Oxford Paperback Reference A Dictionary of Accounting_8 doc

underemployed capital underemployed capital /ndərimplɔid kpitəl/ noun capital which is not producing enough interest underlease underlease /ndəlis/ noun a lease from a tenant to another

turnover of labour 228

forecast turnover. 2. the number of times

something is used or sold in a period,

usu-ally one year, expressed as a percentage of a

turnover ratio /tnəυvə reiʃiəυ/ noun

a measure of the number of times a

busi-ness’s stock is turned over in a given year,

calculated as the cost of sales divided by the

stock’s average book value

turnover tax

turnover tax /tnəυvə tks/ noun

turnround

turnround /tnraυnd/ noun 1. the value

of goods sold during a year divided by the

act of making a company profitable again

(NOTE: [all senses] The US term is

turna-round.)

two-way analysis

two-way analysis /tu wei ə|nləsis/

looks at price and quantity in relation tomaterials and labour, and budget and vol-ume in relation to overheads, but does notconsider spending and efficiency

ultimate holding company

ultimate holding company /ltimət

həυldiŋ kmp(ə)ni/ noun the top

com-pany in a group consisting of several layers

of parent companies and subsidiaries

umbrella organisation

umbrella organisation /m|brelə

ɔənaizeiʃ(ə)n/ noun a large organisation

which includes several smaller ones

unaccounted for

unaccounted for /nə|kaυntid fɔ/

adjective lost without any explanation 쑗

Several thousand units are unaccounted for

in the stocktaking.

unadjusted trial balance

unadjusted trial balance /

traiəl bləns/ noun a trial balance that

has not yet been adjusted at a period end for

items such as closing stock

unappropriated profits

unappropriated profits

/nəprəυprieitid prɒfits/ plural noun

profits that have neither been distributed to a

company’s shareholders as dividends nor set

aside as specific reserves

unappropriated retained earnings

unappropriated retained earnings

/nəprəυprieitid ri|teind niŋz/ plural

has been assigned to a special purpose

unaudited

unaudited /n|ɔditid/ adjective having

unaudited statement

unaudited statement /n|ɔditid

steitmənt/ noun a financial statement in

which an auditor prepares and presents

sta-tistics but does not give an audit opinion on

them

unauthorised

unauthorised /n|ɔθəraizd/,

unauthor-ized adjective not permitted 쑗 unauthorised

access to the company’s records 쑗

unau-thorised expenditure

unavoidable costs

unavoidable costs /nəvɔidəb(ə)l

kɒsts/ plural noun costs that will be

incurred regardless of what business

deci-sions are taken and that cannot be recovered

unbalanced

unbalanced /n|blənst/ adjective

refer-ring to a budget which does not balance or

which is in deficit

unbanked

unbanked /n|bŋkt/ adjective referring

to a person who does not have a bankaccount

uncalled

uncalled /n|kɔld/ adjective referring tocapital which a company is authorised toraise and has been issued but for which pay-ment has not yet been requested

uncashed

uncashed /n|kʃt/ adjective having not

uncommitted credit lines

uncommitted credit lines /nkəmitid

kredit lainz/ plural noun a borrowingarrangement that a bank provides but maychoose to withdraw at any time

uncrossed cheque

uncrossed cheque /nkrɒst tʃek/

lines across it, and can be cashed anywhere

(NOTE: They are no longer used in the UK,but are still found in other countries.)undated

undated /n|deitid/ adjective with no

underabsorbed overhead 230

underabsorbed overhead

underabsorbed overhead

/ndərəbzɔbd əυvəhed/ noun an

absorbed overhead which ends up by being

lower than the actual overhead incurred

underabsorption

underabsorption /ndərəb|zɔpʃ(ə)n/

incurred is higher than the absorbed

undercapitalised

undercapitalised /ndə|kpitəlaizd/,

undercapitalized adjective without enough

undercap-italised.

undercharge

undercharge /ndə| / verb to ask

under-charged us by £25.

