Definition of shrinkage

shrinkage

a decrease in units arising from an inherent characteristic
of the production process; it includes decreases
caused by evaporation, leakage, and oxidation

Shrinkage

The excess of inventory listed in the accounting books of record, but which
no longer exists in the actual inventory. Its disappearance may be due to theft, damage,
miscounting, or evaporation.

Shrinkage

Any uncontrolled loss of inventory, such as through evaporation or theft.

inventory shrinkage

A term describing the loss of products from inventory
due to shoplifting by customers, employee theft, damaged and
spoiled products that are thrown away, and errors in recording the purchase
and sale of products. A business should make a physical count and
inspection of its inventory to determine this loss.

Inventory Shrinkage

A shortfall between inventory based on actual physical counts and inventory
based on book records. This shortfall may be due to such factors as theft, breakage, loss, or
poor recordkeeping.

Shrinkage factor

The expected loss of some proportion of an item during the
production process, expressed as a percentage.

Accounting exposure

The change in the value of a firm's foreign currency denominated accounts due to a
change in exchange rates.

Accounting earnings

Earnings of a firm as reported on its income statement.

Accounting insolvency

Total liabilities exceed total assets. A firm with a negative net worth is insolvent on
the books.

Accounting liquidity

The ease and quickness with which assets can be converted to cash.

Actuals

The physical commodity underlying a futures contract. Cash commodity, physical.

Agency pass-throughs

Mortgage pass-through securities whose principal and interest payments are
guaranteed by government agencies, such as the Government National Mortgage Association ("Ginnie Mae"), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") and Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae").

Annuity due

An annuity with n payments, wherein the first payment is made at time t = 0 and the last
payment is made at time t = n - 1.

Asian currency units (ACUs)

Dollar deposits held in Singapore or other Asian centers.

Average accounting return

The average project earnings after taxes and depreciation divided by the average
book value of the investment during its life.

Base probability of loss

The probability of not achieving a portfolio expected return.

Blanket inventory lien

A secured loan that gives the lender a lien against all the borrower's inventories.

Blue-chip company

Large and creditworthy compAny.

Capital loss

The difference between the net cost of a security and the net sale price, if that security is sold at a loss.

Characteristic line

The market model applied to a single security. The slope of the line is a security's beta.

Company-specific risk

Related: Unsystematic risk

Comprehensive due diligence investigation

The investigation of a firm's business in conjunction with a
securities offering to determine whether the firm's business and financial situation and its prospects are
adequately disclosed in the prospectus for the offering.

Conventional pass-throughs

Also called private-label pass-throughs, Any mortgage pass-through security not
guaranteed by government agencies. Compare agency pass-throughs.

Corporate processing float

The time that elapses between receipt of payment from a customer and the
depositing of the customer's check in the firm's bank account; the time required to process customer
payments.

Cost company arrangement

Arrangement whereby the shareholders of a project receive output free of
charge but agree to pay all operating and financing charges of the project.

Date of record

Date on which holders of record in a firm's stock ledger are designated as the recipients of
either dividends or stock rights.

Days' sales in inventory ratio

The average number of days' worth of sales that is held in inventory.

Depository Trust Company (DTC)

DTC is a user-owned securities depository which accepts deposits of
eligible securities for custody, executes book-entry deliveries and records book-entry pledges of securities in
its custody, and provides for withdrawals of securities from its custody.

Devaluation A decrease in the spot price of the currency

Diffusion process

A conception of the way a stock's price changes that assumes that the price takes on all
intermediate values. dirty price. Related: full price

Due bill

An instrument evidencing the obligation of a seller to deliver securities sold to the buyer.
Occasionally used in the bill market.

Excess reserves

Any excess of actual reserves above required reserves.

Excess return on the market portfolio

The difference between the return on the market portfolio and the
riskless rate.

Excess returns

Also called abnormal returns, returns in excess of those required by some asset pricing model.

Flow-through basis

An account for the investment credit to show all income statement benefits of the credit
in the year of acquisition, rather than spreading them over the life of the asset acquired.

