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IVA - Individual Voluntary Arrangement: the IVA was established by the Insolvency Act 1986. It constitutes a formal repayment proposal presented to a debtor's creditors via an Insolvency Practitioner. Usually (but not necessarily) the IVA compromises only the claims of unsecured creditors, leaving the rights of secured creditors largely unchanged. An IVA is a contractual arrangement with creditors and can be as flexible as an individual's own circumstances. It can therefore be based on capital, income, third party payments or a combination of these. Creditors take a decision at a creditors' meeting called to consider the IVA proposal. The return to creditors is often higher than they would receive in bankruptcy. A vote is taken - by value. More than 75% in value of those creditors who vote at the meeting by person or by proxy must agree in order for the arrangement to be approved. If any of those voting are 'associates' (usually business associates, friends and family) then a second count is taken and 50% of non-associated creditors must approve it. In the UK, an increasing number of consumer debtors with overwhelming levels of debt are turning to specialist debt advice organisations that offer an alternative to bankruptcy via the use of an IVA.

An IVA is an alternative to bankruptcy, however they are not mutually exclusive. A person can propose an IVA after they have been made bankrupt. If an arrangement is approved post-bankruptcy then the debtor can apply to the Court for an annulment of the bankruptcy order - such IVAs can only be proposed whilst the bankrupt is undischarged. If an IVA is proposed after a bankruptcy order has been made, it is now also possible to nominate the Official Receiver to be the supervisor of the arrangement. The Arrangements offered by the Official Receiver are very restricted. This type of arrangement is called a Fast Track Voluntary Arrangement and is only suitable in certain cases.

Impersonal Accounts: all accounts other than debtors and creditors accounts.

Imprest System: a method of managing petty cash where the level of float required is set and money is replaced with receipts and/or petty cash vouchers as items are purchased. The total of the receipts/vouchers and cash should always equal the original float.

Income & Expenditure Account: an account for a non-profit-oriented organisation to find the surplus or loss made during a period.

Income or Earning: in business and accounting, income (also known as profit or earnings) is the amount of money that a company earns after paying for all its costs. To calculate a company's income, it starts with its amount of revenue, deducts all costs, including salaries and depreciation, and the resulting figure is its income. Some of this money is typically reinvested in the business, and some of the money might be used to pay the owners (the shareholders) a dividend.

Income per Share or Earnings per Share: income per share is the bottom line net income divided by the number of shares outstanding. It is more often referred to and reported as earnings per share.

Income Statement: statement of revenue of a company less expenses incurred.

Incomplete Records: the term used for any system of bookkeeping which does not use full double entry. It generally applies to small business whether incorporated (see Limited Company) or sole trader or partnership. For them, generally a simple cashbook to record receipts and payments may be enough instead of the proper accounting system complete with daybooks and ledgers. Using incomplete records cannot give an accurate set of accounting period end financial statements, as they do not tell the whole story. There is no record of outstanding debtors or creditors, or of stock. No analysis of what receipts and payments have been received and paid, or, in some cases, of the split between revenue and capital items. In an incomplete record system, the figures must be calculated, extrapolated (or extracted in the case of creditors and debtors) to arrive at the year-end profit and loss account. As a result the balance sheet will rely heavily on application of the concept of the accounting equation. Thus the value of capital can be determined at any point in time.

Independent Examination: external examination of the accounts of a charity by someone independent of the organisation. This is available instead of a full audit for charities with income below £250,000, although it is not required if income is below £10,000. An independent examiner must be an individual and must be competent to carry out the examination. The Charity Commission gives guidance that should be followed in completing an examination.

Indirect Manufacturing Costs: costs relating to manufacture that cannot be economically traced to the item being manufactured (also known as "indirect costs" and sometimes, as "factory overhead expenses"). Input Tax VAT added to the net price of inputs (i.e. purchases).

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA): see IVA.

Inputs: purchases of goods and services. Insolvent When liabilities are greater than assets.

Intangible Assets: intangible assets include copyrights, patents, goodwill, etc., they are saleable but do not contain any intrinsic productive value.

Interest: a charge made on a loan or money received on a capital investment.

Interest On Capital: an amount at an agreed rate of interest which is credited to a partner based on the amount of capital contributed by him/her.

Interest On Drawings: an amount at an agreed rate of interest, based on the drawings taken out, which is debited to the partners.

Initial Public Offering (IPO): an Initial Public Offering (IPO being the Stock Exchange and corporate acronym) is the first sale of privately owned equity (stock or shares) in a company via the issue of shares to the public and other investing institutions. IPOs typically involve small, young companies raising capital to finance growth. For investors IPO's can risky as it is difficult to predict the value of the stock (shares) when they open for trading. An IPO is effectively 'going public' or "taking a company public".

Inventory: usually refers to stock held.

Investment: investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. It refers to the accumulation of some kind of asset in hope of getting a future return from it. Invoice Sent out by the seller or service provider to request payment for goods or services.