In all Master modes, the transfer counter can be used to determine how many data transfers the SPI will send/receive. The transfer counter is comprised of the SPIxTCNT registers, and is also partially controlled by the SPIxTWIDTH register.
In all Slave modes and when BMODE = 1 in Master modes,
the transfer counter will still decrement as transfers occur and can be used to
count the number of messages sent/received, control SS_out, and trigger TCZIF. Also,
when BMODE = 1, the SPIxTWIDTH register can be used in Master and
Slave modes to determine the size of messages sent and received by the SPI, even if
the transfer counter is not being actively used to control the number of messages
being sent/received by the SPI module.