Segment reporting is the presentation of financial information in an entity's annual report for different operational segments that meet specific criteria, ensuring transparency and insight into diverse business activities.
Segmental reporting entails the disclosure in annual accounts and reports of financial results of major operating and geographic segments within a diversified group of companies. This practice offers investors insight into the profitability, risk, and growth prospects for individual segments of a business.
A marketing strategy in which a company divides its broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs, and then designs and implements strategies to target them.
Segregation of duties (SoD) is an internal control concept designed to prevent error and fraud by ensuring that no single individual has control over all aspects of a critical transaction or operation.
An abbreviation for the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, a key financial hub for trading securities and providing a marketplace for investors and companies.
Seisin refers to the legal possession of a property by an individual who asserts ownership, typically in the form of a fee simple estate, life estate, or other saleable interest.
Selective Credit Controls represent the ability of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) to establish specific terms and conditions for various credit instruments, particularly affecting the trading of securities in the stock market through margin requirements.
Selective distribution is a distribution strategy where a manufacturer restricts the number of outlets that can sell its products to those that meet specific criteria. These criteria can include agreeing to sell the product at a minimum price, committing to regular patronage, or meeting other specific requirements set by the distributor or manufacturer.
Understanding the concept of self supply in the context of Value Added Tax (VAT) when dealing with commercial buildings used for exempt purposes.
A Self-Amortizing Mortgage is a mortgage designed to be paid off entirely through regular principal and interest payments over the loan term, without requiring a large lump sum payment at the end.
A system that enables taxpayers to assess their own income tax and capital gains tax liabilities for the year. Since 1996-97, self-assessment has become a significant component of the UK tax return system, encapsulating details on taxable income, chargeable gains, and claims for personal allowances.
A scheme for the self-assessment of tax by companies introduced in the UK for all companies with an accounting period ending after 1 July 1999. This includes the timely submission of tax returns and payment of tax liabilities.
A Self-Directed IRA is an Individual Retirement Account that allows the account holder to actively manage and make investment decisions, distinguishing it from standard IRAs managed by institutions.
Self-employed individuals work for themselves, without a formal employer, and include sole proprietors and partners in partnerships. They shoulder all business risks and responsibilities, paying self-employment tax in addition to income tax on their net income.
Individuals who independently operate their trades or businesses and are taxed based on their profits rather than through PAYE, with unique National Insurance contributions compared to employees.
The Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes are imposed on the net earnings of individuals from self-employment. These contributions fund Social Security and Medicare programs for self-employed individuals.
The Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) is a federal law in the United States that imposes a tax on the income of self-employed individuals for the purposes of funding Social Security and Medicare programs.
Self-employment income refers to the earnings generated by individuals who work for themselves rather than being employed by a company or organization. This income is subject to Social Security taxes if the net profit from the trade or business is at least $400 for the year. In some cases, earnings less than $400 might still be considered for Social Security purposes.
The Self-Employment Individuals Retirement Act, commonly known as the Keogh Plan, is a retirement plan designed for self-employed individuals and small business owners, allowing them to save for retirement with tax-deferred contributions.
A Self-Employment Retirement Plan, also referred to as a Keogh Plan, is a tax-deferred pension account specifically designed for self-employed individuals and unincorporated businesses. It enables them to set aside a portion of their income for retirement.
Provision for Social Security (old-age, survivor's, and disability insurance) and Medicare (hospital insurance) for self-employed individuals. The rate is equal to the combined rates paid for Social Security by both employer and employee.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to become true due to the behavior it inspires in people. For instance, believing that a political candidate will win an election may encourage enough people to vote, thus enabling the candidate's victory.
Self-help refers to efforts by a landlord to remedy a tenant’s default on the lease without resorting to legal proceedings. This method is highly controversial and generally not supported by legal frameworks in most states.
Self-image is the conceptualization, idea, or mental image one has of oneself. It includes various perceptions about one's abilities, appearance, and character.
Self-insurance refers to the process of protecting against loss by setting aside one's own money rather than purchasing insurance from a third party. This can be systematically done by establishing a reserve fund.
