Meaning & use
open account
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebusinessfinance
A business arrangement in which goods are supplied and payment is made later, without cash or documents changing hands at delivery.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'an open account' or 'open accounts'. Often used after 'on': 'bought on open account'.
Patterns
- on open account
- an open account with someone
- open an account with a supplier
The two firms trade on open account, settling the balance at the end of each month.
We offer open account terms to customers who have a good payment record.
Buying on open account means you receive the goods before you pay.
nouncountablefinance
A customer account that has not yet been paid and still shows money owed.
Grammar: Countable; common in accounting contexts, often in the plural: 'open accounts receivable'.
Patterns
- open accounts receivable
- keep an open account
- settle an open account
The auditor listed all open accounts that were more than ninety days overdue.
Please settle any open account before placing a new order.
The company's open accounts total nearly half a million dollars.
Word forms
| plural | open accounts |
|---|
Common combinations
- on open account
- They supply parts on open account to long-standing clients.
- open account terms
- Open account terms usually allow thirty days to pay.
- open an account with
- We opened an account with a local supplier last year.
- settle an open account
- The buyer settled the open account by bank transfer.
- open account facility
- The bank provides an open account facility for small exporters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- credit account
- Similar but broader: any account allowing you to buy now and pay later, not only trade between businesses.
- charge account
- More common in retail for individual shoppers, whereas 'open account' is typical in business-to-business trade.
- running account
- Focuses on the account continuing over time with a balance carried forward; 'open account' stresses the absence of formal payment guarantees.
Opposites
Word family
- open-account adjective
- Used before a noun: 'open-account trading' means trade conducted on these terms.
Commonly confused: open account or open an account?
open account vs open an account
This is a verb phrase meaning to start a new account; 'open account' is a noun for a type of credit arrangement or an unpaid account.
Practice
The supplier agreed to sell the goods ______ open account.
Choose one answer.
'On open account' is the fixed business phrase for this payment arrangement. 'In' and 'at' do not fit this pattern, and 'by' would suggest a method of payment rather than a credit term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “open account”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.