Glossary of Business Terms

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ABA Routing Number - A nine-digit unique number that is present on a check or deposit slip in the USA.
Accelerator - An organisation that offers a range of support services, and funding opportunities for startup companies.
Accounts Payable – All the money a company owes suppliers that delivered goods or services on credit.
Accrual – An expense that has been incurred but has not yet been paid. It can also refer to revenue that has been earned but not yet received.
Actuary – A person who compiles and analyses statistics and uses them to calculate insurance risks and premiums.
Addendum – A written and signed document that changes or makes additions to a previously signed contract or official document.
Algorithm – Set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Amortization – A technique used to periodically lower the book value of a loan or an intangible asset over a set period of time.
Angel Investor – A person who provides capital for a start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.
Annuity – A terminating stream of fixed payments that is paid out over a specific period of time.
Arbitrage – An investment strategy in which an investor simultaneously buys and sells an asset in different markets to take advantage of a price difference and generate a profit.
Artificial Intelligence – The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.
Asset – Anything with commercial or exchange value that is owned by a business, institution or individual.
Audit – A formal examination/inspection of an organization’s accounts, often by an independent auditor.
ATM (Automated Teller Machine) – A computer where you can check your account balance, deposit or withdraw cash and access other financial services.
Avatar – An icon or figure representing a particular person. The word comes from the Sanskrit word avatāra meaning “descent”. B2B (business-to-business) – The exchange of products, services or information between businesses.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer) – A transaction that takes place between a business and an individual as the end customer.
B2G (business-to-government) – It refers to companies providing services or selling goods to the government, government agencies, or the public sector.
Baby Boomer – A person born in the years following the Second World War, when there was a temporary marked increase in the birth rate.
Backed Currency – A currency is supported by a precious metal like silver or gold.
Backlink – An incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website.
Bankruptcy – When someone is declared bankrupt, it means officially that they are unable to pay their debts and what assets they do have are seized in order to try and repay their creditors.
Banner – The most popular advertising format on the internet consisting of including a graphic advertising piece within a web page.
Barcode – A machine-readable code in the form of numbers and a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths, printed on a commodity and used especially for stock control.
Bartering – The exchange of goods or services without the use of money.
Bear Market – When securities fall for a sustained period of time (it is the opposite of a bull market).
Better Business Bureau (BBB) – A private organization that provides the public with information on businesses and charities. It also handles consumer complaints about firms.
Bid Price – An offer made by an individual or corporation to purchase an asset. Buyers commonly make bids at auctions and in various markets, such as the stock market.
Bitcoin – The original, largest and best-known cryptocurrency.
Block – The basic containers of information in a blockchain. They contain transaction data.
Blockchain – A shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.
Blog – A frequently updated web page used for personal commentary or business content.
Bond – Bonds are investment securities in which an investor lends money to a borrower for a set period of time, in exchange for regular interest payments.
Bot – Short for robot. It is an autonomous program on the internet that can interact with systems or users.
BRICS – An acronym that represents five emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Broker – A person who acts as an intermediary between the buyer and seller of a security, insurance product or mutual fund.
Bull Market – An upward moving trend of market prices that are increasing in value (it is the opposite of a bear market).
Business Bank Account – An account that helps an entrepreneur keep business transactions separate from personal ones. C2C (Consumer to Consumer) – A business model that fosters commerce between private individuals, usually in an online environment.
Capitalism – An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
Cash Cow – A business or a product, which exhibits a strong potential in terms of returns in a low-growth market.
Catfishing – Fake online profiles to trick people who are looking for love, usually to get money out of them.
CFD Trading – An arrangement made in financial derivatives trading where the differences in the settlement between the open and closing trade prices are cash-settled.
Chatbot – A computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users over the internet.
Collateral – Any asset that a lender accepts as a form of security to ensure that the borrower repays a loan.
Commodities – Raw materials or primary agricultural products that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee.
Communism – A system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.
Con – A trick to get somebody’s money or to get them to do something.
Content Marketing – A type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.
Cookies – Tiny tracking devices with bits of data that are sent from a website’s server to your browser and deposited in your hard drive. It tracks you browsing habits.
Cryptocurrency Exchange – An exchange where people can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. People trade them using fiat currencies, other cryptocurrencies, or other digital assets.
Cryprocurrency Wallet – a digital wallet for cryptocurrencies. Dark Pools – Private securities exchanges in which investors, typically large financial institutions, are able to make trades anonymously.
Day Trader – A professional who navigates the market by buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day.
