Records create balances
Follow sales and purchase documents into open customer or vendor balances.
Plain-language reference
The accounting and invoicing terms behind the workflow
This glossary defines 80 accounting, invoicing, payment and tax terms in plain language. Search a term, see the related concepts, and move into the relevant Invoice Crowd guide when a term belongs to a workflow the app supports.
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Find the term behind the document, balance or report
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Entries support reports
Trace balanced postings from the journal through ledgers and financial statements.
Payment needs evidence
Separate customer checkout from provider-verified settlement and allocation.
- Account
A category used to organize and report financial activity, such as cash, sales revenue, accounts receivable or an expense.
Explore this workflow- Accounts payable
Amounts a business owes to vendors for goods or services received but not yet paid.
Explore this workflow- Accounts receivable
Amounts customers owe a business for invoices issued but not yet fully paid.
Explore this workflow- Accrual accounting
A method that records income when earned and expenses when incurred, rather than only when cash changes hands.
- Advance payment
Money a customer pays before an invoice exists. It is held as a liability until it is applied to an invoice or refunded.
Explore this workflow- Aging report
A report that groups unpaid customer balances by how long they have been outstanding.
Explore this workflow- Asset
A resource controlled by a business that is expected to provide future economic benefit.
- Balance sheet
A point-in-time statement of assets, liabilities and equity, linked by the accounting equation.
Explore this workflow- Bank feed
A connection or imported stream that brings bank transactions into an accounting workflow for review and matching.
Explore this workflow- Bank reconciliation
The process of comparing recorded transactions with a bank statement and explaining the differences.
Explore this workflow- Bill
A vendor document that records an amount the business owes for a purchase.
Explore this workflow- Billable expense
A cost a business intends to recover from a customer, subject to its agreement and accounting policy.
- Cash accounting
A method that generally recognizes income when cash is received and expenses when cash is paid.
- Cash flow statement
A statement that explains cash movements from operating, investing and financing activities over a period.
Explore this workflow- Chart of accounts
The organized list of account categories a business uses to classify transactions and prepare reports.
Explore this workflow- Cleared balance
The balance represented by transactions that have cleared the bank or have been confirmed during reconciliation.
- Cost of goods sold
The direct cost of the goods or services a business sold in a period, reported above gross profit on the profit and loss statement.
Explore this workflow- Credit note
A sales document that reduces an amount previously billed to a customer without erasing the original invoice.
Explore this workflow- Customer credit
An amount available to reduce a customer's current or future balance, commonly created by a credit note or overpayment.
Explore this workflow- Debit
One side of a journal entry. Its effect depends on the account type; it is not simply a synonym for decrease.
- Direct debit
A payment arrangement in which an authorized provider collects funds from a payer's bank account.
Explore this workflow- Discount
A reduction applied to a listed price or document amount, usually expressed as a fixed value or percentage.
- Double-entry accounting
A system in which every journal entry has equal debits and credits so the accounting equation remains balanced.
Explore this workflow- Due date
The date by which a payment or other obligation is expected under the document or agreement.
- Equity
The residual interest in a business's assets after liabilities are deducted.
- Estimate
A pre-sale document describing expected scope and price before work is finally agreed or invoiced.
Explore this workflow- Expense
A cost consumed in earning revenue or operating the business during a period.
- Fiscal year
The twelve-month reporting period a business uses for accounting and financial statements; it may differ from the calendar year.
- General ledger
The detailed record of postings to all accounts used to support balances and financial statements.
Explore this workflow- Gross amount
An amount before specified deductions such as discounts, withholding or some taxes, depending on the document context.
- GST
Goods and Services Tax, a consumption tax used in various jurisdictions. Rates and rules depend on the relevant law.
Explore this workflow- Input tax credit
Tax paid on business purchases that a registered business can offset against the tax it collects on sales, subject to local rules and eligibility.
Explore this workflow- Invoice
A document requesting payment for supplied goods or services and stating the customer, lines, amounts, dates and payment terms.
Explore this workflow- Invoice number
A business-controlled identifier used to distinguish and trace an invoice within its numbering policy.
- Item
A reusable product or service definition used on sales and purchase documents.
- Journal entry
A dated accounting record that posts balanced debit and credit lines to one or more accounts.
Explore this workflow- Late fee
A charge for overdue payment that must follow the contract and applicable law; it may be fixed or calculated by a stated method.
Explore this workflow- Ledger balance
The balance produced by posted entries in an account over the selected period.
- Liability
A present obligation expected to require the transfer of an economic resource.
- Line item
An individual product, service, quantity, rate, tax or description row on a commercial document.
- Manual journal
A journal entry entered deliberately by a user rather than generated automatically by an operational transaction.
Explore this workflow- Multi-currency
The ability to issue or record transactions in more than one currency while preserving the chosen currency and exchange-rate context.
Explore this workflow- Net amount
An amount remaining after specified deductions or excluding a stated component, depending on the calculation context.
- Opening balance
The starting balance carried into an account or system at the beginning of a reporting or migration period.
Explore this workflow- Outstanding balance
The portion of an invoice or obligation that remains unpaid after credits and recorded payments.
- Overpayment
The part of a customer payment that exceeds the amount due. It is usually kept as customer credit for a later invoice or refunded.
Explore this workflow- Payment allocation
The link that assigns all or part of a payment to a particular invoice or obligation.
- Payment gateway
An external provider that handles a supported payment step and returns evidence used to verify the transaction.
Explore this workflow- Payment link
A shareable URL that lets a customer open a defined payment or offer flow.
