This appendix defines some of the terms as they are used in Passport Business Solutions software, and is not intended to replace a good accounting dictionary, computer dictionary, or English dictionary.
The right to enter or make use of. The process of a computer obtaining data from, or placing data into, mass storage.
The collection, classification, summary and analysis of financial information within a business. The rules governing this process.
Records in which the results of financial transactions are kept. Used to evaluate the financial status of a business or activity at any given moment. The main types of accounts are Assets, Liabilities, Owners’ Equity, Revenue, and Expenses. Example: The various accounts are summarized in the financial statements. Businesses or individuals with whom you have a relationship that involves the exchange of money or credit. Example: XYZ Company has 300 customer accounts.
The financial records of the money owed by a business to its creditors for goods or services received, including a record of payments made to those creditors. Also, the actual dollar amount owed. Example: XYZ Company has accounts payable to 270 creditors. A current liability account in General Ledger summarizing the amount of money a business owes its vendors. Example: Our Accounts Payable account in the General Ledger shows that we owed our vendors a total of $56,238. 07 on the last day of the month.
The financial records of the money owed to a business by its customers, including a record of payments received from those customers. Also the actual dollar amount owed. Example: We show an accounts receivable of $1,243. 24. A current asset account in General Ledger summarizing the amount of money owed to a business by those to whom the business has sold goods or services on credit or on account.
A system of accounting that shows all revenue earned during a given period and all expenses incurred in the period, even if no money has yet changed hands. Accrual accounting is more complex than cash accounting, but yields a more accurate evaluation of a company’s financial condition. The intent of the accrual system is to match revenue earned with the expenses costs associated with the earning of that revenue. See Cash Accounting
To increase or accumulate, as by natural growth or as by interest on capital. To come about as a natural consequence.
To perform a repeated arithmetic operation into one field, such as adding several figures, one at a time, into a final total field. Example: 3+4=7, 7+5=12, 12+2=14. Final total field contains the figure 14. In PBS General Ledger, the option of adding amounts in specified accounts instead of printing those amounts on the statement. Example: The company’s five cash accounts were accumulated and then the total of the five printed on the balance sheet. To amass or gather; pile up; collect.
ACH or Automated Clearing House
The ACH Network is a highly reliable and efficient nationwide batch-oriented electronic funds transfer system governed by the NACHA OPERATING RULES that provide for the inter-bank clearing of electronic payments for participating depository financial institutions. The Federal Reserve and Electronic Payments Network act as ACH Operators, central-clearing facilities through which financial institutions transmit or receive ACH entries.
NACHA (National Clearing House Association) is The Electronic Payments Association, out of Herndon, VA, that develops electronic solutions to improve the payment system. For more information on NACHA go to their web site at www.nacha.org. See Processing Bank and Receiving Bank
In accounting, the updating of the general ledger account balances usually at the end of the accounting period. For example, the apportionment of previously unrecorded income and liabilities. Example: Before XYZ Company’s accountant closed the books for June, some previously unrecorded income was entered as an adjustment. A correction to an error in an account. Accounting rules do not allow general ledger entries to be erased. If an entry is found to be wrong, an adjustment must be made to cancel the incorrect entry and record the correct entry.
The number of days that have passed since the date associated with a document. For example, the age of an invoice is simply how many days old it is, using the invoice date or the due date as the base beginning date.
To distribute according to plan. For example, to allocate space on a disk or diskette, so that a certain file or program can be put into that space later. Another example, to distribute costs to specific accounts.
Computer or written characters that are either numbers, letters, or symbols. Example: An alphanumeric keyboard has letters, numbers and special symbols, such as #, $and @. See Numeric
The breakdown of anything into clearly defined and understandable parts, and the study of the relationship of the parts to the whole. Example: An analysis of the general ledger sales accounts showed a sharp drop in sales after the ad campaign ended.
The act of putting something to a specific use. Refers to software that solves specific problems. The PBS application software applies the capabilities of computers to solve accounting problems.
A number given a document, such as an invoice, so that other documents, such as checks or credit memos, may be applied to the original document. In order to assign payments and make adjustments to a particular document, the PBS modules utilize an apply-to number. Example: Number 3406 is the apply-to number for the $100 payment from the Ace Company for the popsicles they bought from us on Invoice # 3406.
Abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a very common standard for representing characters as patterns of bits; for example, A is represented by 01011010. It is a widely accepted convention for representing characters, such as letters, digits, and special characters like the asterisk inside the computer. This convention includes the order of the characters that is, the order in that they are sorted. For instance, digits come before the upper case letters, that come before the lower case letters. It is called the ASCII Code, pronounced "askee".
Economic resources owned by a business that are expected to benefit future operations. Assets include monetary items, such as cash and accounts receivable from customers, as well as non-monetary physical items, such as inventories, land, buildings and equipment. Assets may also include non-physical rights, such as those granted by patent, trademark or copyright, as long as some monetary value can be assigned to them. See Current Assets, Fixed Assets
A path of accounting information that can be followed either forward or backward. A piece of accounting information usually comes from somewhere, or is going somewhere. Part of this information for example, a document number is used to track where it came from, or where it is going. The path made by tracking this information is the audit trail.
The figure that results from adding a quantity of figures and dividing their sum by the number of figures added together. For example 3. 5 is the average when 1, 2, 3 and 8 are added together and divided by 4. 1+2+3+8 = 14, divided by 4 number of figures = 3. 5.
A method of Inventory costing that uses the average cost of goods received to determine the value of inventory. Example: If there are 10 chairs in inventory that, at the time of purchase cost $100 each, and 10 more of the same chairs are received now and cost $200 each, the average cost of a chair in inventory is [10 x $100 + 10 x $200] / 20 = $150. See Standard Cost, LIFO, FIFO
Items of an order that are currently out of stock and, therefore, cannot be shipped until they become available. See Out of Stock
Anything that remains or is left over. The difference between the debits and credits in an account; the account balance. To compare and reconcile or make equal the sums of the debits and credits in one or more account, as is done on a balance sheet, as with a balance sheet. See Balance Sheet
The balance showing at the bottom of a ledger page when the page is full and is then brought forward to the top of the next page. In PBS modules, the term is applied to Balance Forward Customers, who are customers whose payments apply to their account as a whole, rather than to specific invoices. Statements for Balance Forward Customers show detailed transactions only for the current period. For all prior periods only the unpaid balance shows. Compare with Open Item Customers In PBS Check Reconciliation, the term means the balance in an account as of a certain date. A balance forward amount is a lump-sum dollar amount, obtained by adding together several individual dollar amounts. All these specific amounts are placed in the account on or before a specified date called the balance forward date. See Open Item
A financial statement listing the assets, liabilities and equity of the organization at the end of a financial period. The balance sheet always shows an equality between assets and the sum of the liabilities and equity. This follows the basic accounting formula: Assets = Liabilities + Equity. See Assets, Equity
A bill, statement or notice informing a debtor of an amount owed. The action of sending out bills, statements or notices or otherwise informing debtors of amounts owed. Example: Our billing is done each morning.
Invoice documents informing customers of amounts owed. The accumulated indebtedness of a person or company, represented by individual invoices or summary statements of money owed to creditors.
A specific quantity of an item or items on a blanket P. O. that you now want delivered. It is the current periodic shipment for the blanket order. The vendor was originally informed of the total quantity that you wanted over the course of the year. The release is the specific part of the total quantity that you want shipped now. See Blanket P. O.
A statement to a vendor that you want to buy a large total quantity of an item, but you don't want it delivered all at once. You want it delivered in pieces over the course of several months or a year. See Purchase Order (P.O.)
A utility that allows a user to setup fields with a default value, default function key and/or to skip the field. It works on any field in the PBS system when running in Character Mode. See Character Mode
An error in a program that prevents it from operating properly.
A statement of all the money or resources available to an activity within a specified period of time and a breakdown of how it will be spent or allocated. The amount of money in an activity’s budget is normally based on a calculation of what the activity needs to function or achieve its purpose. In PBS modules, the targeted or anticipated net change in the balance of a given account during a given period. Example:If our current Accounts Receivable balance is $63,000. 00, and our expected or planned balance at the end of the period is $84,000. 00, our A/R budget is $21,000. 00.