Default – A term that denotes the failure to pay the principal or interest on a financial obligation.
Depreciation – A decrease in the value of an investment.
Derivative – A contract between two parties which derives its value/price from an underlying asset.
Digital Currency – A type of currency that only exists electronically and allows people to make payments directly to each other through an online system.
Digital Marketing (Online Marketing) – The promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication.
Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) – An indicator showing generally how well the market is going, found by averaging the prices of 30 industrial blue-chip stocks trading in the New York Stock Exchange.
Dumping – In the financial world occurs when a company or a country exports its products at a price lower than its domestic price. Earnings per Share (EPS) – A measure of a company's profitability, calculated by dividing quarterly or annual income (minus dividends) by the number of outstanding stock shares.
Economics – The study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources, production of goods and services, growth of production and welfare over time, and a great variety of other complex issues of vital concern to society.
EIN – A unique, nine-digit number used to identify a business entity.
EMail Marketing – A form of direct marketing that uses email to promote products or services.
Embargo – An official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country.
Entrepreneur – An individual who has an idea and who works to create a product or service that people will buy, as well as an organization to support that effort.
Equity – The value of ownership of an asset after liabilities with that asset are cleared. Equity or shareholders’ equity is equal to the capital in a business.
Ethereum – The second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, after Bitcoin. It is a crypto network and software platform that developers can use to create new applications, and has an associated currency called ether.
Excise – A duty or tax that governments levy on certain goods such as gasoline, alcoholic drinks, and tobacco products. Fiat Money – A government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity, such as gold or silver, but rather by the government that issued it.
FICO Score – A three-digit number that tells lenders how likely a consumer is to repay borrowed money based on their credit history.
Fictitious Business Name – A name, other than the registered name of the business, that the state gives you permission to use when conducting business.
Financial Instrument – A real or virtual document representing a legal agreement involving any kind of monetary value.
Fintech – Technology to deliver financial services and products to consumers. This could be in the areas of banking, investing – anything that relates to finance.
Fixed Assets – Assets which are purchased for long-term use and are not likely to be converted quickly into cash, such as land, buildings, and equipment.
Flight Capital – Money transferred abroad to avoid taxes or inflation or provide for possible emigration.
Force Majeure – Unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.
Forex – Forex trading is the exchange of one currency to another for trading purposes.
Franchise – An authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities.
Fundamental Analysis (FA) – An analysis of stocks based on fundamental factors, such as company growth potential and earnings, to determine a company's worth, strength, and potential for growth.
Futures Market – A market where people buy and sell futures contracts and commodities. The largest is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Gadget – A small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use and often thought of as a novelty.
Game Theory – Game theory studies interactive decision-making, where the outcome for each participant or "player" depends on the actions of all.
Gap in the Market – An area discontinuity in a security's chart where its price either rises or falls from the previous day's close with no trading occurring in between.
Gazelle Company – A young company that grew by at least 20% annually for four consecutive years.
Genesis Block – The first ever block recorded on its respective blockchain network.
Glamour Stocks – A popular stock characterized by high earnings growth rate and a price that rise is faster than the market average in a bull market.
Globalization – The growing interdependence of the world's economies and cultures, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, and flows of people, investments and information.
Going Public – An expression used to describe the first public selling of shares of an institution that previously sold shares privately.
Gold Standard – A monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold.
Good Til-Canceled (GTC) Order – In business it refers to the established reputation of a commercial enterprise as a quantifiable asset and calculated as part of its total value.
Grant – A financial award given for a specific purpose, such as facilitate a goal or incentivize performance in a specific area. Unlike loans, grants do not have to be paid back, but it is expected that the funds are employed for their stated purpose, which typically serves some larger good.
Growth Fund – A fund that invests primarily in the stocks of companies with above-average risk in return for potentially above-average gains. These companies often pay little or no dividends. Hacker – Anyone who uses their abilities to gain unauthorized access to systems or networks in order to commit crimes.
Haircut – The percentage of an asset that is used as collateral, deducted from its market value.
Hard Currency – A currency that people trust, because they expect it to maintain its value. Examples of include the US dollar, euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
Hard Sell – A psychological pressure to persuade the prospect to buy immediately.
Headhunter – An agency or individual that seeks out high-flying executives to fill job vacancies in companies.
Hedging – The practice of offsetting potential losses from an investment by taking an opposite position in a related asset. Hedging is an effective risk management strategy, although it typically results in a reduction of potential profits.
