Accounting glossary

Accounting glossary in English, Spanish and Portuguese: simple definitions of assets, liabilities, equity, double entry, depreciation, VAT, withholdings, reconciliation and more.

⏱ 10 min readLevel: BeginnerUpdated: 2026-11-02

The course's key terms with their Spanish and Portuguese translations. Use it as a quick reference or to study accounting in another language.

English	Español	Português	Definition
Account payable	Cuenta por pagar	Conta a pagar	Obligation to pay a supplier.
Account receivable	Cuenta por cobrar	Conta a receber	Right to collect from a customer.
Accounting equation	Ecuación contable	Equação contábil	Assets = Liabilities + Equity.
Accounting voucher	Comprobante contable	Comprovante contábil	Internal document holding an entry: receipt, payment, transfer or adjustment.
Accrual	Devengo	Competência	Recording revenue and expenses when they occur, not when cash moves.
Adjustment	Ajuste	Ajuste	Entry that corrects or adjusts balances, mainly at closing.
Amortization	Amortización	Amortização	Part of an installment that reduces principal; also, the expense of an intangible.
Arrears	Mora	Mora	Late payment of an installment; may accrue default interest.
Asset	Activo	Ativo	Resource the company controls that will bring it benefits.
Balance	Saldo	Saldo	Difference between an account's debits and credits.
Balance sheet	Balance general	Balanço patrimonial	Statement of financial position: assets, liabilities and equity at a date.
Bank reconciliation	Conciliación bancaria	Conciliação bancária	Comparison of the books with the bank statement.
Budget	Presupuesto	Orçamento	Financial plan by account and month, compared with actuals.
Business unit	Unidad de negocio	Unidade de negócio	Project, branch or line of business measured separately.
Carrying amount	Valor en libros	Valor contábil	Cost less accumulated depreciation.
Cash flow	Flujo de efectivo	Fluxo de caixa	Cash inflows and outflows from operating, investing and financing.
Chart of accounts	Plan de cuentas	Plano de contas	Ordered, coded list of the company's accounts.
Closing	Cierre contable	Fechamento contábil	Locking a period and, at year end, moving the result into equity.
Cost center	Centro de costo	Centro de custo	Area of the company to which expenses and costs are assigned.
Cost of sales	Costo de ventas	Custo das vendas	Cost of the goods sold in the period.
Credit	Haber	Crédito	Right side of an account.
Current asset	Activo corriente	Ativo circulante	Asset turned into cash or used within the next 12 months.
Customer advance	Anticipo de cliente	Adiantamento de cliente	Money received before delivering the good or service; a liability.
Debit	Debe	Débito	Left side of an account.
Depreciation	Depreciación	Depreciação	Allocation of a fixed asset's cost over its useful life.
Double entry	Partida doble	Partidas dobradas	Every record affects at least two accounts and debits equal credits.
Equity	Patrimonio	Patrimônio líquido	What belongs to the owners: contributions plus retained results.
Expense	Gasto	Despesa	Use of resources that reduces equity.
Fixed asset	Activo fijo	Ativo imobilizado	Tangible asset used in operations for more than one year.
Fund	Fondo	Fundo	In GoSoft, each cash, bank or wallet through which money moves.
FX difference	Diferencia de cambio	Variação cambial	Gain or loss from remeasuring foreign currency items.
General ledger	Libro Mayor	Livro Razão	Movements and balance grouped by account.
Gross profit	Utilidad bruta	Lucro bruto	Sales minus cost of sales.
IFRS	NIIF	IFRS	International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the IASB.
Income statement	Estado de resultados	Demonstração do resultado	Revenue, costs and expenses for a period and the profit or loss.
Input tax	Crédito fiscal	Crédito de imposto	VAT paid on purchases, deducted from VAT on sales.
Inventory	Inventario	Estoque	Goods held for sale or used in production.
Journal	Libro Diario	Livro Diário	Chronological record of every entry.
Journal entry	Asiento contable	Lançamento contábil	Record of an operation with its debits and credits, always balanced.
Liability	Pasivo	Passivo	Present obligation to third parties.
Liquidity	Liquidez	Liquidez	Ability to pay short-term obligations.
Output tax	Débito fiscal	Débito de imposto	VAT charged on sales; a debt to the tax authority.
Payment plan	Plan de pagos	Plano de pagamentos	Schedule of installments of an installment sale.
Reservation	Reserva	Reserva	Holding a property with a payment; not yet a sale.
Revenue	Ingreso	Receita	Increase in benefits that raises equity.
Reversal	Reversión	Reversão	Accounting undo of a real sale, with refund or penalty.
ROE	ROE	ROE	Net profit / equity: return to owners.
Stock card	Kardex	Ficha de estoque	Record of receipts, issues and balance of each product.
Subsidiary detail	Auxiliar	Auxiliar	An account's detail by party, document or cost center.
Taxonomy	Taxonomía	Taxonomia	In GoSoft, the link between each item, its use, account and VAT.
Trial balance	Balance de comprobación	Balancete de verificação	List of accounts with totals and balances to check they agree.
Useful life	Vida útil	Vida útil	Period over which an asset is expected to be used.
Withholding	Retención	Retenção	Part of a payment the buyer hands to the tax authority on the supplier's behalf.
Working capital	Capital de trabajo	Capital de giro	Current assets minus current liabilities.

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