A self-tender offer is a strategic financial maneuver used by companies to purchase a portion of their own stock from shareholders, often to thwart hostile takeover attempts.
A sell-off refers to the rapid selling of securities due to underlying panic or to avoid further declines in prices, often resulting in a sharp decline in the market.
Seller financing, also known as owner financing, is a method in which the seller of a property provides a loan to the buyer for the purchase of the property, as opposed to the buyer obtaining a mortgage through a third-party lender. This is often used when traditional lender financing is unavailable or less attractive.
A seller's market is a situation where demand for a security or product significantly exceeds its supply, leading to rising prices and allowing sellers to set both prices and terms of sale.
A Selling Agent, also known as a Selling Broker, is a licensed real estate professional who represents the buyer in a real estate transaction.
A selling climax refers to a sudden plunge in security prices when investors, driven by panic, simultaneously decide to dump their holdings. This event can sometimes signal the bottom of a bear market, after which the market may start to rise.
Selling overhead encompasses the expenses incurred by an organization in carrying out its selling activities, which include salaries of sales personnel, advertising costs, sales commissions, and other related expenses.
Selling Price Variance is a financial metric that measures the difference between the actual selling price of a product and its budgeted or standard selling price, multiplied by the actual number of units sold.
Selling short involves selling securities, commodities, or foreign currencies not actually owned by the seller, with the hope of repurchasing them later at a lower price to earn a profit.
Selling short against the box is a strategy wherein an investor sells a stock they already own but have kept in a brokerage firm's safekeeping, known as the 'box,' to defer capital gains to the following tax year.
SG&A expenses are essential for the daily operations of a business but do not include production costs. These expenses are tracked on a company's profit and loss statement and cover a variety of areas such as sales salaries, advertising, office expenses, and more.
Semi-monthly refers to an event or action that occurs twice each month. This term is often used in payroll and billing cycles.
An expense containing both fixed and variable cost elements, impacting overall costs depending on the level of business activity.
Semi-variable costs, also known as mixed costs, are costs that contain both fixed and variable components. They change in response to changes in volume but by less than a proportionate amount.
Semiannual refers to an event or action occurring twice a year, often at six-month intervals. It is synonymous with the term 'biannual.'
A semiconductor is a material with conductivity between that of an insulator and most metals, either due to the addition of impurities or because of its inherent atomic structure. It forms the foundation of modern electronic devices.
Senior capital refers to the financial contributions in the form of secured loans provided to a company, which are prioritized for repayment before other types of financial claims during liquidation.
Generally someone age 65 or over. Discounts on goods and services, special tax rules, and additional privileges often benefit senior citizens.
Loans or debt securities that have priority claim over junior obligations and equity on a corporation's assets in the event of liquidation.
A senior mortgage, also known as a first mortgage, refers to a loan that has priority over other loans or claims against the property in the event of default. It occupies the primary lien position on the property.
Senior refunding refers to the process of replacing securities maturing in 5 to 12 years with issues that have original maturities of 15 years or longer. Objectives can include reducing the bond issuer's interest costs, consolidating several issues into one, or extending the maturity date.
A security that has claim prior to a junior obligation and equity on a corporation's assets and earnings. Senior securities are repaid before junior securities in the event of liquidation. Debt, including notes, bonds, and debentures, is senior to stock; first mortgage bonds are senior to second mortgage bonds; and all mortgage bonds are senior to debentures, which are unsecured.
A method based upon length of service for determining employment advantages, crucial for promotions and layoffs, and often strongly advocated by unions.
A sensitive market refers to a financial market easily swayed by the announcement of positive or negative news. Such a market's fluctuations are often more pronounced than those of a market in which investors exhibit greater confidence in the price outlook.
A method used in decision making to evaluate the impact of variations in key variables on projected outcomes, helping to identify the degree of risk associated with a decision.
Sensitivity training is a method of laboratory training where an unstructured group of individuals exchange thoughts and feelings on a face-to-face basis. Sensitivity training helps give insight into how and why others feel the way they do on issues of mutual concern.