Flow-through method

The practice of reporting to shareholders using straight-line depreciation and
accelerated depreciation for tax purposes and "flowing through" the lower income taxes actually paid to the
financial statement prepared for shareholders.

Fully modified pass-throughs

Agency pass-throughs that guarantee the timely payment of both interest and
principal. Related: modified pass-throughs
Functional currency As defined by FASB No. 52, an affiliate's functional currency is the currency of the
primary economic environment in which the affiliate generates and expends cash.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP)

A technical accounting term that encompasses the
conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time.

Holder-of-record date

The date on which holders of record in a firm's stock ledger are designated as the
recipients of either dividends or stock rights. Also called date of record.

Holding company

A corporation that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and
operations by influencing or electing its board of directors.

Intercompany loan

Loan made by one unit of a corporation to another unit of the same corporation.

Intercompany transaction

Transaction carried out between two units of the same corporation.

Inventory

For companies: Raw materials, items available for sale or in the process of being made ready for
sale. They can be individually valued by several different means, including cost or current market value, and
collectively by FIFO, LIFO or other techniques. The lower value of alternatives is usually used to preclude
overstating earnings and assets.
For security firms: securities bought and held by a broker or dealer for resale.

Inventory loan

A secured short-term loan to purchase inventory. The three basic forms are a blanket
inventory lien, a trust receipt, and field warehousing financing.

Inventory turnover

The ratio of annual sales to average inventory which measures the speed that inventory
is produced and sold. Low turnover is an unhealthy sign, indicating excess stocks and/or poor sales.

In-house processing float

Refers to the time it takes the receiver of a check to process the payment and
deposit it in a bank for collection.

Just-in-time inventory systems

Systems that schedule materials/inventory to arrive exactly as they are
needed in the production process.

Leakage

Release of information to some persons before official public announcement.

Listed stocks

Stocks that are traded on an exchange.

Listed stocks

Stocks that are traded on an exchange.

Modified pass-throughs

Agency pass-throughs that guarantee (1) timely interest payments and (2) principal
payments as collected, but no later than a specified time after they are due. Related: fully modified passthroughs

Mortgage pass-through security

Also called a passthrough, a security created when one or more mortgage
holders form a collection (pool) of mortgages sells shares or participation certificates in the pool. The cash
flow from the collateral pool is "passed through" to the security holder as monthly payments of principal,
interest, and prepayments. This is the predominant type of MBS traded in the secondary market.

Net operating losses

losses that a firm can take advantage of to reduce taxes.

Paper gain (loss)

Unrealized capital gain (loss) on securities held in portfolio, based on a comparison of
current market price to original cost.

Pass-through rate

The net interest rate passed through to investors after deducting servicing, management,
and guarantee fees from the gross mortgage coupon.

Pass-through securities

A pool of fixed-income securities backed by a package of assets (i.e. mortgages)
where the holder receives the principal and interest payments. Related: mortgage pass-through security

Pass-through coupon rate

The interest rate paid on a securitized pool of assets, which is less than the rate
paid on the underlying loans by an amount equal to the servicing and guaranteeing fees.

Payable through drafts

A method of making payment that is used to maintain control over payments made
on behalf of the firm by personnel in noncentral locations. The payer's bank delivers the payable through draft
to the payer, which must approve it and return it to the bank before payment can be received.

Price discovery process

The process of determining the prices of the assets in the marketplace through the
interactions of buyers and sellers.

Private-label pass-throughs

Related: Conventional pass-throughs.

Production payment financing

A method of nonrecourse asset-based financing in which a specified
percentage of revenue realized from the sale of the project's output is used to pay debt service.

Production-flow commitment

An agreement by the loan purchaser to allow the monthly loan quota to be
delivered in batches.

Purchase accounting

Method of accounting for a merger in which the acquirer is treated as having purchased
the assets and assumed liabilities of the acquiree, which are all written up or down to their respective fair
market values, the difference between the purchase price and the net assets acquired being attributed to goodwill.