Overhead. Costs that are not directly incurred for a job, as opposed to direct costs. Examples of burden are rent for offices and manufacturing buildings, salaries of foremen and office staff, payroll taxes due on wages, etc. Examples of direct costs for a job are wood for frames, plumbers’ wages, etc. Burden is often broken down into two parts - labor burden and overhead burden, that is all burden except labor burden. See Labor Burden, Overhead, Overhead Burden.
It is often abbreviated as CR. In pre-computer days, typewriters were equipped with a lever on the right hand side known as a carriage return. When pressed, the mechanism sent the paper-holding cylinder, or carriage, to the left, and at the same time, rotated the paper upward to begin a new line. Eventually, a power carriage return was created that was pressed with the little finger on the right hand. This feature was first added to electric typewrites in 1960 by Smith Corona.
On computer keyboards, the carriage return, or just “return” for short, is now known as the Enter key and is labeled with a backward arrow symbol. This key serves the same function as the original carriage return, moving the cursor to the beginning of the next line. With the advent of word wrap, however, it was no longer necessary to press the carriage return at the end of each line. Now, the enter/return key is known as a hard return and is used only at the end of a paragraph.
Text files are not always compatible between operating systems. For example, in Linux each line ends with a LF, which indicates line feed. With Microsoft products, lines end with a combination of both CR/LF. Macintosh files are saved with CR.
Various text files are created throughout PBS. This includes files for direct deposit ACH, magnetic media, positive pay and CSV. As a default they will be saved with CR/LF in Windows and LF in UNIX or Linux. See Line Feed
Funds received as payment for goods and services sold, or disbursed as payments for goods and services received; or money deposited in the bank or held as currency. Cash is the most liquid of all assets, as compared to other types of assets, such as stocks, bonds, accounts receivable or inventory.
Under the cash method, income is not counted until cash (or a check) is actually received, and expenses are not counted until they are actually paid. See Accrual
Money received as payment for goods or services. When a customer sends a check to a business to pay for an item, a cash receipt transaction occurs, in that case the business receives payment and, in exchange, the customer is relieved of indebtedness. A payment in advance of receiving goods and services is also a cash receipt.
The record of the receipt of a payment from a customer.
In PBS modules, a report that shows all changes made to records on a master file, along with the date of the change and the initials of the user who made the change. The Change Log is optional. Use of the Change Log must be specified in the Company file.
The change to an original contract with a customer, detailing the exact changes to the original specifications of a job. Sometime after the original contract for a job is made between the contractor and his customer, the customer may want to make changes. This is done by means of a change order. The change order has its own set of specifications and price, agreed upon with the customer. A change order can also reduce the original job price, in that case its price is entered as a negative number.
One of a set of symbols, such as a letter, a number, or a special symbol, such as? (question mark), / (slash), + (plus) or: (colon).
This is the legacy type screens and entry fields that were first developed back in the early 80's. Since version 12 was released, there is now a second type of screen access and data entry called Graphical Mode. See Graphical Mode
To set or ask a specific amount as a price. To hold financially liable; demand payment from. To postpone payment on a service or purchase by recording it as a debt. An entry to any account recording a debt.
A list of General Ledger accounts that have been assigned classification numbers so that each account may be easily identified. A chart or listing of all the accounts for the five major account types. See Accounts
Bringing into agreement the balance of your checkbook and the balance shown on your bank statement.
To mark a transaction as having been recognized and recorded by the bank. For example, you wrote a check that was received by your bank, who recognized your check as valid and transferred money from your checking account to the bank that the payee deposited it in. At that point, the check cleared and your bank reduced your account balance accordingly. The check will appear on your next bank statement.
An account whose function is to hold a balance that is temporary and that will be cleared out by a second financial transaction that is known to be occurring soon. This second transaction is certain to occur and will reverse out the first transaction from the clearing account. The clearing account never appears on financial statements. See Accounts
A system whereby letters, numbers and other symbols are arbitrarily assigned a meaning. The set of instructions in a computer program.
A type of data format in which each piece of data is separated by a comma. This is a popular format for transferring data from one application to another, because most database systems, including exports of the G/L Trial Balance and Financial Statements.
For example, data pulled from a database and represented in comma-delimited format looks something like the following where each field value is separated by a comma from the next field’s value and each row starts a new line:
Adams, Jane, 42, female, Illinois
Doe, James, 32, male, California
Jones, Samuel, 18, male, Texas
Smith, Marlene, 54, female, New Jersey
When data is represented in comma-delimited format they also are referred to as comma-separated values, abbreviated as CSV.
Fields may or may not be enclosed with double quotes depending on whether the field itself contains special characters (including spaces and commas).
Comma separate values
See Comma-delimited
The balance at the end of the prior fiscal year or accounting period, to be used as a comparison to the ending balance of the current fiscal year or accounting period. Example: The comparative to our A/P balance of $124,820. 00 at the end of May, 2016, is $122,640. 00, that was the balance at the end of May, 2015.
A program used by a programmer to create an object program from a source program. See Object Program, Source Program
Money given or received as an exchange for work done, as in an employer-employee relationship.
To shorten the number or length of records or blocks to save storage space on a disk by eliminating gaps, empty fields, redundancies or data that is no longer needed. In the PBS General Ledger module, the purpose of the compress function is to reduce storage space taken by existing data on a disk and also speed up other General Ledger functions. See Compression Code.
A one-character code that specifies whether the Summarize General Ledger function in the G/L module will consolidate all transactions for a single day, or for a single accounting period, or will retain full transaction detail. The values for the code are: D = date compression; P = period compression; and N = no compression. See Compress and Code
Every purchase order entered into the P/O function must have some value entered for its confirming order status to indicate whether or not the purchase order is a confirming order. The confirming order status in the PBS P/O system can have one of four possible values:
Yes, this is a confirming order.
No, this is not a confirming order it is an original purchase order sent to the vendor.
For Internal Use Only - This is not to be sent to the vendor.
Do not print - Do not print this purchase order.
The way in which the software and hardware components of a computer system are arranged and interconnected. In the case of PBS, it is the way the applications and parts of the applications are interconnected. See Re-configure
A strengthening or making firm. Compression into a compact mass. A becoming solid or firm. A combination or merging. In PBS accounting software, the action of combining the accounting records of a parent company and its subsidiaries or a group of related companies in order to show the financial activity of the entire group of companies. See also Multi-Company Consolidation
An aspect of a job or group of jobs for that money might be spent. Cost categories define in a fairly detailed way the types of work or costs that can go into one or more of your jobs. Examples of cost categories are: rough carpentry, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, etc. Cost categories are more detailed than cost types, and can be broken down into even more detailed categories if desired, until a very fine level of detail is reached. See the sample set of cost categories in the Job Cost User documentation See Cost Types, Cost Item
A part of a business that generates its own income and incurs its own expenses, that you choose to break out separately for accounting purposes. Example: One store in a chain of stores generates its own income through sales to its customers, and incurs its own expenses, such as its employees’ wages and telephone and utility bills. A conceptual rather than physical part of a company could also be a cost center. Example: In a company, one cost center could be Industrial Product Sales and another could be Home Product Sales.
When setting up the system, a cost center is a part of the full General Ledger account number. See General Ledger Account Number, Sub-account
A cost category assigned to a specific job. The difference between a cost item and a cost category is that a cost item is connected to a specific job and assigned a dollar amount. A full list of the cost items in a job is equivalent to a complete description of the work and costs that make up the job. Example: The cost category Finish carpentry-labor is budgeted for the Smiths’ house to be $3500. Therefore, Finish carpentry-labor = $3500 is listed as a cost item under the job for the Smiths’ house. See Cost Category, Cost Types
Records in the Job Master file that contain data about the exact types of work and costs that make up the job. Every job in the Job Master file will usually have several or many Cost Item Records for it. These come after the header record in the Job Master File. Example: In the Job Master file is a job called Smith’s House. The Header identifies the job, the customer contracted with, their phone numbers, the total cost of the job, etc. The Cost Item Records are entered after the header. For example:
|
Rough Carpentry |
$20,000 |
|
Finish Carpentry-labor |
$7,500 |
|
Plumbing |
$11,000 |
|
Glass |
$14,000 |
One way of arranging payment for a job. You agree to charge the customer whatever your own costs are, plus an additional amount of money that will be your profit. This additional amount can be a percentage of your own costs or it can be a fixed amount above your costs. Example: The contract calls for cost plus 10 percent. Materials and labor cost the builder $100,000. The customer is billed $110,000.
