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W-2 FORM
, Wage and Tax Statement,
is the form U.S. employers are required by the IRS to issue for each
employee before February 28th of the following year. The
W2 form
lists
the
employee's total wages/compensation and taxes withheld within the calendar
year of the year preceding.
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W-4 FORM
, Employee's Withholding
Allowance Certification , is completed by each employee so that the
employer
can withhold the correct federal income tax from the employee's
pay. Because tax situations may change, employees may want
to refigure their withholding each year.
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WACC
see Weighted Average Cost
of Capital.
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WAGE
is actual remuneration paid to
an employee for services rendered. Minimum wages, in the U.S.A., are established
by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
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WARRANT
, in government accounting, is an order
drawn authorizing payment to a designated payee. In securities, it is
a security entitling the holder to buy a proportionate amount of stock
at some specified future date at a specified price, usually one higher
than current market. This "warrant" is then traded as a security,
the price of which reflects the value of the underlying stock. Warrants
are issued by corporations and often used as a "sweetener" bundled
with another class of security to enhance the marketability of the latter.
Warrants are like call options, but with much longer time spans -- sometimes
years. In addition, warrants are offered by corporations whereas exchange
traded call options are not issued by firms.
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WARRANTY
is a guarantee given to a
buyer from a seller that the goods or services purchased will perform
as promised, or a refund will be given, repair will be done at no charge,
or an exchange made.
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WASTAGE
see SCRAP.
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WEAR AND TEAR
is a lessening of asset value due to loss, damage, or depreciation resulting from ordinary use and exposure.
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WEIGHTED AVERAGE
is one in which different
data in the data set are given different "weights." Varying
subjective assumptions are derived for determining the level of importance
for each data category. For example, many teachers will use a "weighted
average" when calculating a student's grade in a course. A teacher
might determine the final grade for the course by calculating that the
test average is 60% of the grade, quiz average is 30% of the grade, and
a single project is 10% of the grade.
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WHITE COLLAR CRIME
is a number of miscellaneous nonviolent crimes lumped together as white collar crimes. There is no fixed definition of white collar crime, although it usually includes bribery, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and violations of trust committed by corporations or individuals engaged in commerce. Historically, in the U.S. many white collar crimes have received lenient punishment from a criminal justice system that considered white collar crimes to be less serious than more violent crimes. Today, the trend is for stricter punishment of white collar crimes in recognition of the financial damage they inflict on society.
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WHITE KNIGHT
is an entity that comes to the rescue
of a corporation that is being taken over.
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WHITE PAPER
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WHOLESALE
is the selling of goods to retail merchants;
usually in large quantities for resale to consumers.
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WIDGET
is a device that is very useful
for a particular job. Often used within a name of a fictitious company.
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WINDFALL PROFIT/GAIN
is profit that
occurs suddenly as a result of an event not controlled by the company
or person realizing the gain from the event. For example, a hurricane
may bring extraordinary revenue to a roofing contractor as a result of
the natural disaster.
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WINDOW OF ENTERPRISE
depicts the overall
structure of accounting.
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WITHDRAWAL
is a. the act of taking out money or other
capital from a controlled account; or, b. a retraction of a previously
held position.
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WITHOLDING
, dependent upon application,
is: a. income tax withheld from employees' wages and paid directly to
the government
by the employer; or, b. a tax deducted from dividends on investments
which are paid to foreign investors. This can be claimed back if there
is a Double Taxation Agreement in place between the countries. See WITHHOLDING
TAX.
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WITNESS
is an individual who testifies at a trial
on what he has seen, heard, or otherwise observed.
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WORK CENTER
, normally, is an individual
production area or sub-process of an overall manufacturing process.
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WORK IN PROCESS
is parts
and subassemblies in the process of becoming completed finished goods.
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WORK IN PROGRESS
a piece
of work that is not yet finished.
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WORK SHEET
is a document
or schedule in which an accountant or auditor gathers information to substantiate
an opinion concerning an account balance or 'test of transaction.
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WORK-OF-ART
is a product
of one of the fine arts; especially a painting or sculpture of artistic
merit.
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WORKER’S COMPENSATION
is, usually, a state or
privately managed insurance fund in the United States that reimburses
employees for injuries suffered on the job.
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WORKING ASSET STATEMENT
is a net worth
statement minus any personal assets, the car, house, boat, etc. A working
asset statement will give a clear picture of an individual's invested
assets.
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WORKING CAPITAL DAYS OF NET SALES
measures
how many days of net revenue are tied up in working capital. It is calculated:
Working Capital Days of Net Sales = Working Capital / Net Revenue * 365.
Low values tend to show problems in ability to support sales while high
values may indicate under-capitalization problems.
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WORKING CAPITAL RATIO
is working capital
expressed as a percentage of sales.
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WORKING CAPITAL STATEMENT (WCS)
is
part of the financial statements' "Statements of Cash Flows or Changes
in Financial Position." The WCS normally includes sections covering:
Sources of Working Capital, Uses of Working Capital, and Working Capital
Changes.
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WORKING PAPERS
, in accounting, are
papers that document the evidence gathered by auditors to show the work
they have done, the methods and procedures they have followed, and the
conclusions they have developed in an audit of financial statements or
other type of engagement.
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