Wage
Actual remuneration paid to an employee for services rendered. Minimum wages, in the U.S.A., are established by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Ward
A minor whose financial affairs are managed by a guardian appointed by a court. Incompetent people also can be wards of a court.

Warrant
A certificate allowing the bearer to purchase stock at a fixed price at some future date.

Warranty Deed
A deed by which the seller of a property guarantees that the property is free of liens and encumbrances.

Wash Sale
A stock-manipulation scheme in which traders buy and sell shares repeatedly in a short period of time to give the impression that the stock is a hot item, when really it is not.

Weighted Average
One in which different data in the data set are given different "weights." Varying subjective assumptions are derived for determining the level of importance for each data category. For example, many teachers will use a "weighted average" when calculating a student's grade in a course. A teacher might determine the final grade for the course by calculating that the test average is 60% of the grade, quiz average is 30% of the grade, and a single project is 10% of the grade.

White Paper
1. in a technological industry, is an informational brief offering an overview of a technology, product, issue, standard, policy, or solution - its importance, use and implementation, and business benefits. White Papers have emerged as the standard way of communicating more in-depth information to business decision-makers in terms of problems solved and markets addressed; or, 2. a White Paper can be an official government report of an investigation into a public event that received a great deal of publicity and notoriety; it indicates the official government position on a particular public issue.

Will
A legal document stating how a person wants his or her property disposed of after death.

Windfall Profit/Gain
Profit that occurs suddenly as a result of an event not controlled by the company or person realizing the gain from the event. For example, a hurricane may bring extraordinary revenue to a roofing contractor as a result of the natural disaster.

WIP 
An acronym for Work in Process/Progress. Usually refers to inventory that has value added from labor or additional processing. When considered for inventory value, the value of the raw material plus the value added component is accounted for in determining the value of that inventory at that point in the process.

Withholding
Taking deductions from income to cover taxes or liabilities.

Working Capital
The amount by which total current assets exceed total current liabilities.

Working Trial Balance
Is similar to the trial balance. Additionally, it contains columns for adjusting entries and the adjusted balance. This report is typically used at year-end to assist in making adjusting entries.

Wrap Account
At its most basic is an alternative form of commission arrangement between a securities firm and its client. Wrap accounts generally charge the client an annual fee based on assets in the account in lieu of a per transaction commission structure. In other words, the firm "wraps" together all the costs and charges them off as a "management fee”. Firms often add further features to wrap accounts such as investment management, custodial services, and enhanced reporting.

Write-Down
The reduction in the book value of an asset.

Write-Off
Removing an item from an account ledger, because the item has been fully depreciated or deemed worthless.

Write-Up
The increase in value of an asset, but it is seldom used and is not allowed in GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

Write-Up Service
The provisioning of all reporting requirements of bookkeeping and accounting services. The following is a non-exhaustive list of reporting services provided:

1099s report preparation for subcontractors.
Bank account reconciliation.
Check coding.
Fixed asset schedules.
Maintenance of general ledger.
Payroll deposit calculations.
Payroll tax filings.
Personal property tax returns.
Preparation of internal financial statements.