Finance & Corporate Jargon
26 buzzwords: the bottom-line vocabulary of margins, runway, and the numbers behind the deck. Each links to a full breakdown with the plain-English swap.
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Accretive"Accretive" describes a deal or acquisition that increases a company's earnings per share, making it financially additive rather than dilutive.→ earnings-boostingBean counter"Bean counter" is a dismissive term for someone in finance or accounting, implying they focus narrowly on numbers and costs at the expense of bigger goals.→ finance personBelt-tightening"Belt-tightening" means cutting costs or reducing spending, framed as a shared sacrifice even when the cuts fall unevenly across an organization.→ cost cuttingBottom line"Bottom line" means either a company's net profit figure or, more loosely, the single most important point of an argument or situation.→ profitBurn"Burn" refers to the amount of cash a company spends and loses over a given period, typically a month.→ cash lostCapex"Capex" is short for capital expenditure, meaning large one-time investments in physical or long-term assets like equipment or infrastructure.→ capital spendingCash flow positive"Cash flow positive" means a company is bringing in more cash than it is spending during a given period.→ bringing in more than we spendCost center"Cost center" means a department that spends company money but does not directly generate revenue, such as IT, HR, or legal.→ non-revenue teamCost-benefit"Cost-benefit" means comparing what something costs against what you expect to gain from it, to decide whether it is worth doing.→ tradeoff analysisDilutive"Dilutive" means a transaction or deal that reduces earnings per share or an existing investor's ownership percentage in a company.→ earnings-reducingDrive efficiencies"Drive efficiencies" means to reduce costs or eliminate waste, typically by doing more with fewer resources or people.→ cut costsEBITDA"EBITDA" stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, and is used as a measure of a company's core operating profitability.→ operating profitEfficiencies"Efficiencies" in a business context means cost savings or resource reductions, often achieved by streamlining processes or reducing headcount.→ savingsGuidance"Guidance" means a company's official forecast of its expected future financial performance, shared with investors and analysts.→ forecastHaircut"Haircut" means a reduction in the value or price of an asset, loan, or payment, typically used in financial contexts.→ a markdownHeadcount"Headcount" means the number of employees or staff positions at a company or within a specific team, often used in budget and planning discussions.→ number of staffIn the black"In the black" means a company or project is profitable, with revenue exceeding its costs.→ profitableIn the red"In the red" means a company, project, or budget is losing money, with costs exceeding revenue.→ losing moneyMaterial"Material" means significant enough to matter, particularly in a financial, legal, or reporting context where the size or impact of something affects a decision.→ significantOpex"Opex" refers to operating expenses, the day-to-day costs a business incurs to keep running, as opposed to capital investments.→ operating costsPull forwardTo "pull forward" means to move a planned activity, deal, or revenue recognition to an earlier time period than originally scheduled.→ move upRun rate"Run rate" means the current pace of a metric (such as revenue or spending) projected forward over a full year, as though that pace will continue unchanged.→ projected annual paceStreamline"Streamline" means to make a process simpler or more efficient, though in corporate announcements it often also means reducing headcount.→ simplifyTighten our belts"Tighten our belts" means to reduce spending or operate more frugally, usually in response to financial pressure or economic uncertainty.→ cut costsTop line"Top line" refers to a company's total revenue, the first figure listed on an income statement before any costs are subtracted.→ revenueUnit economics"Unit economics" means the revenue and costs tied to a single sale or customer, showing whether the business makes money on each one.→ per-sale profitability
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