Plain-English definitions of AI, accounting, and SaaS-finance terms.
An electronic bank-to-bank transfer processed through the Automated Clearing House network, used for payroll, bill payments, and business transactions.
Adherence to the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibiting discrimination and requiring reasonable accommodations.
The application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate transaction categorization, reconciliation, and financial record-keeping.
AI model generating confident but factually incorrect or fabricated information not grounded in reality.
Anti-Money Laundering — a framework of laws, regulations, and procedures designed to prevent criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income.
The use of APIs to connect financial systems, enable real-time data exchange, and automate workflows between accounting, banking, and fintech platforms.
The GAAP revenue recognition standard requiring a five-step model to determine when and how to recognize revenue from customer contracts.
Short-term liabilities representing amounts a business owes to suppliers and vendors for goods or services received but not yet paid.
Amounts owed to a business by customers for goods or services delivered but not yet paid for.
An accounting method that records revenues and expenses when earned or incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands.
Percentage of new users who complete a key action that predicts long-term retention.
Statistical and mathematical analysis of financial risks using probability and data to price insurance and manage reserves.
A financial report categorizing outstanding invoices or payables by how long they have been outstanding, used to manage collections and payment prioritization.
Excess return of an investment relative to a benchmark index after adjusting for risk.
Parallel tax calculation ensuring high-income taxpayers pay a minimum federal tax regardless of deductions.
The systematic allocation of an intangible asset's cost or a loan's principal over a defined period.
Average annualized revenue from a customer contract, excluding one-time fees.
The annualized value of all active recurring subscription contracts, the primary revenue metric for SaaS businesses.
Corporate program and legal framework preventing improper payments to government officials and commercial counterparties.
Provisions in preferred stock terms that protect investors from dilution if the company raises money at a lower valuation in a future down round.
Simultaneous purchase and sale of equivalent assets to profit from price discrepancies across markets.
The strategic distribution of investments across asset classes — stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash — to balance risk and return based on goals and time horizon.
A ratio measuring how efficiently a company generates revenue from its asset base.
Commercial lending facility secured by specific business assets, typically receivables and inventory.
Tax rules limiting loss deductions to the amount a taxpayer has economically at risk in an activity.
A chronological record of all user actions, system events, and data changes in a financial system, providing a traceable history for auditing and investigation.
The mean revenue generated from each customer or user account over a given period, measuring monetization efficiency.
U.S. primary anti-money laundering law requiring financial institutions to assist in detecting and preventing financial crimes.
A financial statement showing a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.
The process of matching a company's internal cash records to its bank statement to identify and resolve discrepancies.
Fixed cash compensation paid to an employee on a regular schedule regardless of performance or company results.
International banking regulatory framework strengthening capital requirements and risk management for banks post-2008 crisis.
Grouping payment transactions for processing together at scheduled intervals rather than individually in real time.
Identification of natural persons who ultimately own or control a legal entity above a defined ownership threshold.
A legal instruction naming who receives specific account assets directly upon the account holder's death, bypassing probate.
The management of employee benefits programs including health insurance, retirement plans, PTO, and other compensation components.
Measure of an investment's volatility relative to the overall market or benchmark index.
Distributed ledger technology applied to financial transactions for transparency, immutability, and disintermediation.
A tax incentive allowing businesses to immediately deduct a large percentage of the cost of eligible property in the year it is placed in service.
Calculation of the sales volume at which total revenue equals total costs, generating zero profit.
Short-term financing used temporarily until permanent long-term funding is arranged.
The rate at which a company spends its cash reserves each month, critical for tracking how long funding will last.
Point-of-sale financing allowing consumers to split purchases into installments, often interest-free.
Process of verifying customer identity and assessing risk before and during a financial relationship.
A federal law requiring employers with 20+ employees to offer continuation of group health insurance coverage to employees who lose coverage due to qualifying events.
Federal law allowing employees to continue group health coverage after leaving employment by paying full premiums.
Internal control framework published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations used for assessing and improving organizational controls.
A spreadsheet or software record showing all equity ownership in a company, including shares, options, warrants, and convertible instruments.
Model describing relationship between systematic risk and expected return for assets in equilibrium.
Funds spent acquiring, upgrading, or maintaining long-term physical assets for business operations.
Insurance subsidiary created by a company to insure its own risks rather than purchasing coverage externally.
An accounting method that records income and expenses only when cash is actually received or paid.
A financial statement showing all cash inflows and outflows across operating, investing, and financing activities over a period.
A forced reversal of a payment transaction initiated by a customer through their bank, placing the financial liability back on the merchant.
A structured list of all financial accounts used by a business to categorize and record every transaction.
The percentage of customers or revenue lost within a given period due to cancellations or non-renewals.
Monthly recurring revenue permanently lost when customers cancel their subscriptions.
A vesting provision where no equity vests until a minimum service period (the cliff) is completed, protecting against early departures.
