Glossary – B

Canadian System of National Accounts glossary – B
Term Definition
Balance of Payments Account A statistical statement that systematically summarizes, for a specific time period, the economic transactions of residents with non-residents.

See also: Account, Sequence of accounts, Institutional sectors; Canada's balance of payments, data quality, concepts and definitions, Catalogue no. 67-001
 
Component of: International Accounts

Reference: Canada's System of national economic accounts: an overview

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 16.22

French: Compte de la balance des paiements
Balance of payments adjustments Adjustments applied to data on exports and imports of goods compiled on a customs basis to meet balance of payments requirements.

See also: Canada's balance of payments, data quality, concepts and definitions, Catalogue no. 67-001
 
Composed of: Coverage, Timing, Valuation on inland freight, Other valuation and residency adjustments

Reference: The balance of payments

Source: Canada's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Concepts, Methods, Sources and Products, Catalogue no. 67-506

French: Ajustements de la balance des paiements
Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual International Monetary Fund's (IMF) guidelines, the Balance of Payments Manual prepared in consultation with the International Monetary Fund Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics which includes experts from a range of member countries as well as international and regional organizations with input from experts around the world.
 
Balance sheet A statement, drawn up in respect of a particular point in time, of the values of assets owned and of the liabilities owed by an institutional unit or group of units. A balance sheet may be drawn up for institutional units, institutional sectors and the total economy. A similar account is drawn up showing the stock levels of assets and liabilities originating in the total economy held by non-residents and of foreign assets and liabilities held by residents. In Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) this account is called the international investment position but is drawn up from the point of view of residents, whereas in the System of National Accounts it is drawn up from the point of view of non-residents, with non-residents being treated in the same way as domestic sectors.

See also: International Accounts, Institutional sectors, Canada's international investment position, Catalogue no. 67-202
 
Component of: Sequence of accounts

Reference: Canada's System of national economic accounts: an overview

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 13.2

Notes: General government balance sheets compiled according to the Financial Management System excludes non-financial assets. For this reason the balancing item is called net financial wealth.

French: Bilan
Balancing item Economic flows are grouped together into accounts with outflows (which may be called debit entries, uses or changes in assets) on the left-hand side and inflows (credit entries, resources, or changes in liabilities or net worth) on the right-hand side. A balancing item is an accounting construct obtained by subtracting the total value of the entries on one side of an account (resources or changes in liabilities) from the total value of the entries on the other side (uses or changes in assets). It cannot be measured independently of the entries in the accounts. As a derived entry, it reflects the application of the general accounting rules to the specific entries on the two sides of the account. There is also a balancing item for the balance sheet where the difference between assets and liabilities is known as net worth.

See also: Canada's System of national economic accounts: an overview
 
Source: System of National Accounts 2008 paragraph 3.9

French: Solde comptable
Barter transactions A barter transaction is one where one basket of goods and services is exchanged for another basket of different goods and services without any accompanying monetary payment. The value of the goods or services acquired in barter transactions constitutes imputed expenditures. For goods and services exchanged in barter transactions, market values have to be estimated indirectly.
 
Component of: Transaction

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 4.49

Notes: Introduced with the Canadian System of National Accounts 2012 historical revision.

French: Troc
Baseflow The part of streamflow that is sustained by groundwater discharge.
 
Source: Human activity and the environment, 2010, Catalogue no. 16-201

French: Débit de base
Base period The reference period from which prices are taken to calculate an index.

See also: Rebasing
 
Basic price The amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced as output minus any tax payable, and plus any subsidy receivable, by the producer as a consequence of its production or sale. It excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer.

See also: Modified basic price
 
Reference: Gross Domestic Product by Industry, Sources and Methods, Catalogue no. 15-547

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 6.51a

French: Prix de base
Base year The year whose prices serve as a base for comparing prices in other years.

See also: Rebasing, Changing the base period
 
Benchmark Values which are obtained from higher quality observations and serve as standards for gauging values that are obtained from less reliable sources. For example, annual gross domestic product values derived from comprehensive annual surveys or censuses within the balanced framework of the Input-Output Accounts are benchmarks for the monthly gross domestic product indicators which are typically based on observations collected by sample monthly surveys.

