Year 11 Commercial Studies & Computing: Computer Education, Accounting, and Economics

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering core vocabulary terms across Year 11 Computer Studies, Accounting, and Economics.

Computer

An electronic device that accepts input data, processes data, stores data, and produces output as useful information.

Hardware

The physical equipment that makes up a computer system, such as the monitor, keyboard, processor, and printer, which operates under the control of software.

Software

A computer program or abstract collection of instructions recorded on disk that directs hardware to perform specific tasks.

Ergonomics

The study of the relationship between people and their working environment to design safe, effective, and productive work systems.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

A condition resulting from fast, repetitive work causing neck, wrist, hand, and arm pain, including nerve and tendon damage such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Green Computing

The environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources, including the implementation of energy-efficient systems and the proper disposal of electronic waste.

Motherboard

The main flat, printed circuit board inside the computer chassis that houses the microprocessor, primary storage chips, buses, and expansion slots.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computing component of a computer that interprets and executes program instructions, consisting of the control unit and the arithmetic-logic unit (ALU).

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Temporary, volatile primary storage that holds data and program instructions currently being processed by the CPU, which is wiped when power is disrupted.

Read-Only Memory (ROM)

Non-volatile memory chips containing permanent instructions placed during manufacture that can be read by the CPU but cannot be altered by the user.

Operating System (OS)

A set of programs that coordinates computer resources, provides a user interface, manages hardware devices, and runs applications.

Device Driver

A specialized software program that allows particular input, output, or communication devices to communicate with the rest of the computer system.

Language Translator

A program that converts programming instructions written by programmers in high-level or assembly language into machine language ($0\text{'s}$ and $1\text{'s}$).

Algorithm

A systematic, logical sequence of step-by-step instructions designed to solve a problem prior to coding.

Database Management System (DBMS)

A software package used to structure, set up, update, maintain, and retrieve records from an organized database.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

A widely used database query language that uses specific commands such as ADD, SELECT, JOIN, and UPDATE to access and manipulate data.

Accounting

A system for recording, classifying, and summarizing financial information and interpreting the results to various users for decision-making.

Personal Budget

A financial plan of income and expenditure for a given period of time designed to control spending and allocate savings.

Gross Pay

The total amount of money earned by an employee each pay period before any statutory or voluntary deductions are withheld.

Take Home Pay

The net pay or wages received by an employee after all compulsory statutory and voluntary deductions have been subtracted from gross earnings.

Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

A final withholding income tax deducted directly by employers on chargeable employment income exceeding $\$16,000$ in Fiji.

Social Responsibility Tax (SRT)

A tax levied in Fiji on individuals whose annual chargeable income exceeds $\$270,000$, calculated using progressive rate brackets.

Redundancy Payment

A bona fide lump sum payment made upon termination of employment due to the abolishment of a post, taxed at $0\%$ on the first $\$15,000$ and $15\%$ on the remaining balance.

Business Entity Convention

An accounting convention stating that the financial affairs of a business must be recorded as separate and distinct from the personal affairs of its owners.

Historical Cost Concept

An accounting principle requiring that all assets and liabilities be recorded in the books at their original purchase price rather than current market value.

Matching Concept

The accounting rule requiring all expenses incurred in earning revenue to be matched against the revenue earned during that same period to determine accurate net profit.

Going Concern Concept

The assumption that a business enterprise will continue operating indefinitely into the foreseeable future and has no intention of liquidating.

Sole Proprietorship

A business owned and operated by a single person who bears unlimited liability for all business debts, retains all profits, and registers with a business license.

Partnership

A business structure owned and operated by $2$ to $25$ persons bound by a Partnership Agreement or the Partnership Act, sharing profits and bearing unlimited liability.

Trial Balance

A list of all debit and credit balances extracted from the general ledger accounts at a specific date to test the mathematical accuracy of the double-entry records.

Accrued Expense

An expense that has been incurred during the current accounting period but has not yet been paid by balance day, recognized as a current liability.

Prepaid Expense

An expense paid in advance during the current period that relates to and benefits a future accounting period, recognized as a current asset.

Depreciation

A non-cash expense representing the systematic allocation of the depreciable cost of a fixed asset over its estimated useful economic life.

Internal Control

The organizational plan and procedures adopted by management to safeguard assets, ensure accurate financial reporting, and prevent fraud and error.

Petty Cash Imprest System

A method of financing minor cash disbursements where a custodian is advanced a fixed float and periodically reimbursed for the exact sum of vouchers spent.

Perpetual Inventory System

An inventory accounting method that maintains a continuous, running record of inventory purchases, sales, and balances on stock ledger cards after every transaction.

Economics

The study of how individuals, groups, and societies choose to allocate scarce resources with alternative uses to satisfy unlimited human needs and wants.

Scarcity

The fundamental economic problem that finite productive resources are insufficient to satisfy all human wants and needs.

Opportunity Cost

The real cost of a choice measured by the value of the next best alternative foregone.

Command Economy

An economic system in which a central planning authority determines what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce using state-owned resources.

Market Economy

An economic system where resource allocation and production decisions are decentralized and guided by consumer sovereignty and the price mechanism.

Explicit Cost

The actual out-of-pocket monetary payments made to external resource suppliers for inputs used in production, also known as accounting cost.

Implicit Cost

The opportunity cost of using self-owned, self-employed resources, represented by the income foregone from the next best alternative employment.

Economic Profit

Total revenue minus the sum of explicit and implicit costs ($\text{Economic Profit} = \text{Total Revenue} - \text{Economic Costs}$).

Marginal Cost (MC)

The additional cost incurred by a firm from producing one more unit of output ($MC = \frac{\Delta TC}{\Delta Q}$).

Price Ceiling

A legally mandated maximum price set by the government below the market equilibrium price to protect consumers, which causes a market shortage.

Price Floor

A legally mandated minimum price set by the government above the market equilibrium price to protect producers, which causes a market surplus.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a nation during a specified period.

Real GDP

Gross Domestic Product measured in constant prices of a base year, adjusted to remove the distorting effects of inflation.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

A weighted price index measuring the average change over time in the cost of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by typical urban households.

Inflation

A persistent and sustained increase in the general average price level of goods and services, resulting in a reduction in the purchasing power of money.

Public Good

A commodity characterized by non-rivalry in consumption and non-excludability by price, meaning one person's use does not diminish its availability to others.

Free-Rider

An individual who consumes or benefits from a public good or collective resource without contributing to the cost of its provision.

Balance of Trade (BOT)

The monetary difference between the value of visible merchandise exports and visible merchandise imports over a given period.

Current Account

The section of the Balance of Payments that records transactions involving visible trade, invisible services, factor income, and unrequited transfers.

Capital Account

The section of the Balance of Payments that records all international borrowing, lending, and capital investment transactions.

Tariff

A tax or customs duty imposed on imported goods designed to raise domestic prices, protect local producers, and generate government revenue.

Import Quota

A physical restriction that sets a strict numerical limit on the quantity of a specific commodity permitted to enter a country over a given period.

Dumping

The practice of foreign producers selling goods in a domestic import market at prices lower than their home market price or actual cost of production.

Economic Growth

The sustained increase in the productive capacity and real output (Real GDP) of a nation to satisfy the material wants of its population over time.