Finance Abbreviations — Part 1 MCQs with Explanations

Yield to maturity (YTM) is the total return anticipated on a bond if the bond is held until it matures. Yield to maturity is considered a long-term bond yield but is expressed as an annual rate. In other words, it is the internal rate of return (IRR) of an investment in a bond if the investor holds the bond until maturity, with all payments made as scheduled and reinvested at the same rate.

Year to date (YTD) refers to the period of time beginning the first day of the current calendar year or fiscal year up to the current date. YTD information is useful for analyzing business trends over time or comparing performance data to competitors or peers in the same industry. The acronym often modifies concepts such as investment returns, earnings, and net pay.

Working Capital (WC) is the difference between a company's current assets and current liabilities. It is a financial measure, which calculates whether a company has enough liquid assets to pay its bills that will be due within a year. When a company has excess current assets, that amount can then be used to spend on its day-to-day operations.

Total shareholder return (TSR) (or simply total return) is a measure of the performance of different companies' stocks and shares over time. It combines share price appreciation and dividends paid to show the total return to the shareholder expressed as an annualized percentage. It is calculated by the growth in capital from purchasing a share in the company assuming that the dividends are reinvested each time they are paid. This growth is expressed as a percentage as the compound annual growth rate.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent federal government regulatory agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets, and facilitating capital formation. It was created by Congress in 1934 as the first federal regulator of the securities markets. The SEC promotes full public disclosure, protects investors against fraudulent and manipulative practices in the market, and monitors corporate takeover actions in the United States.

The term chief financial officer (CFO) refers to a senior executive responsible for managing the financial actions of a company. The CFO's duties include tracking cash flow and financial planning as well as analyzing the company's financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing corrective actions. The role of a CFO is similar to a treasurer or controller because they are responsible for managing the finance and accounting divisions and for ensuring that the company's financial reports are accurate and completed in a timely manner.

The profit and loss (P&L) statement is a financial statement that summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specified period, usually a fiscal quarter or year. The P&L statement is synonymous with the income statement.

The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its per-share earnings (EPS). The price-to-earnings ratio is also sometimes known as the price multiple or the earnings multiple.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$30.1 trillion as of February 2018. The average daily trading value was approximately US$169 billion in 2013. The NYSE trading floor is at the New York Stock Exchange Building on 11 Wall Street and 18 Broad Street and is a National Historic Landmark.

The money market is an organized exchange market where participants can lend and borrow short-term, high-quality debt securities with average maturities of one year or less. It enables governments, banks, and other large institutions to sell short-term securities to fund their short-term cash flow needs. Money markets also allow individual investors to invest small amounts of money in a low-risk setting.

The Ministry of Finance is a ministry within the Government of India concerned with the economy of India, serving as the Indian Treasury Department. In particular, it concerns itself with taxation, financial legislation, financial institutions, capital markets, centre and state finances, and the Union Budget.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international nongovernmental organization made up of national standards bodies; it develops and publishes a wide range of proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards and is comprised of representatives from various national standards organizations.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.

The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, is an Act of the Parliament of India "to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign exchange with the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India".

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman Mr. G.D. Birla and Purshottamdas Thakurdas. It is the largest, oldest and the apex business organisation in India. It is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation. FICCI draws its membership from the corporate sector, both private and public, including SMEs and MNCs.

The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) oversees the activities of Reserve Banks, approving the appointments of their presidents and some members of their boards of directors. The Board sets reserve requirements for depository institutions and approves changes in discount rates recommended by Reserve Banks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by the Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system. The FDIC insures deposits; examines and supervises financial institutions for safety, soundness, and consumer protection; makes large and complex financial institutions resolvable; and manages receivership.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is the Constitutional Authority in India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. He is empowered to Audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the State Governments, including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the Government. The CAG is also the statutory auditor of Government-owned corporations and conducts supplementary audit of government companies in which the Government has an equity share of at least 51 per cent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies.

The chief security officer (CSO) is a company executive responsible for the security of personnel, physical assets, and information in both physical and digital form. The importance of this position has increased in the age of information technology (IT) due to the dangers of hacking, ransomware, and data theft.

The chief operating officer (COO) is a senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of a business. The COO typically reports directly to the chief executive officer (CEO) and is considered to be second in the chain of command.

The Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) is a certification credential for experienced payroll professionals. To qualify for CPP certification, candidates at a minimum must have three years of payroll practice in the five years prior to taking the exam.

