Glossary
The accounting & QuickBooks glossary.
Plain-English, accurate definitions of the terms that come up in real bookkeeping and QuickBooks engagements — what each means, why it matters, and where it shows up in the work. Written and maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team.
The TechBrot glossary defines the accounting and QuickBooks terms that come up in real engagements — bookkeeping, cleanup, reconciliation, payroll, sales tax, and advisory. Each entry is a genuine, citable definition with the context that makes it useful and links to where the term applies in the work. New terms are added regularly.
Maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., an independent firm — not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
Browse the glossary.
Every entry is a real, plain-English definition — what the term means, why it matters, and where it comes up. More terms are added regularly.
Bank reconciliation
Matching your books to your bank statement for the period so the balances agree — the core accuracy control in bookkeeping.
Read the definitionChart of accounts
The structured list of every account your books record into — the framework every report is built on.
Read the definitionDouble-entry accounting
Every transaction recorded as equal debits and credits, so the books always balance — the foundation of reliable accounting.
Read the definitionGeneral ledger
The complete record of every transaction posted to every account — the books’ source of truth.
Read the definitionAccrual vs. cash basis accounting
Cash records money when it moves; accrual records it when earned or owed — and the choice changes what your reports say.
Read the definitionCatch-up bookkeeping
Bringing months or years of un-entered books current — distinct from cleanup, which fixes books that were kept wrong.
Read the definitionMonth-end close
The monthly routine that finalizes the books so the period’s numbers are complete and trustworthy.
Read the definitionAccounts receivable
Money customers owe you for work already delivered — an asset until it’s collected.
Read the definitionAccounts payable
Money you owe vendors for bills received but not yet paid — a liability until settled.
Read the definitionTrial balance
A list of every account’s balance confirming total debits equal total credits — the books’ internal-consistency check.
Read the definitionProfit and loss statement
Revenue minus expenses over a period — whether you made money, and where it came from and went.
Read the definitionBalance sheet
A point-in-time snapshot of what you own, owe, and are worth — assets = liabilities + equity.
Read the definitionFractional CFO
Senior financial leadership part-time — the forecasting and judgment a full-time CFO gives, without the full-time cost.
Read the definitionSales tax nexus
The connection to a state that requires you to collect its sales tax — physical or, post-Wayfair, economic.
Read the definitionBookkeeping vs. accounting
Bookkeeping records and reconciles; accounting interprets and advises — what each is, and who you need.
Read the definitionCost of goods sold
The direct cost of what you sold — and getting it right is the difference between knowing your margin and guessing.
Read the definitionCash flow statement
Actual cash in and out over a period — the statement that explains ‘profitable but broke.’
Read the definitionDepreciation
Spreading an asset’s cost over its useful life — a non-cash expense that lowers profit, not cash.
Read the definitionCertified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
What the ProAdvisor credential means — and what it doesn’t (it’s not Intuit affiliation, not a CPA).
Read the definitionRetained earnings
Cumulative profit the business has kept — an equity account each year’s net income rolls into.
Read the definitionDeferred revenue
Money collected before the work is delivered — a liability until earned, not income on receipt.
Read the definitionOpening balance
An account’s starting balance — the foundation everything else is built on, and a top cause of wrong books after a migration.
Read the definition1099 vs. W-2
Employee vs. independent contractor — the classification that drives withholding, taxes, and real compliance risk.
Read the definitionJournal entry
The double-entry record of a transaction — debits and credits; manual adjusting entries close the books.
Read the definitionAccrued expenses
Costs incurred but not yet paid or billed — a liability recorded by adjusting entries on accrual books.
Read the definitionPrepaid expenses
Payments made in advance — recorded as an asset, then expensed over the period they cover.
Read the definitionFixed assets
Long-lived tangible property — equipment, vehicles, buildings — capitalized and depreciated, not expensed at purchase.
Read the definitionOperating expenses
The ongoing costs of running the business not tied to a sale — below gross profit on the P&L.
Read the definitionOwner’s equity
The owner’s residual claim on the business — assets minus liabilities, the equity section of the balance sheet.
Read the definitionOwner’s draw
Money an owner takes out of an unincorporated business for personal use — it reduces equity, and it isn’t payroll or a deductible expense.
Read the definitionWorking capital
Current assets minus current liabilities — the short-term cushion that funds day-to-day operations.
Read the definitionGross margin
Gross profit as a percentage of revenue — how much of each sales dollar is left after COGS.
Read the definitionWrite-off
Removing an uncollectible or worthless amount from the books and recording the loss — not the same as a tax deduction.
Read the definitionNet income
Revenue minus all expenses over a period — the final profit on the P&L, and not the same as cash.
Read the definitionAmortization
Spreading the cost of an intangible asset, or a loan’s principal, over time — depreciation’s intangible counterpart.
Read the definitionUndeposited Funds
The default QuickBooks holding account where received payments wait until you group them into a deposit that matches the bank — and a classic place errors pile up.
Read the definitionClass tracking
The QuickBooks feature for tagging transactions to a segment — location, department, program — so you can run a P&L by class. Powerful, but only if applied consistently.
Read the definitionBank feeds
The QuickBooks feature that auto-imports transactions from a connected bank or card into the For Review queue. Speeds bookkeeping — but matching the feed is not a finished reconciliation.
Read the definitionAudit trail
QuickBooks’ built-in, unalterable log of every change to the file — who did what, and when. Essential for accountability and for finding what changed.
Read the definitionMemorized transaction
A saved template QuickBooks uses to create repeating transactions on a schedule — recurring invoices, bills, journal entries. Saves time; stale templates post wrong amounts.
Read the definitionForm W-9
The form you collect from a contractor to get their taxpayer ID — so you can issue a 1099 at year end. Educational only.
Read the definitionForm 1099-NEC
The form that reports $600+ paid to a contractor in a year — we get the QuickBooks data right; your CPA files. Educational only.
Read the definitionEmployer Identification Number (EIN)
The IRS’s nine-digit federal tax ID for a business — like an SSN for the entity. Educational only; the IRS issues it.
Read the definitionEstimated taxes
Quarterly payments on income that isn’t withheld — the pay-as-you-go system. Your CPA calculates them; accurate books make the estimate reliable.
Read the definitionPayroll liabilities
What you’ve withheld from employees or owe as an employer but haven’t yet remitted — a liability until it’s paid, and the trust-fund portion is serious.
Read the definitionFiscal year
The 12-month period a business reports on — often the calendar year, but not always. It sets when the books close and returns come due.
Read the definitionTerm raised a question about your books?
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TechBrot is an independent accounting firm and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. We are not Intuit. QuickBooks and Intuit are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.