Definition

Temporarily moving assets or liabilities off the books through short-term sales with prearranged buyback agreements, essentially hiding things in plain sight. It's the financial equivalent of shoving everything into the closet before guests arrive.

Example Usage

The audit committee discovered the CFO had been parking losses with a friendly hedge fund that agreed to sell them back after quarter-end.

Origin

Accounting fraud terminology that became prominent during 1980s-90s financial scandals

Fun Fact

Parking is illegal but was rampant during the savings and loan crisis, with institutions swapping bad assets back and forth like a hot potato nobody wanted to hold.

Source: Forensic accounting and securities law terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

earnings before interest and taxes

Operating income that excludes financing costs and tax expenses, providing a clearer view of operational performance. It's EBITDA's more conservative cousin that remembers depreciation and amortization are real expenses.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

Cash Flow

The movement of money in and out of a business, which in most startups flows primarily in the out direction at an alarming velocity. Positive cash flow means more money coming in than going out, a concept that seems simple until you try to actually achieve it.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

ticking and tying

The tedious audit procedure of tracing numbers from one document to another and reconciling totals, involving literal tick marks on paper. It's as exciting as it sounds and explains why auditors develop that distinctive glazed expression.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

payable

In accounting, the money your company owes but hasn't paid yet—basically corporate IOUs sitting on the balance sheet like financial landmines. Also known as "accounts payable," these are the bills that make CFOs wake up in cold sweats. The bigger this number gets, the more creative the excuses to vendors become.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Intermediate

tax loss harvesting

The practice of selling investments at a loss to offset capital gains and reduce tax liability, then often buying similar assets to maintain market exposure. It's using the tax code's lemons to make lemonade.

💰 Finance / Accounting
Beginner

sweep account

A bank account that automatically transfers excess funds to higher-yielding investments overnight, then sweeps them back for daily operations. Like having a very diligent financial butler who never sleeps.

💰 Finance / Accounting

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