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Plain-language reference

The accounting and invoicing terms behind the workflow

Search 70 concise definitions, see the related concepts, and move into the relevant Invoice Crowd guide when a term belongs to an implemented workflow.

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Invoice Crowd glossary illustration connecting accounting, invoicing, purchasing and payment terms with fictional data.

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Find the term behind the document, balance or report

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Invoice Crowd illustration connecting fictional invoices, credit notes, bills, payments and open balances.

Records create balances

Follow sales and purchase documents into open customer or vendor balances.

Invoice Crowd illustration connecting fictional journal entries, ledgers, trial balances and financial statements.

Entries support reports

Trace balanced postings from the journal through ledgers and financial statements.

Invoice Crowd illustration connecting a fictional payment link, provider verification, settlement and invoice allocation.

Payment needs evidence

Separate customer checkout from provider-verified settlement and allocation.

70 terms
A
Account

A category used to organize and report financial activity, such as cash, sales revenue, accounts receivable or an expense.

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Accounts payable

Amounts a business owes to vendors for goods or services received but not yet paid.

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Accounts receivable

Amounts customers owe a business for invoices issued but not yet fully paid.

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Accrual accounting

A method that records income when earned and expenses when incurred, rather than only when cash changes hands.

Aging report

A report that groups unpaid customer balances by how long they have been outstanding.

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Asset

A resource controlled by a business that is expected to provide future economic benefit.

B
Balance sheet

A point-in-time statement of assets, liabilities and equity, linked by the accounting equation.

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Bank feed

A connection or imported stream that brings bank transactions into an accounting workflow for review and matching.

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Bank reconciliation

The process of comparing recorded transactions with a bank statement and explaining the differences.

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Bill

A vendor document that records an amount the business owes for a purchase.

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Billable expense

A cost a business intends to recover from a customer, subject to its agreement and accounting policy.

C
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.

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Chart of accounts

The organized list of account categories a business uses to classify transactions and prepare reports.

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Cleared balance

The balance represented by transactions that have cleared the bank or have been confirmed during reconciliation.

Credit note

A sales document that reduces an amount previously billed to a customer without erasing the original invoice.

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Customer credit

An amount available to reduce a customer's current or future balance, commonly created by a credit note or overpayment.

D
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.

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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.

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Due date

The date by which a payment or other obligation is expected under the document or agreement.

E
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.

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Expense

A cost consumed in earning revenue or operating the business during a period.

F
Fiscal year

The twelve-month reporting period a business uses for accounting and financial statements; it may differ from the calendar year.

G
General ledger

The detailed record of postings to all accounts used to support balances and financial statements.

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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.

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I
Invoice

A document requesting payment for supplied goods or services and stating the customer, lines, amounts, dates and payment terms.

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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.

J
Journal entry

A dated accounting record that posts balanced debit and credit lines to one or more accounts.

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L
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.

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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.

M
Manual journal

A journal entry entered deliberately by a user rather than generated automatically by an operational transaction.

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Multi-currency

The ability to issue or record transactions in more than one currency while preserving the chosen currency and exchange-rate context.

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N
Net amount

An amount remaining after specified deductions or excluding a stated component, depending on the calculation context.

O
Opening balance

The starting balance carried into an account or system at the beginning of a reporting or migration period.

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Outstanding balance

The portion of an invoice or obligation that remains unpaid after credits and recorded payments.

P
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.

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Payment link

A shareable URL that lets a customer open a defined payment or offer flow.

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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.

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Peppol

A network and set of specifications used for structured electronic business documents between registered participants.

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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.

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Purchase order

A document a buyer issues to a vendor describing an intended purchase and its terms before a bill is received.

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R
Recurring invoice

An invoice generated or scheduled from a repeating billing definition, subject to the configured dates and rules.

Retained earnings

Cumulative profit kept in the business after distributions, subject to accounting adjustments and local rules.

Revenue

Income arising from a business's ordinary activities, recognized under its applicable accounting method and policy.

S
Settlement

The provider-confirmed movement or completion of funds, which may occur after a customer finishes the checkout interface.

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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.

T
Tax inclusive

A pricing treatment in which the stated amount already contains the tax component.

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Tax exclusive

A pricing treatment in which tax is calculated in addition to the stated net amount.

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Time entry

A dated record of work duration, often connected to a person, task, project and billable status.

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Timesheet

A collection or report of time entries for a person, project or period.

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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.

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V
VAT

Value Added Tax, a consumption tax applied in many jurisdictions according to local registration, rate and place-of-supply rules.

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Vendor

A person or organization from which the business buys goods or services.

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Vendor credit

A purchase-side credit that reduces an amount owed to a vendor while preserving the original purchasing record.

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W
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.

Y
Year end

The close of a fiscal reporting period when balances, adjustments and financial statements are finalized.

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.

  • Accounting language

    Debits, credits, journals, accounts and statements use precise relationships.

  • Sales documents

    Proposals, estimates, invoices, credit notes and payments represent different stages.

  • Purchase records

    Purchase orders, bills, vendor credits and outgoing payments preserve purchase-side history.

  • Payment state

    Checkout, verification, settlement and allocation are distinct events.

  • Reports

    A report is defined by its period, accounts and source records.

  • Tax and currency

    Jurisdiction, currency and rate context remain explicit decisions.

  • Plain language

    Definitions explain the concept without replacing professional judgment.

  • Related workflows

    Selected terms link to the page where Invoice Crowd implements the workflow.

  • Visible source

    DefinedTerm schema is generated only from definitions rendered on this page.

  • Search in the browser

    Filtering happens locally and does not submit the query to WordPress.

  • Dated review

    Product-specific links and language were reviewed on August 7, 2026.

  • 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?

70 visible accounting, invoicing, purchasing, payment, tax and reporting terms are included in the current glossary.

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.

Put the terminology into a real workflow

Create a representative document, trace its balance and review the resulting report with the same definitions in view.

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