Who better to write about KM and money than a licensed CPA? Or, who better to help us all understand "money language?"  Ron Marks has been one since 1959 after he graduated from Temple University in '57.  Ron says he "got serious about developing my Automated Ledger Account Maintenance System (ALAMS) in 1976 when we started programming it in FORTRAN.  We rewrote the program a lot and in C language too. In 1989 we finally got it right when we applied for the patent which we got in 1992." 

Ron presently works in Philadelphia as a consultant installing and supporting business systems for companies with fewer than 500 employees.  His son, also a CPA and a former KPMG manager, now works with him.  

When he finds the time, he turns his efforts toward interesting companies to license and program ALAMS for Internet applications that require updating account balances and which, as a byproduct, create a knowledge base. 

He can be reached at Ron@Ledgersystems.com 

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & THE MONEY LANGUAGE
by Ronald Marks, CPA 

Ever since our money language messages were first explained in 1494 AD by Fra Luca Pacioli in Summa Arithmetica, people have been “speaking” that language in various ways.  Bookkeepers, accountants, and computers use “money language.”  And now, knowledge management professionals may find themselves needing access to this vocabulary and this money language. 

A money language knowledge base uses the knowledge of accountants to maintain the rules table(s). It uses the knowledge of programmers to write code to use the symbols in the rules table for processing transactions and updating account records. And by providing a reliable and logical electronic warehouse of implicit and explicit information, it empowers knowledge engineers for applying their theories, methods and practice.

Accountants call their money language double-entry 

The accumulated experience of accountants has proven the language serves not only as a reliable means of communication for any medium of exchange, which is money, but also as a reliable method for organizing and managing knowledge resulting from the use of money for facilitating economic activity. 

One could say that when double-entry record keeping replaced gold and silver, it made possible the complex computerized world of economic activity we presently enjoy. 

To more fully exploit the benefits of double entry, a U.S. Patent was granted on a rule-based expert system for replacing the thought processes of a skilled bookkeeper for updating a money language database, which database prior to computers was called the company’s books consisting of various journals and ledgers manually written with pen and ink. 

At a minimum, a money language database comprises one file of pending transaction records, one file of consummated transaction record sets, and one file of updated account records and one file of rule records.  More information about this can be secured by doing a search on “double entry” at the web site www.yet2.com  

The Money Language 

Accounting Concepts

The money language is a formal language.  It uses two semantic primitive symbols, which are applied to five primitive elements. 

For communicating in the money language, the two semantic primitives are the debit and the credit, and the five primitive elements are: 

A natural money language is any natural language used in conjunction with the money language to communicate, describe and explain the meaning of business transactions and business transactions only. 

In the real world, money is created by a ledger entry or the printing press.  And once created, like energy, it can be transformed but not made to disappear (be destroyed). 

A=L+C and E=MC are both equations explaining respectively the transformation of money and of energy.  In both equations, there is always an answer to the question, “Where did it go?” 

Science explains energy transformation quite simply. Energy(E) being transformed to rest energy (M=Mass) or, vice versa, is an event. 

If observations and measurements of an event in the micro or macro universe are correctly made, one scientist can computationally agree with another scientist regarding the fact and nature of the event by making an accounting of all the energy transformed because energy cannot be made to disappear and the speed of light is constant and E=MC. 

Like scientists, accountants too, can agree.  Their event is the business transaction.  Each transaction transforms money into money or something else valued in money and, like energy, once it is created it does not disappear, and A=L+C. 

Accountants know how to apply A=L+C to the facts of each business transaction, which facts are the five primitive elements. 

To do this properly, it is necessary for them to know if the transaction is consummated and, if so, how much money has constructively or physically passed from one accounting entity to another.  Or if it is not consummated, knowing whether it is a transaction creating a legally binding obligation to consummate because a legal or physical transfer of goods or services has occurred with a promise to exchange money at some later date.  And, if it is not a transaction consummating or creating, then knowing if it is a transaction correcting by increasing, decreasing or canceling a money amount already consummated or created but incorrectly so. 

Among accountants there can be and are disagreements about what the profit or loss is.  There is no disagreement, however, about money.  It is either there or it isn’t.  And given access to all the facts and records and enough time to do their work, accountants can make a 100% accounting of where the money came from, where the money went, what money remains, and where, in what legal jurisdiction, it physically resides in a vault, under a mattress, in a bank account, on a server, etc. 

