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http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp DIRECT EXPENSE is that portion of expense that is directly expended in providing a product or service for sale and is included in the calculation of COST OF GOODS SOLD, e.g. labor and inventory. DIRECT LABOR UTILIZATION RATE is total payroll charged directly to job numbers in the period divided by the total payroll (direct and indirect) expended in the period. Since payroll is by far the single largest cost to operate a firm, generally speaking, the higher the direct labor rate, the more efficiently economically managed is the firm. DIRECTOR'S REPORT is written by the Directors of a company and forms part of the company's financial statements. This report must support and elaborate on the information contained in the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Source and Application of Funds Statement. DIRECTORS VALUATION is a valuation that is not an independent valuation. DIRECT WRITE-OFF METHOD is a method of recognition of uncollectible accounts only when known to be such. DISABILITY INSURANCE, in the United States, is a payroll tax required in some states that is deducted from employee paychecks to insure income during periods where an employee is unable to work due to an injury or illness. DISBURSEMENT is the paying out of money to satisfy a debt or an expense. DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT PROGRAM, in the United States, is a form of legal protection that safeguards intellectual property while it is in its development stages. DISCLOSURE NOTE see DISCLOSURE PRINCIPLE. DISCLOSURE PRINCIPLE states that any and all information that affects the full understanding of a company's financial statements must be include with the financial statements. Some items may not affect the ledger accounts directly. These would be included in the form of accompanying notes. Examples of such items are outstanding lawsuits, tax disputes, and company takeovers. DISCOUNT is a decrease in value (often due to interest to be earned) or decrease in price. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW is a valuation method best used to evaluate a business established for the purpose of fulfilling a specific project, in certain startup and other companies where cash flow is more important than net income, and when a certain time frame is set where an investor wishes to see his investment returned over a specific period of time. In discounted cash flow, the 61 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp present value of liabilities is subtracted from the combined present value of cash flow and tangible assets, which determines the value of the business. DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW METHOD is a budgeting method for project evaluation and selection. DISCOUNTED EARNINGS determines the value of a business based upon the present value of projected future earnings, discounted by the required rate of return (capitalization rate). Usually, the question is how well earnings are projected. DISCOUNTING is the selling of accounts receivable to a financial entity. DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS is the sale, disposal, or planned sale in the near future of a business segment (product line or class of customer). DISCOUNT RATE is the interest rate that the Federal Reserve of the U.S. Government charges a U.S. bank to borrow funds when a bank is temporarily short of funds. Collateral is necessary to borrow, and such borrowing is quite limited because the Fed views it as a privilege to be used to meet short-term liquidity needs, and not a device to increase earnings. DISCREPANCY, in import / export, is a situation relating to official documents that are presented that do not conform to what is required within the Letter of Credit. DISCRETIONARY means it is not mandatory, it is up to the individual or company. DISCRETIONARY ACCRUAL is a non-mandatory expense/asset that is recorded within the accounting system that has yet to be realized. An example of this would be management bonus. DISCRETIONARY COST can be increased or decreased at the discretion of the decision maker (e.g., advertising and business travel). DISCRETIONARY INCOME means the amount of a company's income available for spending after the essentials have been met. See DISPOSABLE INCOME. DISHONORED NOTE is a note on which a debtor has defaulted. DISPOSABLE INCOME is the amount of an individual's income left after taxes which is available for spending and / or savings. See DISCRETIONARY INCOME. DISSOLUTION is the legal termination of a business entity. 