The broad classification of types of costs that go into all of your jobs. These are not very specific and do not describe the costs in any detail. Examples are: labor, materials, subcontract fees, overhead, administrative expenses, etc. A more detailed breakdown of types of costs is provided by the cost categories. See Cost Category
The acknowledgment of a payment by a debtor, by the entry of the amount of the payment into the debtor’s account. An entry that signifies a decrease in an asset or expense account, or an increase in a liability, owner’s equity or revenue account. See Debit, T-Account
A document notifying a customer that his account has been credited. Example: A credit memo was issued for the lumber you returned yesterday. An adjustment to an account that reduces a customer’s indebtedness. This applies to the customer account, not the general ledger account. Issuing a credit memo will create general ledger account entries, but these are not called credit memos. A credit memo credits or reduces Accounts Receivable. See Debit Memo
A person or firm to whom money or its equivalent is owed.
CSV
See Comma-delimited
A key on a keyboard that modifies the action of other keys, to provide a quick way of issuing commands to a program. Abbreviation for Control.
Assets that will be exchanged or used within a relatively short period of time, usually under one year. Examples are cash and inventory. Differs from Fixed Assets, that have a long life, or will not be exchanged or used up for a long time, such as land or machinery. See Assets, Fixed Assets
A flashing or stationary rectangle or thin line of light, used to indicate where the next character will appear on the computer screen when you make an entry on the keyboard.
A person or organization who buys goods or services from a business, especially on a regular basis.
Information that a computer uses to do work. Most of the data used by your PBS programs comes from your entry of it into the computer. Data is stored in files where programs locate the information needed.
The information available to a computer and its programs. Example: The files within the PBS Job Cost module and the data they contain about jobs, cost types, customers, vendors, etc. make up a Data Base. A vast and continuously updated file of data on a particular subject.
A collection of similar or related items of information recorded on a computer, having a specific name and significance. A data file is similar to a file folder in a file cabinet.
An entry that signifies an increase in an asset or expense account, or a decrease in a liability, owner’s equity or revenue account. An entry of an amount in the debit or left-hand side of a ledger. To record the fact of a customer receiving goods or services on the customer’s account and the Accounts Receivable general ledger account. See Credit, T-Account
An adjustment to an account that increases a customer’s indebtedness. In this case, the term applies to a customer account, not a general ledger account. Issuing a debit memo creates general ledger account entries, but these are not called debit memos. See Credit Memo
An obligation or liability to pay. Something owed, such as money, goods or services.
A subtraction. The thing that is or may be deducted or subtracted. In PBS Payroll, a pre-arranged subtraction from pay that is connected to specific employees. Example: Mr. Smith has a $20 per week deduction for health insurance. See Payroll
The value or action taken by a computer program in the absence of any specific choice entered by the person using the program. PBS restricts this term to a value that appears in a field when the screen is presented to you, and that may be selected by pressing <Enter>. In many other cases, a preselected or precalculated value for a field is offered as an option and may be entered by pressing <F2>. Some fields have both.
Data files that come with the demonstration versions of the software modules and that contain data to be used in sample runs of the software.
A decrease or loss in value because of wear and tear caused by use over time. In accounting, an allowance made for such a loss.
A list of files contained on a disk.
An amount paid. The journal recording payments made is often called the Disbursements Journal.
To deduct or subtract an amount from a cost or price. To deduct interest from a loan before making it. The amount or percent deducted from the price. See Discount Date
The last day upon that payment may be made with a discount, after that the full price must be paid. A discount is often offered by a vendor for prompt payment of invoices. The number of days allowed for payment with a discount is known as the discount days. See Discount
In the PBS A/P, A/R, C/R, Payroll and Job Cost modules: The act of allocating transaction amounts to G/L accounts. An amount allocated to a G/L account.
A written or printed paper bearing the original, official or legal form of something, that can be used to furnish evidence or information. The physical record of a transaction. It is generally thought of as a business paper that summarizes what occurred and provides evidence of the transaction. Examples are invoices, checks, credit memos, shipping bills and statements.
A method used in accounting to check the accuracy of information entered into journals and ledgers. Under this system, for every transaction recorded the total dollar amount of debits must equal the total dollar amount of credits, and each total must equal the amount of the transaction. Example: Someone buys a television. The total price is $400. 00, $20. 00 of that is sales tax. The double entry process would be:
|
Debit: |
CASH |
$400.00 |
|
Credit: |
SALES |
$380. 00 |
|
Credit: |
SALES TAX |
$20.00 |
If the debits and credits in a journal or ledger are not equal, you know immediately that there has been an error in entry.
In information technology, this means you move from summary information to detailed data by focusing in on something. To drill down through a database is to access information by starting with a general record or category and moving through the hierarchy of field to file to record. PBS provides Drill downs at various locations throughout the system.
The date on that payment is due. The number of days allowed before an invoice must be paid is specified in the terms of the sale. See Terms
To gain or deserve salary, wages or other reward for one’s services, labor or performance. To produce interest or some other return as profit.
Income earned for services rendered; wages, salary.
Earned Income Credit (EIC) Advance Payment
Money advanced to an employee by the employer to compensate for money withheld as taxes by the IRS, based on the prediction that the employee will earn a certain low amount of income. The employer is reimbursed for these by the IRS at the end of the year.
To make changes, additions, deletions, or rearrangements, or to change data in any manner before making it permanent posting. See Transaction File, as shown re: edit list.
A list of transactions in a temporary file. You use it to check the accuracy of your data so that you can make corrections before the transactions are made permanent posted. See transaction file
The key on most keyboards that is used to end an entry. The <Enter> key is pressed at the end of the entry to inform the computer that the entry is complete. Some keyboards show this as the Return key.
The difference between the value of a company’s assets and its liabilities; the company’s current net value. This value is considered to be claimable by the owners of the company; therefore, it is also called owner’s equity.
A message that tells you when an error has occurred and tells you what it is. An error usually prevents the function from continuing until it is corrected. This is often accompanied by a beep sound from the computer.
The key on most keyboards used to Quit or Escape. To abandon whatever you are now doing and return to what you were doing before. In general, four levels of escape are possible: Escaping from an interior segment of a segmented field returns you to the first segment of that field. Escaping from any field of a screen except the first returns you to the first field of the screen. Escaping from the first field of a screen returns you to the previous screen. Escaping from the PBS main menu returns you to the operating system prompt. Within a box or window, escaping avoids having to select a choice from that window by returning to the field from which that window was invoked. Within a running display, escape is available as soon as a process has terminated, and returns you to the screen from which you initiated that process.
The barter or trading of money, property or services in return for like items of equal or similar value.
The financial cost or price spent to perform some activity or produce something. The total bills one is committed to paying or has already paid.
A portion of a record containing one piece of information. The place on a screen where a user can enter data, view entered data or calculated data. See Field andFile.
The number associated with a particular data field on the video screen. Example: In the Customers function the field number for Customer Number is 1.
Note: In the graphical version of PBS field numbers have been removed. See Graphical Mode
Abbreviation for First-in, First-out. A term associated with determining the value of inventory, meaning the first things purchased or manufactured are the first things sold. To apply the FIFO method to inventory, a history of the quantity received at a given cost is kept for each shipment of an item received. As items are sold, inventory is relieved adjusted by deducting the quantity shipped from the quantity received at the earliest first price on the history file. Thus, the value of inventory is always the value of all items in stock at the latest price or prices paid for them.
