A lump sum payment is often associated with a single amount paid to acquire a group of items. For instance, a corporation might pay $50,000 for the inventory and equipment of a small manufacturer that is going out of business. The transaction did not specify any further details. The $50,000 is a lump sum payment.

Sometimes the term lump sum payment merely indicates a single payment. For example, the maturity value of a bond might be referred to as a lump sum payment in order to distinguish it from the series of semiannual interest payments.

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