underemployed capital

underemployed capital

/ndərimplɔid kpit(ə)l/ noun capital

which is not producing enough interest

underlease

underlease /ndəlis/ noun a lease from

a tenant to another tenant

underlying inflation rate

underlying inflation rate /ndəlaiiŋ

in|fleiʃ(ə)n reit/ noun the basic inflation

rate calculated on a series of prices of

con-sumer items, petrol, gas and electricity, and

rate

underspend

underspend /ndə|spend/ verb to spend

less than you should have spent or were

allowed to spend

understandability

understandability /ndə|stndə|

biliti/ noun when referring to financial

information, the quality of being sufficiently

clearly expressed as to be understood by

anybody with a reasonable knowledge of

business

understate

understate /ndə|steit/ verb to enter in

an account a figure that is lower than the

understate the real profit.

undersubscribed

undersubscribed /ndəsb|skraibd/

adjective referring to a share issue in which

applications are not made for all the shares

on offer, and part of the issue remains with

the underwriters

undertake

undertake /ndə|teik/ verb to agree to

to undertake an investigation of the market.

territory. (NOTE: undertaking – undertook

– undertaken)

undertaking

undertaking /ndəteikiŋ/ noun 1. a

commer-cial undertaking. 2. a promise, especially a

written undertaking not to sell their

prod-ucts in competition with ours.

undervaluation

undervaluation /ndəvljυ|eiʃ(ə)n/

valuing something, at less than the trueworth

undervalued

undervalued /ndə|vljud/ adjective

undervalued on the foreign exchanges 쑗

The properties are undervalued on the pany’s balance sheet.

com-‘…in terms of purchasing power, the lar is considerably undervalued, while the

dol-US trade deficit is declining month by

month’ [Financial Weekly]

underwrite

underwrite /ndə|rait/ verb 1. to accept

policy 3. to agree to pay for costs 쑗 The

gov-ernment has underwritten the development costs of the project. (NOTE: underwriting –

underwrote – has underwritten)

‘…under the new program, mortgage kers are allowed to underwrite mortgages

bro-and get a much higher fee’ [Forbes

Maga-zine]

underwriter

underwriter /ndəraitə/ noun a person

or company that underwrites a share issue or

underwriting fee /ndəraitiŋ fi/ noun

a fee paid by a company to the underwritersfor guaranteeing the purchase of new shares

in that company

underwriting syndicate

underwriting syndicate /ndəraitiŋ

sindikət/ noun a group of underwriterswho insure a large risk

undistributable reserves

undistributable reserves

/ndistribjutəb(ə)l ri|zvz/ plural noun

undistributed profit

undistributed profit /ndistribjutid

prɒfit/ noun profit which has not been tributed as dividends to shareholders

dis-unearned income

unearned income /nnd inkm/

unemployed

unemployed /nim|plɔid/ adjective nothaving any paid work

unemployment

unemployment /nim|plɔimənt/ noun

number of people in a country or region whoare willing to work but cannot find jobs

231 unlimited liability

‘…tax advantages directed toward small

businesses will help create jobs and reduce

the unemployment rate’ [Toronto Star]

unemployment pay

unemployment pay /nim|plɔimənt

pei/ noun money given by the government

to someone who is unemployed

unexpired cost

unexpired cost /nikspaiəd kɒst/

his-torical cost of an asset, not yet charged to the

profit and loss account

unfair competition

unfair competition /nfeə kɒmpə|

tiʃ(ə)n/ noun the practice of trying to do

better than another company by using

tech-niques such as importing foreign goods at

very low prices or by wrongly criticising a

unfunded debt /nfndid det/ noun

short-term debt requiring repayment within

a year from issuance

ungeared

ungeared /n|iəd/ adjective with no

bor-rowings

unguaranteed residual value

unguaranteed residual value

/nrəntid ri|zidjuəl vlju/ noun the

residual value of a leased asset that a

com-pany is not sure it will ever be in a position

to sell

uniform accounting policies

uniform accounting policies

/junifɔm ə|kaυntiŋ pɒlisiz/ plural noun

the use of the same accounting policies for

all the companies in a group, for the

prepa-ration of consolidated financial statements

uniform business rate

uniform business rate /junifɔm

biznis reit/ noun a tax levied on business

property which is the same percentage for

(NOTE: The uniform business rate is then

multiplied by the rateable value of the

prop-erty to give the total rates to be paid in that

year.)