Measures of the bullish or bearish mood of investors. Many technical analysts look at these indicators as contrary indicators; that is, when most investors are bullish, the market is about to drop, and when most are bearish, the market is about to rise.
A SEP-IRA (Simplified Employee Pension) is a retirement savings plan designed for self-employed individuals and small business owners, allowing them to make contributions toward their own and their employees' retirement savings.
Separable assets and liabilities refer to the specific assets and liabilities of a business that can be clearly distinguished from other assets and liabilities. This distinction is crucial when assessing the financial health of a company or when conducting valuations, such as during a merger or acquisition.
A 'Separate (Tax) Return' refers to the option for married couples to file their tax returns individually rather than jointly, which may offer different tax benefits and considerations.
Separate property refers to assets acquired by either spouse before marriage or through gift or inheritance after marriage in community property states.
An election available before April 1990, in which both parties to a marriage agreed to treat the wife's earnings separately from the husband's, usually as a means of reducing tax. Salaries and other income of spouses have been taxed separately since April 1990 in many jurisdictions, providing a fair and independent taxation system.
The Separate-Entity Concept is a fundamental principle in accounting that treats a business as distinct and separate from its owners and other entities, ensuring clear financial accountability and reporting.
A Separately Managed Account (SMA) is a professionally managed portfolio of securities that uses pooled money to buy investments owned directly by the account holder. SMAs, also known as separate accounts, individually managed accounts, or managed accounts, are usually marketed by broker-dealers who select money managers, or subadvisors, for clients from a curated list.
The separation of service refers to the action of an employee severing their connection with an employer, which may occur through resignation, termination, retirement, or layoff.
In process costing, the separation point, also known as the split-off point, is where by-products or joint products emerge and begin their independent processing paths.
Order of occurrence; process or fact of following in order. A preconceived arrangement or pattern guiding the execution of steps within a system, event, or process.
A serial bond is a bond issue, usually of a municipality, with various maturity dates scheduled at regular intervals until the entire issue is retired. Each bond certificate in the series has an indicated redemption date.
Serial bonds are a type of bond issue where parts of the total amount mature at different intervals over a period, rather than all at once on one maturity date. This structure allows issuers to spread out the repayment burden and provides investors with a series of maturing investments over time.
A problem that arises in regression analysis involving time series data when successive values of the random error term are not independent. This implies that an important variable has not been identified. Same as autocorrelation.
A serial printer is a type of printing device that connects to a computer's serial port, using a communication protocol to send data interspersed with timing signals for printing documents.
Serial transmission refers to the process of sending data one bit at a time over a single wire or communication channel. It is commonly used to link computers to terminals, microcomputers to printers, and various other devices, especially those that operate at relatively slow data transfer rates.
Series bonds are a group of bonds issued at different times with different maturities but under the same indenture.
Series E Bonds were savings bonds issued by the U.S. government from 1941 to 1979. They were generally issued at 75% of their face value and matured at par based on interest rates, ceasing to accrue interest after 40 years.
A Series EE Bond is a type of U.S. government savings bond that earns a fixed interest rate for up to 30 years and is guaranteed to double in value if held for 20 years.
U.S. government bond that was available in denominations ranging from $500 to $10,000, primarily issued in exchange for Series E or EE bonds. The last issue date was August 31, 2004.
Series I Bonds are accrual-type securities designed for investors seeking to protect the purchasing power of their investment and earn a guaranteed real rate of return. They are characterized by inflation-indexed earnings that adjust over time.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a governmental agency established in 1987 that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Operating as part of the UK criminal justice system, the SFO handles cases that go straight to the Crown Court without a committal for trial.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a specialized government department in the United Kingdom dedicated to investigating and prosecuting serious or complex fraud, bribery, and corruption.
SERPS is an abbreviation for the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, which was a UK government pension scheme designed to provide an additional level of pension income based on an individual's earnings.
A server is a computer system that provides resources, data, services, or programs to other computers, known as clients, over a network.
