1586 terms

Glossary

Every term is defined twice: once the way a filing would put it, and once the way somebody would explain it to you across a table. The second one is usually the one that sticks.

Showing 2 terms

Stage of completion

Accounting

Also called: Percentage of completion, Measure of progress

The measure of progress towards completing a performance obligation, used to decide how much of a contract price has been earned.

In plain terms

On a three-year job the profit for any one year is a fraction somebody computes. Change the fraction and you change the year, with no change in the work.

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Onerous contract

Accounting

Also called: Loss-making contract

A contract whose unavoidable costs are expected to exceed the economic benefits from it.

In plain terms

The whole expected loss is recognised at once, whatever the stage of completion — while a favourable revision is recognised only in proportion to progress. The asymmetry is deliberate.

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