After accounting for all the money, accountants then use the money language to adjust the business transactions recorded.  This is done to arrive at a profit or loss amount, which figure is annually adjusted in a process called closing the books resulting in all the nominal accounts reflecting zero amounts of money. 

The knowledge representation of the formal money language uses sets of accounting transaction records, strings of finite length minimally containing data about the five primitive elements, formed into the finite vocabulary of semantic primitives consisting of two symbols, the debit and the credit.

Money Message Concepts 

Each accounting transaction record is a framed message containing declarative and procedural information, and each accounting transaction record set contains a completed message.  All processes from message recording to message interpretation are accomplished by AI systems programmed to understand the money language. 

In a natural money language AI system, the first knowledge management layer is a continuous stream of factual electronic messages authored by those creating and consummating legal obligations with each other in the real world.  This first layer has value to those responsible for: 

For each completed message, there is an outer message and an inner message. 

The outer message conveys to the AI system the natural money language being used (English/Dollar, French/Franc, German/Mark, etc.) to use to decipher the inner message together with the number of accounting transaction records (message frames) comprising the set (the completed message) and a unique set identifier. 

The inner message communicates to the AI system the five primitive elements together with whatever other declarative and procedural information the system requires to accomplish that for which it was designed. 

These message files are the first layer foundation for a Money Language Management System.

Money Language Message Record Keeping: The First Knowledge Management Layer 

The Process:

The money language message record keeping process uses a semantic network representation of knowledge learned by bookkeepers and understood by accountants. 

The process is a problem-solving system. It employs state-space representation formalisms for determining the logical procedures necessary to manipulate the network. 

The system performs a finite sequence of application of operators to update the data structure from its present state to its next state until it reaches the goal state.  The problem it is solving is updating the data structures of the knowledge base by emulating a bookkeeper’s reasoning process and making appropriately correct decisions, as a bookkeeper would make them based on the information available. 

Solving the problem produces an updated data structure correctly reflecting the most recently created, consummated or corrected business transaction until the goal state is reached.  And when it is, adjustments are made to update the data structure to resolve all nominal accounts to zero while maintaining balance in the real accounts consistent with A=L+C. (In theory, the adjustments to record profit or loss can be accomplished automatically without human intervention.  In practice, however, it is rarely if ever possible to have the most correct data immediately available to accurately reflect and mirror the profit and loss activities of the real world.) 

The Data Structure:

The data structure is a collection of accounting transaction and other physical computer records.  Each accounting transaction record is a frame and all accounting transaction records comprise the semantic network nodes.  Nodes are implicitly and explicitly linked to each other to represent three separate and distinct relationships, which are the: 

Object linkage represents the relationship between and among the physical computer records of the data structure. 

Concept linkage represents the relationships between and among accounting transaction records and all other computer records of the data structure for implementing the money language information theory A=L+C. 

Situation context linkage represents the relationships between and among all data items written into each accounting transaction record set relative to subsequent and preceding accounting transaction record sets and to other data items written into the data structure’s computer records. 

All computer records in the data structure that are not accounting transaction record frames contain script data for the frame knowledge representation of the legally recognized accounting entity. 

The Control Strategy:

To manage the system and manipulate the network, the logical procedures necessary to update the data structure are:

 

The control strategy for managing this problem-solving system is data driven, expectation-driven forward reasoning strategy involving all three linkages to produce the next state, which is recording the next completed message. 

To record the message, the computer programs expect the declarative structure to reflect the most current and correct data regarding the: 

The computer programs are analogous to the bookkeeper’s reasoning process; and the script, frames and operators to the information available to the bookkeeper for making correct decisions.  Because these decisions can be made at computer speed, it is theoretically possible for the knowledge base of the AI expert system to operate in real time and maintain a data structure that reflects the message of the most recently recorded business transaction for the accounting entity through to and including updating the ledger files containing the general and subsidiary ledger accounts. 

A money language knowledge base currently updated as a by-product of preparing a paper or electronic document (e.g. a check, a customer invoice, etc.) to include the most recently recorded message regarding a business transaction makes it economical and practical to use to develop expert assistants that retrieve, interpret, make inferences about and otherwise draw conclusions from the data contained in these messages. 

The logic of the control strategy and the operators necessary for performing the current task of updating the data structure of the knowledge base are determined by the design of the frame knowledge representation.  Defining this representation is a key step in designing a declarative data structure so that at any point of time during the implementation of the control strategy it is possible to secure a state-space representation of the problem. 

In the bookkeeper’s manual financial record keeping environment, the closest equivalent to a state-space representation of the problem is the current status of the books of original and final entry together with trial balances of the general ledger and the subsidiary ledgers being maintained in support of the ledger postings.  This and much more is required of the control strategy’s logic and it is implemented by the node and link formalisms of the money language semantic network representation. 

Meaning is assigned to the network structure each time a procedure is executed for manipulating the network, and when a procedure calls for managing the network nodes as: 

Linkages:

Object linkage is principally concerned with how the database is organized for enabling the computer programs to control vast amounts of data.  The purpose is organizing detail knowledge in a special way to not only cause the system to appear intelligent but to also produce timely and effective results. 

Concept linkage is principally concerned with how the knowledge base is organized for enabling the computer programs to effectively control and implement the equilibrium of the A=L+C information theory.  The purpose is correctly updating the account records in the ledger file(s) containing the general and subsidiary ledger accounts. 

Situation context linkage is principally concerned with how the data structure is organized for implementing a script.  The purpose is automatically invoking computer programs for capturing data, preventing illogical and obviously incorrect data from being recorded, and feeding back correct data when appropriate. 

All these linkages are used to incorporate necessary heuristics into the design of the computer programs so that when they are fully integrated and tested the overall system performs as expected. 

While the script encompassing the logical procedures, control strategy and operators of money language systems may differ, they will all have in common the network node represented as a message frame.  The frame is of a finite length, formed from a vocabulary of symbols and a link in a causal chain of chronologically related accounting events describing everything that happened in the accounting entity for: 

Message Frames:

The frame is the carrier of data for modularly and logically inserting new factual knowledge into the knowledge base.  It is the accumulation of all frames that constitutes what the system knows, and knows that it knows.  It is the factual data contained in these frames that computer programs use and examine and abstract from for implementing applications that accomplish useful tasks the sum total of which can be reasonably characterized as Knowledge Management. 

It is these task that are incorporated into the design of a Money Language Knowledge Management System, which system is recognizable by the existence of a message frame record file where: 

Message frames provide a structure, a framework, within which new data are interpreted in terms of the money language knowledge base context.  Linkages and relationships are established to satisfy a set of expectations for using these frames. 

The scope of these expectations is determined by the: 

A slot is the place where a data element fits within the larger knowledge base context created by the frame.  The organization of these data elements facilitates expectation-driven processing; looking for things that are expected based on the current context being processed. 

The current context is one or more specific data base files of the knowledge base that represent a distinct state of and set of assumptions about the economic world. 

The data element stored in the slot is declarative or procedural knowledge.  If it is the former, it is stored explicitly so that either programmer or program can “read it” as if it were a fact in an encyclopedia.  And if it is the latter, it is encoded as a program name to be called to do something. 

Meaning is assigned to each data element of the frame by encoding it in the data recorded by the computer programs in the computer words comprising the data element, which for each data element: 

A coded data element (CDE) is one producing some number of known symbols each having its own meaning. An uncoded data element (UDE) has only one meaning assigned to all its symbols.  An example of the former would be a data element defined to contain an ASCII representation of the money language semantic primitive, which has only two symbols to represent either the debit or the credit.   An example of the latter would be a data element defined to contain a real number representing a money amount, which could have any number of symbols. 

After data elements are recorded in all the frame’s slots, the frame itself is transformed into a symbol understandable within the context of the knowledge base for comparison with other frames to detect similarities and difference among their respective data elements. 

A distinct set of assumptions defining the context of the knowledge base explains the function of each data base file for reflecting things known about the real world and known by the experts who work with the network nodes as: 

For example, data elements containing symbols affecting the linking of: 

Message Frame Utilization:

 Designing a Money Language Knowledge Management System is a collaborative effort among experts who, from their unique perspective, provide special knowledge, skills and experience to: 

The Script:

The script and frames make possible the predictive use of knowledge for implementing a Money Language Knowledge Management System. 

The script dialogue between human and machine is the communication bridge for describing each stereotypical activity that could give rise to a recordable economic event, and define all data required for recording the event.  The frames produced by the system as a result of this dialogue are the permanent data links that bridge the real world of activities and economic events to the computer world of money language records made of those events and activities. 

The script provides the dialogue for logically asking logical questions about each activity and/or event that is both appropriate and to be expected at each point of time the system requires necessary data input for processing. 

