CONTINGENT LIABILITY Definition

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CONTINGENT LIABILITY is: (a) A possible obligation from past events that will be confirmed only by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the enterprise; or (b) A present obligation from past events but is not recognized because (i) it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation; or (ii) the obligation cannot be measured reliably. Some examples: in corporate reports are pending lawsuits, judgments under appeal, disputed claims, and the like, representing potential financial liability.

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ACCOUNTING THEORY tries to describe the role of accounting and is composed of four types of accounting theory: classical inductive theories, income theories, decision usefulness theories, and information economics / agency theories: a. Classical inductive theories are attempts to find the principles on which current accounting processes are based; b. Income theories try to identify the real profit of an organization; c. Decision usefulness theories attempt to describe accounting as a process of providing the relevant information to the relevant decision makers; and, d. The information economics / agency theories of accounting see accounting information as a good to be traded between rational agents each acting in their own self-interest.

PACKING SLIP see PACKING LIST.

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