A summary of a company’s financial position at a specific point in time, usually the end of it’s financial year.

The balance sheet shows the value of everything the company owns as well as everythin that it owes.

An asset is anything owend by a company that can be converted into cash or used to generate income.

Assets having a physical existence, such as cash equipment, and property.

An asset that is not physical in nature, such as a patent.

A liability is a financial obligation or debt held by a company.

Common types of liabilities include accounts payable, bank loans, and outstanding taxes.

Short-term liabilities are usually those that must be paid within one year.

Long-term liabilities are repayable after more than a year.

The amount of money earned in a given period (usually a year) after deduction all expenses.

The percentage of income a company retains after all costs are deducated.

A loos is negative profit.

If a single transaction costs more that it earns, the company is said to make a loss or take a loss.

If a company’s profit for an entire year is negative, it is said to make a loss or run at a loss.

A profit and loss statement is one type of accounting report that companies publish on a regular basis.

Money owed by a company to another company or individual.

Most corporate debt is in the form of loans from banks, or bonds that have been sold to investors.

A gross figure is a sume that does not include any deducations.

The total amount of money earned by selling a company’s products can be described as gross income or gross revenue.

To gross can also be used as a verb, meaning “to earn gross income”.

A net figure is sume that includes all deducations.

The amount of money earned through a company’s sales, after subtraction all costs, can be described as net income or profit.

To net can also be used as a verb, meaning “to earn net income”.

The adjective pretax means before payment of tax.

Accountants normally show pretax profit or pretax income on one line of a company’s financial statement, and show profit after tax on a seprate line.