Glossary 

It is the nature of business to shorten names and titles to acronyms and to have an ever-increasing number of terms which might puzzle the uninitiated. This page offers some definitions.


Accounting Advisory Services

KPMG established the Audit Committee Institute (ACI) to help audit committee members keep pace with business issues relating to governance, audit, accounting and financial reporting. Since its inception in 1999, KPMG member firms have launched ACIs in 20 countries.

Anti-money laundering

International capital adequacy framework for deposit taking institutions (banks, etc).

Caribbean Community

Chief Executive Officer

Corporate Finance

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Information Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Caricom Single Market and Economy

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation

Financial Advisory Services

Financial Services

U.K. Financial Services Authority

Generally accepted accounting principles - accounting ‘rules’ for particular country e.g. US GAAP, UK GAAP, AGAAP, NZ GAAP (for New Zealand) etc.

Gross Domestic Product

Internal Audit

International Accounting Standards

International Accounting Standards Board

International Financial Reporting Standards

Intellectual property

Initial public offering, aka a ‘float’ when a private company is listed on a stock exchange for the first time

Information Risk Management

Integrated Regulatory Reporting

Key Performance Indicators

KPMG in Barbados is a member of KPMG Caricom, which is a regional governance entity, whose members comprise the KPMG member firms in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean (with offices in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and providing services in Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis), Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.  KPMG Caricom provides no service to clients.  Each member firm is a separate and independent legal entity, and each describes itself as such.

Through the Global Client Program Financial Services coordinates global service delivery, to clients aligning their line of business, functions and regional needs.

KPMG International Financial Reporting Group. A single independent unit based in the U.K. providing international financial reporting services.

Line of business -one of the six industry sector groups ie FS, ICE, CM, IM, Govt, ENR

Managing Director

Mobile Network Operators

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Original Equipment Manufacturer(s)

Private Finance Initiatives

Public Private Partnership

Risk Advisory Services

Return on Investment

US Securities and Exchange Commission

Small to medium enterprise

Transaction Services

United States Generally Accepted Accounting Practice