See also: Gross Domestic Product by Industry, Sources and Methods, Catalogue no. 15-547
 
Bequest value Bequest value is the value associated with assuring that natural resources are passed on to future generations.
 
Bills Bills are securities that give the holders the unconditional rights to receive stated fixed sums on a specified date. Bills are issued and usually traded in organized markets at discounts to face value that depend on the rate of interest and the time to maturity. Examples of short-term securities are Treasury bills, negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances and commercial paper.
 
Component of: Debt securities

Reference: Overview of the National Balance Sheet Accounts; Overview of the Financial Flow Accounts

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 11.64

French: Bons
Bonds See bonds, debentures and notes.
 
Composed of: Canada bonds: Direct bonds of the federal government (includes Canada Savings Bonds) and guaranteed federal enterprise bonds. Provincial bonds: Direct bonds of provincial governments (includes provincial savings bonds) and guaranteed provincial enterprise bonds. Municipal bonds: Direct bonds of municipalities and guaranteed municipal enterprise bonds. Other bonds: Bonds issued by Canadian corporations, hospitals and non-profit institutions, as well as non-guaranteed bonds of government business enterprises. Also included are asset-backed securities.

Reference: Overview of the National Balance Sheet Accounts; Overview of the Financial Flow Accounts

French: Obligations
Bonds, debentures and notes Securities that give the holders the unconditional right to fixed payments or contractually determined variable payments, that is, the earning of interest is not dependent on earnings of the debtors. Bonds, debentures and notes also give holders the unconditional right to fixed sums as payments to the creditor on a specified date or dates.

See also: Canada's international investment position, Catalogue no. 67-202
 
Component of: Debt securities

Composed of: Direct bonds of the federal government (includes Canada Savings Bonds) and guaranteed federal enterprise bonds; Direct bonds of provincial governments (includes provincial savings bonds) and guaranteed provincial enterprise bonds; Direct bonds of municipalities and guaranteed municipal enterprise bonds; Bonds issued by Canadian corporations, hospitals and non-profit institutions, as well as non-guaranteed bonds of government business enterprises; Asset-backed securities

Reference: Overview of the Financial Flow Accounts

Source: System of National Accounts 2008, paragraph 11.64

French: Obligations, obligations non garanties, billets
Book value Valuation of assets and liabilities based on the value recorded in the books of the enterprise when the transaction took place.

See also: Market value
 
Branch Business entity that is unincorporated and is owned by another business entity.

See also: About the balance of payments, Canada's System of national economic accounts: an overview
 
Budgetary unit A unit financed by the legislative budget of its government.
 
Business gross fixed capital formation Gross fixed capital formation of the business sector (by both Corporations and unincorporated businesses).
 
Business investment in inventories The value of investment in inventories made by business. It comprises the inventory investment of both incorporated and unincorporated businesses.

See also: Guide to the Income and Expenditure Accounts, Catalogue no. 13-017
 
Business sector All transactors producing goods and services for sale at a price intended to cover costs of production, namely corporations, government business enterprises, unincorporated businesses, and independent professional practitioners. It also includes owners occupying their own dwelling, treated as businesses renting to themselves, and associations of individuals, treated as businesses with respect to their capital outlays and their intermediation activities.

See also: Guide to the Income and Expenditure Accounts, Catalogue no. 13-017; Gross Domestic Product by Industry, Sources and Methods Archived, Catalogue no. 15-547
 
Component of: Total economy

Composed of: Business sector goods industries, Business sector services industries

Notes: A special aggregate, not one of the six main sectors of the Canadian economy.

French: Secteur des entreprises
Business sector goods industries Consists of groups 41 to 81 of the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 2012.
 
Business sector services industries Consists of transportation and storage, communications, wholesale and retail trade, finance, insurance and real estate, and the group formed by socio-cultural, business and personal services.
 
Date modified: