Glossary:Balancing item

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 account in rules to the specific entries on the two sides of the account.

Related concepts

• Production account
• Generation of income account
• Allocation of primary income account
• Secondary distribution of income account

Source

• The 2008 SNA, European Commission, IMF, OECD, UN, World Bank, 2009, Chapter III: Stocks, flows and accounting rules, point 3.9