1. The act or a system of establishing or settling financial accounts; esp., the process of recording transactions in the financial records of a business and periodically extracting, sorting, and summarizing the rec-orded transactions to produce a set of financial records. — Also termed financial accounting.
2. A rendition of an account, either voluntarily or by court order. • The term frequently refers to the report of all items of property, income, and expenses prepared by a personal representative, trustee, or guardian and given to heirs, beneficiaries, or the probate court. See ACCOUNT(4).
3. A legal action to compel a defendant to account for and pay over money owed to the plaintiff but held by the defendant (often the plaintiff’s agent); ACCOUNTING FOR PROFITS. — Also termed account render; account; action of account.
4. More broadly, an action for the recovery of money for services performed, property sold and delivered, money loaned, or damages for the nonperformance of simple contracts. • Such an action is available when the rights of parties will be adequately protected by the payment of money. — Also termed action on account; account; action of book debt.
5. Commercial law. An equitable proceeding for a complete settlement of all partnership affairs, usu. in connection with partner misconduct or with a winding up. See WINDING UP. [Cases: Partnership 331. C.J.S. Partnership §§ 387, 391.]
6. Secured transactions. A record that (1) is authenticated by a secured party, (2) indicates the aggregate unpaid secured obligation as of a date no more than 35 days before or after the date of the record, and (3) identifies the components of the obligations in reasonable detail. UCC § 9-102(a)(29). [Cases: Secured Transactions 162. C.J.S. Secured Transactions § 112.]
