S

S Corporation - An S Corporation is a corporation which, under the Internal Revenue Code, is generally not subject to federal income taxes. Instead, taxable income of the corporation is passed through to its stockholders in a manner similar to that of a partnership.

Safe Harbor Rule - Concept in statutes and regulations whereby a person who meets listed requirements will be preserved from adverse legal action. Frequently, safe harbors are used where a legal requirement is somewhat ambiguous and carries a risk of punishment for an unintended violation.

Sale-Leaseback Transaction - Sale of property by a seller who simultaneously leases the property back from the purchaser.

Salvage Value - Selling price assigned to retired FIXED ASSETS or merchandise unsalable through usual channels.

SAS - See STATEMENTS ON AUDITING STANDARDS.

SEC - See SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.

SEC Filings - Financial and informational DISCLOSURES required by the SEC in order to comply with certain sections of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Some of the more common filings that publicly owned companies must submit are the FORM 10-K, FORM 10-Q and FORM 8-K.

SEC Registration Statement - DISCLOSURE document that must be filed with the SEC in connection with a public offering of SECURITIES, unless the offering is exempt.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - Agency authorized by the United States Congress to regulate the financial reporting practices of most public corporations.

Security - Any kind of transferable certificate of ownership including EQUITY SECURITIES and DEBT SECURITIES.

Securitization -Source of financing whereby an entity"s ASSETS (typically mortgage loans, lease obligations or other types of RECEIVABLES) are placed in a special purpose vehicle that issues SECURITIES collateralized by such assets.

Security Interest - Legal interest of one person in the property of another to assure performance of a second person under a contract.

Self Employment Tax - Most individuals that are in business for themselves, such as SOLE PROPRIETORS, PARTNERS or independent contractor, are subject to self employment taxes. The taxes provide coverage for the self employed individual for social security (OASDI) and Medicare benefits (HI) similar to the taxes withheld by employers from wages it pays the employees.

Settlement Method - Method of ACCOUNTING for SECURITIES whereby transactions are recorded on the date the securities settle by the delivery or receipt of securities and the receipt or payment of cash.

SFAS - See STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.

Short Sale - Sale of an item before it is purchased. A person entering into a short sale believes the price of the item will decline between the date of the short sale and the date he or she must purchase the item to deliver the item under the terms of the short sale.

Short-Term - Current; ordinarily due within one year.

Significant Accounts - An account is significant if there is more than a remote likelihood that the account could contain misstatements that individually or when aggregated with others, could have a material effect on the financial statements, considering the risks of both overstatement and understatement.

Significant Deficiency - Acontrol deficiency or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects the company"s ability to initiate, authorize, record, process or report external financial data reliably in accordance with GAAP such that there is more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the company"s annual or interim financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected.

Significant Findings or Issues - Substantive matters that are important to the procedures performed, evidence obtained, or conclusions reached and include but are not limited to:

1. significant matters
2. results of auditing procedures indicating a need for significant modification of planned auditing procedures
3. audit adjustments
4. disagreements among members of the engagement team
5. circumstances that cause difficulty in applying auditing procedures
6. significant changes in the assessed level of audit risk
7. matters that could result in modification of the AUDITOR"s report