Warranty—An agreement to assume responsibility if certain facts do not prove as represented.
Way Bill—A document containing a list of goods shipped by a railroad.
Wholesale—A business which sells goods in large quantities, usually in original packages and to the trade only.
Working Capital—The capital actually used in the active operations of a business.
COMMERCIAL ABBREVIATIONS
The commercial abbreviations in the following list are in constant use in the various lines of trade, and should be thoroughly understood by the student of accounting.
| A 1 | First-class |
| acct. | Account |
| ad | Advertisement |
| Agt. | Agent |
| amt. | Amount |
| Ans. | Answer |
| Art. | Article |
| asstd. | Assorted |
| Ass't. | Assistant |
| Atty. | Attorney |
| bal. | Balance |
| bbl. | Barrel |
| B. B. | Bill Book |
| bds. | Boards |
| bdls. | Bundles |
| bgs. | Bags |
| bk. | Book |
| bkt. | Basket |
| B. L. or B/L | Bill of Lading |
| bls. | Bales |
| bot. | Bought |
| B. P. or B/P | Bills Payable |
| bro't. | Brought |
| B. R. or B/R | Bills Receivable |
| B. Ren'd. | Bill Rendered |
| bu. | Bushel |
| bx. | Box |
| C. B. | Cash Book |
| ¢ or cts. | Cents |
| chgd. | Charged |
| c. i. f. | Cost, Insurance, and Freight |
| ck. | Check |
| cks. | Casks, Checks |
| Co. | Company |
| C. O. D. | Collect on delivery |
| Coll. | Collect or Collector |
| Com. | Commission |
| Com'l. | Commercial |
| Cons'd. | Consigned |
| Const. | Consignment |
| Cr. | Credit or Creditor |
| ctg. | Cartage |
| cwt. | Hundredweight |
| D. B. | Day Book |
| Dept. | Department |
| dft. | Draft |
| dis. or Disc't. | Discount |
| div. | Dividend |
| do. or ditto | The Same |
| doz. | Dozen |
| Dr. | Debit or Debtor |
| ds. | Days |
| ea. | Each |
| E. E. | Error excepted |
| E. and O. E. | Errors and omissions excepted |
| e. g. | For example |
| Ent. | Entry or Enter |
| Ent'd. | Entered |
| etc. or &c. | And others; And so forth |
| Exch. | Exchange |
| ex. | Express |
| exp. | Expense |
| Exr. | Executor |
| f. o. b. | Free on board |
| fol. | Folio; Page of a book |
| f'd, ford. | Forward |
| frt. | Freight |
| ft. | Foot, Feet |
| gal. | Gallon |
| gr. | Grain |
| gro. or gr. | Gross |
| guar. | Guaranteed |
| hdkf. | Handkerchief |
| hhd. | Hogshead |
| hund. | Hundred |
| I. B. | Invoice Book |
| in. | Inches |
| Ins. | Insurance |
| Inst. | Instant (this month) |
| int. | Interest |
| inv. | Invoice |
| invt. | Inventory |
| I. O. U. | I owe you; A due bill |
| J. | Journal |
| lb. | Pound |
| lbr. | Lumber |
| lab. | Labor |
| Manf. | Manufacture |
| Mdse. | Merchandise |
| Mem. | Memorandum |
| Mfd. | Manufactured |
| Mfst. | Manifest |
| Mfr. | Manufacturer |
| Mo. or mo. | Month |
| Mtg. | Mortgage |
| Ms. | Manuscript |
| Mut. | Mutual |
| Nat. or Nat'l. | National |
| N. B. | Take notice |
| No. | Number |
| N. P. | Notary Public, Net Proceeds |
| O. B. | Order Book |
| O. K. | All Correct; Approved |
| oz. | Ounce |
| p. | Page |
| pp. | Pages |
| pay't or pm't. | Payment |
| pc. | Piece |
| pcs. | Pieces |
| P. B. | Pass Book |
| P. C. B. | Petty Cash Book |
| pd. | Paid |
| per. | By; By the |
| per an. | By the year |
| pk. | Peck |
| pkg. | Package |
| pop. | Population |
| pref. | Preferred |
| Prem. | Premium |
| Pro. | Proceeds |
| prop'r. | Proprietor |
| prox. | Next Month |
| P. S. | Postscript |
| pub. | Publisher |
| Qr. or qr. | Quarter, Quire |
| Qt. or qt. | Quart |
| rec'd. | Received |
| ret'd. | Returned |
| R. R. | Railroad |
| Ry. | Railway |
| S. B. | Sales Book |
| S. E. | Single Entry |
| Sec. | Secretary |
| Shipt. | Shipment |
| Shs. | Shares |
| Sig. | Signature |
| S. S. | Steamship |
| s. s. | To wit; Namely |
| St. dft. | Sight Draft |
| Sund. | Sundry |
| Supt. | Superintendent |
| sq. | Square |
| T. B. | Trial Balance; Time Book |
| ult. | Ultimo; Last month |
| via. | By way of |
| viz. | Namely |
| Vol. | Volume |
| vs. | Against |
| W. B. | Way Bill |
| Wk. | Week |
| Wt. or wt. | Weight |
| yr. | Year |
| yd. or yds. | Yard or Yards |
COMMERCIAL SIGNS AND CHARACTERS
The signs and characters most commonly used in business are the following:
| @ | To or At |
| a/c | Account |
| B/L | Bill of Lading |
| B/R | Bills Receivable or Bill Rendered |
| B/P | Bills Payable |
| B/S | Bill of Sale |
| ¢ | Cents |
| c/o | Care of |
| D/D | Days after date |
| D/S | Days after sight |
| F/B | Free on board |
| J/A | Joint Account |
| L/C | Letter of Credit |
| L/M | Letters of Marque |
| £ | Pounds Sterling |
| o/c | On account |
| o/c | Out of courtesy |
| % | Per cent |
| p | Per |
| $ | Dollars |
| # | Number, if written before a figure, as #25; Pounds, if written after, as 25# |
| ✓ | Check Mark |
| " | Ditto |
| ° | Degrees |
| ' | Prime; Minute; Feet |
| " | Seconds; Inches; also used as Ditto marks |
| 1¹ | One and one-fourth |
| 1² | One and one-half |
| 1³ | One and three-fourths |
| + | Plus |
| - | Minus |
| × | By or times |
| ÷ | Divided by |
| = | Equals |