At the very minimum, this data is information pertaining to the five primitive elements and the question asking procedures are the initial logical procedures for implementing the control strategy and the use of operators by the computer programs for managing the system and manipulating the network nodes (frames) to update the data structure by: 

Asking Logical Questions:

A data driven system is accomplished by causing the computer programs to ask logical questions for securing certain expected data regarding real world recordable activities and economic events, which events for a legal accounting entity are: 

A recordable economic event is an accounting event for which the system automatically produces an accounting transaction message frame record set. 

For any one or industry group of legal entities, these events are caused by real world stereotypical activities involving people who, for the most part, are predictably interacting with other people in some way. These activities generate revenues and/or incur costs and are definable in finite detail with some number of them being described in advance to supply dialogue for the system script. 

Data Verification:

Before capturing new data for the system’s database files, data verification is accomplished by causing computer programs to validate the new data by: 

Verification is performed on original and transformed data.  Original data is inputted factual data describing real world activities and economic events.  In both cases, the verification is: 

Capturing Expected Data:

Capturing expected data is accomplished by causing computer programs to: 

Control Strategy Objective:

The control strategy objective is implementing the system script by causing the computer programs to ask logical questions and update all relevant files of the knowledge base upon capturing all necessary verified data to record an activity or an economic event.  Accomplishing the objective is recording:

Transmission and Documentation:

Transmission is sending data and frames between and among clients and servers that ultimately result in the communication of a completed message that was the result of a completed posting source document to authorize and/or acknowledge: 

The electronic document (the assembled message) is the source reference for the real world event authorized or acknowledged and for posting and updating the accounts in the ledgers. And by using the XML standard for data interchange between programs, the first layer of Money Language Knowledge Management is now economically feasible to develop with the patented Automated Ledger Account Double-Entry System.  

Quality Assurance, Reliability & Simplicity:

The money language message recording process computerizes the logic of the conceptual solution to financial record keeping by emulating the bookkeeper’s reasoning process for recording an economic event each time a document is produced to authorize or acknowledge it. 

The accounting transaction message frame record sets created for each document in a carefully designed Knowledge Management System: 

MONEY LANGUAGE GLOSSARY 

A=L+C, the equation for the information theory underlying the money language which says if money is the only physical asset, all changes in the stock of physical money can be explained in liabilities owed and capital owned or capital increased or decreased as a result of business transactions.  

Accounting Event, a business transaction created, consummated or corrected as described by an accounting transaction set. See Creating Business Transaction, Consummating Business Transaction and Correcting Business Transaction.  

Accounting Transaction, contains some or all of the five primitive elements of data describing either a debit or credit amount of money for the accounting event, and the result of only a business transaction or an adjustment. 

Accounting Transaction Record, a physical computer record in the knowledge base identified as a debit or credit record and containing some or all of the five primitive elements of data for describing a specifically created, consummated or corrected business transaction or adjustment.  

Accounting Transaction Set, contains all the five primitive elements within at least two or more debit and credit accounting transactions where the debit money amounts equal the credit money amounts for each created, consummated, corrected or adjusted business transaction. 

Account Record, a physical record in the general and subsidiary ledgers. 

Adjustment, an accounting transaction set affecting real accounts only or nominal accounts only or the profit or loss of a legally recognized accounting entity; e.g. a corporation, a partnership, a proprietorship, etc. 

ALAMS, the patented Automated Ledger Account Maintenance System for knowledge processing of accounting transaction record sets in the ALAMS knowledge base. Go to www.yet2.com and search on “Double Entry” 

Algorithm, a mathematical procedure consisting of an indefinite number of steps, each step applying to the result of the one preceding it. 

Any Number, all elements of a number system satisfying the given condition. e.g. X is all elements of the number system and the condition is X+2=2+X. See Some Number.  

Artificially Intelligent Expert System, able to learn what human experts know, perform as well as human experts do, understands the points of departure among the views of human experts who disagree, keeps its knowledge up to date as human experts do, and presents its reasoning to its human users in much the same way that human experts would.  See Knowledge Processing Programs. 

ASCII, an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.  A 7 bit (or 8 bit compatible) standard code adapted to facilitate the interchange of data among various types of data communications devices. 

Base, the radix of a number system. See Radix. 

Binary, pertaining to the number system with a radix of 2 or to a characteristic or property involving a choice or condition in which there are two possibilities.  Binary arithmetic is used for managing the computer at its lowest possible electronic and magnetic levels. 

Binary Digit, either the symbol 1 or 0.  Abbreviated 'bit'. 

Bit, see Binary Digit. 

