Acceptance is the signification by the drawee in a bill of his assent to the order of the drawer. It consists in the drawee, or some person duly authorised by him, signing the bill. Words may be added signifying his intention; but these are unnecessary, and may destroy the bill, if, for instance, expressing that other means than money will be used to meet the bill. The acceptance may be before the bill has been signed by the drawer, or when it is overdue, or after having been dishonoured. Acceptance is either general or qualified—i.e. expressly varying the terms of the bill as drawn. A qualified acceptance may be conditional, or partial in amount, or local—i.e. restricting places of payment; or qualified in time; or by one or more drawees, but not by all. All acceptances are completed by delivery or notification. See Bills of Exchange Act, 1882; and the article BILL OF EXCHANGE.
Acceptance is also a term in the Scottish law of contract. A contract may commence by an offer, and be completed by acceptance. The offer is viewed as an obligation conditional on the acceptance, but may, before acceptance, be recalled; recall taking place in many cases by the mere lapse of time, according to mercantile customs. The offer may be verbal, by letter, or even tacit, as when goods are sent without an order, or contrary to order, in which case acquiescence is acceptance. The acceptance may be either tacit or express. The word in this sense is not a technical one in the law of England, but the matter to which it relates in that system will be found under CONTRACT.
In the United States, acceptance is used very much as in England. An acceptance may be called absolute, when it is a positive engagement to pay the bill according to its tenor; conditional, when it is an undertaking to pay the bill on a contingency; express, when it is an undertaking, in express and direct terms, to pay the bill; implied, when the undertaking to pay the bill is inferred from acts of a character to warrant such an inference; partial, when the undertaking varies from the tenor of the bill; and qualified, when the acceptance is either conditional or partial.