Numbers dressed up in fancy suits pretending to be words.
Anything of value that accountants get to play with on a balance sheet, from office furniture to that sketchy intern who somehow speaks fluent Mandarin. In finance, it's what you own that's theoretically worth something—until the market decides otherwise. Can also refer to a spy, because espionage and spreadsheets both involve secrets.
The delightful process of getting your money back after you've already spent it, typically involving byzantine expense report systems and a CFO who questions why you needed that airport coffee. It's the corporate promise that 'we'll pay you back'—eventually, maybe, if you have all seventeen required receipts. The business world's version of an IOU that actually gets honored.
Relating to those mysterious number wizards called actuaries who calculate risk, probability, and future costs using mathematics that would make most people weep. It's the science of predicting when you'll die, how likely your house is to burn down, and how much money a pension fund needs—cheerful stuff. If it involves insurance, statistics, and existential dread, it's probably actuarial.
The professional practice of accounting, elevated to sound more prestigious—because 'accountant' apparently needed fancier branding. It encompasses the entire field of financial reporting, auditing, tax preparation, and making sure companies follow arcane rules that change annually. The British prefer this term, Americans less so, but everyone agrees it involves lots of coffee and spreadsheets.
Everything a business owes to others—debts, obligations, and promises to pay that hang over the company like a financial sword of Damocles. It's the right side of the balance sheet that accountants love to balance against assets, creating the fundamental equation of accounting. Can also mean that person on your team who's more problem than solution.
The magical percentage retailers add to their costs to create what they optimistically call a "selling price," essentially the difference between what they paid and what they're convinced you'll pay. In tech, it's the invisible code that tells computers how to format text without making it look like a ransom note. Both definitions involve making something look more expensive or prettier than it actually is.
When the cost of financing an asset exceeds the income it generates, resulting in losses for every day you hold it. It's like paying more in parking fees than your car is worth.
When you acquire a company for less than the fair value of its identifiable net assets, essentially buying a dollar for seventy cents. Also called a 'bargain purchase,' it's as rare as it sounds and usually indicates something's wrong.
Information barriers within financial institutions designed to prevent conflicts of interest, like keeping the investment banking side from sharing insider information with the trading desk. Also increasingly called 'ethical walls' because geography.
An auditor's statement that financial statements are fairly presented except for specific issues, essentially saying 'mostly good but we have concerns.' It's the accounting equivalent of 'we need to talk.'
A polite financial euphemism for 'risky as hell' that describes loans given to borrowers with sketchy credit histories at interest rates that would make a loan shark blush. These loans were so responsible they nearly collapsed the global economy in 2008. Now used as both a technical term and a cautionary tale.
A documented sequence of transactions showing every step from origin to final entry, allowing auditors to trace financial data backward like forensic accountants solving a very boring crime. When the trail goes cold, so does your credibility.
The average number of days it takes to collect payment after a sale, abbreviated as DSO. It measures how long customers ignore your invoices before grudgingly paying—lower is better unless you enjoy running a free lending operation.
The ability to meet long-term obligations and survive beyond next quarter—unlike liquidity, which only cares about immediate bills. A company can be liquid but insolvent (cash now, doomed later) or illiquid but solvent (asset-rich, cash-poor).
The danger that you won't be able to refinance maturing debt or will only be able to do so at punishing rates. The financial equivalent of your credit card's intro rate expiring at the worst possible moment.
The beautiful, untarnished number before reality sets in—your total earnings before taxes, fees, and other joy-killing deductions take their bite. It's what you earn in theory versus what actually shows up in your bank account (the "net"). Finance departments love talking in gross because it makes everything sound way more impressive.
Expressing each financial statement line item as a percentage of a base figure, like revenue or total assets. It's financial statements in relative terms, making it easier to spot when expenses are getting out of hand.
Another term for deferred revenue—cash received for work not yet performed, sitting on the balance sheet as a liability. It's having money in hand while owing labor, the service industry's constant state.
To throw money, time, or your hopes and dreams at something in the expectation that it will magically multiply rather than disappear into the void. In finance, it's the art of delaying gratification while praying to the gods of compound interest. Pro tip: works better with actual research than pure optimism.
The art of making numbers tell whatever story you want them to tell, staying just barely on the legal side of fraud. It's lying with spreadsheets and a CPA license.
Investment funds that buy distressed debt for pennies then aggressively pursue collection, like financial hyenas picking at corporate carcasses. Compassion not included.
A revolving credit facility that automatically renews, giving borrowers perpetual access to funds as long as they meet conditions. It's the financial equivalent of a gym membership that never expires—convenient until you can't make the payments.
Operating income that excludes financing costs and tax expenses, providing a clearer view of operational performance. It's EBITDA's more conservative cousin that remembers depreciation and amortization are real expenses.
Current assets minus inventory divided by current liabilities—also called the 'acid test' because it measures whether you can pay bills without selling inventory. It's liquidity measurement for pessimists who assume everything in the warehouse is unsellable.