Book of Final Entry, a record book in which the money amounts of transactions, accumulated according to a previously established classification of accounts (see Chart of Accounts) are transferred or posted.  In a computerized record keeping system, these books are in files stored on the computer’s disk or tape. See General Ledger and Subsidiary Ledger. 

Book of Original Entry, a record book, recognized by law or custom, in which transactions are successively recorded in journals, and which is the source of postings to ledgers.  In a computerized record keeping system, these books are in files stored on the computer's disk or tape.  See Journal. 

Business Transaction, the result of two or more legally recognized accounting entities creating, consummating, or correcting their legal contractual obligations with each other with regard only to the exchange of money, or the exchange of goods and services, which can be valued in terms of money. 

Byte, (1) a grouping of adjacent binary digits operated on by the computer as a data element.  The most common size byte contains 8 binary digits.  (2) a group of binary digits used to encode a single symbol. 

Cardinal Number, any of the whole numbers (i.e. natural numbers). A number arrived at without counting whereas an ordinal number is always arrived at by counting.  The concept of having cardinal numbers is the idea of having logical number sense because of the one to one correspondence which can be made between two cardinal numbers where the result of the comparison can only yield results of equal to, less than or greater than and where these continuing deduced results are logically useful in a mathematical system. 

Chart of Accounts, a systematically arranged list of general ledger and subsidiary ledger accounts and account numbers applicable to a specific legal accounting entity for describing the activities and events constituting what business was done. 

Computer Word, one or more bytes operated on by the computer as a data element. 

Consummating Business Transaction, the accounting event of actually or constructively acquiring, or relinquishing physical possession or real control over money or goods and services, which can be valued in terms of money. See Accounting Event. 

Correcting Business Transaction, adds or subtracts an amount of money to or from a specifically identified creating transaction or consummating transaction. See Accounting Event. 

Creating Business Transaction, (1) an accounting event creating a legally enforceable right to receive, or a legally enforceable obligation to pay money or deliver goods and/or services which can be valued in terms of money.  (2) a right to receive enforceable by might. See Accounting Event. 

Data Base, a collection of logically related computer files. 

Data Element, a unit of explicit and/or implicit information composed of one or more symbols. 

Data Structure, a representation in computer records of facts, rules, etc. organized in a special way to allow intelligent manipulation of the data structures by computer programs to facilitate recording new facts, making inferences, arriving at conclusions, etc. about the real world. 

Declarative Structure, a logical representation in computer records of frames and scripts for organizing static facts and storing them explicitly for the programmer or program to read them. 

Document, a man or machine (e.g. computer) readable record form containing information. 

EDI, an acronym used alternatively to mean either Electronic Data Interchange or Electronic Document Interchange which is the ANSI standard for transmitting and receiving data in an electronic record format wherein the record represents a type of business document such as a purchase order, sales order, invoice, etc. 

EFT, an Electronic Funds Transfer of money between bank accounts. 

Event, a mathematically describable happening in space-time. 

Expert, a very skilled person who knows a great deal about some special things; a specialist. 

Expert Assistant, another name for an artificially intelligent expert system that not only gives correct answers but also useful advice, which, as is the case with any advice, is subject to error.  See Knowledge Processing. 

Formal Language, a possible infinite set of strings or computer records of finite length formed from a finite vocabulary of symbols. 

Frame, a data structure that includes declarative and procedural information in predefined internal relations; e.g. a generic frame for a dog would have knowledge slots for facts typically known about dogs such as breed, color, name, owner, etc. 

Frame Knowledge Representation, a way of representing knowledge about objects and events typical to specific situations within which new data is interpreted in terms of concept acquired through previous experience so as to facilitate expectation-driven processing. 

General Ledger, a collection of individual account records described by a chart of accounts summarizing the money amounts of all accounting events and adjustments for a specified period of time usually defined as any consecutive 12 month or 52 week period. See Book of Final Entry. 

Heuristic, a problem-solving strategy, trick, simplification, etc. which drastically limits searches for solutions in large problem spaces and improves problem-solving performance. 

Inference Engine, the mechanism used to draw conclusions based on applicable rules and data in the knowledge base; an AI system's reasoning process. 

Information Theory, the idea for coding, data storage, etc. to accomplish knowledge representation in a computer's underlying data structures for mirroring human activities. 

Integer Number, whole numbers and their negatives.  

Journal, see Book Of Original Entry. 

Journal Entry, a record of an accounting transaction made in a journal. 

Knowledge Base, a data base of uniform content consisting of a collection of facts, inferences and procedures that correspond to the things known by one or more identifiable types of human expert. e.g. ALAMS by accountants. 