Record date

1) Date by which a shareholder must officially own shares in order to be entitled to a dividend.
For example, a firm might declare a dividend on Nov 1, payable Dec 1 to holders of record Nov 15. Once a
trade is executed an investor becomes the "owner of record" on settlement, which currently takes 5 business
days for securities, and one business day for mutual funds. Stocks trade ex-dividend the fourth day before the
record date, since the seller will still be the owner of record and is thus entitled to the dividend.
2) The date that determines who is entitled to payment of principal and interest due to be paid on a security. The record
date for most MBSs is the last day of the month, however the last day on which they may be presented for the
transfer is the last business day of the month. The record date for CMOs and asset-backed securities vary with each issue.

Regulatory accounting procedures

accounting principals required by the FHLB that allow S&Ls to elect
annually to defer gains and losses on the sale of assets and amortize these deferrals over the average life of the
asset sold.

Residual losses

Lost wealth of the shareholders due to divergent behavior of the managers.

Security characteristic line

A plot of the excess return on a security over the risk-free rate as a function of
the excess return on the market.

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 8

This is a currency translation standard previously in
use by U.S. accounting firms. See: Statement of accounting Standards No. 52.

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 52

This is the currency translation standard currently
used by U.S. firms. It mandates the use of the current rate method. See: Statement of Financial accounting
Standards No. 8.

Stockholder's books

Set of books kept by firm management for its annual report that follows Financial
accounting Standards Board rules. The tax books follow IRS tax rules.

Stop-loss order

An order to sell a stock when the price falls to a specified level.

Tax books

Set of books kept by a firm's management for the IRS that follows IRS rules. The stockholder's
books follow Financial accounting Standards Board rules.

Throughput agreement

An agreement to put a specified amount of product per period through a particular
facility. For example, an agreement to ship a specified amount of crude oil per period through a particular
pipeline.

CAPITAL IN EXCESS OF PAR VALUE

What a compAny collected when it sold stock for more than the par value per share.

INVENTORY TURNOVER

The number of times a compAny sold out and replaced its average stock of goods in a year. The formula is:
(Cost of goods sold) / (Average inventory (beginning inventory + ending)/2 )

MERCHANDISE INVENTORY

The value of the products that a retailing or wholesaling compAny intends to resell for a profit.
In a manufacturing business, inventories would include finished goods, goods in process, raw materials, and parts and components that will go into the end product.

UNITS OF PRODUCTION

A depreciation method that relates a machine’s depreciation to the number of units it makes each
accounting period. The method requires that someone record the machine’s output each year.

Accounting

A collection of systems and processes used to record, report and interpret business transactions.

Accounting equation

The representation of the double-entry system of accounting such that assets are equal to liabilities plus capital.

Accounting period

The period of time for which financial statements are produced – see also financial year.

Accounting rate of return (ARR)

A method of investment appraisal that measures
the profit generated as a percentage of the
investment – see return on investment.

Accounting system

A set of accounts that summarize the transactions of a business that have been recorded on source documents.

Accruals accounting

A method of accounting in which profit is calculated as the difference between income when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred.

Allocation base A measure of activity or volume such as labour

hours, machine hours or volume of production
used to apportion overheads to products and
services.

Cash accounting

A method of accounting in which profit is calculated as the difference between income
when it is received and expenses when they are paid.

Financial accounting

The production of financial statements, primarily for those interested parties who are external to the business.

Inventory

Goods bought or manufactured for resale but as yet unsold, comprising raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods.

Management accounting

The production of financial and non-financial information used in planning for the future; making decisions about products, services, prices and what costs to incur; and ensuring that plans are implemented and achieved.

Non-production overhead

A general term referring to period costs, such as selling, administration and financial expenses.

Process costing

A method of costing for continuous manufacture in which costs for an accounting compared are compared with production for the same period to determine a cost per unit produced.

Production overhead

A general term referring to indirect costs.

Profit and Loss account

A financial statement measuring the profit or loss of a business – income less expenses – for an accounting period.

Strategic management accounting

The provision and analysis of management accounting data about a business and its competitors, which is of use in the development and monitoring of strategy (Simmonds).

Throughput contribution

Sales revenue less the cost of materials.

Accounting equation

The formula Assets = Liabilities + Equity.

