Accord and satisfaction refers to the agreement (accord) between two contracting parties to accept alternate performance to discharge a pre-existing duty between them and the subsequent performance (satisfaction) of that agreement. The new performance is called the accord. The excusal of the initial performance obligation is called the satisfaction.
An accord and satisfaction differs from a modification in that a modification immediately discharges a pre-existing duty, whereas an accord and satisfaction does not discharge a pre-existing duty until the agreed upon, alternate performance occurs.
See, e.g. Rose Inn of Ithaca, Inc. v. Great American Ins. Co., 75 A.D.3d 737 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010).
[Last updated in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]