For example, 10 items are received into inventory at a cost of $5 each. One week later, 10 more items are received at a cost of $10 each. The total value of inventory is then $150. If 12 items are shipped, then the value of inventory becomes $80. Calculation: Of the 12 items shipped, the value of the first 10 is calculated at $5 each $50. This wipes out the earliest First-in stock. The value of the other 2 shipped is calculated at $10 each $20, since all 10 of the earliest $5 items have already been counted as shipped. Therefore, the value of the remaining inventory is 10x$5 + 10x$10 - 10x$5 - 2x$10 = $50 + $100 - $50 - $20 = $80. This $80 value represents the value of the 8 items still in stock at the latest price $10 each. Compare to LIFO, Average Cost Method, Standard Cost Method
A collection of documents, records, cards or data arranged in an accessible order usually alphabetically or numerically. Examples: Personnel records, inventory records, customer address records, etc. A container, cabinet, shelf or similar arrangement that holds such data. In a computer, a file is a collection of related records. A file can contain data or programs. Example: All customer records are in the Customer file. SeeField andRecord
A field in a record that identifies the record. This identification is defined by the programmer and cannot usually be changed without deleting and reentering the record.
Example: In the Customer file, the file key is the customer number, and the number for each customer is different. In this way the computer can find the exact customer the user wants. See Record, Field
A function that allows the user to add, delete, change, inquire into or print the records in a file.
The method that restricts access to data while the data is used or accessed by someone else.
The technology of the management of money and other assets. The area of business concerned with maintaining the inflow of money to be greater than the outflow of money.
The amount of money charged for borrowing money or extending credit. Example: XYZ Company gives customer Bill Smith 30 days to pay for some lumber. After 30 days, XYZ Company will add a finance charge to the amount of money Bill Smith still owes for this lumber.
A report showing financial data about the state and results of the operations of a business. There are many kinds of financial statements, the main ones being the Profit and Loss Statement also called Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. See Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement
Of or pertaining to finances in general.
A twelve-month period used by a company for its own accounting or financial purposes. The fiscal year may or may not be the same as the regular calendar year. Many companies use the calendar year ending December 31 for their fiscal year. Other companies find it convenient to choose a fiscal year that ends during a slack season, rather than during a busy or peak season. In this way, the fiscal year would correspond to the natural annual cycle of business activity for such companies. Still other companies find it convenient to choose the same fiscal year as most government agencies, that begins October 1 and ends September 30 of the following year. Example: Happy Valley Ski Resort’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Thus the books can close during the slow season.
Assets that have a long life or will not be exchanged or used up for a long time, such as land or machinery. Differs from current assets, that are exchanged or used within a relatively short period of time, usually under one year. See Assets, Current Assets
A method of charging a customer for a job. The customer pays a fixed price, no matter how much it costs the contractor. Example: The Smiths sign a contract to have their house built for $135,000. A strike by the plumbers’ union causes delays and the finished house costs the contractor $138,000. The Smiths still pay $135,000.
The operation of a dot matrix or pin feed printer that advances a continuous form to the top of the next page.
A predetermined arrangement of characters, fields, lines, punctuation, page numbers, etc. All those things that determine form. Example: When entering a date in a PBS function, entry is done using the MMDDYY format. The exact way that information is arranged on a printed page-- for example, an invoice. A/R offers many ways to arrange billing information on a printed invoice--a large set of formats to choose from each time you print one. The way a particular model of computer places information on a disk. Example: Computers made by one company usually can't read information from disks that come from another brand of computer. This is because the format is different. This computer uses an IBM format. A program supplied with a computer operating system to prepare a disk to be used by that model of computer.
The charge for transporting goods from one place to another. Goods carried by a vessel or vehicle.
Federal Unemployment Insurance A federal tax, paid by employers, to provide income to people who lose their jobs.
An operation that a PBS module performs, such as the Customers function or the Sales function.
Designated keys on the computer keyboard that serve a special function defined by the program being used. A function key can be a single key, or two keys pressed simultaneously. <Esc>, <F1>, and <F2> are examples used in PBS software. With the use of these keys the computer performs certain processing steps without the user having to enter instructions in detail. Example: In a PBS module, a program might prompt you to Press<F2> for totals. This means that when you press the <F2> key, the software displays the totals for the account, customer, vendor, etc.
A legal proceeding in that a portion of an employee’s wages are given to a creditor instead of to the employee, in payment of the employee’s debts. Such amounts withheld from employee wages.
A contractor who enters into a contract directly with the person requesting and paying for the work. Also a contractor who takes full responsibility for completion of a project. A person wanting a building constructed will enter into an agreement with a general contractor, rather than with each sub-contractor. The general contractor will then hire the sub-contractors for specific parts of the job. Also called prime contractor, to distinguish from a sub-contractor.
A book of original entry for the daily recording of miscellaneous transactions that do not belong in the four main specific types of journals. The four special journals that are used with the general journal are: Sales journal, Purchases journal, Cash receipts journal, and Cash payments journal. Example: Correcting and adjusting transactions and depreciation are all recorded in the General Journal; compare with Journal .
A book in that the monetary transactions of a business are recorded in their final form. From the General Ledger, all the company’s financial transactions can be summarized and printed in financial statements. A type of software that sets up and handles all the functions related to keeping a General Ledger.
These functions usually include setting up a Chart of Accounts, posting journals and producing financial statements. See Chart of Accounts, Posting, Journal and Financial Statement
A number that identifies a General Ledger account. See Cost Center, Sub-account.
Beginning with version 12 of PBS, PSI introduced a fully graphical screen with all the characteristics of a graphical application. This is called Graphical Mode and is sometimes referred to as Full Graphical. Graphical mode includes features such as list boxes, drop-down list boxes, application menus, tabs and more.
Before version 12 there was only Character Mode. See Character Mode
The difference between the selling price and the cost of the items being sold. It is the gross margin because it does not take into account other operating expenses, such as rent, telephone, etc. Example: The hammers purchased at $15. 00 each are sold at $25. 00 each. The gross margin is $10. 00. See Margin
All the physical components of the computer that can be seen and touched. Examples of hardware are the mouse, the keyboard, monitor, printers, etc.
Adding numbers associated with a set of records to validate the integrity of the data. A summation is compared to a prior total to determine if any data has been lost or erroneously entered.
The head or title at the beginning of a page of a printed document. In PBS software, a record that serves to identify a sales order, a purchase order or a job. It is called a header because it comes at the head of the remaining job or order information. The header is followed by the cost item or line item records. Examples: In Job Cost the job header includes the name of the job, the customer, the price of the job, etc. In Order Entry the order header includes the customer’s name, address, payment terms, etc. See Cost Item
Hex A numbering system using 16 numerals:0, l, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Compare this with the decimal number system, that uses 0-9, and with the binary system, that uses only 0 and 1. Hexadecimal numbers are complex and require a full chapter in a math or computer book. Programmers use hexadecimal numbers to convert binary numbers into something they can read more easily. Example: A programmer writes FF in hexadecimal to represent an 8-bit byte of all 1s. Someone familiar with hexadecimal knows that the number being represented is 11111111 in binary.
Wages paid to an employee during legal holidays when he is not working. See Vacation Pay
The upper left hand corner of the screen or a field is the home position for the cursor. See Cursor
Short for HyperText Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. With HTML defines the structure and layout of a Web document by using a variety of tags and attributes. In PBS some of these tags and attributes are used when generating HTML reports.
The total money that a company or business receives from all sources as a result of business transactions. What a person receives, such as money or a useful exchange, as a result of services rendered, a job done, interest on investments, profit from the buying and selling of something, etc. See Profit and Loss Statement
See Profit and Loss Statement, Financial Statement
To increase. A small increase in quantity. In mathematics, a small increase or decrease. In computers, to increase a number, usually by 1.
The state of being morally, socially or legally obligated to another to repay something. Something owed to another.
The data or instructions that are entered into the computer for processing. To enter data or instructions. Information or data transferred or to be transferred from an external storage medium into the internal storage of the computer. Examples: A hard drive with information on it or a stack of paper with information to be entered.
The act of setting up, connecting or adjusting for use.
Completeness or wholeness. In PBS applications the word is used in the context of the data integrity report. This report is used to check the integrity of data files to see if any data has been lost. Note: This report is no longer being used. Data integrity is rarely ever an issue in PBS.
The amount of money charged or paid for the use of another’s money. A charge for a financial loan, usually a percentage of the amount loaned.
1. An electronic device that arranges data and controls the transmission of data between a processor and an I/O device. To link a processor with another piece of equipment, such as a printer.
2. A program that brings data from one software application to another, whether internal or external applications. See ODBC
An itemized list of articles, materials or possessions on the premises or in stock, showing quantity, description, cost and other details. The physical goods located on the premises of a business or stored in a warehouse. A software module that performs the functions of tracking inventory and inventory information.
