Accountancy

Accounting
Accounting is the recording and classification of monetary transactions. It’s a system for recording the amount of money that a business spends and earns

Asset
Something of value that a business owns. There are two types of asset:
Fixed assets: for example, buildings or cars
Current assets: for example, stock or cash

Balance Sheet
The balance sheet is a financial statement produced by management accounting. It shows a company's assets and liabilities at a specific point in time

Creditor
A creditor is anyone the business owes money to

Debtor
A person or company who owes the business money

Expenses
Expenses are the costs incurred running a business. These could be "variable costs", the costs involved in selling a product. For example the cost of transport for a product. Or "fixed costs", the costs involved in running a business even if nothing is sold. For example, heating, salaries or rent

Liability
Liability is the amounts of money that a business owes to other individuals or organisations

Loss
Loss is the amount of money that a business loses. It is where expenses are more than turnover

Profit
Profit is the amount of money that your business makes. It is where turnover is greater than expenses

Profit and Loss Account
A financial statement produced by financial accounting. The profit and loss account summarises the turnover and expenses of a business. It shows the profit that has been made or the amount lost over a specific period of time, usually a year

Turnover
Turnover is the amount of money that a company receives from customers for the goods or services that it sells

Advertising

Advertisement
A notice, message or announcement about a product, event etc

Advertising
The act of letting people know that something is available, for example, a job or a product

Brief
A document that tells an advertising company about who the advertisement is for (target audience) and what the seller wants from the advertisement

Commercial
An advertisement on television, radio or the cinema


Copywriter
A person who writes advertising or publicity material

Poster
A large printed picture or notice ina public place often used to advertise something

Digital Revolution

Commercial Platform
A commercial platform is a kind of space from which companies can sell goods and services. In the digital world, this is normally a website

Digital
Relating to computers and electronic equipment that process information coded in digits

Virtual Company
A company that uses computer technology to link together its staff, customers and possibly suppliers.

Virtual Enterprise
A group of businesses that work together, using computer technology, to exploit selling opportunities that they might not be able to reach on their own.

Core Compentency
The main area of expertise for a company.

Finance

Assets
Items of value to companies or individuals. For example, land or shares

Bond
A document from a Government or company that states that money borrowed from an investor will be repaid. If you buy a bond then you are lending money to that company or Government

Derivative
An asset whose valued is based upon another asset

Dividend
A payment made to shareholders out of the profit made by a company

Finance
The management of money for business

Hedge
To buy an asset with a set future price to protect against price changes

Intangible Asset
Something owned by a company or individual that does not have a material form, like goodwill or a trade mark

Interest
An amount charged for money borrowed or an amount paid for money invested

Risk
The degree of possibility that an asset may increase or decrease in value

Shares and Equities
If you own shares or equities then you own part of the company connected with those shares or equities

Speculate
to buy and sell assets in the hope to make profits in the short-term

Tangible Asset
Something owned by a company or individual that has a material form, like money or machinery

Yield
The amount of money that will be gained from an asset over a period of time

Globalisation

Economies of Scale
Economic theory that says it is more efficient for a company to produce and sell one hundred units of a product than it is to produce and sell just ten of them

Globalisation
The current trend for economies and businesses to become increasingly interdependent

Information Systems

Application
Software that gets a computer to perform a specific function, like wordprocessing

Data
Data are facts and statistics which can be analysed

Hardware
All the physical pieces that are used to build a computer. For example, silicon chips, connectors and printed circuit boards

Information
The meaning that can be gained from understanding data

Information System
A method, or way, of managing the information that a company has

Operating System
The programme that makes the computer work. It controls things like the keyboard and sending images to a monitor

Software
A group of instructions, usually called a programme, that makes a computer do the things we want them to do