ACCOUNTING

accounting.  1.  The  act  or  a  system  of  establishing  or  settling  financial  accounts;  esp.,  the

process of recording transactions in the financial records of a business and periodically extracting,

sorting, and summarizing the rec-orded transactions to produce a set of financial records. — Also

termed financial accounting. 2.  A rendition  of an account, either  voluntarily or by court  order. •

The term frequently refers to the report of all items of property, income, and expenses prepared by

a personal representative, trustee, or guardian and given to heirs, beneficiaries, or the probate court.

See  ACCOUNT(4).3.  A  legal  action  to  compel  a  defendant to  account for  and  pay  over  money

owed to the plaintiff but held by the defendant (often the plaintiff’s agent); ACCOUNTING FOR

PROFITS. — Also termed account render; account; action of account. 4. More broadly, an action

for the recovery of money for services performed, property sold and delivered, money loaned, or

damages for the nonperformance of simple contracts. • Such an action is available when the rights

of  parties  will  be  adequately  protected  by  the  payment  of  money.  —  Also  termed  action  on

account; account; action of book debt. 5.Commercial law. An equitable proceeding for a complete

settlement of all partnership affairs, usu. in connection with partner misconduct or with a winding

up.  See  WINDING  UP.  [Cases:  Partnership    331.  C.J.S.  Partnership  §§  387,  391.]  6.Secured

transactions.  A  record  that  (1)  is  authenticated  by  a  secured  party,  (2)  indicates  the  aggregate

unpaid secured obligation as of a date no more than 35 days before or after the date of the record,

and  (3)  identifies  the  components  of  the  obligations  in  reasonable  detail.  UCC  §  9-102(a)(29).

[Cases: Secured Transactions    162.C.J.S. Secured Transactions § 112.] [Blacks Law 8th]