Finance Glossary

20 terms

The following glossary will help you better understand certain words used in finance. The goal of this glossary is to learn new words which will allow you to reuse them later in your field, that of finance.

account
A record or statement of financial expenditure or receipts relating to particular period or purpose.
bank loan
Money borrowed from a bank.
breakeven point
The point at which the income from sale of a product or service equals the invested costs, resulting in neither profit nor less, the stage at which income equals expenditure.
budget
An estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.
capital account
The part of the balance of payments recording a nation's outflow and inflow of financial securities.
cash flow
The total amount of money being transferred into and out of a business, especially as affecting liquidity.
credit
The deduction of a payment made by a debtor from an amount due.
debt
Something, typically money, that is owed or due.
discount
A deduction from the usual cost of something.
fixed costs
A periodic cost that remains more or less unchanged irrespective of the output level or sales revenue, such as depreciation, insurance, interest, rent, salaries, and wages.
free cash flow
The amount of cash that the company has left over after it has paid all of its expenses, including investments.
gross income
Receipts and gains from all sources less the cost of goods sold.
investment
The action or process of investing money for profit.
loan
A sum of money borrowed and expected to be paid back with interest.
margin
The difference between a sale price and a cost.
net earnings
The total revenue in an accounting period minus all expenses during the period.
prime cost
The direct cost of a commodity in terms of the materials and labor involved in its production, excluding fixed cost.
profit
A financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.
real estate
Property consisting of land or buildings.
stock
The capital raised by a business or corporation through the issue and subscription of shares.