Business Glossary

process of partitioning a valuation account and assigning the resulting subsets to periods of time. Allocation includes the assignment of assets to expense as well as the assignment of liabilities to revenue over a time frame. Examples of the former are the depreciation of a fixed asset or the amortization of an intangible asset over the period benefitted. An example of the latter is reflecting unearned fee revenue (deferred revenue) into revenue over the period the services are performed. Allocations result from applying rules for the assignment of costs to products or period expenses and the assignment of the value of the product to specific periods as revenue.

Accounting or tax: apportionment or assignment of income or expense for various purposes. For example, income and expense items of a trust or estate are allocated between the corpus and income components. Also, income, expense, credits, gains, and losses are allocated to the various partners in a partnership and shareholders of an S Corporation . See also apportionment .
Broadcast: range of wavelengths assigned to a broadcast system by the Federal Communications Commission.
Merchandising: quantity of merchandise designated for a particular prospect or market .

Broadcast: range of wavelengths assigned to a broadcast system by the Federal Communications Commission . See also AM station ; FM station .
Merchandising: quantity of merchandise designated for a particular prospect or market .