Things to that one has committed money in order to gain profit or interest. Examples: The purchase of property, equipment, stocks or bonds.
A complete list of the merchandise, goods or services delivered to the buyer by the seller. It usually shows quantity, price, shipping charges and any other costs or discounts. A bill. See Bills
Abbreviation for Input/Output. Describing all the activities of getting data into and out of the computer.
Abbreviation for Individual Retirement Account. Money allowed by the Federal Government to be saved by individuals for their use after retiring from employment and that is not taxed until withdrawn.
1. A single thing in a list.
2. A single piece of merchandise or part in an inventory.
A transaction to record the estimate of the amount of a job or a cost item on a job has been done or still needs to be done. These transactions allow the Job Cost module to print reports showing whether a job is ahead of or behind schedule, or over or under budget. See Sub-Job
A file you set up when you first start using a PBS module. This file holds information that specifies how you want your PBS module to run in the day-to-day use of it. The Company information is the control file for the entire system.
The journal is sometimes called the book of original entry. The unit of organization of the journal is the transaction entry and these are recorded in time sequence. A single transaction may have many debits and credits all to different general ledger accounts. The general ledger is organized by account. Transferring entries from the journal to the general ledger is called posting. Each debit and credit of a journal entry is copied into the ledger under its appropriate account heading. The journal and ledger entries are then cross-referenced with each other’s page numbers. See Ledger, General Ledger, and Compare with General Journal
A field in a record that makes that record unique from all others in the file and identifies it. Example: In a Customer file there is a separate record for each customer that is identified by the customer’s number. In this case the customer number is the key. In some cases keys are not unique, but simply serve to retrieve the record. Example: The customer name.
The expenses incurred for workers in addition to their actual wages. It includes such things as the employer’s share of FICA social security, federal and state unemployment insurance tax, workers’ compensation insurance premiums, employer-paid union contributions, etc. The words burden and overhead are defined in this glossary as the same. However, labor burden is often treated separately from other types of overhead. See Burden, Overhead, Overhead Burden
The overall plan, design or format. In the General Ledger module, this refers to a financial statement layout. This is the list of codes and accounts that define exactly how a particular financial statement is to be printed.
An explanatory caption accompanying things like maps, illustrations and reports. A code found in a financial statement layout in the PBS General Ledger module that results in the printing of the date and column headings.
In accounting, the book of final entry where the transactions of a business, previously entered in a journal or daybook book of original entry are finally posted under specific accounts. These accounts are usually listed in the following order: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income and Expenses. See Journal , General Journal
A group of characters or line of text is left justified when it is aligned with the left margin; that is, there are no spaces between the left margin and the first character of the line. See Right Justified
The sum of debts one owes to others. The total of financial claims or potential claims against a person, company or business. The total of financial claims made or able to be made against a corporation. This includes claims for payment to vendors, wages, taxes accrued, etc. One of these claims by itself would be a liability.
Acronym for Last-in, First-out, that is a method of tracking the cost of inventory. It is assumed that as inventory is sold to customers, the most recently received stock goes out the door first.
To apply LIFO to inventory, a history of the quantity received and the price paid for the items is kept for each shipment. As items are sold, inventory is relieved adjusted by deducting the quantity shipped from the quantity in the warehouse at the most recent last price in the history file. In this way the value of inventory is always the value of all items in stock at the earliest price or prices paid for them.
Example:10 items are received into inventory at a cost of $5 each. One week later, 10 more items are received into inventory at a cost of $10 each. The total value of inventory is then $150. If 12 items are shipped, the total value of inventory becomes $40. Calculation: Of the 12 items shipped, the value of the last 10 are calculated at $10 each $100. This wipes out the latest Last-in items in stock. The value of the other 2 shipped is calculated at $5 each $10, since all 10 of the latest $10 items have already been counted as shipped. Therefore, the value of the remaining inventory is: 10x$5 + 10x$10 - 10x$10 - 2x$5 = $50 + $100 - $100 - $10 equals $40. If we multiply the remaining items by their assumed cost, 8x$5 = $40, we get the same result.
Prices usually go up, not down, so costing inventory by LIFO tends to reduce both the gross margin and the stated value of remaining inventory. Compare with FIFO, Average Cost Method, Standard Cost Method
The keyboard or printer function that feeds or advances a document one line at a time. An example is a printer, advancing the paper one print line up.
In a text file it is a special character at the end of the line. See Carriage return
An entry on an invoice for a distinct service or item sold. There is one line on the invoice for each item or service. A line item includes such data as the description of the service or item, quantity, unit, and price.
An actual value permanently stored in a program. This is done by the programmer entering what the value. Example: The literal JOE in a COBOL program would cause the characters J O E to be stored in the program.
A sum of money lent, usually with interest.
A means of accessing information from a file via the <F8> function key. Many fields in PBS are tied to a field and have an associated Lookup.
A menu that lists the functions of a module available to the user. Example: Customers, Sales, and Cash receipts are selections on the A/R main menu.
To keep things up to date. The PBS software has many functions that maintain data. Example: Using the Customers function, you can add, change, view, delete or print customer records. These actions allow you to maintain the customer data.
The difference between the selling price of an item and its cost. The profit you make on the sale of an item. See Gross Margin
A permanent file where the main type of reference data for a module is stored. Example: In the Accounts Receivable module, the Customer file is a master file. Compare with the Transaction File
A menu that lists the modules available to the user. Example: If Job Cost, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable are on your computer, each is listed on the Master Menu. See Menu
Food provided for an employee as part of his compensation. This is the meaning in the PBS Payroll application.
The physical object upon that data can be stored. For example; magnetic tape, floppy or hard disks, punched cards, optical disks, compact disks, DVD, etc.
A collection of electronic circuits in that data is stored. Each binary digit is stored as an electrical signal within the circuits. Memory is classified as read-only or read/write, and its size is measured in kilobytes or megabytes.
A list of choices presented by the computer software to the user. These choices are usually programs or specific program functions. The menu is displayed on the screen, where a number or letter represents each option. PBS has three menu type options described in the Menus section of the Starting PBS, Menus and Printing chapter. See Sub-menu
Products, goods, commodities and the like, that may be bought or sold. To buy, sell or exchange goods and services.
The current method of operation. The current state of a device. Example: Output mode
A part of a program, a whole program or a group of programs designed to fit together with other similar parts. Example: The various parts of the program that make up the Vendors function are modules, and the entire function itself is a larger module Accounts Payable. Modules could also be called Applications or Packages.
In PBS General Ledger, the function that combines the General Ledgers of a group of companies into one General Ledger. This step is usually done for companies where one or more parent-subsidiary relationships exist. Each company in the group of such relationships maintains its own financial records and produces its own financial statements. However, the group of companies also operate as a single economic entity and so combined or consolidated financial statements are prepared. Multi-company consolidation enables this. See Consolidation
A purchase order that specifies to the vendor that some of the items on the order should be delivered to one location and other items should be delivered to another location. There can be several locations that the goods are delivered to - multiple drops.
Refers to a computer system set up so that more than one person can use the same programs at the same time from different terminals. All users can access the same files except when a file has been protected. See File Protection
The amount remaining after all necessary deductions or losses have been accounted for, as a company’s net profits. The amount designated on an invoice as the final amount. The final amount on a check paying a bill after all discounts have been deducted; or on a payroll check the final earnings amount after all taxes and other deductions have been removed.
Net Current Assets
See Working Capital
The residual value of an economic entity that can be realized by the owner[s] after all claims by creditors have been fully satisfied.
Pertaining to data that consists only of numbers, rather than letters and numbers. See Alphanumeric
A program that has been translated from a source program, by means of a compiler, into a form directly understandable by a computer or runtime. The computer uses the object program; the programmer creates it with the source program. See Source Program, Runtime, and Compiler
Open Database Connectivity is a standard way of accessing data from one application and reading it into another. ODBC is often used for custom reporting, spreadsheets and other queries of PBS. Access to PBS data utilizing the ODBC technology is available with a product called XDBC. Contact your PBS provider for information on acquiring XDBC.
A code whose values consist of only one character. Example: In Accounts Receivable the customer’s balance method is a one-character code: B for Balance Forward or O for Open Item.