uniformity

uniformity /juni|fɔmiti/ noun the

prin-ciple of using common measurements,

accounting standards and methods of

pres-entation across different organisations, to

ensure comparability

unincorporated

unincorporated /nin|kɔpəreitid/

adjective referring to a business which has

not been made into a company, i.e which is

operating as a partnership or a sole trader

unissued capital

unissued capital /niʃud kpit(ə)l/

to issue but has not issued as shares

unissued stock

unissued stock /niʃud stɒk/ noun

capital stock which a company is authorised

to issue but has not issued

unit

unit /junit/ noun 1. a single product for

unitary taxation

unitary taxation /junit(ə)ri tk|

seiʃ(ə)n/ noun a method of taxing a ration based on its worldwide income ratherthan on its income in the country of the taxauthority

corpo-unit contribution margin

unit contribution margin /junit

profit made on each unit sold

uniting of interests /ju|naitiŋ əv

intrəsts/ noun the international accountingstandards term for merger accounting

unit level activities

unit level activities /junit lev(ə)l k|

tivitiz/ plural noun business activitiesundertaken each time a unit is produced

unit-linked insurance

unit-linked insurance /junit liŋkd in|

ʃυərəns/ noun an insurance policy which islinked to the security of units in a unit trust

or fund

unit of account

unit of account /junit əv ə|kaυnt/

trans-actions among members of a group, e.g.SDRs in the IMF

unit price

unit price /junit prais/ noun the price ofone item

units of production method of depreciation

units of production method of depreciation /junits əv prə|dkʃən

meθəd əv di|priʃi|eiʃ(ə)n/ noun amethod of calculating depreciation thatdetermines the cost of an asset over its use-ful economic life according to the number ofunits it is expected to produce over thatperiod

unit trust

unit trust /junit trst/ noun an sation which takes money from small inves-tors and invests it in stocks and shares forthem under a trust deed, the investmentbeing in the form of shares (or units) in the

unlawful

unlawful /n|lɔf(ə)l/ adjective against thelaw, not legal

unlimited company

unlimited company /n|limitid

kmp(ə)ni/ noun a company where theshareholders have no limit as regards liabil-ity

unlimited liability

unlimited liability /n|limitid laiə|

biliti/ noun a situation where a sole trader

or each partner is responsible for all a firm’sdebts with no limit on the amount each mayhave to pay

