Exceptional Item (redirected from Exceptional Items)

Exceptional Item

An unusual charge that a company accrues in the ordinary course of its business. For example, the wages a company pays may be exceptionally large in a given year because of the amount of overtime that employees work. This differs from an extraordinary item which is also unusual but does not accrue in the ordinary course of business. Under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, exceptional items must be reported on a balance sheet while extraordinary items need not be reported.