Accounts Payable

I. Formal Definition

Amounts owed by an organisation to its suppliers for goods or services received but not yet paid in cash, presented on the balance sheet as a current liability. Accounts payable is the principal financing source from operations and is a key lever in cash conversion cycle management. The federation requires payables to be aged, with disputed balances footnoted, supplier concentration disclosed where any single supplier holds more than ten percent of total payables, and any supply chain finance or reverse factoring arrangements disclosed with terms under UFMS-001:5.1.

II. Etymology

A standard term of double entry accounting; the construction stabilised in English commercial usage in the eighteenth century alongside the receivables construct.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members publish payables ageing with disputed balances footnoted. Supplier concentration above ten percent is disclosed. Supply chain finance and reverse factoring arrangements are disclosed with terms under MEV-Annex:6.1.

IV. Related Terms

• accounts-receivable
• cash-conversion-cycle
• accrued-expense
• prepaid-expense

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:5.1UFMS Article V - Payables
• MEV-Annex:6.1MEV Annex VI - AP Reporting

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_accounts_payable,
  title        = {{Accounts Payable}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{accounts-payable}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/accounts-payable},
  note         = {Category: Accounting; key: AccountsPayable}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.