Glossary

Business accounting, in plain language

The terms that come up when you keep real double-entry books, read financial reports, and connect an AI assistant: each defined in a sentence, then explained.

Bookkeeping

Chart of accountsThe chart of accounts is the organized list of every account a business uses to categorize its transactions.
Double-entry accountingDouble-entry accounting records every transaction in at least two accounts, with total debits always equal to total credits.
General ledgerThe general ledger is the complete, permanent record of every posted journal entry, organized by account.
Journal entryA journal entry is the record of a single transaction, written as one or more debit lines and one or more credit lines that sum to equal totals.
Opening Balance EquityOpening Balance Equity is a temporary equity account used to keep the books balanced when you first enter a business's existing balances.
Void vs. deleteIn a real ledger you void (reverse) a posted transaction rather than delete it, so the audit trail stays complete.

Reporting

Trial balanceA trial balance lists the ending balance of every account, with total debits equal to total credits, to confirm the books balance.

AI & automation

Model Context Protocol (MCP)The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants securely connect to external tools and data through a well-defined interface.

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