The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), with over the 330,000 members, is the most prominent national professional association for CPAs (whose profession is the practice of FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING) in the United States.

The American Industrial Revolution (1877–1919) was an era in which the nation was transformed from its agrarian, rural roots to an increasingly urban, mechanized, and innovative power.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary league of national labor unions representing over 13 million workers.

The American dream is the aspirations of working-class citizens, parents, and immigrant groups to attain their image of a middle-class STANDARD OF LIVING.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is an indicator of changing customer satisfaction with the quality of goods and services available to households in the United States.

The American Bar Association (ABA) is the largest and most powerful law organization in the United States.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) is an organization representing banking interests at the national level.

The Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program was a federal welfare program that originated during the Great Depression as part of the 1935 Social Security Act.

Agricultural support programs are payments and incentives that subsidize agricultural businesses and growers.

Agency theory is a management and economic theory that attempts to explain relationships and self-interest in business organizations. In agency theory, principals contract with agents to perform tasks for the benefit of the principal. In making the CONTRACT with the agent, the principal delegates authority regarding how a task is to be accomplished, holding the agent responsible for attaining a certain outcome but not dictating the methods used to achieve the outcome.

The term affluent society comes from economist John Kenneth Galbraith’s 1958 book The Affluent Society.

Advertising - communication of a product or service through various media - is distinguished from publicity in that it is paid for and from personal selling in that it is nonpersonal and directed toward a group of consumers, the firm’s target market.

The adoption process is the series of stages through which consumers determine whether or not to become regular purchasers of a product.

Administrative law is all law regarding administrative agencies, including rules, statutes, regulations, and agency and court interpretations of these activities. An administrative agency is any nonjudicial, nonlegislative government entity that creates and administers laws.

An adjusting entry is a journal entry made at the end of an accounting period to record accruals that have occurred during that time period. Adjusting entries are common to ACCRUAL BASIS accounting, but they are not found in cash basis accounting.

Adaptability screening is identifying prospective employees who will be most likely to adjust to a company’s work environment. Psychologist Dr. Saul Sells, who developed adaptability screening in the 1950s, emphasized the need to study behavior in its natural setting.

Activity-based costing (ABC) is a cost-accounting tool that attempts to determine the cost of each activity in the production or service process.

Achievement motivation has to do with how inspired people are to pursue and accomplish their goals. When an individual does accomplish a desired goal, it typically results in a sense of positive self-worth, which contributes to personal and professional growth and development. The motivation to achieve may be affected both by dispositional characteristics, such as individuals’ perceptions of their abilities and potential to succeed; and by external forces, such as the promise of rewards for success or threat of punishment for failure.

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require accounting on the accrual basis, as opposed to the cash basis for accounting.

Accounts receivable are part of a firm’s assets; they represent monies owed to the firm.

Accounts payable are a part of a firm’s current liabilities, debts that must be paid within the short term. The accounts payable are the firm’s trade credit. As the firm does business with its suppliers and other firms on a credit basis, accounts payable accrue.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (AOB) is a five-member board created when the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law on July 30, 2002.