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Account

1. An arrangement by which an organization accepts a customer's financial assets and holds them on behalf of the customer at his or her discretion.

2. A statement summarizing the record of transactions in the form of credits, debits, accruals and adjustments that have occurred and have an affect on an asset, equity, liability or past, present or future revenue.

3. A relaying of happenings from one party to another.

Notes:

1. The Knights Templar were the first to hold assets on the behalf of others and make loans on those assets. As such the Knights Templar are credited with creating the foundations of today's banking system. Accounts were first created so that people could borrow to travel to the Holy Land, and hold and amass wealth that was often stolen during the Crusades.

2. This statement of transactions is the record of the growth and development, or shrinking and amortization of almost anything quantifiable.

3. An account is the passing on of information for the purpose of explanation.

See also: Account Balance, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Checking Account, Demand Deposit, Frozen Account, Margin Account, Savings Account, Sweep Account, Vostro Account

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Account

In the context of bookkeeping, refers to the ledger pages upon which various assets, liabilities, income, and expenses are represented.

In the context of investment banking, refers to the status of securities sold and owned or the relationship between parties to an underwriting syndicate. In the context of securities, the relationship between a client and a broker/dealer firm allowing the firm's employee to be the client's buying and selling agent. See: Account executive; account statement.

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account

1. The client of a broker, brokerage firm, or broker-dealer. The client may be a business, an individual investor, or an institutional investor.

2. The record of a client's transactions and investment position. See also account statement.