In modern writing, is "accounts receivable" plural or singular?

Question

In understand that it is technically plural, but so is "media" and we say things like "the media is" not "the media are". Is it "your accounts receivable is not good" or "your accounts receivable are not good"?

Answer 1

There are certain pairs of words where the first one is pluralized (the "S" on account, in this case" and that makes the phrase plural. So it would be technically correct to say your account receivable is not good, or your accounts receivable are not good. Another example is "Notaries Public," which refers to more than one Notary. And Media IS plural, you're right, medium is the singluar but it has become acceptable to refer to the media in a singular sence. Go figure! No one ever said english made sense...

Answer 2

It depends on how you use the phrase. Are you referring to many accounts, or the accounts receivable line on a ledger, for example? Further, "media" is both singular or plural, depending on how you use that term. I just used it as singular, because I was talking about it as a word. Usually we use "media" as a collective term to describe a singular group, thus, "the media is". In this case, it is not even technically plural like the herd, or family, etc are not plural. In fact, as I toss this term around, I cannot figure out how to make it plural without using prepositions. Maybe someone else can do that for us.

Answer 3

well, Receivable (s) is modifying Accounts (pl), which i guess should make it plural, but when the term is actually used, it's used to refer to a singular function, i.e. receiving accounts. generally accepted usage, like media, is that it's singular.

I've also seen the phrase account receivables, referring to the actual goods that are owed on.

Answer 4

Accounts receivable refers to several accounts within an account or file. I would say my accounts receivable "file" is good.

Answer 5

Since you need an answer in "modern" english, the answer would be either is correct.