62 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp DISTRIBUTION COST is any cost incurred to fill an order for a product or service. It includes all money spent on warehousing, delivering and/or shipping products and services to customers. DISTRIBUTIONS are payments from fund or corporate cash flow. May include dividends from earnings, capital gains from sale of portfolio holdings and return of capital. Fund distributions can be made by check or by investing in additional shares. Funds are required to distribute capital gains (if any) to shareholders at least once per year. Some corporations offer Dividend Reinvestment Plans (D.R.P.). DIVIDEND is that portion of a corporation's earnings which is paid to the stockholders. DIVIDEND CAPITALIZATION: Since most closely held companies do not pay dividends, when using dividend capitalization valuators must first determine dividend paying capacity of a business. Dividend paying capacity based on average net income and on average cash flow are used. To determine dividend paying capacity, near term capital needs, expansion plans, debt repayment, operation cushion, contractual requirements, past dividend paying history of a business and dividends of a comparable company should be investigated. After analyzing these factors, percent of average net income and of average cash flow that can be used for the payment of dividends can be estimated. What also must be determined is the dividend yield, which can best be determined by analyzing comparable companies. As with the price earnings ratio method, this usually produces a subjective result. DIVIDEND COVER see DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO. DIVIDEND PAYOUT RATIO is a measure of the percentage of earnings paid out in dividends; computed by dividing cash dividends by the net income available to each class of stock. DIVIDENDS PER SHARE (DPS) ratio is very similar to the EPS: EPS shows what shareholders earned by way of profit for a period whereas DPS shows how much the shareholders were actually paid by way of dividends. The formula: Dividends per share = Dividends paid to equity shareholders / Average number of issued equity shares. DIVIDEND YIELD is the annual rate of return, expressed as a percentage, on an investment. DIVIDEND YIELD RATIO allows investors to compare the latest dividend they received with the current market value of the share as an indictor of the return they are earning on their shares. The formula for the dividend yield is: Dividend yield = Latest annual dividends / Current market share price. 63 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp DIVISION is a self sufficient unit within a company. A division contains all the functions necessary to operate indepently from the parent company. DOCK RECEIPT is a document issued by the ocean carrier of a shipment acknowledging receipt of the goods to be shipped. DOCTRINE is a. something that is taught; b. a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of beliefs; c. a principle of law established through past decisions; d. a statement of fundamental government policy especially in international relations. DOCUMENTARY CREDIT is an arrangement by banks for settling international business transactions. A letter of credit is a form of documentary credit. DOLLAR CONTROL SYSTEMS are systems used in inventory management that reveals the cost and gross profit margin on individual inventory items. DOLLAR VALUE LIFO, in the U.S., is a method of expressing the value of an inventory in monetary values rather than units. Each homogeneous group of inventory items is converted into base-year prices by using the appropriate price indices. The difference between opening and closing inventories is a measure in monetary terms of the change in the financial period. DOLLAR-WEIGHTED RATE OF RETURN is also called the internal rate of return; the interest rate that makes the present value of the cash flows from all the sub-periods in an evaluation period plus the terminal market value of the portfolio equal to the initial market value of the portfolio. DOOMSDAY RATIO is related to the quick (acid test) ratio in that it is a conservative approach to debt coverage. The doomsday ratio only considers the cash on hand when evaluating if an entity can cover their current liabilities. The approach is that if the business were to go bankrupt today, would the business have enough cash on hand to cover current debts. The ratio is considered a good indicator of the cash cushion of safety. It may spot cash shortages, thereby assisting in avoiding a credit crisis. It is calculated: Cash divided by Current Liabilities. DONATED CAPITAL is a gift of assets to a company, usually by state or local governments, to induce a business to relocate to their jurisdiction. DOUBLE ACCOUNTING is the un-intentional, or sometimes fraudulently intentional, double counting of assets or liabilities, or any other datasets, which, in the end, give an inaccurate view of what the data really means. In accounting, this is usually caused by a multiplicity of entries of the same data which, in the end, causes confusion or financial reporting inaccuracies. 64 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp DOUBLE DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION see DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION. DOUBLE-ENTRY ACCOUNTING is a system of recording transactions in a way that maintains the equality of the accounting equation. The accounting technique records each transaction as both a credit and a debit. Double-entry bookkeeping (DEB) or accounting was developed during the fifteenth century and was first recorded in 1494 as a system by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli. DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE is an index that tracks the daily share value of 30 large US companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones generally mirrors the exchange as a whole. DOWNSTREAM / UPSTREAM SALES see UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SALES. DPO is Days Payables Outstanding. DPS see DIVIDENDS PER SHARE. Dr is an ancient Italian abbreviation for the Italian word ‘debare’; meaning ‘debit’ (not to be confused with the acronym DR