Explore this workflow- Payment terms
The agreed timing and conditions for payment, such as payment on receipt or a number of days after issue.
- Payments made
Recorded outgoing payments to vendors or against purchase-side obligations.
Explore this workflow- Peppol
A network and set of specifications used for structured electronic business documents between registered participants.
Explore this workflow- Period lock
A control that stops transactions dated on or before a chosen date from being added, edited or deleted, so closed books stay closed.
Explore this workflow- Prepayment
Money received or paid before the related goods or services are fully delivered, with accounting treatment determined by the facts.
- Profit and loss statement
A report of income and expenses over a period, often used to show profit or loss for that period.
- Proposal
A pre-sale document that presents scope, approach, terms and pricing for customer review and acceptance.
Explore this workflow- Purchase order
A document a buyer issues to a vendor describing an intended purchase and its terms before a bill is received.
Explore this workflow- Recurring invoice
An invoice generated or scheduled from a repeating billing definition, subject to the configured dates and rules.
Explore this workflow- Retained earnings
Cumulative profit kept in the business after distributions, subject to accounting adjustments and local rules.
- Retainer
An arrangement in which a client pays a recurring fee, often for a set number of hours of work each period, with rules for unused or extra time.
Explore this workflow- Revenue
Income arising from a business's ordinary activities, recognized under its applicable accounting method and policy.
- Reverse charge
A rule under which the buyer, rather than the seller, accounts for the tax on a purchase, commonly for cross-border or specified supplies.
Explore this workflow- Settlement
The provider-confirmed movement or completion of funds, which may occur after a customer finishes the checkout interface.
Explore this workflow- Statement balance
The balance reported by a bank or other statement source at a particular date.
- Subtotal
The sum of relevant line amounts before later document-level additions or deductions such as taxes or discounts.
- Tax exclusive
A pricing treatment in which tax is calculated in addition to the stated net amount.
Explore this workflow- Tax inclusive
A pricing treatment in which the stated amount already contains the tax component.
Explore this workflow- TDS
Tax Deducted at Source, an Indian form of withholding tax in which the payer deducts tax from a payment and deposits it with the government.
Explore this workflow- Time entry
A dated record of work duration, often connected to a person, task, project and billable status.
Explore this workflow- Timesheet
A collection or report of time entries for a person, project or period.
Explore this workflow- Total
The final calculated document amount after the applicable lines, discounts, taxes and other adjustments.
- Trial balance
A list of account balances used to check that total debits equal total credits for the selected period.
Explore this workflow- Utilisation
The share of a person's or team's available working hours spent on billable work over a period.
Explore this workflow- VAT
Value Added Tax, a consumption tax applied in many jurisdictions according to local registration, rate and place-of-supply rules.
Explore this workflow- Vendor
A person or organization from which the business buys goods or services.
Explore this workflow- Vendor credit
A purchase-side credit that reduces an amount owed to a vendor while preserving the original purchasing record.
Explore this workflow- Void
An action that cancels an issued document while keeping it and its number on record, reversing its accounting effect instead of deleting it.
Explore this workflow- Withholding tax
Tax retained from a payment and remitted under applicable law instead of paying the full gross amount to the recipient.
- Write-off
An accounting action that removes or reduces a balance judged uncollectible or no longer recoverable, according to policy and evidence.
- Year end
The close of a fiscal reporting period when balances, adjustments and financial statements are finalized.
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These definitions are general education, not accounting, tax or legal advice. Product links describe the current Invoice Crowd workflow and may have additional limitations.
Use the reference well
Definitions explain meaning and source records prove the result
Keep the vocabulary consistent, but return to the document, account, period and jurisdiction before making a financial decision.
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Accounting language
Debits, credits, journals, accounts and statements use precise relationships.
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Sales documents
Proposals, estimates, invoices, credit notes and payments represent different stages.
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Purchase records
Purchase orders, bills, vendor credits and outgoing payments preserve purchase-side history.
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Payment state
Checkout, verification, settlement and allocation are distinct events.
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Reports
A report is defined by its period, accounts and source records.
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Tax and currency
Jurisdiction, currency and rate context remain explicit decisions.
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Plain language
Definitions explain the concept without replacing professional judgment.
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Related workflows
Selected terms link to the page where Invoice Crowd implements the workflow.
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Visible source
The search-engine data for each term is built only from definitions shown on this page.
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Search in the browser
Filtering happens locally and does not submit the query to WordPress.
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Dated review
Product-specific links and language were reviewed on October 6, 2026.
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Team reference
Use the same vocabulary in migration, bookkeeping and customer conversations.
Questions
The Invoice Crowd glossary, answered
Is this glossary accounting or tax advice?
No. It provides general plain-language definitions. Apply the rules and professional guidance relevant to your jurisdiction, business and transaction.
How many terms are included?
80 visible accounting, invoicing, purchasing, payment, tax and reporting terms are included in the current glossary, from Account to Year end.
Does searching send my query to Invoice Crowd?
No. The glossary filter runs in the browser against the already rendered terms and does not submit the search text to WordPress.
Why do some terms link to feature pages?
A link appears when Invoice Crowd has a relevant public workflow guide. The definition remains general and does not claim that every possible accounting treatment is automated.
Are tax terms the same in every country?
No. VAT, GST, withholding and other tax rules depend on jurisdiction, registration and the facts of the transaction. The definitions are orientation, not a rate or filing decision.
How is the glossary structured for search engines?
The page uses semantic definition-list markup and emits a DefinedTermSet containing only the visible terms and descriptions. It does not add hidden definitions or claims.
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Create a representative document, trace its balance and review the resulting report with the same definitions in view.
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