unliquidated claim 232

unliquidated claim

unliquidated claim /nlikwideitd

kleim/ noun a claim for unliquidated

dam-ages

unliquidated damages

unliquidated damages

damages which are not for a fixed amount of

money but are awarded by a court as a matter

of discretion

unlisted company

unlisted company /n|listid

kmp(ə)ni/ noun a company whose shares

are not listed on the Stock Exchange

unlisted securities

unlisted securities /n|listid si|

kjυəritiz/ plural noun shares that are not

listed on the Stock Exchange

unquoted company /n|kwəυtid

kmp(ə)ni/ noun a company whose shares

are not listed on the stock exchange

unquoted investments

unquoted investments /n|kwəυtid

in|vestmənts/ plural noun investments

which are difficult to value, e.g shares

which have no stock exchange listing or land

of which the asset value is difficult to

esti-mate

unquoted shares

unquoted shares /nkwəυtid ʃeəz/

plural noun shares that have no Stock

Exchange quotation

unrealisable gains

unrealisable gains /nriəlaizəb(ə)l

einz/ plural noun apparent increases in the

value of assets that could not be turned into

realised profit

unrealised capital gain

unrealised capital gain /nriəlaizd

kpit(ə)l ein/ noun an investment which

is showing a profit but has not been sold

unrealised loss

unrealised loss /nriəlaizd lɒs/ noun

unrealised profit

unrealised profit /n|riəlaizd prɒfit/

unredeemed pledge

unredeemed pledge /nridimd

/ noun a pledge which the borrower

has not claimed back because he or she has

not paid back the loan

unregistered

unregistered /n| / adjective

used for describing a company that has not

been registered on the official list of

compa-nies held, in the UK, at Compacompa-nies House

unrestricted income funds

unrestricted income funds

/nristriktid inkm fndz/ plural noun

a charity’s funds that are available to its

trus-tees to use for the purposes set out in the

charity’s governing document

unsecured creditor

unsecured creditor /nsikjυəd

kreditə/ noun a creditor who is owed

money, but has no security from the debtorfor the debt

unsecured debt

unsecured debt /nsikjυəd det/ noun

a debt which is not guaranteed by a charge

on assets or by any collateral

unsecured loan

unsecured loan /nsikjυəd ləυn/

unsubsidised

unsubsidised /n|sbsidaizd/,

unsub-sidized adjective with no subsidy

unused allowances

unused allowances /n|juzd ə|

laυənsiz/ plural noun part of the marriedcouple’s allowance or the blind person’sallowance which is not used because therecipient does not have enough income, andwhich can then be passed to their spouse

up front

up front /p frnt/ adverb in advance 왍

money up front payment in advance 쑗 They

are asking for £100,000 up front before they will consider the deal 쑗 He had to put

money up front before he could clinch the deal.

upside potential

upside potential /psaid pə|tenʃəl/

upturn

upturn /ptn/ noun a movement

in the economy 쑗 an upturn in the market

Urgent Issues Task Force

Urgent Issues Task Force /

iʃuz tɑsk fɔs/ noun a committee of the

UK Accounting Standards Board that siders major urgent and emerging account-ing issues Its pronouncements are known as

usage method

method of depreciating a machine, by ing its cost less residual value by the number

divid-of units it is expected to produce or thelength of time it is expected to be used

useful economic life

useful economic life /jusf(ə)l

ikənɒmik laif/ noun the period duringwhich an entity expects to derive economicbenefit from using an asset such as amachine and over which it can be depreci-

usury

usury / / noun the lending of money

at high interest

utilisation

utilisation /jutilai|zeiʃ(ə)n/, utilization

‘…control permits the manufacturer toreact to changing conditions on the plantfloor and to keep people and machines at a

high level of utilization’ [Duns Business

Month]

utilise

utilise /jutilaiz/, utilize verb to usesomething

vacant possession

vacant possession /veikənt pə|

zeʃ(ə)n/ adjective being able to occupy a

property immediately after buying it

sold with vacant possession.

valuation

valuation /vlju|eiʃ(ə)n/ noun an

ask for a valuation of a property before

mak-ing an offer for it

valuation of a business

valuation of a business /vljueiʃ(ə)n

əv ə biznis/ noun the act of estimating the

value of a business This can be done on

var-ious bases, such as an assets basis, its

break-up value, its value as a going concern, etc

value

value /vlju/ noun the amount of money

value of sterling 쑗 She imported goods to

the value of £2500 쑗 The valuer put the

value of the stock at £25,000 왍 to rise or

fall in value to be worth more or less쐽 verb

to estimate how much money something is

We are having the jewellery valued for

insurance.

value added

value added /vlju did/ noun 1. the

difference between the cost of the materials

purchased to produce a product and the final

amount added to the value of a product or

service, being the difference between its

cost and the amount received when it is sold

value-added activity

value-added activity /vlju did k|

tiviti/ noun business activity that improves

a product or service at a cost that the

cus-tomer is willing to pay

value-added statement

value-added statement /vlju did

steitmənt/ noun a simplified financial

statement that shows how much wealth has

been created by a company A value-added

statement calculates total output by adding

sales, changes in stock, and other incomes,

then subtracting depreciation, interest,

taxa-tion, dividends, and the amounts paid to

sup-pliers and employees

Value Added Tax

Value Added Tax /vlju did tks/

value-adding cost

value-adding cost /vlju diŋ

kɒst/ noun a business cost that increasesthe market value of a product or service

value analysis

value analysis /vlju ə|nləsis/ noun

analysis by a producer of all aspects of a ished product to determine how it could be

showed an excessive amount of rubber was used in manufacturing the product.