Hockey Stick Chart – A relative long period of stability, and then a sharp upward swing. The graph that looks like a hockey stick.
HTML – Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the standard markup language for creating Web pages describing the structure of the Web page.
HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) – An application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems that allows users to communicate data on the World Wide Web. Iceberg Principle – A theory that suggests that we cannot see or detect most of a situation's data.
Idiosyncratic Risk – Factors that can negatively impact individual securities or a very specific group of assets.
Impound – To seize and take legal custody of something, especially a vehicle, goods, or documents, because of an infringement of a law.
Inbound Marketing – A strategic approach to creating valuable content that aligns with the needs of your target audiences and inspires long-term customer relationships.
Incubator Firm – A company that helps startups and early-stage companies.
Industry 4.0 – A new phase in the Industrial Revolution that focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.
Influencer – An individual exerting the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media.
Initial Public Offering (IPO) – Offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance for the first time.
Insider Trading – The illegal practice of trading on the stock exchange to one's own advantage through having access to confidential information.
Internet Marketing – An all-inclusive term for marketing products and services online.
Investment Consultant – A person or organization hired by an investment fund or an individual to give professional advice on investments and asset management practices.
Inward Investment – An investment in a country made by investors outside that country.
IT Consultant – A technology professional who supports clients during technological projects. Jet Lag – Describes common sleep problems (such as insomnia) and other symptoms people experience after traveling a long distance quickly.
Joint-Stock Company – A company whose stock is owned jointly by the shareholders.
Joint Venture – In a joint venture, two or more companies join together to collaborate on a particular project.
Jumbo Mortgage – A mortgage loan that offers more than a conventional loan with higher interest rates.
Junk Bond – A weak bond, rated BB or lower, that has a high default risk and thus carries a high interest rate.
Jurat – A certificate added to an affidavit stating when, before whom, and where it was made.
Jus Sanguinis – A principle that the nationality of children is the same as that of their parents, irrespective of their place of birth. K-Commerce (knowledge commerce) – Sharing knowledge online and making money in the process.
Kamikaze Defense – A defense strategy against a hostile takeover where the target company takes actions that damage its value, thus making it less appealing to the hostile acquirer.
Keepwell Agreement – An arrangement initiated between a parent company and one of its subordinate businesses. A keepwell agreement boosts the subsidiary’s creditworthiness.
Keynesian Economics – The idea that economic performance is calculated by aggregate demand. To create jobs and boost consumer buying power during a recession, Keynes held that governments should increase spending, even if it means going into debt.
Keyword – Words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines, also called "search queries."
KISS Principle – KISS stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid and is the notion that simple things do better than complicated things.
Kleptocracy – Literally means rule by thieves, and describes the corruption that occurs when state leaders, generally from poorer countries, loot money from their national treasuries.
Know-How – The skills, knowledge, and abilities that people have that help them do things.
Kondratieff Wave – Named after Russian economist Nikolai Kondratieff, refers to cycles, lasting about 40 to 60 years, experienced by capitalist economies. Laddering – An investment technique that requires the purchaser to buy several financial products, such as bonds or certificates of deposit, with different maturity dates.
Laggards – Consumers who avoid change and may not be willing to adopt a new product until all traditional alternatives are no longer available.
Laissez-Faire – In economics means the abstention by governments from interfering in the workings of the free market.
Latent Market – A potential market that has been identified for a product or service that is not yet offered.
Leverage – The ratio between equity capital and credit in a financial exchange. In other words, it means using borrowed money to fund the purchase of an asset.
Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) – The rate at which banks offer to lend wholesale money to other financial institutions in the international interbank market.
Liquidity Trap – An economic situation where everyone hoards money instead of investing or spending it.
Litecoin – A cryptocurrency that shares features with Bitcoin but runs a different mining algorithm and also an open software project. Litecoin uses an open-source cryptographic protocol to transfer and create coins.
Loan Shark – A moneylender who charges exorbitant rates of interest, often working outside the law by threatening borrowers with violence. Macroeconomics – The branch of economics concerned with large-scale or general economic factors, such as interest rates and national productivity.
Malware – A file or code, typically delivered over the net, that explores, infects, steals or conducts virtually any behavior an attacker wants.
Managed Account – An investment account that an investment manager manages for his client.
Margin – The difference between one price and another, usually related to the profit a trader or speculator can make.
Market Jitters – A feeling of fear, apprehension, and uncertainty among investors and stock market traders.
Market Maker – A company or individual that regularly buys and sells securities at a publicly quoted price to provide liquidity to the markets.