with both letters in uppercase). DR, in accounting, is an acronym for Debit Record. DRAFT, in import / export, is a contract between buyer and seller that the buyer will pay a certain amount of money, within a specified period of time, for the goods purchased. DRAFT, DEMAND OR SIGHT, in import / export, is a draft payable upon presentation to the drawee. It may be used when the exporter wishes to retain control of the shipment for credit or title retention reasons. The buyer must pay the bank before receiving the documents to take custody of the goods. A COD shipment is similar. DRAW see PROPRIETORS DRAW. DRAWDOWN is the magnitude of a decline in account value, either in percentage or currency terms. DRAWEE is the buyer of a draft instrument. DRAWING ACCOUNT see PROPRIETORS DRAW. 65 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp DROP SHIP is where the seller/retailer of a product ships the product directly from the manufacturer to the customer without requiring inventory carrying by the seller/retailer. DSO, in accounting, is an acronym that usually means 'Days Sales Outstanding.' DUE DILIGENCE usually refers to an internal audit of a target firm by an acquiring firm. DUMPING is the selling of merchandise in a foreign country at, or, below cost in order to seize market share. DUN is when you importune (beg or are insistent upon) a debtor for payment: a dunning letter. DUN & BRADSTREET (D&B) is a United States based for profit agency that furnishes subscribers with marketing statistics and the financial standings and credit ratings of businesses. DURATION DRIVERS represent the amount of time required to perform an activity. DUTY is a tax imposed by a customs authority on imported goods. Often used interchangeably with the term "tariff." 66 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp EA is Enrolled Agent (IRS designation). E&O INSURANCE is an errors and omissions, or E&O, liability policy (often called malpractice insurance) covers liability for negligent acts, errors and omissions committed by professionals, including physicians, accountants, lawyers, etc. E&OE is a British acronym that stands for "Errors and Omissions Excepted". E&OE is a legal disclaimer that notifies the reader that, without prejudice, that the content and/or validity of the subject data may change without notice. E&P is Earnings and Profits. EARNED INCOME is that income realized by the provisioning of goods and services. EARNING ASSET is an asset which provides income (e,g, rental property). EARNING POWER is earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) divided by total assets. EARNING QUALITY is best determined through the inverse relationship between the amount of time elapsed between revenue recognition and cash collection. EARNINGS is a term that refers to the financial capacity of a corporation to make distributions to shareholders other than return of capital, e.g., dividends. See also RETAINED EARNINGS. EARNINGS MANAGEMENT occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company, or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers. EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS) is earnings before extraordinary gains and losses, less preferred-share dividends, divided by all common shares outstanding at the most recent fiscal year end. Net income, or earnings, refers to the company's after-tax profits before extraordinary gains or extraordinary losses for the most recent annual period. EARNINGS RETENTION is the proportion of net income that is not paid in dividends. A firm earning $80 million after taxes and paying dividends of $20 million has a retention rate of $60 million/$80 million, or 75%. A high retention rate makes it more likely a firm's income and dividends will grow in future years. 67 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp EBITDA means Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, but after all product / service, sales and overhead (SG&A) costs are accounted for. Sometimes referred to as Operational Cash Flow. EBITDARM is an acronym for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization, Rent and Management fees. E.C. (EUROPEAN COMMUNITY or EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET) is a trading block of countries in Europe that have agreed on common regulations on cross-border trade. ECONOMETRICS literally means 'economic measurement'. It is the branch of economics that applies statistical methods to the empirical study of economic theories and relationships. It is a combination of mathematical economics, statistics, economic statistics and economic theory. ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE means that the benefit of tracing the cost (greater accuracy) outweighs the cost of doing so. ECONOMIC BOOK VALUE allows for a book value analysis that adjusts the assets to their market value. This valuation allows valuation of goodwill, real estate, inventories and other assets at their market value. ECONOMIC ENTITY accounting concept that provides context or “point of view” for the economic events (i.e., transactions) captured by the financial statements. In short, it answers the questions, “Whose asset is it?”; “Whose liability is it?” ECONOMIC EVENT is the transfer of control of an economic resource from one party to another party. ECONOMIC EXPOSURE, in foreign exchange, is the extent to which the value of the firm, as measured by the present value of all expected