‘Competition is no longer limited to therealm of the enterprise Entire value chainsare now starting to act as formidable enti-ties, competing against each other for sim-ilar markets.’ [Harvard Business Review]

value chain costing

value chain costing /vlju tʃein

kɒstiŋ/ noun a costing model that takesinto account all aspects of the chain of pro-duction, from design to after-sales

value in use

value in use /vlju in jus/ noun thepresent value of the estimated future netcash flows from an object, including theamount expected from its disposal at the end

of its useful life Value in use replaces bookvalue when an asset suffers impairment

valuer

valuer /vljυə/ noun a person who mates how much money something is worth

esti-variable annuity

variable annuity /veəriəb(ə)l ə|njuəti/

common stock, which varies with the value

of the stock, as opposed to a fixed annuity

variable costing

variable costing /veəriəb(ə)l kɒstiŋ/

costs that records only the variable turing costs, not the fixed costs

manufac-variable cost percentage

variable cost percentage /veəriəb(ə)lkɒst pə| / noun a ratio arrived at bydividing total variable costs by total sales

variable costs

variable costs /veəriəb(ə)l kɒsts/ ral noun production costs which increase

plu-variable rate 234

with the quantity of the product made, e.g

wages or raw materials

variable rate

variable rate /veəriəb(ə)l reit/ noun a

rate of interest on a loan which is not fixed,

but can change with the current bank interest

variable rate loan

variable rate loan /veəriəb(ə)l reit

ləυn/ noun a bank loan carrying an interest

rate that varies according to fluctuations in a

particular index

variance

variance /veəriəns/ noun the discrepancy

between the actual cost of an asset or

busi-ness activity and the standard or expected

cost

variance accounting

variance accounting /veəriəns ə|

kaυntiŋ/ noun a method of accounting by

means of which planned activities

(quanti-fied through budgets and standard costs and

revenues) are compared with actual results

VAT

VAT /vi ei ti, vt/ noun a tax on goods

and services, added as a percentage to the

VAT at 17.5% 쑗 The government is

propos-ing to increase VAT to 22% 쑗 Some items

(such as books) are zero-rated for VAT 쑗 He

does not charge VAT because he asks for

payment in cash Full form Value Added

Tax

‘…the directive means that the services of

stockbrokers and managers of authorized

unit trusts are now exempt from VAT;

pre-viously they were liable to VAT at the

standard rate Zero-rating for

stockbro-kers’ services is still available as before,

but only where the recipient of the service

belongs outside the EC’ [Accountancy]

VAT declaration

VAT declaration /vt deklə|reiʃ(ə)n/

the VAT office

VAT group

VAT group /vt rup/ noun in the

United Kingdom, a group of related

compa-nies that is treated as one taxpayer for VAT

purposes

VAT inspection

VAT inspection /vt in|spekʃ(ə)n/

Customs to see if a company is correctly

reporting its VAT

VAT inspector

VAT inspector /vt in|spektə/ noun a

government official who examines VAT

returns and checks that VAT is being paid

VAT invoice

VAT invoice /vt invɔis/ noun an

invoice which includes VAT

VAT invoicing

VAT invoicing /vt invɔisiŋ/ noun the

sending of an invoice including VAT

govern-VAT paid

VAT paid /vt peid/ adjective with theVAT already paid

VAT receivable

VAT receivable /vt ri|sivəb(ə)l/

adjective with the VAT for an item not yetcollected by a taxing authority

VAT registration

a European government as eligible for thereturn of VAT in certain cases

vendor /vendə/ noun 1. a person who

solicitor acting on behalf of the vendor 2. aperson who sells goods

venture

venture /ventʃə/ noun a commercial deal

several import ventures 쑗 She’s started a

new venture – a computer shop.

