ownaccount

Own-account refers to business activities conducted with a company's own resources rather than on behalf of clients or for hire. In this sense, the term describes operations funded and controlled by the company itself, including the use of its own assets, personnel, and capital to perform the work.

In logistics and transportation, an own-account operation moves goods for the company's own use with a dedicated fleet of vehicles, ships, or aircraft, rather than providing transport services to external customers as a carrier or freight forwarder. This arrangement gives the company more control over schedules, capacity, and service levels but entails capital expenditures, maintenance, insurance, regulatory compliance, and exposure to transport-related risks. In practice, firms balance own-account capacity with the use of third-party carriers or 3PL providers to manage peak demand, specialized routes, or flexibility needs.

In finance, own-account trading or underwriting means using the firm's own funds for buying, selling, or underwriting risks, with profits and losses accruing to the firm rather than to clients. In insurance, own-account underwriting describes taking on risk with the insurer's own capital instead of reinsurance or external syndicates. Across these contexts, the core idea is operation from the entity's balance sheet and control over the resources used, rather than acting primarily as a service provider for others.