as at / as of

19:01 Jun 12, 2019
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Finance (general) / legal
English term or phrase: as at / as of
From an annual report:

As at 31 December 2018.
or
As of 31 December 2018.

I always thought these meant the same thing, but the first was BE and the second AE, but it seems that is not the case. Googling tells me that there is widespread disagreement about what these mean, but "as it" seems to be used mainly in financial reports with reference to a snapshot in time, whereas "as of" refers to things that happen from this day forward (a.k.a. "since"). But that's not how I use "as of": To me it means both a snapshot and the status of things from that snapshot going forward (which, if you think about it, means pretty much the same thing).

Is there really a difference worth bothering with here, or is it just a matter of personal preference?

If there really is a distinction, one would have to imagine a document in which both phrases are used, with slight nuances of meaning. But that would be totally weird, and I'm sure the number of people who understood the distinction would be few indeed.

The Economist style guide doesn't talk about "as at", but implies that "as of" is so ambiguous as to be best avoided. (The actual formulation is rather incomprehensible: "as of say, April 5th or April. Prefer on (or after, or since) April 5th, in
April.")
Susan Welsh
United States
Local time: 05:19


SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +2at a certain cut-off point / from a certain point
Tony M
Summary of reference entries provided
A question we had recently
Helena Chavarria

Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
at a certain cut-off point / from a certain point


Explanation:
That's really the way I see it, and have always seen them used when correctly! But people DO use them inaccurately and to some extent discriminately.

"The company accounts as at 31 December last" — as they were at some defined cut-off date
"As of 1st April, no parking has been allowed in front of the building" — with the sense of forward from a specified time (even though that time might be in the past)

And cf. uses like "as of now, you will refrain from using swear-words" — when used in this specific construction, the meaning is unambigous.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 20 hrs (2019-06-15 15:38:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Whether Prof. R.L. Task likes it or not, there are certain places where 'as of' seems to be the only fitting solution, such as 'as of now, ...' and even 'as of late...'

Tony M
France
Local time: 10:19
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: Yes, I agree with you (note added at 2 days 20 hrs). Thanks, Tony.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: good old Fr-En Kudoz. How often has this been discussed? asker doesn't translate French
27 mins
  -> Obviously not enough for Asker to have found it when searching! :-(

agree  Tina Vonhof (X): We had this question recently.
2 days 19 hrs
  -> Thanks, Tina! I thought we had!
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Reference comments


23 mins peer agreement (net): +4
Reference: A question we had recently

Reference information:
I hope you find it helpful!

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/telecommunications/667087...

Helena Chavarria
Spain
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks! I didn't see it because I searched for "as at"! I like your Haward quote there, notably "So, after all that, I suggest you follow the advice of professor of linguistics R. L. Trask: “As of – this stiff business expression is best avoided in most writing; use on, since, or from instead, as required.” Pretty much what The Economist guide says.


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Tony M
10 mins
  -> Thank you, Tony :-)
agree  philgoddard
14 mins
  -> Cheers, Phil :-)
agree  writeaway
43 mins
  -> Thank you, writeaway :-)
agree  Björn Vrooman: Here we go again =)
6 hrs
  -> Yes! Thank you, Björn :-)
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