venture capital

venture capital /ventʃə kpit(ə)l/

eas-ily be lost in risky projects, but can also

venture capital fund

venture capital fund /ventʃə

kpit(ə)l fnd/ noun a fund which invests

in finance houses providing venture capital

‘…the Securities and Exchange Board ofIndia allowed new companies to enter theprimary market provided venture capitalfunds took up 10 per cent of the equity Atpresent, new companies are allowed tomake initial public offerings providedtheir projects have been appraised bybanks or financial institutions which take

up 10 per cent of the equity’ [The Hindu]

venture capitalist

kpit(ə)list/ noun a finance house or vate individual specialising in providing

‘…along with the stock market boom ofthe 1980s, the venture capitalists piledmore and more funds into the buyout busi-ness, backing bigger and bigger deals withever more extravagant financing struc-

tures’ [Guardian]

venture capital trust

venture capital trust /ventʃə

kpit(ə)l trst/ noun a trust which invests

in smaller firms which need capital to grow

vertical equity

vertical equity /vtik(ə)l ekwiti/

incomes should pay different rates of tax

vertical form

vertical form /vtik(ə)l fɔm/ noun one

of the two styles of presenting a balance

235 vouching

sheet allowed by the Companies Act See

report form

vertical integration

vertical integration /vtik(ə)l inti|

reiʃ(ə)n/ noun same as backward

inte-gration

vested interest

vested interest /vestid intrəst/ noun a

special interest in keeping an existing state

of affairs

virement

virement /vaiəmənt/ noun a transfer of

money from one account to another or from

one section of a budget to another

visible

visible /vizib(ə)l/ adjective referring to

real products which are imported or

exported

visible exports

visible exports /vizib(ə)l ekspɔts/

plural noun real products which are

exported, as opposed to services

visible imports

visible imports /vizib(ə)l impɔts/

plural noun real products which are

imported, as opposed to services

visible trade

visible trade /vizib(ə)l treid/ noun

trade involving visible imports and exports

volume discount /vɒljum diskaυnt/

buys a large quantity of goods

volume of output

volume of output /vɒljum əv aυtpυt/

volume variances

veəriənsiz/ plural noun differences in costs

or revenues compared with budgetedamounts, caused by differences between theactual and budgeted levels of activity

voluntary

voluntary /vɒlənt(ə)ri/ adjective 1. done

done without being paid

voluntary arrangement

voluntary arrangement /vɒlənt(ə)ri ə|

/ noun same as scheme of arrangement

voluntary liquidation

voluntary liquidation /vɒlənt(ə)ri

likwi|deiʃ(ə)n/ noun a situation where acompany itself decides it must close and sellits assets

voluntary redundancy

voluntary redundancy /vɒlənt(ə)ri ri|

dndənsi/ noun a situation where theemployee asks to be made redundant, usu-ally in return for a large payment

voluntary registration

voluntary registration /vɒlənt(ə)ri

|streiʃ(ə)n/ noun in the United dom, registration for VAT by a trader whoseturnover is below the registration threshold.This is usually done in order to reclaim tax

King-on inputs

voucher

voucher /vaυtʃə/ noun 1. a piece of paper

document from an auditor to show that theaccounts are correct or that money has reallybeen paid

vouching

vouching /vaυtʃiŋ/ noun the process ofchecking accounting accuracy by matchingvouchers and other documents with thedetails recorded in an account

wage

wage / / noun the money paid to an

employee in return for work done,

She is earning a good wage or good wages

for a young person. (NOTE: The plural

wages is more usual when referring to the

money earned, but wage is used before

other nouns.)

‘European economies are being held back

by rigid labor markets and wage

struc-tures’ [Duns Business Month]

‘…real wages have been held down

dra-matically: they have risen at an annual rate

of only 1% in the last two years’ [Sunday

wage claim / / noun an act of

asking for an increase in wages

wage-earner / / noun a

per-son who earns a wage

wage indexation

indekseiʃ(ə)n/ noun the linking of

increases to the percentage rise in the cost of

sala-ries Along with other costs such as pension

contributions and salaries, these costs

typi-cally form the largest single cost item for a

business

wages payable account

wages payable account /

peiəb(ə)l ə|kaυnt/ noun an account

show-ing gross wages and employer’s National

Insurance contributions paid during a period

wages policy

government policy on what percentage

increases should be paid to workers

warehouse capacity /weəhaυs kə|

psiti/ noun the space available in a house

ware-warrant

warrant /wɒrənt/ noun 1. an official ument which allows someone to do some-

‘…the rights issue will grant shareholdersfree warrants to subscribe for further new

