B

Backup Withholding - Payors of interest, dividends and other reportable payments must withhold income tax equal at a rate equal to the fourth lowest rate applicable to single filers if they fail to supply a federal id # or if they fail to certify that they are not subject to it.

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Bad Debts - Bad debts are the amounts due on open account that have been determined as uncollectible. Balance Sheet: It is a financial "picture" of a company at a given date in time. A balance sheet lists a company's assets, liabilities, and the difference between the two, which is the company's equity, or net worth. An itemized statement which lists the total assets and the total liabilities of a given business to portray its net worth at a given moment of time.

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Bankruptcy - Legal process, governed by federal statute, whereby the DEBTS of an insolvent person are liquidated after being satisfied to the greatest extent possible by the DEBTOR'S ASSETS. During bankruptcy, the debtor's assets are held and managed by a court appointed TRUSTEE.

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Bank Reconciliation - It is the verification of the company's checkbook balance through comparing entries to those on the bank statement. Included in the bank reconciliation is a list of outstanding deposits and outstanding checks. Verification of a bank statement balance and the depositor's checkbook balance.
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Banking Book - An accounting book that includes all securities that are not actively traded by the institution, that are meant to be held until they mature. These securities are accounted for in a different way than those in the trading book, which are traded on the market and valued by the performance of the market.

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Beginning Inventory - This should be the same as last year?s closing inventory.

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Below Cost - A price placed on a product or service that is less than the seller paid to create it. A company might engage in this sort of pricing in order to increase market share at the expense of profitability.

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Bookkeeping - The practice involved in the systematic recording of transactions affecting a company beginning with the data-entry process and ending with the preparation of financial statements. The art, practice, or labor involved in the systematic recording of the transactions affecting a business.

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Bookkeeping Schools - Unlike accounting training (see Accounting Schools in glossary), bookkeeping courses concentrate on the day-to-day financial recording processes within a typical retail or wholesale business. Topics such as Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll are emphasized. Junior colleges often offer bookkeeping training as part of a degree program, but rarely provide bookkeeping classes in the complete process of bookkeeping for small businesses. Universal Accounting Center exclusively offers courses that concentrate on the day to day bookkeeping practices of a variety of small businesses. Everything from the wholesale and retail types of businesses, to the construction industry and not-for-profit accounting systems.

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Bookkeeping Training - Training in the daily process of recording financial transactions of a business. Includes the maintenance of Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Payroll accounts and working with specialty journals. Bookkeeping courses are available through Universal Accounting Center on a distance learning basis or through attending bookkeeping classes at one of Universal?s bookkeeping schools. Through a Universal course you can learn bookkeeping for virtually any small business in less than a month. Common misspellings and abbreviations of bookkeeping and bookkeeper are: book keeper, book keeping, bookeeper, bookeeping, book-keeper, bookkeepimg, bookkeepin, bookkeepping bookkeppers, bookkiping, cerfified bookkeepers

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Book Value - An accounting term, which usually refers to a company's historical cost of assets and liabilities less any accumulated write-downs. The book value may have little relationship to market value. Book value of a stock is determined from a company's records, by adding all assets (generally excluding such intangibles as goodwill), then deducting all debts and other liabilities, plus the liquidation price of any preferred issues. The sum arrived at is divided by the number of common shares outstanding and the results is book value per common share. Book value of the assets of a company or a security may have little or no significant relationship to market value. ----

Bond - One type of long-term PROMISSORY NOTE, frequently issued to the public as a SECURITY regulated under federal securities laws or state BLUE SKY LAWS. Bonds can either be registered in the owner's name or are issued as bearer instruments
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Break-Even Point - It is the volume point at which revenues and costs are equal; a combination of sales and costs that will yield a no-profit, no-loss operation.

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Budget - An itemized listing of the amount of all estimated revenue sources which a company anticipates receiving, along with a listing of the amount of all estimated expenses that will be incurred. The budget is for a specific period of time, normally one business cycle which is a year. An itemized listing, and frequently the allotment, of the amount of all estimated revenue which a given business anticipates receiving, and the listing, and frequently the segregation, of the amount of all estimated costs and expenses that will be incurred in obtaining the above mentioned income during a given period of time, such as a month, a year, etc.
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Bulk Handling - The financing of receivables in bulk rather than one at a time, to reduce processing costs.