid automatically from a checking account or credit card without any intervention necessary from the account holder. These are useful to ensure bills are paid on time, but risky when careful cash planning is necessary. Click Here for our lesson on Automatic Payments

Auto Insurance A type of insurance covering cars. It includes, at minimum, liability insurance in case you cause damage to another person, property, or vehicle, but can also include additional coverage to protect you from damage caused by others. Click Here for our lesson on Car Insurance

Audit An exercise of reviewing financial information to detect and correct errors or identify fraud. Related Lessons

Auction A pricing system where potential buyers submit bids up to the true value they place on an asset. There are also reverse auctions, where sellers reduce their price until a buyer is willing to pay. Click Here for our lesson on What is Economics?

Assets Anything of monetary value that can be bought or sold. Related Lessons

Asset Preservation The concept of only converting the returns on an investment into cash, while allowing the original investment to remain invested and continue to grow.

Ask Price The minimum price a seller would be willing to take in order to make a trade. Related Lessons

Ascending Triangle A triangle where the support line increases faster than a resistance line. This is usually a sign that a positive breakout is coming. Related Lesson

Artificial Barrier A barrier of entry into a market imposed by a government or other legal entity to put a limit on competition.

Annual Percent Rate (APR) This is a standardized method of advertising interest rates, by clearly stating it in annual terms. Before the introduction of APR, lenders would advertise their interest weekly, monthly, yearly, or daily, making it very hard for consumers to compare loan terms. Click Here to learn more about Credit Cards

Applicant Tracking Software A tool used by Human Resource departments to log resumes and cover letters submitted for job postings. Applicant Tracking Software frequently “processes” a submitted resume or other data into a standardized format to make it easier to filter job candidates based on specific criteria.

Annual Report A report produced once a year by a publicly traded company which contains both their audited financial statements and extra information from the company itself about their operations and outlook for the next year. Related Lessons

Analyst Ratings A professional opinion from an analyst on the merit of a stock or other security to another investor (buy, sell, or hold). Click Here for our lesson on Getting Trading Ideas

Analyst A professional who researches stock price movements to provide insight on what has happened before and what might happen in the future. Click Here for our lesson on Getting Trading Ideas

Amortization The act of dividing the repayment of a loan over the course of several years with equal payments each month. An “Amortized” loan payment goes mostly towards interest near the beginning of the loan, mostly towards principle near the end of the loan. Click Here for our lesson on Planning Long Term Purchases

American Opportunity Tax Credit A tax credit made available for education expenses in the United States. Click Here for our lesson on Tax Credits and Deductions

Age Of Exploration The historical time period from approximately 1400 through 1700 when European explorers established trade routes to Asia, Africa, India, and the Americas. This period was dominated by the Mercantilist economic viewpoint.

After Hours Placing trades outside standard market hours. After-hours trading is generally riskier than trading during market hours, since there are far fewer investors participating.

Advisory Fees Fees charged by a financial advisor in exchange for their advice, usually regarding investments. Click Here for our lesson on What is a Brokerage?

Advertising A marketing function of a business to make consumers or other businesses aware of their products and services in a positive light. Click Here for our lesson on Planning and Evaluating Business Advertising

Advanced Premium Tax Credit A tax credit earned through the Health Insurance Marketplace to help offset the cost of insurance premiums. Unlike other tax credits, this is applied directly to your health insurance premiums instead of paid back as part of a tax return. Related Lessons

Adjustable Rate Mortgage A type of mortgage or home loan that has an interest rate that changes over the course of the loan, usually based on the change in interest rates or some other independent index. Click Here for our lesson on Mortgages

Active Trading The action of buying and selling stocks or other securities on a regular, ongoing basis (usually at least 1 trade per week). Click Here for our lesson on Building an Investing Strategy

Accrual Accounting The concept that expenses and revenues are counted for accounting purposes when they were earned, rather than when a cash transaction takes place. Click Here for our lesson on Cash Planning

Accounts Receivable The outstanding bills an organization has sent to other businesses or individuals that they are waiting to be paid and converted into cash. This is an asset. Click Here for our lesson on Accounting Revenue and Expenses

Accounts Payable The outstanding bills for an organization that need to be paid to vendors or employees. This is a liability. Click Here for our lesson on Accounting Revenue and Expenses

Accounting Equation Assets – Liabilities = Shareholder’s Equity. This is a fundamental equation stating that the final amounts for each type of account must balance. Related Lessons

Accounting Cycle A series of steps that businesses take to track transactions and consolidate financial information over a specific accounting period (month, quarter, year). The end result of the accounting cycle is the production of accurate financial statements for that period and preparedness for the next accounting period. Click Here for our lesson on The Read More…

Account Number A unique number for a bank account or brokerage account. For checking accounts, it appears on the check itself to designate which bank account to transfer money to or from. Click Here for our lesson on Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings and Loans

Acceptance (Contract) When one party to a contract formally accepts the offer that was presented, making the contract binding to both parties. Click Here for our lesson on Contracts

401 (K) A type of tax-advantaged retirement account, where an employer can make contributions alongside an employee as part of a retirement savings scheme. Contributions made by an employer into a 401(k) are generally not taxable unless withdrawn before retirement. Click Here for our lesson on Preparing for Retirement

10-Q A quarterly report containing unaudited financial statements for publicly traded companies. This form is filed with the SEC and is made available to investors. It contains a company’s Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet, with other supplementary data. Click Here for our lesson on Creating Financial Statements

10-K An annual report containing audited financial statements for publicly traded companies. This form is filed with the SEC and is made available to investors. It contains a company’s Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet, with other supplementary data. Click Here for our lesson on Creating Financial Statements

1099 A form provided to contractors to report their income in the United States. Related Lessons

1040 The base form to file federal income taxes in the United States. It may be supplemented with additional forms for complex tax returns. Related Lessons