shares’ [Financial Times]

twelve-month warranty 쑗 The warranty covers

spare parts but not labour costs. 2. a

insured person which declares that the factsstated by him are true

independ-watered stock

watered stock /wɔtəd stɒk/ noun

shares that are worth less than the total ital invested in the company

cap-WDA

WDA abbreviation 1. writing-down

wear and tear

wear and tear /weər ən teə/ noun thedeterioration of a tangible fixed asset as a

237 window dressing

result of normal use This is recognised for

accounting purposes by depreciation

web

web /web/ noun same as World Wide Web

weight

weight /weit/ noun a measurement of how

value to a factor

weighted average

several factors into account, giving some

more value than others

weighted average cost

weighted average cost /weitid

/, weighted average price

aver-age price per unit of stock delivered in a

period calculated either at the end of the

period (‘periodic weighted average’) or each

time a new delivery is received (‘cumulative

weighted average’)

weighted average cost of capital

weighted average cost of capital

bor-rowing in relation to its total capital

weighted index

weighted index /weitid indeks/ noun

an index where some important items are

given more value than less important ones

weighting

weighting /weitiŋ/ noun an additional

salary or wages paid to compensate for

salary is £15,000 plus London weighting.

Wheat Report

Wheat Report /wit ri|pɔt/ noun a

report produced by a committee in 1972 that

set out to examine the principles and

meth-ods of accounting in the United States Its

publication led to the establishment of the

FASB

white knight

white knight /wait nait/ noun a person

or company which rescues a firm in

finan-cial difficulties, espefinan-cially one which saves

a firm from being taken over by an

unaccept-able purchaser

White Paper

White Paper /wait peipə/ noun a report

issued by the UK government as a statement

of government policy on a particular

whole-life cost

whole-life cost /həυl laif kɒst/ noun a

cost calculated as life-cycle costs plus any

after-purchase costs

whole-life insurance

whole-life insurance /həυl laif in|

ʃυərəns/, whole-life policy /həυl laif

pɒlisi/ noun an insurance policy where the

insured person pays a fixed premium each

year and the insurance company pays a sum

whole-of-life assurance

wholesale

wholesale /həυlseil/ adjective, adverb

referring to the business of buying goods

from manufacturers and selling them in

large quantities to traders (retailers) who

then sell in smaller quantities to the general

whole-sale discount 왍 he buys wholesale and

sells retail he buys goods in bulk at a

whole-sale discount and then sells in small ties to the public

quanti-wholesale banking

wholesale banking /həυlseil bŋkiŋ/

banks and other financial institutions, asopposed to retail banking

wholesale dealer

wholesale dealer /həυlseil dilə/ noun

a person who buys in bulk from ers and sells to retailers

manufactur-wholesale price

wholesale price /həυlseil prais/ noun

the price charged to customers who buygoods in large quantities in order to resellthem in smaller quantities to others

wholesale price index

wholesale price index /həυlseil prais

indeks/ noun an index showing the risesand falls of prices of manufactured goods asthey leave the factory

wholesaler

wholesaler /həυlseilə/ noun a personwho buys goods in bulk from manufacturersand sells them to retailers

wholly-owned subsidiary

wholly-owned subsidiary /həυlliəυnd səb|sidjəri/ noun a subsidiary whichbelongs completely to the parent company

will

will /wil/ noun a legal document wheresomeone says what should happen to his or

his will in 1984 쑗 According to her will, all

her property is left to her children.

wind up phrasal verb to end a meeting, or toclose down a business or organisation and

with a vote of thanks to the committee.

