Arrearages broadly refers to being in arrears or owing a debt. There are two main uses of the term. One refers to payments in arrears that are meant to occur after they are owed, such as wages paid a week after time is entered or for invoices...
accounting
arrears
Arrears is defined as debt that has accumulated and that has not yet been paid upon the due date. For instance, if someone falls $5000 behind in paying for their mortgage, then they have built up $5000 in arrears. See also: arrearages.
...artisan's lien
An artisan’s lien is a type of lien that gives workers a security interest in personal property until they have been paid for their work on that property. It works exactly the same as a mechanic's lien.
See e.g., In re Enron...
assess
In common parlance, to assess means to evaluate.
In legal contexts, the word assess is usually used in the context of tax law and means to ascertain a valuation of a piece of property for purposes of tax calculation (see...
assessed value
Assessed value is the value of a property, as determined (assessed) by a tax assessor or appraiser, for tax calculation purposes.
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
assignment for benefit of creditors
Assignment for the benefit of the creditors (ABC)(also known as general assignment for the benefit of the creditors) is a voluntary alternative to formal bankruptcy proceedings that transfers all of the assets from a debtor to a trust for...
audit committee
The audit committee is a committee composed of a company’s board of directors in charge of overseeing the company’s auditors, financial reporting, and disclosures. 15 U.S.C. § 78c(a)(58) defines an audit committee as “a committee (or...
balance sheet
A balance sheet is a financial statement that consists of a three-part summary of a company's assets, liabilities, and ownership equity at a particular instance in time. It is intended to show the financial condition of a company at that time...
basis
Under U.S. tax law, basis is the cost or value of an asset – used to determine equity or ownership for the purpose of tax assessment, exchange, or sale. It generally includes purchase price, taxes, transportation costs, and fees, and is...
basis point
A basis point (often abbreviated as bp) is a unit of measurement that denotes a change in the interest rate of a financial instrument and is equal to 1/100th of 1% or 0.01%. It is a usual practice in the financial industry to use basis points...