In the PBS Order Entry system an invoice is prepared immediately, based on the customer’s order. There is no second step of reviewing the order and selecting what is to be billed. Compare with Two-Step Billing
1. The situation in the operation of the system that its peripheral equipment is under the control of the main computer. Example: When a printer is being used to print data from the computer, it is said to be on-line. When it is switched over to be used independently as a typewriter, it is off-line. Available for use by the computer. Example: The printer is plugged into the computer and the power is on. The printer is then on-line. The programs and data files residing on those disks that are actually in the computer disk drives.
2. Accessing information or an application via the Internet.
An invoice that has not been fully paid or otherwise zeroed out.
An open item customer is one whose payments apply to particular invoices. Statements for open item customers show all open invoices regardless of the period when they originated. Compare with Balance Forward customers. In the PBS A/P and A/R modules, any bill that has not been fully paid, and any unused credit or debit memo on file for any vendor or customer. See Balance Forward
A set of programs provided by the computer manufacturer that act as a go-between for the user between the computer and the application software. When the user wishes to run a program or perform a task, he informs the operating system, that then instructs the computer on what task it should perform. Example: The user goes through the computer’s operating system to start an application program. The operating system starts the application software so that the user can handle his accounting.
Data files that are on-line and actively available for use by the computer. Data files used by the user in his daily activities on the computer.
An item of inventory that is not available for delivery to the customer. See Back Order
Results produced by a computer. To transfer information from a computer to an output device, such as a printer.
Expenses not directly related to a specific job. Example: Overhead could include wages to office personnel, office supplies, rent and utilities of the home office. These are not direct job costs because they occur whether a specific job is underway or not. See Burden, Labor Burden, Overhead Burden
As opposed to labor burden. All burden or overhead expenses except for the additional expenses for labor due to employer paid taxes, pension and union benefits, etc. See Overhead, Burden, Labor Burden
Payment for work done outside of or beyond regular hours.
See Equity
The function from which an access group is built, or the function from which another is temporarily accessed.
A statement that accompanies a shipment of goods, that itemizes the number and type of items included in the shipment. An inventory list of items shipped.
In the PBS General Ledger module, the Chart of accounts function allows the user to enter a one-character code to define the use of parentheses on financial statements. The code specifies whether debit or credit values for an account constitute a non-typical balance. If the balance in an account is non-typical, then it is enclosed in parentheses. Example: Cash is usually a debit balance account, so its parentheses control code would be C for credit. This means that when the cash account has a credit balance, the dollar amount will appear in parentheses on financial statements to indicate that this balance is not typical.
A group of characters that uniquely identifies the user of a system and that controls his or her access to the menu selections in PBS. Example: A password is created called Will*3. This password is defined so the user of the password can enter accounts receivable invoice transactions, but cannot make changes to the Customers.
Access to programs and data on a computer controlled by passwords. See Password
A change made to a program to correct a mistake or change its operation.
Requiring payment. The area of a business’s accounting dealing with transactions requiring payment by the business: Payables, or Accounts Payable.
Something of value given in return for goods or services.
Literally, the roll to be paid. A list of employees receiving wages for a given period, showing the amount due to each, as well as the total sum to be paid out. The total sum of money to be paid out to employees at a given time. See Holiday Pay, Vacation Pay
Certain taxes and deductions may be subtracted and additional earnings may be added to the employees check amount to get the net pay. See Taxes, Deduction
Abbreviation for Personal Computer.
Short for Portable Document Format. This is a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe™ Reader™ or Adobe Acrobat™, both applications distributed by Adobe Systems. See http://www.adobe.com/
In PBS running on Windows, reports can be displayed in PDF.
In Windows, UNIX and Linux certain forms can be saved as PDF files. In Windows these forms can be emailed or viewed from within PBS. As generating PDF files is not universal to the PBS system it will be explained in the appropriate chapter of the User documentation.
The proportion or amount of the total profit that can be attributed to a particular item or customer. Example: 20% of our profits last year came from sales of our new roller skates.
The proportion or amount of the total sales that can be attributed to a particular customer’s item or salesman. Example: Bill Smith produced 15% of our sales.
A period of time from the first day of the present period, up to and including the current date. Used as a period of time to encompass the amount of sales, the quantity of items sold, etc. Example: The period-to-date sales are $15,000. Example: If the current period began June 1 and today is June 20, then sales period-to-date would be all sales made from June 1 to June 20.
An input, output or storage device connected to the computer, such as a printer, a monitor, a CD ROM drive, etc.
In the Standard Journal function in the PBS General Ledger module, any entry that is made to the same account for the same amount each accounting period. Compare with Variable Journal Entry
A payment or benefit received in addition to regular wages or salary. A tip, gratuity. A benefit expected as one’s due. Picking Ticket
A list of inventory items to be gathered and prepared for shipment, usually listed in order of bin location in the stockroom or warehouse.
This information goes along with each line item of the P. O. Each line item has its own distribution information. The distribution information tells the purpose of the line item. It is for inventory, for a job, for something else. It does this by giving the specific G/L account number or job number to which the item applies.
All information about the purchase order except for the information about what is being ordered. This includes: P. O. number and date; the vendor’s number, name and address; how the goods are to be shipped; where the goods are to be shipped; etc. A P. O. has only one header, but it can have any number of line items. See P. O. Line Item Information
The information about what is being ordered. There is one line on a P. O. for every item being ordered. The full description of an item being ordered, including the quantity ordered, the price, and delivery, is called a line item of the purchase order.
Point of sale refers to the place and time at which goods are being purchased or services delivered. An invoice available at that time and place is called a point of sale invoice. This is in contrast to an invoice that is available some time after the actual sale and that must be mailed to the customer. For example, an invoice available to a patient at the end of a doctor’s office visit is a point of sale invoice.
Point of Sale refers to the PBS Point of Sale module which is P/S on the menu.
In accounting this means to place records into the General Ledger. In PBS software, this means transferring transaction data into the permanent files. In order to affect previously posted information, new adjusting transactions must be entered and posted; previously posted data cannot be changed directly.
An amount of money or bonus paid in addition to a regular price or wage, such as a bonus paid to a craftsman for excellent work. The amount paid to obtain a loan, sometimes in addition to interest. The amount paid, often in installments, for an insurance policy. In merchandising, something offered free or at a greatly reduced price as an inducement to buy something else at the regular price.
Overtime and double-time hours, hours for that workers will be paid more than their standard wage. This usually occurs when a worker stays on the job more than 8 hours in a day or more than 40 hours in a week, or works holidays or weekends.
Required as a prior condition to something.
To have a printer write out the information requested. You may also have the option to display a report. In this case the information is shown on the computer screen, rather than being printed.
The function of selecting and then causing to be printed reports that have earlier been saved on disk.
An option available in PBS software where reports can be directed to be saved on disk for later printing.
The device that prints on paper data received from a computer. A printer can also be a virtual printer driver that can create a special file type like PDF or it can send a fax.
To work on perform calculation with, sort data. Example: To process payroll records, you enter employee information, such as employee number, pay rate, hours worked, etc. into the computer. The computer processes the data performs calculations, such as computing taxes and payroll deductions, and then prints pay checks.
The increase in the net worth of a business in an accounting period. The return received from a business after all the operating expenses have been subtracted from the income.
Processing Bank is the direct deposit bank that will process payments in the ACH file. In most cases, this is your bank. However, if your bank were sending the ACH file to a Federal Reserve for processing, then it would be the Federal Reserve Bank. This information becomes the Immediate Destination in the Ctl Banks setup and gets written to the direct deposit ACH file. See the Banks chapter. See ACH or Automated Clearing House and Receiving Bank
A statement showing the net profit or loss for a given period. A financial statement that shows the gross income for all goods or services sold, less all costs involved in producing those goods or services. This is normally calculated for a given time period, such as a month, quarter or year. Also called an Income Statement. See Financial Statement
An error that prevents a program from being loaded into the computer memory. When this occurs, an error message is displayed. In most cases Program Load Fail means that the program was not found where it was supposed to be.
A message displayed on the screen that tells the user what to do next or what his current options are.