An economic good consisting of human worth in the form of labor, advice, managerial skill, etc., rather than a commodity. Services to trade include banking, insurance, transport, etc. Professional services encompass the advice and skill of accountants, lawyers, architects, business consultants, doctors, etc. Consumer services include those given by caterers, cleaners, mechanics, plumbers, etc. Industry may be divided into extractive, manufacturing, and service sectors. The service industries make up an ever-increasing proportion of the national income.
A service bureau is a service business that makes its resources, such as computers and skilled personnel, available to others for a fee. They provide various services including merge/purge, list maintenance, and fulfillment services. By leveraging economies of scale, service bureaus can offer these services at a lower cost than individual users could achieve on their own.
A service business is a form of business that provides various types of labor services in a wide variety of business sectors, aiming to fulfill specific customer needs.
A service club is an organization dedicated to providing various services to its members and the community. Notable examples include the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, and Masonic lodges.
A service contract is a legally binding agreement between an employer and a director or other very senior employee, outlining terms of employment, responsibilities, and protections for both parties.
SCORE, formerly known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, is a nonprofit organization that provides free mentoring, resources, and education to small business owners across the United States.
Learn about the concept of a Service Cost Centre in accounting, an essential element in the absorption costing process used for allocating or apportioning costs to support and maintain production processes.
A service department, also known as a service cost centre, is a division within an organization that provides essential services to other departments but does not directly produce goods. These departments indirectly contribute to the organization's overall productivity by supporting operating departments.
A service economy is an economic structure where the majority of activities and jobs are centered around services rather than manufacturing, agriculture, or extraction. In such economies, the service sector dominates, offering various non-tangible goods such as healthcare, information technology, education, finance, and entertainment.
A service fee is a payment made by an advertiser to an advertising agency for the services rendered.
Service potential refers to the extent to which an asset helps an entity achieve its objectives, especially in non-cash generating contexts. This term is commonly used in the public sector and not-for-profit organizations.
The service sector is a crucial part of the economy, encompassing businesses that provide services rather than tangible goods. This sector is significant for employment creation and contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Service workers are employees who work in the service sector of the economy, representing a rapidly growing employment category as manufacturing jobs decline in the United States. These workers are often the least represented by unions.
Servicing generally refers to the regular maintenance and routine repairs to equipment. In finance, servicing encompasses the act of billing, collecting payments, and filing reports on a loan. This process is crucial for maintaining the operational and financial stability of both physical assets and financial instruments.
A set-aside is a policy where a percentage of a job or contract is reserved exclusively for minority businesses. This measure aims to foster the growth and establishment of minority firms by providing them with opportunities that would be challenging to secure in an open competitive environment against more established competitors.
An agreement between the parties involved to offset one debt against another or one loss against a gain. Commonly used in banking to balance credit and debit balances across different accounts.
The time taken to prepare a machine, process, or operation to carry out production. It may involve such operations as tool setting, calibration, and the initialization of the production process.
Setback refers to both a specified distance from a curb or property line which restricts the erection of buildings, and to problems in business or manufacturing that lead to lower profits or delays in achieving targets.
Setoff refers to a counterclaim put forth by the defendant against the plaintiff, often diminishing the amount recoverable by the plaintiff by considering an independent cause of action.
The term 'settle' generally refers to paying an obligation. In legal contexts, it pertains to resolving a dispute short of adjudication or arranging for the disposition of property. In the realm of securities, it means completing a trade between brokers or between a broker and a customer.
Settled property refers to property that is included in an interest-in-possession trust, where beneficiaries have the right to benefit from the property during their lifetime.
In various contexts, the term 'settlement' refers to different but related processes involving the distribution, resolution, or agreement on various matters such as estates, legal disputes, or real estate transactions.
A set of statutory provisions under which income arising from property that has been gifted is taxed as if it were income of the donor and not of the donee.
Settlement costs, also known as closing costs, refer to the expenses and fees associated with the finalization of a real estate transaction. These costs can include a range of payments required to transfer ownership from the seller to the buyer.
