Accounting
term that refers to the overall process of tracking your business's income and expenses, and then using these numbers in various calculations and formulas to answer specific questions about the financial and tax status of the business.

Accrual Method Of Accounting
In the context of a financial audit, audit findings represent weaknesses or deficiencies in internal controls, or instances of noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations, that are presented in an audit report.

Double-Entry Accounting
A system of accounting that records each business transaction twice.

Net Income
Gross income less expenses; it represents a business's profit for a given year.

Base Adjustment
Adjustments made to the initial base level budget to reflect total base level funding available to the agency. The list of acceptable base level technical and policy adjustments are included in the biennial budget instructions. Adjustments are generally made on a technical or policy basis. Examples of technical adjustments are one-time appropriations and program sunsets. Examples of policy adjustments are salary increases and space rental changes.

Bookkeeping
The task of recording the amount, date, and source of all business revenues and expenses. Bookkeeping is essentially the starting point of the accounting process. Only with accurate bookkeeping numbers can meaningful accounting be

Cash Method Of Accounting
Accounts for income and expenses when actually received or paid.

Account
A collection of financial information grouped according to customer or purpose.

Accrual Method Of Accounting
Accounts for income and expenses in the 12-month period earned or incurred, which is not necessarily when it is received or paid.

Cash Letter
A group of checks accompanied by a paper listing sent to a clearinghouse, a Federal Reserve Bank, or another institution. A cash letter contains a number of negotiable items, mostly checks, accompanied by a letter that lists the amounts and instructions for transmittal to another bank. May also be called a transmittal letter.