To distribute expenses, profits, or other money, in ratio to a predetermined rate or percent. Example: The total cost of the party was prorated over all the merry-makers.
This is the Passport Update Program. Updates, or Upgrades, are provided by Passport Software on a regular basis. These updates provide new functionality, fixes to bugs and occasionally major system enhancements. They also keep you up-to-date so that PBS will run on the latest versions of the newer operating systems. If you are not on the Passport Update Program, we highly recommend that you contact your PBS provider for details on enrolling. If you do not have a PBS provider or your provider is not supplying the updates, contact Passport Software at 800-969-7900 and we will help you with that.
To obtain in exchange for money or its equivalent; buy. That which is bought.
A form that is used as an aid to purchasing goods or services. It requests the purchase of items or services. The form states the item, quantity, description and expected cost. Once approved, this form can be sent to the vendor. Later, you can compare it to the goods received and to the vendor’s invoice, to authorize payment and ensure that the correct item was received. An order from a customer for goods or services. See Blanket Order Release, Blanket P. O.
To delete data from a file. Once the data is purged, it cannot be recovered. Example: The Distributions to G/L function allows you to purge the distribution data, thus assuring it is not added to your General Ledger a second time [double posted].
A quotation is similar to an invoice in appearance. The main difference is that the sale has not been agreed upon yet, so the quotation is a proposed agreement about what services or goods will be sold and for what price.
To restart a computer by reloading the operating system.
Awaiting or requiring payment. The part of a business’s accounting system that handles receivables, usually called Accounts Receivable.
A document filled out by the Receiving Department listing the goods received in a particular shipment.
The number usually pre-printed on the receiver.
Receiving Bank is every unique bank that is used by employees entered in the payroll system for direct deposit ACH processing. The routing information is set up in CTL Banks. See the Banks chapter.
There is one bank account assigned to each vendor. There can and often will be multiple bank account numbers entered for each Employee.
SeeACH or Automated Clearing House and Processing Bank
In the Job Cost module, recognized profit is the amount of profit that you recognize for accounting purposes in a period. It differs from estimated or expected profit. Recognize is an accounting term meaning to record in your General Ledger. When profit is recognized, it then shows up on your P&L Statement, and not before. Using the Percentage Completion method of accounting for a job, profit is recognized based on the percent of the job that is complete at the end of an accounting period. This differs from the Completed Project method of accounting, where the entire profit is recognized all at once, when the job is 100% complete. Example: Although Job #3 is not complete by Dec. 31, our profit based on current estimates is $30,000, so we will enter a recognized profit transaction for that amount.
To change from one configuration to another. See Configuration
A group of fields that contain one item of information. A set of records constitute a file. For example, the Valid G/L Account file contains 2 fields per record; the Account number and Description. See Field and File
A method used in multi-user computer systems to protect data files. For example, one user is making changes to the G/L account record. Another user will be allowed to use this account during this time, but if he makes changes, the record will only be updated if these changes do not conflict with the changes made by the first user. This allows one user to post sales, for example, while another user is updating various customer records with new zip codes.
This differs from earlier versions of PBS software. In earlier versions, if one user was making changes to a record, no other users could use this record until the first user was completely done with it.
To bring a file or device back to its original empty state. See Initialize
A formal or official recording of financial transactions. A book of such entries.
The hours during which an employee is paid his base rate of pay. Normally this would be for the standard 8-hour day and 40-hour week.
A repayment. Paying back or compensating a person for money spent or for losses.
A version or revision of a program and its documentation. Example: Release 11.1 Note that we now uses the word Version instead of Release, beginning with Version 4. 0.
The act of sending a sum of money to someone, or the amount of money sent.
A program utility that restores an exported file. All the data contained in the exported file will be transferred to the restored file. See Export, File Recovery Utilities
A program that restores an exported file.
An amount of money retained held back from a payment pending the completion of a job or part of a job. The term retainage is most commonly used for construction jobs. When a general contractor is doing work for a property owner, the owner usually makes progress payments, based on the amount of work completed as of certain dates. Usually, the owner customer will retain hold back a percentage of each expected payment until the entire job is finished and inspected. This retainage is a receivable for the general contractor.
In the same way, a general contractor employing a subcontractor will retain a percentage of the payment due to the subcontractor until the subcontractor’s work is completed and inspected. This retainage is a payable for the general contractor.
The stockholders’ equity derived from retaining keeping within the business profits from the business. The accumulated profits of a corporation from its inception, minus any losses or dividends.
The total income of an organization, derived from all sources, usually calculated for a specific time period. A portion of this total income.
A line of text or a group of characters is right justified when it is aligned with the right margin or right hand boundary of a field or page; that is, there are no spaces between the right margin and the last character of the line of text or group of characters.
Also, to round-off, round-up or round-down. The action of raising or lowering a fractional number to its next significant digit as a convenience in arithmetic calculations. For example, the number 3. 78 could be rounded up to 3. 80 or to 4. 00, depending on how much precision is wanted in the result.
An alternate word for a program, or a part of a program that performs a clearly defined function.
To execute a program on a computer. When a microprocessor carries out the instructions of a program, the program is said to run.
The program that is executed when starting and using PBS. See Object Program
A transaction or account balance that is re-totaled each time a new entry is made.
A fixed compensation paid to an employee on a regular basis.
The exchange of property, products or services for a specified amount of money or its equivalent. A special price, lower than normally charged for an item, to generate more business.
A tax levied by a city or state government that is added to the retail price of an item and collected from the buyer by the seller. The seller is then required to pass this tax on to the government tax agency.
A Character Mode screen can display only a certain number of lines or rows of characters at one time, usually 24 or 25. The computer can keep many more in memory. To bring additional data into view, a line of characters is removed from the top of the screen and a new line is added to the bottom or vice versa. When this action is repeated continuously, it gives the illusion of text moving past the screen. See Character Mode
To choose a function from a menu or submenu. Example: It is possible to select the function, Vendors, from the Accounts Payable menu of the Accounts Payable module.
The action of transporting goods from a supplier to a customer.
Wages paid to an employee during absence from work due to illness.
The term applied to all the programs that can be used on computers.
The instructions for a computer written by a programmer but not yet compiled See Compile and therefore not yet executable by the computer. No matter what the language is, the source code must be turned into object code that the computer can then execute. Compare with Object Code, See Runtime In the PBS General Ledger module, a six-character code that is used to identify where a General Ledger transaction originated. Example: CSHJNL for Cash Journal. The source code is used by the Source Cross Reference Report function. See Source Cross Reference Report
A PBS General Ledger function that provides a listing of transactions grouped by their Source Code. Its purpose is to allow easy reference to original journals and registers. See General Journal
A program written in a programming language, such as COBOL, that must be translated through the use of a compiler into an object program. The object program will normally be in a language directly understood by the computer or an intermediary runtime program. Compare to Object Program See Runtime
This word is from the acronym SPOOL that stands for Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On-Line. Spooling is a technique that allows a report to be printed on the printer at the same time that another program is running. Instead of a report going directly to the printer, it is saved as a disk file faster. When the printer is available, the report may be printed at the same time some other program is being run.
A program, usually part of the operating system of the computer, that controls the spooling of reports and the printing of spooled reports.
It is often referred to as Structured Query Language and often pronounced as seekwel. In the 1970s when it was initially developed by IBM, it was called SEQUEL for Structured English Query Language.
It is a database computer language designed for managing data in relational database management systems (RDBMS), and originally based upon relational algebra and calculus. Its scope includes data insert, query, update and delete, schema creation and modification, and data access control.
The advantages to SQL include the ease of extracting data from an SQL database using a query and the possible integration of data with other SQL based systems.
Abbreviation for Social Security Administration. A federal government agency that provides assistance to persons faced with unemployment, disability, or old age. see FICA
A system of inventory costing that uses a set, predetermined cost for every item to value the inventory and establish the cost of sales. Any difference between this standard cost and the actual cost of some new items purchased is called the variance and is recorded in a separate general ledger account. In the PBS Inventory Control module, selecting the standard cost option, tracks variances at time of purchase between standard cost and actual cost. See Average Cost Method, FIFO, and LIFO.
