Glossary terms for letter A (Businesses)

• Account
• Accounts payable
• Accounts receivable
• Accrual method of accounting
• Appeal
• Articles of incorporation
• Assessment
• Assets
• Associated

Account - A formal record of transactions involving a particular item or person.

Accounts payable - Debts you have as a result of purchasing assets or receiving services on an open account or on credit. You have accounts payable when you have not yet paid for the assets or services you have received.

Accounts receivable - Amount of money you are owed. Generally, you are owed this amount because you sold assets or provided services.

Accrual method of accounting - With this method, income is reported in the fiscal period it is earned, regardless of when it is received. The expenses are also deducted in the fiscal period they are incurred, whether they are paid or not. This method is generally used by businesses or professionals.

Appeal - A process by which you ask a Court to review the decision the Appeals Division made on behalf of the Minister of National Revenue.

Articles of incorporation - Legal document filed with a provincial or territorial government, or the federal government, which sets out the purpose and regulations of a corporation.

Assessment - A formal determination of taxes to be paid or refunded. An assessment includes a reassessment. See Notice of Assessment.

Assets - Any property owned by a person or business. Assets include money, land, buildings, investments, inventory, cars, trucks, boats, or other valuables that belong to a person or business. They also may include intangibles such as goodwill.

Associated - For GST/HST purposes, this is generally used to describe a relationship between persons where one controls the other. An association may exist, for example, between two or more corporations, between an individual and a corporation, or between an individual and a partnership or trust. Also, a person is associated with another person if each of them is associated with the same third person.