Matrix Organization – A company structure where teams report to multiple leaders.
MBA (Master of Business Administration) – An advanced degree that concentrates on developing the skills that people need to manage or run a business.
Metaverse – A computing platform that provides digital experiences as an alternative to the real world, along with key civilizational aspects like social interactions, currency, trade, economy, and property ownership.
Money Illusion – The erroneous notion (that many have) that money does not decrease in value over time, which it does because of inflation.
Monopoly – A market where there is just one producer or supplier of a product or service. It is either extremely difficult or impossible for any other entity to enter the market. Naked Short Selling – The illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to exist.
Near Money – Assets that are not as liquid as money, but can be converted into cash rapidly, such as short-term money market instruments.
Network Marketing – A business model that depends on person-to-person sales by independent representatives, often working from home. It is an industry that has produced millionaires.
New Money – Money not inherited, but created during the lifetime of the individual.
Niche market – A very focused market with demand for a specialized product or commodity.
Node – In blockchain, a computer that connects to the network. It supports the network through validation and relaying transactions.
Non-Disclosure Agreement – A contract by which one or more parties agree not to disclose confidential information that they have shared with each other as a necessary part of doing business together.
Nootropic – A substance that enhances cognition and memory and facilitates learning. Offshore – Made, situated, or registered abroad, especially in order to take advantage of lower taxes or costs or less stringent regulation.
Off-the-Shelf – An item that has not been custom-made. Off-the-shelf products are one-size-fits-all goods that anybody can buy.
Okun Gap – The difference between what total GDP (gross domestic product) actually is and what it could be.
Oligarch – A very rich businessperson who also has considerable political influence.
Ombudsman – An official who represents the interests of the public.
Online Marketing (Digital Marketing) – A set of tools and methodologies used for promoting products and services through the internet.
OPEX (operating expense) – The money that a business spends on a daily basis to keep going.
Or Near Offer (ONO) – The term means that the seller would consider a lower offer, which need to be close to the asking price.
Ore – A rock with metal or metal compounds in it. Ore refers to the rock, and not the metal.
Over-The-Counter (OTC) – Trading that is carried out directly between two parties, rather than on an official exchange such as the London or the New York Stock Exchange. Paris Club – A group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
Path Dependence – A concept in economics, referring to past events or decisions which constrain later events or decisions.
Patron – An individual or an organization who provides support (normally financial) for another person or organization.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) – Relating to networks in which each computer can act as a server for the others, allowing shared access to files without the need for a central server.
Petty Cash – A cash fund that companies keep for small expenses such as stationary, cab fares, employee snacks, postage, coffee, etc.
Phishing – An attempt to obtain confidential data from somebody by pretending to be a legitimate company.
Podcast – An episodic audio show that listeners can find online available to download or stream.
Prospect – A potential customer of goods or services. Quality Creep – When quality improvements over time, accompanied by price rises, eventually lead to a decline in sales.
Quantitative Finance – The application of advanced mathematics and extremely large data sets to analyze financial markets.
Quantity Theory of Money – states that money supply and price level in an economy are in direct proportion to one another.
Quorum – The minimum number of voting members that need to attend a meeting for the meeting to be effective. Random Walk Theory – A mathematical model of the stock market which suggests that changes in stock prices have the same distribution and are independent of each other. It states that it is not possible to forecast accurately and consistently which way stock prices will go.
Rebranding – Changing the image of a product or whole company.
Red Chip Shares – Shares of mainland China companies that are listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Reserve Currency – A large amount of currency held by central banks and major financial institutions to use for international transactions. The most important reserve currency today is the US dollar.
Reshoring – bringing back offshored manufacturing to a country. It is the opposite of offshoring.
Résumé – A brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous occupations, typically sent with a job application.
Rotation in office – A way of working in which employees take it in turns to occupy office premises. S&P 500 Index – An unmanaged, market capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks of leading large-cap U.S. companies in leading industries.
Scam – A dishonest scheme; a fraud. The victim of a scam loses something of value; usually money.
Security Token – As an investment asset, a security token is a digital asset that represents ownership or other rights and transfers value from an asset or bundle of assets to a token. In plain language, security tokens are the digital form of traditional investments like stocks, bonds, or other securitized assets.
Seigniorage – The use of natural language processing, text analysis, computational linguistics and biometrics to systematically identify, extract, quantify and study affective states and subjective information. The most common use of sentiment analysis in the financial sector is the analysis of financial news, particularly news related to predicting the behavior and possible trend of stock markets.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Getting one’s website higher up in the results of a search engine search.
