What Is a Summary Plan Description? A Summary Plan Description (SPD) is a document that employers must give free to employees who participate in Employee Retirement Income Security Act-covered retirement plans or health benefit plans. The SPD is a detailed guide to the benefits the program provides and how the plan works. It must describe when employees become
What Is the Sum-of-the-Parts Valuation – SOTP? The sum-of-the-parts valuation (SOTP) is a process of valuing a company by determining what its aggregate divisions would be worth if they were spun off or acquired by another company. The valuation provides a range of values for a company’s equity by aggregating the standalone value of each
What Is the Sum of Squares? The term sum of squares refers to a statistical technique used in regression analysis to determine the dispersion of data points. The sum of squares can be used to find the function that best fits by varying the least from the data. In a regression analysis, the goal is
What Is Sundry Income? Sundry income is generated from sources other than a company’s normal income-generating business operations. This includes any income not generated by the sale of the company’s products and services. Sundry income is likely to be less predictable in nature than revenue from a business’s primary operations because the associated activities are
What Is a Sunk Cost? A sunk cost is money that has already been spent and cannot be recovered. In business, the axiom that one has to “spend money to make money” is reflected in the phenomenon of the sunk cost. A sunk cost differs from future costs that a business may face, such as
What Is a Sunrise Industry? Sunrise industry is a term that describes a burgeoning sector or business in its infancy stage that shows promise of a rapid boom. Sunrise industries have high growth rates, numerous start-ups, and high levels of venture capital funding. These industries generate a lot of interest for investors as long-term growth
What Is a Sunset Provision? A sunset provision, or sunset law, is a clause in a statute or regulation that expires automatically on a specified date. A sunset provision provides for an automatic repeal of the entire or sections of the law once that sunset date is reached. Once the sunset date is reached, the
What Are Sunshine Laws? Sunshine laws are regulations requiring transparency and disclosure in government or business. Sunshine laws make meetings, records, votes, deliberations, and other official actions available for public observation, participation, and/or inspection. Sunshine laws also require government meetings to be held with sufficient advance notice and at times and places that are convenient
What Is a Sunshine Trade? A sunshine trade is a high-volume transaction prematurely revealed to the market via a public announcement before the order is even entered. A sunshine trade will cause a move in the market to occur simply due to the size of the position being taken, but this strategy can help minimize
What Is Superannuation? A superannuation is an Australian pension program created by a company to benefit its employees. Funds deposited in a superannuation account will grow through appreciation and contributions until retirement or withdrawal. The term “super” is more commonly used when referring to pension plans available in Australia. The U.S. equivalents to a superannuation
