English to Arabic Other Business/Commerce (general) Settling accounts

Hello,

I was reading this passage and I need help understanding what this sentence is referring to "settled his business accounts", knowing that the man referred to in the sentence is said to have been working as a newspaper delivery man. What kind of business accounts would he be settling?


"My dad had a paper route when my sister and I were kids, and one winter evening he dropped us off at Stokes Hill so we could
go sledding while he settled his business accounts. It was seven or eight o’clock, we were the only people there, and I remember
trudging back up the snowy hill, taking deep lungfuls of frosty night air and looking up at the stars with my little sister laughing at my side."


Thanks!