future cash flows, will change when exchange rates change. ECONOMIC ORDER QUANTITY is the order quantity that minimizes total inventory costs. A total inventory cost is the sum of ordering, carrying and stockout costs. ECONOMIC PROFITS is the difference between the total revenue and the total opportunity costs. ECONOMIC SUBSTANCE refers to the application of income tax laws, i.e., the substance of the transaction, rather than its form, determines the tax consequences, with few exceptions. The "form" of a transaction is only the label the interested parties attach to their arrangement. For instance, an arrangement might be called a compensation agreement, loan, lease or sale. Documents may 68 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp support the form, but the courts are not concerned with these labels or papers that purport to govern the transaction -- they focus on its substance. The "substance over form" analysis is used to dissect self-serving transactions between parties, including loans and payments to family members; transactions between related corporations and their shareholders, partnerships and their partners; and between trusts and their beneficiaries. For instance, sale of a home by a parent to a child may be recharacterized by the court as a gift, if the child never pays for it. Related-party transactions provide fertile territory for selfdealing, with the tax benefit as the real motivating purpose, disguised by the form of the transaction. In contrast, arm's-length transactions with independent third parties are far less vulnerable. ECONOMIC VALUE (EV) is the value of an asset deriving from its ability to generate income. ECONOMIC VALUE ADDED (EVA) measures the difference between the return on a companies capital and the cost of that capital. A positive EVA indicates that value has been created for shareholders; a negative EVA signifies value destruction. ECONOMIES OF SCALE is based upon the theory that the more you produce of a good, the less that it costs for each additional unit, i.e., efficiency. Specifically, it is the reduction of the costs of production of goods due to increasing the size of the producing entity and the share of the total market for the good/product. EF&L is Errors, Fines and Losses. EFFECTIVE DATE OF INTEREST is the market rate at time of a debt issue. EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE is the cost of credit on a yearly basis expressed as a percentage. Includes up-front costs paid to obtain the loan, and is, therefore, usually a higher amount than the interest rate stipulated in the note. EFFECTIVE TAX RATE is the net rate a taxpayer pays on income that includes all forms of taxes. It is calculated by dividing the total tax paid by taxable income. EFFICIENCY is the ratio of the output to the input of any system. EFFICIENT MARKET THEORY is the hypothesis that market prices reflect the knowledge and expectations of all investors. Within this theory, investors who adhere to it believe it to be highly improbable that market movement can be predicted, i.e., using darts to chose stocks are just as effective as stock or market analysis. EFT see Electronic Funds Transfer. 69 http://www.ventureline.com/glossary.asp ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER is a payment executed through computers. EMC (EXPORT MANAGEMENT COMPANY) is a private company that serves as the export agent for manufacturers, being paid by commission or retainer. Merchandise is not normally purchased by the EMC. ENCUMBERED is when an asset is owned by one party subject to the legal claims of another party. One example is a homeowner that owns a home that is subject to (encumbered by) the claims of the mortgage holder. ENCUMBRANCE is a) a right or interest in land owned by someone other than the owner of the land itself; examples include easements, leases, mortgages, and restrictive covenants; or, b) in government accounting, an encumbrance is an anticipated expenditure, or funds restricted for anticipated expenditures, such as for outstanding purchase orders. ENDING INVENTORY is inventory at the end of the accounting period. ENDOWMENT is a permanent fund where gifts to the fund are held in perpetuity and where earnings are used in accordance with the donor’s specified wishes. ENGINEERED COSTS are those costs having a clear linkage to output, e.g., direct materials costs. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) is an information system or process that integrates all operational data and related applications for an entire enterprise. ERP systems permit organizations to manage resources across the enterprise. ENTERPRISE VALUE (EV) is a measure of a company's value. Enterprise value is calculated by: market capitalization plus debt and preferred shares minus cash and cash equivalents. In effect, enterprise value is the theoretical takeover price, i.e., in the event of a buyout an acquirer would have to take on the company's debt but would pocket its cash. ENTERPRISE ZONE is a depressed neighborhood, usually in an urban area, where businesses are given tax incentives and are not subject to some government regulations. These advantages are designed to attract new business in the zone. ENTITY, in business, is a separate or self-contained existence that provides goods or services. ENTITY ASSUMPTION is the assumption that financial statements are prepared for an entity that is separate and distinct from its owners. 70