Accounts Payable Acronym Cheat Sheet ~

A Glossary of Terms

Do you speak accounts payable? To some it may seem like a foreign language. Like many other fields, accounts payable is full of acronyms—shortcuts people in the profession readily understand.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for those new to the field or those who only touch it tangentially. So here's a beginner's guide to speaking “accounts payable.”

We’ll update it regularly as readers alert us to new jargon. Since the field is changing rapidly so will the lingo we expect.

ACH                       Automated Clearing House
AP                          Accounts Payable
AR                          Accounts Receivable
CC                         Cost Center
DPO                        Days Payable Outstanding
EDI                         Electronic Data Interchange

EFT                         Electronic Funds Transfer
EIPP                       Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment

EOM                        End of Month

ER                          Expense Reports
ERS                        Evaluated Receipt Settlement

FY                           Fiscal Year
GAAP                      Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

GL                          General Ledger

________________________________________________________________________

Keep updated on the latest lingo, regulations and strategies affecting accounts payable.

Subscribe to the Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow newsletter! 

Request a sample issue here. And if you're not sure, we have a 6-month option.

________________________________________________________________________

GR                        Goods Receipt

IAPP                      International Accounts Payable Professionals

ICR                       Intelligent Character Recognition

INV                       Invoice (as in Invoice #)

IR                         Invoice Receipt

IRS                       Internal Revenue Service

IVR                       Interactive Voice Response

IWR                      Interactive Web Response

JE                         Journal Entry

ME                        Month End

N30                       Net 30

NACHA                  National Automated Clearing House Association

OCR                      Optical Character Recognition

P&L                       Profit & Loss

Need to brush up on some of the areas affecting your accounts payable function?

Consider one of AP Now’s CDs                 

Build your AP Library Listen and share the CD with your staff

________________________________________________________________________

PNL                        Profit and Loss

PO                         Purchase Order

POD                       Proof of Delivery

RA                         Return Authorization

REQ                       Requisition for Purchase

RGA                       Return Goods Authorization

ROI                        Return on Investment

RTV                       Return to Vendor

SOP                       Standard Operating Policy

S-Ox                      Sarbanes-Oxley Act

SUT                       Sales and Use Tax

T&E                       Travel and Entertainment

UCC                       Uniform commercial Code

VAT                       Value Added Tax

YE                         Year End

YTD                       Year to Date

Did we miss anything?
If you think so, send your suggested additions to publisher@ap-now.com

Read any good accounts payable books lately? John Wiley & Sons publishes quite a few, in addition to books on accounting, tax—and cookbooks, too. Go to the bottom of our AP Resources & Tools page, click on the Wiley link and start shopping.