Finance terms starting with A

26 terms starting with A

ACCC

The ACCC is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the national regulator that enforces competition and consumer law, covering misleading conduct, cartels, product safety and unfair contract terms.

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Accelerated depreciation

Accelerated depreciation is any depreciation method that front-loads deductions, so a business claims more of an asset's cost in the early years of its life and less later.

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Acceleration clause

An acceleration clause is a term in a loan contract that lets the lender demand the whole outstanding balance immediately if the borrower breaches the agreement.

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Administration

Administration is a formal insolvency procedure where an independent administrator takes temporary control of a company to rescue it or get creditors a better result than immediate liquidation.

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Affordability

Affordability is whether a person or household can meet the cost of a good, service or loan repayment without giving up essentials or taking on debt they cannot sustain.

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Agent

An agent is a person or business authorised to act on behalf of another party, the principal, in transactions and negotiations within an agreed scope of authority.

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Aggregator

An aggregator is the organisation that sits between finance brokers and lenders, giving its broker network access to a lender panel, technology, compliance support and commission processing.

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Alternative finance

Alternative finance is any business finance sourced outside traditional bank lending, such as marketplace lenders, crowdfunding platforms, invoice financiers and other specialist non-bank lenders.

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Amortisation

Amortisation is the process of spreading a cost over time: repaying a loan in scheduled instalments of interest and principal, or expensing an intangible asset over its useful life.

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Amortisation schedule

An amortisation schedule is a table showing every repayment on a loan, splitting each one into interest and principal so you can see the balance fall.

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Annualised percentage rate (APR)

The annualised percentage rate (APR) is the annual interest rate a credit provider must disclose on regulated consumer credit under the National Credit Code, excluding fees.

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Anti-money laundering (AML)

Anti-money laundering (AML) is the set of laws, controls and processes designed to stop criminals turning the proceeds of crime into apparently legitimate funds, enforced in Australia by AUSTRAC.

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Appraisal

An appraisal is a professional estimate of an asset's value at a set date, which lenders and lessors use to set loan-to-value ratios, price leases and assess collateral risk.

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APRA

APRA is the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the statutory regulator responsible for prudential regulation of banks, credit unions, insurers and superannuation funds, protecting depositors, policyholders and fund members.

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Arrears

Arrears are overdue repayments on a loan or credit account: the borrower has missed instalments, which the lender tracks by days past due and which can lead to a default.

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Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology that lets computer systems learn from data, recognise patterns and make decisions that would traditionally require human judgement, including credit decisions in lending.

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ASIC

ASIC is the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the regulator for companies, markets, financial services and consumer credit, which licenses providers, keeps public registers and enforces conduct laws.

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Asset

An asset is anything a business or person owns or controls that is expected to produce future economic benefit, such as cash, equipment, vehicles, property or receivables.

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Asset disposal

Asset disposal is the sale, trade-in, scrapping or retirement of a business asset, which takes it off the asset register and triggers accounting and tax adjustments.

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Asset finance

Asset finance is the umbrella term for business finance that pays for vehicles, equipment and other income-producing assets, with the asset itself acting as the security.

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Asset register

An asset register is a structured record of the tangible and intangible assets a business owns, controls or leases, tracking each item's location, value, depreciation and disposal in one place.

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Asset-based finance (ABF)

Asset-based finance (ABF) is business finance secured on a company's assets, with the facility size set by the value of the receivables, inventory, equipment or property pledged.

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Assignment of contract

An assignment of contract is the transfer of one party's rights under a contract, such as the right to be paid, to a third party, without transferring the assignor's obligations.

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ATO

The ATO is the Australian Taxation Office, the national tax authority that collects income tax, GST and PAYG, administers superannuation rules, issues rulings and enforces compliance.

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AUSTRAC

AUSTRAC is Australia's financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering regulator: it collects reports from regulated businesses, analyses them and supervises reporting entities under the AML/CTF Act.

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Australian credit licence (ACL)

An Australian credit licence (ACL) is the authorisation from ASIC that a business needs to provide consumer credit or credit assistance under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act.

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