Capital in excess par

Amounts in excess of the par value or stated value that have been paid by the public to acquire stock in the compAny; synonymous with additional paid-in capital.

Inventory

The cost of the goods that a compAny has available for resale.

Periodic inventory system

An inventory system in which the balance in the inventory account is adjusted for the units sold only at the end of the period.

Perpetual inventory system

An inventory system in which the balance in the inventory account is adjusted for the units sold each time a sale is made.

Record date

The date used to decide which shareholders will receive the dividend. The owners of the shares at the end of this day are entitled to the dividend.

accounting

A broad, all-inclusive term that refers to the methods and procedures
of financial record keeping by a business (or Any entity); it also
refers to the main functions and purposes of record keeping, which are
to assist in the operations of the entity, to provide necessary information
to managers for making decisions and exercising control, to measure
profit, to comply with income and other tax laws, and to prepare financial
reports.

accounting equation

An equation that reflects the two-sided nature of a
business entity, assets on the one side and the sources of assets on the
other side (assets = liabilities + owners’ equity). The assets of a business
entity are subject to two types of claims that arise from its two basic
sources of capital—liabilities and owners’ equity. The accounting equation
is the foundation for double-entry bookkeeping, which uses a
scheme for recording changes in these basic types of accounts as either
debits or credits such that the total of accounts with debit balances
equals the total of accounts with credit balances. The accounting equation
also serves as the framework for the statement of financial condition,
or balance sheet, which is one of the three fundamental financial
statements reported by a business.

accrual-basis accounting

Well, frankly, accrual is not a good descriptive
term. Perhaps the best way to begin is to mention that accrual-basis
accounting is much more than cash-basis accounting. recording only the
cash receipts and cash disbursement of a business would be grossly
inadequate. A business has mAny assets other than cash, as well as
mAny liabilities, that must be recorded. Measuring profit for a period as
the difference between cash inflows from sales and cash outflows for
expenses would be wrong, and in fact is not allowed for most businesses
by the income tax law. For management, income tax, and financial
reporting purposes, a business needs a comprehensive record-keeping
system—one that recognizes, records, and reports all the assets and liabilities
of a business. This all-inclusive scope of financial record keeping
is referred to as accrual-basis accounting. Accrual-basis accounting
records sales revenue when sales are made (though cash is received
before or after the sales) and records expenses when costs are incurred
(though cash is paid before or after expenses are recorded). Established
financial reporting standards require that profit for a period
must be recorded using accrual-basis accounting methods. Also, these
authoritative standards require that in reporting its financial condition a
business must use accrual-basis accounting.

double-entry accounting

See accrual-basis accounting.

extraordinary gains and losses

No pun intended, but these types of gains
and losses are extraordinarily important to understand. These are nonrecurring,
onetime, unusual, nonoperating gains or losses that are
recorded by a business during the period. The amount of each of these
gains or losses, net of the income tax effect, is reported separately in the
income statement. Net income is reported before and after these gains
and losses. These gains and losses should not be recorded very often, but
in fact mAny businesses record them every other year or so, causing
much consternation to investors. In addition to evaluating the regular
stream of sales and expenses that produce operating profit, investors
also have to factor into their profit performance analysis the perturbations
of these irregular gains and losses reported by a business.

generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)

This important term
refers to the body of authoritative rules for measuring profit and preparing
financial statements that are included in financial reports by a business
to its outside shareowners and lenders. The development of these
guidelines has been evolving for more than 70 years. Congress passed a
law in 1934 that bestowed primary jurisdiction over financial reporting
by publicly owned businesses to the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). But the SEC has largely left the development of GAAP to the
private sector. Presently, the Financial accounting Standards Board is
the primary (but not the only) authoritative body that makes pronouncements
on GAAP. One caution: GAAP are like a movable feast. New rules
are issued fairly frequently, old rules are amended from time to time,
and some rules established years ago are discarded on occasion. Professional
accountants have a heck of time keeping up with GAAP, that’s for
sure. Also, new GAAP rules sometimes have the effect of closing the barn
door after the horse has left. accounting abuses occur, and only then,
after the damage has been done, are new rules issued to prevent such
abuses in the future.

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