Definition

Money that exits your bank account faster than your ability to justify why you needed it in the first place. In business contexts, it's the art of categorizing spending so the tax man won't cry, and in personal finance, it's the stuff that makes you wonder where your paycheck went. Track them obsessively or live in blissful ignorance—there is no middle ground.

Example Usage

Janet tried to write off her beach vacation as a business expense by attending one 20-minute webinar on her phone.

Source: Common financial terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

financing

The art of obtaining money for a venture, purchase, or operation, typically through loans, investments, or creative accounting that would make your grandmother worry. In real estate and business, it's the difference between owning something outright and owing a bank for the next 30 years. Everyone says they're 'exploring financing options' which usually means 'we're broke but optimistic.'

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

Accrual Basis

The accounting method where you recognize revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash actually changes hands. It's like claiming you're rich because people owe you money, even if you're currently broke.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

reserve for bad debts

An estimate of accounts receivable that will never be collected, subtracted from assets to present a more realistic balance sheet. It's acknowledging that some customers are deadbeats before they officially become deadbeats.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

Securities

Tradeable financial instruments like stocks and bonds, given a name that implies safety despite being approximately as secure as a sandcastle at high tide. The irony of calling them securities when they can lose 50% of their value overnight is Wall Street's longest-running joke.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

penny-stock

Stocks trading below $5 per share, typically on over-the-counter markets with minimal regulation or scrutiny. It's where pump-and-dump schemes go to flourish and retail investors go to lose their money quickly.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

receivables

The collective pile of money that customers owe your business, representing either healthy cash flow or an impending collections nightmare depending on who's on the list. These are debts arising from sales on credit, sitting on the balance sheet as assets while you nervously check if people will actually pay. It's optimism quantified as a line item.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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