In the PBS General Ledger module, a function that allows the user to add, change, inquire, delete or print an edit list of recurring journal transactions. This function allows use of either permanent or variable transactions. A permanent transaction is one for that the dollar amount remains the same in each period, such as a rent or mortgage payment. A variable transaction is one that occurs every period, but at varying dollar amounts, such as utilities and phone expense. Compare with General Journal
1. A listing of a customer’s account that shows the current amount due. It includes a summary of the type and amount of all transactions that occurred during a specific time period, usually a month. See Bills
2. A report summarizing the financial activity of a business. Financial Statements have standard formats and present financial information in pre-defined ways. See Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, Financial Statement
A supply of materials kept for current or future use. The total merchandise that a merchant has on hand to sell. Shares issued by a corporation representing fractional ownership in the corporation.
A connected sequence of characters. Example: The characters J, O and E are connected to form the string JOE.
In PBS modules, account numbers are divided into as many segments, of which there may be as many as four. All but the main account are optional. Sub-accounts are a finer division of accounts if Account 400 were Office Expense, 400-011 might be Paperclips. In earlier releases of PBS, sub-accounts were used as cost centers. See Cost Center, General Ledger Account Number
A contractor who agrees to do a specific part of a job. The general contractor has a contract with the property owner to do the whole job. The general contractor can then enter into subcontracts with other contractors. Example: Ajax Plumbing was the plumbing subcontractor for United Construction, who was the general contractor for Ed’s new house.
This is a specific major portion of a job, often called a phase. Examples: A single job might consist of putting up four buildings. Each building could be specified as a sub-job. The erection of a single large building could be broken into phases, with all the excavation and land preparation being one phase, erecting the main structure being another phase, and all interior work being a third phase. Each of the phases would be a sub-job.
A menu that is subordinate or junior to a main menu. The Recurring payables menu is a submenu of the Payables menu in Accounts Payable. See Menu
Abbreviation for State Unemployment Insurance. A State tax, paid by employers and sometimes by employees, to provide income to people who lose their jobs.
In PBS Payroll this refers to Supplemental Earnings. These are usually commissions or bonuses. The Federal Government and many states allow supplemental income to be taxed at a fixed rate separate from other wages. The reason is that the periodic payment of commissions and bonuses would cause sudden and possibly large increases in withholding taxes.
The staff of a computer or software company whose job it is to help you with questions and problems.
A type of financial statement showing the details of one particular financial area, used to supply evidence or additional data for a more general financial statement.
An interrelated collection of things working together as a unit for a common purpose. A computer is a system composed of a processor and peripherals. A software module is a system of interrelated programs.
A set of programs supplied by the manufacturer of the processor. Systems software consists of an operating system and utilities. Systems software is a collection of computer programs that control the overall operation of the computer and perform such tasks as assigning places in memory to programs and data, and controlling the overall input/output of the system.
This is a common accounting form in the shape of the capitol letter T. It has the following components:
1. A title describing the particular financial statement item (e.g. sales revenue)
2. A left side referred to as a Debit
3. A right side referred to as a Credit
There is a separate T-Account for each item in the ledger. A T-Account looks as follows:
A non-voluntary contribution for the support of a government, required by law of persons, groups and businesses.
The exact conditions or stipulations that specify how goods and services are to be paid for. Some common terms are: Net 30, meaning the amount owed must be paid in 30 days. 2/10 net 30, meaning the amount due must be paid in 30 days, but if it is paid within 10 days, there will be a 2% discount. Discount payment terms are often offered to encourage prompt payment. See Due Date
A type of data that looks like common printed material, in contrast to coded or strictly numerical data. The data on this page is text.
A measure of the productive work done by a device. Example: The throughput of a printer is the number of lines per minute it can print.
An amount of money given as an acknowledgement of services rendered; an amount paid to an employee by the customer rather than by the employer. Originally from To Insure Promptness.
Also referred to as tips deemed as wages. In the restaurant business, an employer is allowed to pay certain employees less than the federal or state minimum wage. The employer is only allowed to do this if the employee’s tips, when added to his actual wages, add up to at least as much as the employee would have made working at the minimum wage. In this case the amount of the employee’s tips needed to bring his actual wage up to the minimum wage is called tip credit. It is the credit toward the minimum wage of the employee’s tips. In the PBS Payroll module, tip credit is used in various tax calculations, as well as for producing the Quarterly Payroll Report.
A business event. A single exchange between two businesses, two financial entities, or two parts of one business or financial entity. Often abbreviated to trans or trx.
In PBS software a data file in that records are kept temporarily. A transaction file is used to store the results of data entry, so that this data can be reviewed and edited before posting. There is one exception: the PBS General Ledger Transaction file is a master file; its data is permanent. See Posting, Edit, Edit List, Compare with Master File.
A report showing the debit and credit sides of a double entry accounting system. The sum of the debits should equal balance with the sum of the credits, or there is an error. See Debit, Credit
The ordering/billing procedure in that an invoice is prepared after the items ordered have been verified to be in stock and have been gathered for shipment. The first step is entering the order; the second step is preparing the invoice for that order. Compare with One-Step Billing
A discount taken on invoices paid after the discount date. In this case, the payer did not really earn the discount, because he did not comply with the terms under that the discount was offered. See Discount Date
Federal and State programs designed to give money to unemployed workers for not working, and financed by taxes paid by employers and employees.
A shipment of goods that you have received, but have not received the invoice from the vendor.
Fees charged for membership in a union, due at regular intervals and used for the operation of the union.
Wages paid to an employee during his absence from work while on vacation. See Holiday Pay
A discount taken on invoices paid on or before the discount date. The payer earned the discount because he complied with the terms under that the discount was offered. See Discount Date Compare with Unearned Discount
The quantity or symbol contained in a field, as opposed to the name of the field or its location in memory. Example: A field on the screen may be named CUSTOMER TYPE; but for one customer the field’s value might be E, and for another customer its value might be B.
In the Standard Journal function in the PBS General Ledger module, any entry made to the same account for different amounts each period. Compare with Permanent Journal Entry
The difference between some comparison amount and the actual amount. A variance can be shown as an amount $1,000 over or as a percentage -2%. Example: The difference between the estimated cost of a job and the actual cost of the job, or the difference between last year’s ending account balance and this year’s.
Any person or company engaged in selling something. A supplier of goods or services.
The information about a specific vendor selling an item, or set of items; this information includes the vendor’s name for the item that may be different from what the user calls it, how much it costs, and the quantities he sells and ships it in.
To observe on the computer’s screen. A PBS function to view information without making any changes to it.
Amount taken out of wages at the request of an employee, to be held or disbursed for a specific purpose by the employer on behalf of the employee.
A document that acknowledges the legitimacy of an invoice and authorizes payment. A document serving as proof that the terms of a transaction have been met. Note that there is no such document that is part of the PBS Accounts Payable module. See Voucher Number
The permanent number assigned by the Accounts Payable module to a document or transaction as it is entered. This is the computer user’s reference number for the document, as opposed to the vendor’s reference number. The purpose of the voucher number is to organize the diversity of vendor invoices and adjustments entered into the Accounts Payable module.
Payment for the services of an employee, usually on some regular periodic basis.
Also known as workmen’s compensation. Insurance that the state provides an employee, covering the risks an employee is subject to because of the type of work he does. The insurance is provided for by the state government, but the premium on this insurance is paid by the employer, and sometimes also by the employee, and is compulsory. Even clerical and white collar workers are covered by this insurance, although the premium for them is lower than the premium for steel or chemical workers.
A file in which data is temporarily stored for use by a single program. Once the program is finished, the file is no longer of use.
The current monies or assets of an individual or company, after deducting current liabilities, that are available to be put to work by the individual or company. Also called Net Current Assets.
An employer reports an employee’s total earnings and total taxes withheld on a W-2 Form at the end of the year. Also called the Wage and Tax Statement. The employer sends a copy of this W-2 Form to the IRS and gives several copies to the employee. The employee uses it to fill out the individual tax return required by the IRS and state and local agencies.
Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate. A form provided by the IRS to be filled out by each employee, so the employer can determine the amount of income tax to be withheld from the employee’s wages for payment to the government.
Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate. A form provided by the IRS so that eligible employees can receive EIC payments during the year with their pay, instead of waiting until they file their tax return. See Earned Income Credit (EIC) Advance Payment
XDBC
See ODBC