I wonder if it is in a similar category to another usage, which seems to be an exclusively US one, to my ears at least: ‘I’ll likely be there around six’ ‘Mitt Romney will likely win this round. In any case, this use of timely seems clumsy and awkward to me, and until today I would have corrected it is an obvious error, substituting it with ‘in a timely manner’, at the very least.Īpparently in accounting it is an accepted usage to mean ‘before the appropriate deadline’: It is not clear if it can also mean ‘in time’. In both cases, timely as an adverb means something like ‘opportunely’ or ‘at the right time’. Merriam Webster gives this example: ‘the question was not timely raised in the state court’ whilst the OED offers this: ‘they seemed to move the Socialists slightly, but timely, to the Right’. There is another factor here, which is that timely can, in theory, be used as an adverb: ‘The report was filed timely’ ‘The Trustee will vote as instructed…if the Trustee timely receives such participant’s voting instructions’ (two real life examples). Perhaps the difference reflected in the varying OED/Webster’s definition of timely reflects a difference in UK/US usage? The meaning of the term timely must, in a number of situations, be determined on the basis of the facts and circumstances of each individual case. A legal action is timely filed, for example, when it is brought within the time period set by the Statute of Limitations. The above quotation was taken from an American website. Existing or taking place within the designated period seasonable. But Webster makes ‘sufficiently early’ explicit. The OED’s ‘at a favourable time’ seems to rule out the possibility of ‘by a good time’ (i.e. Merriam-Webster is a bit less supportive of my cause, however: ‘Being or occurring in good time sufficiently early seasonable.’
Nothing about ‘done within the deadline’. The OED supports me in this, I think: ‘done or occurring at a favourable or useful time opportune’. I guess what I dislike about this sentence is the use of timely to mean ‘prompt’ or ‘on-time’. I would equally be happy with someone’s work being timely, if they were some sort of philosopher or critic, or if the work in question offered a relevant and balanced commentary on a contemporary issue – in particular if said issue had gone under-analysed up to this point. Now, to me timely suggests that something is done at the right or appropriate time: a timely interjection, for example, or a timely reminder. Consequently, it is generally better to adopt real time variance reporting on the shop floor, rather than having the accounting staff deal with it at longer intervals.“ Their work is timely, accurate and cost efficient.”ĭoes there seem to be something wrong with this sentence? There did to me, too, namely the use of the word timely. This delayed reporting is much too late for managers to take corrective action. Information and translations of timely manner in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. to an employee in a timely manner as required for the payment of other wages under. The accounting department typically compiles and reports these variances following the end of the month. Definition of timely manner in the dictionary. (3) Employee means an individual who is employed by an employer for. There are many cost accounting variances in the areas of sales, purchasing, materials usage, overhead, and direct labor.
Consequently, the concept of timeliness in this area means that the controller should use fast close techniques to close the books and distribute accurate financial statements as quickly as possible. The issuance of financial statements cannot be so delayed that company managers realize too late that there is a serious performance or liquidity problem that must be rectified.
The timeliness concept is of particular importance in four areas of a business, which are noted below. The timeliness of accounting information refers to the provision of information to users quickly enough for them to take action. What is the Timeliness of Accounting Information?