What does 'Accounts Payable' mean?

The overall accounts payable (AP) balance of a corporation at a given moment in time will appear in the current liabilities column of its balance sheet. Accounts payable are debts that must be paid in a certain amount of time in order to avoid default. AP refers to short-term debt payments payable to suppliers at the business level. The payable is effectively a short-term IOU between two businesses or entities. The opposite party would record the transaction as a corresponding increase in its accounts receivable. In a company's balance sheet, accounts payable (AP) is a critical item. If AP increases over time, it indicates that the company is purchasing more things or services on credit rather than paying cash. When a company's AP drops, it suggests it is paying off previous period loans quicker than it is buying new things on credit. Accounts payable management is crucial to a company's cash flow management.