---
title: "A-Z index"
url: https://prosperousboomer.com/a-z/
description: "Every term written so far, grouped by first letter, with a one-line plain-language gloss for each."
---

# A-Z index

[Prosperous Boomer](https://prosperousboomer.com/) › A-Z index

24 entries written so far, grouped by first letter. Terms with their own page link to it; the rest are defined inside the topic that frames them.

## A

- [Accrual basis](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/accrual-basis/)Recording income and cost when they arise, not when money moves.BOOKKEEPING

## B

- [Balance sheet](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/reading-a-set-of-accounts/#balance-sheet)A statement of what is owned and owed at a single moment.ACCOUNTS
- [Basis period](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/tax-years-and-filing-cycles/#basis-period)The stretch of trading whose result is assigned to a given tax year.CYCLES

## C

- [Cash flow statement](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/reading-a-set-of-accounts/#cash-flow-statement)A statement explaining how the bank balance moved and why.ACCOUNTS

## D

- [Depreciation](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/depreciation/)Spreading the cost of a long-lived item across the years it is used.ACCOUNTS
- [Direct tax](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/what-taxes-pay-for/#direct-tax)A tax charged on the person or business that is meant to bear it.PURPOSE
- [Double-entry bookkeeping](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/double-entry-bookkeeping/)Recording every transaction twice so the books check themselves.BOOKKEEPING

## E

- [Excise](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/how-taxes-changed/#excise)A duty charged on goods made inside a country rather than imported.HISTORY

## H

- [Hypothecation](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/what-taxes-pay-for/#hypothecation)The unusual practice of tying one tax to one named area of spending.PURPOSE

## I

- [Income tax](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/how-taxes-changed/#income-tax)A charge on what a person or business earns in a period.HISTORY
- [Indirect tax](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/what-taxes-pay-for/#indirect-tax)A tax collected from one party but expected to be passed on to another.PURPOSE
- [Instalment](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/tax-years-and-filing-cycles/#instalment)A payment made during a period against a liability not yet finalised.CYCLES

## J

- [Journal](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/bookkeeping-basics/#journal)The chronological record: transactions in the order they happened.BOOKKEEPING

## L

- [Ledger](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/bookkeeping-basics/#ledger)The categorical record: transactions gathered under headings.BOOKKEEPING

## P

- [Profit and loss account](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/reading-a-set-of-accounts/#profit-and-loss-account)A statement of what was earned and spent across a period.ACCOUNTS
- [Progressive taxation](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/progressive-taxation/)A structure where the average rate rises as the amount taxed rises.PURPOSE

## R

- [Reconciliation](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/bookkeeping-basics/#reconciliation)Comparing the internal record against an outside statement.BOOKKEEPING
- [Return](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/tax-years-and-filing-cycles/#return)The formal declaration describing a calculated liability for a period.CYCLES

## T

- [Tax year](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/tax-years-and-filing-cycles/#tax-year)The defined period against which a charge on income or profit is assessed.CYCLES
- [Tithe](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/how-taxes-changed/#tithe)An early fixed share of produce, typically a tenth, paid to church or lord.HISTORY
- [Trial balance](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/bookkeeping-basics/#trial-balance)A total of all debits against all credits, used to detect errors.BOOKKEEPING

## V

- [Value-added tax](https://prosperousboomer.com/topics/how-taxes-changed/#value-added-tax)A spending tax collected in fragments at each stage of production.HISTORY

## W

- [Withholding](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/withholding/)Tax taken out of a payment before the recipient ever sees it.PURPOSE
- [Working capital](https://prosperousboomer.com/terms/working-capital/)The short-term money tied up in running the business day to day.ACCOUNTS

## How entries are written

Entries here explain ideas in plain words. Each one starts with a short definition, then a longer explanation of how the thing works and where it came from, and stops there.

The writing describes mechanisms and their history rather than the rules of any particular country or any particular year. No rate, threshold, deadline or filing requirement is quoted anywhere on the site, because those differ from place to place and change from year to year, and a figure written once and left standing is worse than no figure at all.

Nothing here is guidance for a particular person's affairs. Where numbers appear they are round illustrations chosen to make an arithmetic relationship visible, and they are labelled as such.

[Return to the A-Z index](https://prosperousboomer.com/a-z/)