The assumed interest rate (AIR) is the rate of interest (or growth rate) selected by an insurance company. The assumed interest rate is provided to determine the value of an annuity contract and, therefore, the periodic income payment provided to the annuitant.

Return on sales (ROS) is a ratio used to evaluate a company's operational efficiency. This measure provides insight into how much profit is being produced per dollar of sales. An increasing ROS indicates that a company is improving efficiency, while a decreasing ROS could signal impending financial troubles. ROS is closely related to a firm's operating profit margin.

Return on net assets (RONA) is a measure of financial performance calculated as net profit divided by the sum of fixed assets and net working capital. Net profit is also called net income.

Return on invested capital (ROIC) is a calculation used to assess a company's efficiency at allocating the capital under its control to profitable investments. The return on invested capital ratio gives a sense of how well a company is using its capital to generate profits.

Return on equity (ROE) is a measure of financial performance calculated by dividing net income by shareholder's equity. Because shareholder's equity is equal to a company’s assets minus its debt, ROE is considered the return on net assets. ROE is considered a measure of a corporation's profitability in relation to stockholder's equity.

Return on capital employed is calculated by dividing net operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), by capital employed. Another way to calculate it is by dividing earnings before interest and taxes by the difference between total assets and current liabilities.

Return on assets (ROA) is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives a manager, investor, or analyst an idea as to how efficient a company's management is at using its assets to generate earnings.

Quarter-to-date (QTD) is a time interval that captures all relevant company activity that occurred between the beginning of the current quarter and the point at which the data was gathered later in the quarter. Quarter-to-date information is typically gathered in situations when the entire quarterly period has not yet ended, and it can allow management to see how the quarter is shaping up.

National Housing Bank (NHB), is the apex regulatory body for overall regulation and licensing of housing finance companies in India. It is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance , Government of India. It was set up on 9 July 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987. NHB is the apex financial institution for housing. NHB has been established with an objective to operate as a principal agency to promote housing finance institutions both at local and regional levels and to provide financial and other support incidental to such institutions and for matters connected therewith.

Month-to-date (MTD) is a period starting at the beginning of the current calendar month and ending at the current date. Month-to-date is used in many contexts, mainly for recording results of an activity in the time between a date (exclusive, since this day may not yet be "complete") and the beginning of the current month.

IFCI, previously Industrial Finance Corporation of India, is a development finance institution under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India . Established in 1948 as a statutory corporation, IFCI is currently a company listed on BSE and NSE. IFCI has seven subsidiaries and one associate.

Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets held by investors in another country. Along with foreign direct investment (FDI), FPI is one of the common ways to invest in an overseas economy. FDI and FPI are both important sources of funding for most economies.

Flow of funds (FOF) are financial accounts that are used to track the net inflows and outflows of money to and from various sectors of a national economy. Macroeconomic data from flow of funds accounts are collected and analyzed by a country's central bank. In the United States, this data is released by the Federal Reserve Bank approximately 10 weeks after the end of each quarter.

Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA) is an association of Scheduled Commercial Banks, Public Financial Institutions, Primary Dealers and Insurance Companies in India representing the Market for the Bond, Money and Derivatives Products. It functions as the principal interface and works closely with the regulators, RBI, SEBI, Ministry of Finance, IRDA and other important domestic and International associations. It has 120 members as on date.

FISIM stands for Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured. In the System of National Accounts it is an estimate of the value of the services provided by financial intermediaries, such as banks, for which no explicit charges are made; instead these services are paid for as part of the margin between rates applied to savers and borrowers. The supposition is that savers would receive a lower interest rate and borrowers pay a higher interest rate if all financial services had explicit charges.

Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is an apex-level body constituted by the government of India. The idea to create such a super regulatory body was first mooted by the Raghuram Rajan Committee in 2008. Finally in 2010, the then Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee, decided to set up such an autonomous body dealing with macro prudential and financial regularities in the entire financial sector of India.

Electronic funds transfer is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of bank staff.

COB is an acronym for "close of business," which is the end of the business day. Most companies base COB hours on traditional U.S. business closing hours of 5 p.m.

Chief accounting officers (CAOs) are in charge of the entire accounting department of their institution. They are responsible for their company's accounting operations and financial reporting functions. They oversee accounting and administrative staff. They must make sure that their staff follow procedures and adhere to various regulatory rules and regulations.