Glossary

Accounting and KontoCore terms explained in plain language.

Plans

All

Availability

Available

For

Owners, Bookkeepers, Personal

What this does

Each term links to the article where it matters most.

Terms

Account

A named bucket in the chart of accounts that collects transactions of one kind, such as Checking, Rent Expense, or Sales Revenue. Learn more

Accounts payable (A/P)

Money you owe vendors for bills you have received but not yet paid. Learn more

Accounts receivable (A/R)

Money customers owe you for invoices that have not been paid yet. Learn more

Accrual basis

Revenue is recorded when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash moves.

Asset

Something the organization owns or is owed that has value: cash, receivables, inventory, equipment.

Books Health

KontoCore’s summary of how complete, reconciled, and verified your books are, based on deterministic checks.

Cash basis

Revenue and expenses are recognized when cash is received or paid.

Chart of accounts

The organized list of all accounts your books use. Learn more

Company (books)

One isolated set of books in KontoCore with its own records, members, and settings.

Control total

A known total (such as an account balance or invoice count) used to prove imported data is complete.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)

The direct cost of products sold during a period, recognized when the sale happens.

Credit

The right side of a journal entry. Credits increase liabilities, equity, and revenue and decrease assets and expenses.

Credit memo

A document that reduces what a customer owes, for returns, discounts, or corrections.

Debit

The left side of a journal entry. Debits increase assets and expenses and decrease liabilities, equity, and revenue.

Depreciation

Spreading a fixed asset’s cost over its useful life as a periodic expense.

Double-entry bookkeeping

Every transaction affects at least two accounts, and total debits always equal total credits.

Equity

The owners’ stake — assets minus liabilities. Includes owner contributions, draws, and retained earnings.

Evidence

A source document or record (receipt, bill, statement line) linked to a transaction to support it.

Expense

A cost of running the organization, such as rent, supplies, or wages.

Financial Truth

KontoCore’s continuous verification layer that checks records against controls, evidence, and sources and reports findings. Learn more

Finding

A specific, fact-based issue raised by a check, such as an unreconciled account or a transaction missing evidence.

Fiscal year

The 12-month period your organization uses for financial reporting.

Fixed asset

A long-lived item such as equipment, vehicles, or furniture that is capitalized rather than expensed immediately. Learn more

Form 1099-NEC / 1099-MISC

U.S. information returns reporting payments to non-employee contractors and certain other payees. Learn more

Form W-2

The annual U.S. wage and tax statement for employees, produced by payroll.

Form W-9

A form a U.S. contractor provides with their legal name, tax classification, and taxpayer identification number.

General ledger (GL)

The complete record of every posted journal line, organized by account.

Inventory

Products held for sale, tracked by quantity and cost. Inventory is an asset until sold. Learn more

Job costing

Assigning revenue and costs to a specific project to measure its profitability. Learn more

Journal entry

A dated record of debits and credits to specific accounts. Every posted transaction produces one. Learn more

Liability

Something the organization owes: bills, loans, credit card balances, sales tax collected but not yet remitted.

Migration source mirror

A read-only copy of data imported from a previous system, kept for comparison, verification, and audit. Learn more

Net worth

In Personal, the total of what a household owns minus what it owes.

Opening balance

An account’s balance on the first day KontoCore tracks it, usually entered when starting clean.

Period close

Locking a completed period so posted records cannot change without an authorized, audited reopening.

Reconciliation

Confirming that your books agree with an outside record, usually a bank or card statement, for a period ending on a specific date. Learn more

Retainage

A portion of a progress billing withheld by the customer until completion.

Revenue (income)

Money earned from selling goods or services, recorded when earned under accrual basis.

Sales tax

Tax collected from customers on taxable sales and owed to a tax authority. Learn more

Schedule of values (SOV)

A breakdown of a contract amount into billable line items used for progress billing. Learn more

Transfer

Money moving between two of your own accounts. A transfer is neither income nor expense.

Trial balance

A list of every account’s balance at a date. Total debits must equal total credits.

Vendor credit

A credit from a vendor that reduces what you owe them.

Work in progress (WIP)

A report comparing contract costs, billings, and estimated completion to identify over- or under-billing.

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