Knowledge Processing, advanced software techniques to improve the productivity of technologies and employees by enabling ordinary people to control knowledge buried inside software. See Expert Assistant. 

Knowledge Processing Programs, computer programs for capturing and extending human knowledge.  See Artificially Intelligent Expert System. 

Knowledge Representation, a combination of data structures and interpretive procedures that if used in the right way in a computer program will lead to knowledgeable behavior by creating, recording, deleting and replacing symbols that encode explicit and imbedded implicit information. 

Language, a set of rules, representations and conventions used to convey information. 

Ledger, a book of account; any book of final entry. See General Ledger and Subsidiary Ledger. 

MICR, Magnetic Ink Character Recognition; a method currently used by banks for processing checks and deposits. 

Money, a medium of exchange especially as issued by a government or authorized public authority; a measure of value, as checks drawn on a bank; not necessarily a store of value which money can also be such as silver money, gold money, etc. 

Money Language, first explained in 1494AD by Fra Luca Pacioli in Summa Arithmetica; a language for communicating the facts of a business transaction using the equation A=L+C where A=Assets, L=Liabilities and C=Capital. 

Natural Numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 

Natural Language, a written or spoken language such as English, French, etc. 

Nominal Account, an income or expense account having nothing to do with a real account. See Real Account. 

Number, an element in a specific number system. 

Number System, an agreed set of elements and operations. 

Numeral, a figure, letter or word symbol representing a number.  e.g. 6, VI, etc. 

Numeral System, a method of representing a number system operation, change or transformation within a number system. 

Ordinal Number, a number resulting from counting and always has to do with order. 

Posting Date, the date written into the accounting transaction records identifying when the accounting transaction set was posted to the general and subsidiary ledger accounts.  It is not the transaction date. 

Primitive Element, a concept reflecting a level of thought underlying language rather than language itself. 

Problem-Solving System, a process having three component parts which are (1) a data base describing both the current task domain situation and the goal, (2) a set of operators to manipulate the operations (e.g. in chess, rules for moving pieces) and (3) a control strategy so the program can decide what to do next. 

Profit or Loss, a number resulting from summing all income and subtracting all expense numbers in all nominal accounts. 

Radix, the base number system;  e.g. the radix of the decimal system is 10. 

Rational Number, an extension of the integer number system allowing division of integers. 

Real Account, an asset, liability or capital account containing a record of money amounts for mirroring the facts of the real world to account for who owns what and who owes what to whom. See Nominal Account. 

Real Number, an extension of the rational number system. A number with a decimal point because it is logically expected to be fractionalized.  e.g. an amount of money. 

Real Time, as used to describe the financial record keeping process, means posting and updating the general and subsidiary ledger accounts on the originating computer's hard disk immediately upon transmitting (communicating) the formal financial message (the accounting transaction record set) by documenting it on a check, invoice, etc. or by electronically sending it to a compatible receiving computer that acknowledges its correct transmission. 

Script, a standardized sequence of events that describe some stereotypical human activity, such as going to a restaurant, seeing a doctor, etc. 

Semantic Network Representation, a node-and-link formalism where meaning s assigned to the network structure by the nature of the procedure that manipulates the network.  The nodes represent objects, concepts or situations in the domain and the link represents the relations between them. 

Semantic Primitive, elements of meaning into which the meaning of words, sentences, etc. of a language can be broken down and understood. 

Some Number, a specific element of a number system satisfying a given condition. e.g. X is a specific element of the number system and the given condition is X+2=3 which means only the element 1 of the system satisfies the condition. (See Any Number). 

Space-Time, an identifiable point within three dimensions of physical space at one exactly computed time. 

State-Space Representation, data structures giving "snapshots" of the condition of the problem at each stage of its solution and operators, which are means for transforming the problem from one state to another. 

Subsidiary Ledger, a collection of individual ledger account records applicable to a general ledger account for itemizing all accounting events and adjustments summarized in that general ledger account. See Book of Final Entry. 

Symbol, (1) a letter, numeral or mark representative of something. (2) an element of the computer’s symbol set representing a letter, numeral or marks.  See ASCII. 

Transaction Date, the legal date identifying when the accounting event took place. It is not the posting date. 

Trial Balance, a list or abstract of the balances, or of total debits and total credits, of the accounts in a ledger. 

Whole Numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. 

XML, Extended Mark Up Language, a structured information standard. See OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards at www.oasis-open.org.