Glossary
Bookkeeper Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential bookkeeper terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key bookkeeper vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in bookkeeper training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Accounts payable (A/P)
- Money the business owes to vendors.
- Accounts receivable (A/R)
- Money customers owe the business.
- Accrual basis
- Recording income and expenses when earned or incurred, not when cash moves.
- Balance sheet
- A snapshot of assets, liabilities and equity.
- Bank reconciliation
- Matching the books to the bank statement.
- Cash basis
- Recording income and expenses when cash is received or paid.
- Chart of accounts
- The list of accounts used to categorize transactions.
- Credit
- An entry on the right side; increases liabilities, equity and revenue.
- Debit
- An entry on the left side of an account; increases assets and expenses.
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- Recording every transaction with equal debits and credits.
- General ledger
- The complete record of all accounts and transactions.
- Income statement (P&L)
- A report of revenue, expenses and profit over a period.
- Journal entry
- A manual record of a transaction or adjustment.
- Month-end close
- Steps to finalize and review the books each month.
- Trial balance
- A report listing all account balances to confirm debits equal credits.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Bookkeeper practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Bookkeeper training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.