§G · Plain-English Glossary
Plain-English Accounting Glossary
The terms our clients actually look up — explained plainly.
A working glossary of accounting, tax, QuickBooks, and insurance-agency terms. Written by our CPAs, in language a business owner can actually use.
1099 vs. W-2
The two main classifications of workers — independent contractors (1099) vs. employees (W-2) — with very different tax, legal, and operational implications.
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Estimated Tax Payments
Quarterly payments business owners and self-employed individuals make toward their annual tax bill.
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Multi-State Filing
Filing income or franchise tax returns in more than one state because the business has nexus or earns income there.
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Pass-Through Entity
A business whose income passes through to its owners and is taxed on their personal returns rather than at the entity level.
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Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction
A federal deduction of up to 20% of qualified business income for owners of pass-through entities.
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R&D Tax Credit
A federal (and Wisconsin) credit for businesses spending on qualified research activities — broader than most owners assume.
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S Corporation
A tax election that lets a corporation or LLC pass income through to its owners' personal tax returns, avoiding double taxation.
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Section 179 Deduction
A federal tax election that lets businesses immediately expense the cost of qualifying property — equipment, vehicles, software — rather than depreciate it.
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Wisconsin Pass-Through Entity Tax
An elective state-level tax that pass-through businesses can pay on behalf of their owners, working around the federal $10,000 SALT cap.
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Accounts Payable (AP)
Money your business owes to vendors and suppliers for goods or services already received.
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Accounts Receivable (AR)
Money owed to your business by customers for goods or services already delivered.
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Accrual vs. Cash Accounting
Two ways to recognize income and expenses — when money moves (cash) vs. when it's earned or owed (accrual).
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Advisory Services
Forward-looking financial guidance — strategy, planning, decision support — beyond the historical work of bookkeeping and tax preparation.
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Balance Sheet
A snapshot at a single point in time of what a business owns (assets), owes (liabilities), and the owners' equity in it.
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Depreciation
Spreading the cost of a long-lived asset over its useful life rather than expensing it all in year one.
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EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — a common proxy for operating cash generation.
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Fixed Asset
A long-lived physical asset used in the operation of the business — equipment, vehicles, buildings, computers.
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Reconciliation
Comparing your accounting records against an outside source — usually a bank or credit-card statement — to confirm they agree.
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Agency Multiple
The valuation multiple — usually expressed as a multiple of EBITDA — used to price the sale of an insurance agency.
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Carrier Override
Additional commission paid above the base rate, usually for hitting volume or growth targets with a specific carrier.
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Contingency Income
Performance-based bonus compensation paid by a carrier to an independent agency, tied to volume, growth, and loss-ratio metrics.
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Perpetuation Planning
The long-term plan for transferring agency ownership to the next generation — internal employees, family, or outside buyers.
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Chart of Accounts
The structured list of every account in your accounting system, organized by type — assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses.
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Class Tracking
A QuickBooks feature that lets you tag transactions with a 'class' to track performance by department, location, or business line.
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QuickBooks ProAdvisor
An accountant or bookkeeper certified by Intuit in QuickBooks setup, training, and troubleshooting.
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