Shell Company – A company without any current business activity or significant assets.
Sister Company – Companies with the same parent company are sister companies and they are both subsidiaries of the same company.
Social Media Marketing – A form of digital marketing that leverages the power of popular social media networks to achieve your marketing and branding goals.
Spam – Any kind of unwanted, unsolicited digital communication that gets sent out in bulk.
Speculation – Conducting a financial transaction that has substantial risk of losing value but also holds the expectation of a significant gain.
Spread – The difference between the prices of one item or interest rate on different days, or two items or interest rates on the same date. The term can be used for any type of security or commodity.
Sunk Costs – an investment already incurred that can't be recovered, like research and development, advertising, or building a new plant.
SWIFT Code – A code that contains 11 characters as a form of bank identification which helps facilitate international wire transfers. Tangible Assets – An asset that has a monetary value and a physical form.
Tax Haven – A country that offers very favorable tax rates, especially to foreigners who deposit their money there.
Tax Identification Number (TIN) – A unique identifier assigned by the government to individuals and businesses for the purpose of tracking their tax obligations.
Tax Shelter – Legal strategies that can decrease or defer your tax liability.
Telecommuting – Working away from the office, which in the majority of cases means working from home.
Tier 1 Capital – A bank’s core capital, opposed to Tier 2 capital, which is an element used to measure a bank’s total capital base.
Toxic Debts – Debts that are not likely to be paid back to borrowers.
Transaction Account – A bank account from which payments can be made to a third party. Uberrimae Fidei – Refers to insurance contracts. It is a Latin word for "utmost good faith."
Unemployment Trap – A situation when unemployment benefits discourage the unemployed to go to work. Young adults are more likely to find themselves stuck in this trap.
Unicorn – A startup that is worth more than 1 billion USD.
Upcycling – A type of recycling that produces higher-value products from items that would otherwise go to waste.
U-Shaped Recovery – A type of economic recession and recovery that charts a U-shape, established when certain metrics and industrial output sharply decline and then remain depressed typically over a period of a year or two before they bounce back again.
Usury – Loaning money at exorbitant interest rates. Veblen Goods – Good for which demand increase as the price increase. Examples of Veblen goods are luxury yachts, expensive Swiss watches, certain vintage wines, and ultra-expensive cars.
Vertical Market – A niche market, with buyers and sellers that make similar products and have virtually identical needs.
Virtual Assistant (VA) – An independent contractor who provides administrative, technical, creative, or other services to clients while working remotely.
Virtual Reality – A computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.
Volatility – The amount and frequency of fluctuations in the price of a security, commodity or market. An investment with high volatility is said to have higher risk.
Volcker Rule – A regulation that prohibits banks from engaging in certain types of speculative investment activities. It was proposed by former United States Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker
VPN (Virtual Private Network) – Provides users anonymous and safe access to the World Wide Web. Nobody can find out who they are because the VPN system does not allow it.
Vulture Investors – Those that specializes in purchasing assets and financial instruments belonging to companies or people in trouble. Wash Trade – An illegal activity in which a single trader buys and sells the same security in order to generate misleading market information.
Watering Hole Attack – The attacker compromises a site likely to be visited by a particular target group, rather than attacking the target group directly. They load malicious software onto the website, which makes its way into visitors’ computer systems.
Website – A virtual location on the Web which contains at least one page that online users can access through a browser. Each website has its own unique web address (URL).
Whistleblower – An individual who informs on a person or organization regarded as engaging in an unlawful or immoral activity. In the majority of cases, the whistleblower works where the improper activity was witnessed.
White Elephant – An useless or troublesome possession, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of.
Wi-Fi – A technology which allows smartphones, computers, tablets, video game consoles, digital audio players, and other devices to communicate with the Internet without the need for cables or extra telephone lines.
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) – A wireless technology that provides Internet connectivity over significantly longer distances than standard WiFi does.
Worm – A computer worm is a malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Yankee Bond – A bond that is issued by a foreign government or foreign company in US territory, denominated in US dollars. The Yankee bond issuer must first apply to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which checks out its credit worthiness.
Yankee Market – A slang term for the stock market in the United States.
Yield – The income an investor receives from an investment. Yield, however, is not a measure of total return since it does not include capital gains or losses.
Yuppie – The term yuppie originated in the 1980s and is used to refer to young urban professionals who are successful in business and considerably affluent.

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