compliant

Definition

Playing by the rules so well you make the rule-makers jealous. Whether you're following regulatory guidelines, specifications, or laws, being compliant means you've done your homework and covered your backside.

Example Usage

Our new payment processing system is fully compliant with PCI-DSS standards.

Source: Regulatory and legal standard terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

horizontal analysis

Comparing financial statement line items across multiple periods to identify trends and growth patterns. It's the accounting equivalent of looking at your bank balance history and realizing why you're broke.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

Provision

Money set aside for a future obligation you're pretty sure will happen—basically an educated guess with teeth.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

days payable outstanding

The average number of days a company takes to pay its suppliers, calculated by dividing accounts payable by daily cost of goods sold. Low numbers mean you're a prompt payer; high numbers mean you're using suppliers as a free bank.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Intermediate

Falling between two chairs

Being stuck in a frustrating limbo where you don't qualify for assistance but also can't afford to live comfortably—the economic equivalent of being too tall for some doorways and too short for others.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

collectible

An object with just enough historical, financial, or sentimental cachet that otherwise-reasonable people will spend their rent money trying to acquire it—the perfect intersection of nostalgia and poor life choices. Your grandmother's Hummel figurines? Technically collectible. Your regret? Priceless.

💰 Finance / Accounting

Beginner

reimbursement

The delightful process of getting your money back after you've already spent it, typically involving byzantine expense report systems and a CFO who questions why you needed that airport coffee. It's the corporate promise that 'we'll pay you back'—eventually, maybe, if you have all seventeen required receipts. The business world's version of an IOU that actually gets honored.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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