windfall profit

windfall profit /windfɔl prɒfit/ noun asudden profit which is not expected

windfall profits tax

windfall profits tax /windfɔl prɒfitstks/, windfall tax /windfɔl tks/ noun

a tax on companies that have made largeprofits because of circumstances outsidetheir usual trading activities A windfall taxwas imposed on the privatised utility com-panies in 1997

winding up

winding up /waindiŋ p/ noun tion, the act of closing a company and sell-ing its assets

liquida-winding up petition

winding up petition /waindiŋ p pə|

tiʃ(ə)n/ noun an application to a court for

an order that a company be put into tion

liquida-window dressing

window dressing /windəυ dresiŋ/

noun 1. the practice of putting goods on play in a shop window, so that they attract

dis-play to make a business seem better or moreprofitable or more efficient than it really is

window of opportunity 238

window of opportunity

window of opportunity /windəυ əv

ɒpə|tjuniti/ noun a short period which

allows an action to take place

WIP

WIP abbreviation work in progress

withdraw

withdraw /wið|drɔ/ verb 1. to take money

the bank or from your account 쑗 You can

withdraw up to £50 from any cash machine

by using your card. 2. to take back an offer

company withdrew its revised pay offer.

(NOTE: withdrawing – withdrew)

withdrawal

withdrawal /wið|drɔəl/ noun the act of

seven days’ notice of withdrawal 쑗

With-drawals from bank accounts reached a peak

in the week before Christmas.

withholding tax

withholding tax /wið|həυldiŋ tks/

noun US a tax which removes money from

interest or dividends before they are paid to

the investor, usually applied to non-resident

investors

with profits

with profits /wiθ prɒfits/ adverb used

to describe an insurance policy which

guar-antees the policyholder a share in the profits

of the fund in which the premiums are

invested

work cell

work cell /wk sel/ noun a unit of

employees, or a set of machines, assigned to

a particular manufacturing task

workforce

workforce /wkfɔs/ noun the total

number of employees in an organisation,

industry or country

working capital

working capital /wkiŋ kpit(ə)l/

debtors but not creditors, used by a company

cir-culating capital, floating capital, net

cur-rent assets

working capital turnover

working capital turnover /wkiŋ

kpit(ə)l tnəυvə/ noun a figure equal

to sales divided by average working capital

working partner

working partner /wkiŋ pɑtnə/ noun

a partner who works in a partnership

work-in-process

work-in-process /wk in prəυses/

completed at the end of an accounting

period

work in progress

work in progress /wk in prəυres/

which are not complete at the end of an

made up of stock, goodwill and work in

progress Abbreviation WIP (NOTE: The US

term is work in process.)

work permit

work permit /wk pmit/ noun an

official document which allows someone

who is not a citizen to work in a country

works

works /wks/ noun a factory 쑗 There is a

small engineering works in the same street

as our office 쑗 The steel works is

expand-ing. (NOTE: takes a singular or plural verb)works committee

works committee /wks kə|miti/, works council /wks kaυnsəl/ noun acommittee of employees and managementwhich discusses the organisation of work in

a factory

workstation

workstation /wk|steiʃ(ə)n/ noun adesk, usually with a computer terminal,printer, telephone and other office items atwhich an employee in an office works

World Bank

World Bank /wld bŋk/ noun a tral bank, controlled by the United Nations,whose funds come from the member states

cen-of the UN and which lends money to ber states

mem-World Wide Web

World Wide Web /wld waid web/

that allows documents to be linked to oneanother by hypertext links and accommo-dates websites and makes them accessible

worthless

worthless /wθləs/ adjective having no

signed.

write down phrasal verb to note an asset at

down value 쑗 The car is written down in the

company’s books 왍 closing written-down

value, opening written-down value the

written-down value of an asset at the end orthe beginning of an accounting period

write off phrasal verb to cancel a debt, or toremove an asset from the accounts as having

write-down /rait daυn/ noun a reduction

in the value of an asset as entered in thebooks of a business

write-off

write-off /rait ɒf/ noun the total loss orcancellation of a bad debt, or the removal of

an asset’s value from a company’s accounts

writing-down allowance /raitiŋ daυn

ə|laυəns/ noun a form of capital allowancegiving tax relief to companies acquiringfixed assets which are written down on ayear-by-year basis