Investor right to sell shares alongside a founder in a secondary transaction on the same terms.
Tracking a group of customers acquired in the same period to measure retention and revenue trends over time.
Percentage of costs the insured shares with the insurer after the deductible is met.
Valuing a company using trading multiples from publicly listed peer companies.
Interest calculated on both the initial principal and previously accumulated interest, enabling exponential growth of savings and investments over time.
Situation where personal interests or competing loyalties may improperly influence professional judgment or decision-making.
Payment via tap, NFC, or QR code without requiring physical card insertion or swiping.
An accounting model that distributes close activities throughout the period using automation and real-time data, reducing the month-end close crunch.
Monthly recurring revenue lost from existing customers through downgrades or seat reductions.
Recurring revenue lost from existing customers who downgrade their plan or reduce usage without fully canceling.
Revenue minus variable costs, showing how much each unit or sale contributes toward fixed costs and profit.
A short-term debt instrument that converts to equity at a future funding round, typically with an interest rate, maturity date, discount, and valuation cap.
Fixed amount the insured pays for a covered health care service at the time of service.
Financial derivative transferring credit risk of a reference entity from protection buyer to protection seller.
A numerical rating (300–850) representing an individual's creditworthiness based on their credit history and behavior.
Financial transaction where payer and recipient are in different countries, requiring currency conversion or international routing.
Fee charged when converting between currencies in a payment transaction, including exchange rate margin.
A liquidity ratio measuring a company's ability to pay short-term obligations using current assets, calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities.
The total cost of acquiring a new paying customer, including all sales and marketing expenses divided by new customers acquired.
The total net revenue a business expects to earn from a customer over the entire duration of their relationship.
The number of unique users who engage with a product on a given day, measuring habit formation and the depth of daily engagement.
The average number of days a company takes to pay its vendors, measuring how efficiently a company manages its accounts payable.
The average number of days a company takes to collect payment after a sale, measuring accounts receivable collection efficiency.
A leverage ratio comparing total debt to shareholders' equity, measuring how much a company relies on borrowed funds versus owner capital.
A personal finance metric comparing monthly debt payments to gross monthly income, used by lenders to assess borrowing capacity.
Amount the insured must pay out-of-pocket per claim before insurance coverage begins.
Cash received from customers for services not yet delivered, recorded as a liability until the service obligation is fulfilled.
The systematic allocation of a tangible asset's cost over its useful life, reducing its book value on the balance sheet each period.
Mathematical framework adding noise to data or model outputs to provide formal privacy guarantees.
Software application storing payment credentials and enabling transactions without physical cards.
The reduction in existing shareholders' ownership percentage caused by the issuance of new shares to investors, employees, or through conversion of instruments.
A valuation method that estimates the present value of a company or investment by discounting projected future cash flows at an appropriate rate.
The automatic use of dividend payments to purchase additional shares of the same investment, compounding returns through increased ownership.
U.S. financial reform law enacted in 2010 expanding regulation of financial institutions, derivatives, and consumer protection.
An investment strategy of investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals regardless of price, reducing the impact of market volatility over time.
An accounting system where every transaction is recorded as both a debit and a credit across at least two accounts, keeping the books balanced.
A provision allowing majority shareholders to force minority shareholders to agree to a company sale on the same terms.
Systematic investigation of a business or investment to verify facts and identify material risks before closing.
The process of systematically communicating with customers to collect overdue payments, through a sequence of increasingly urgent reminders.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization — a proxy for operating cash generation used in valuation and financial analysis.
More intensive customer due diligence applied to higher-risk customers, including PEPs and high-risk jurisdictions.
Payment card microprocessor chip generating a unique cryptogram for each transaction, preventing card fraud.
An Exchange-Traded Fund — a basket of securities that trades on a stock exchange like an individual stock, combining diversification with intraday liquidity.
A price reduction offered by sellers to buyers who pay invoices before the standard due date, improving the seller's cash flow.
Net income attributable to common shareholders divided by weighted average shares outstanding.
Contingent payment mechanism tying part of the acquisition price to the target's future financial performance.
A sales tax obligation trigger based on the dollar value or number of transactions in a state, regardless of physical presence, established after South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018).
Set of optimal portfolios offering highest expected return for each level of portfolio risk.
The integration of financial services — payments, lending, banking, or insurance — directly into non-financial platforms and software products.
A dedicated savings reserve covering 3–6 months of living expenses to protect against unexpected financial disruptions.
A third-party company that legally employs workers on behalf of another business, managing payroll, taxes, and compliance across jurisdictions.
Composite metric quantifying how actively a customer uses a product, predicting retention and expansion.
The total value of a company available to all capital providers — equity holders and debt holders — used as a basis for acquisition pricing and valuation multiples.
Non-cash compensation in the form of company ownership interests, including stock options, RSUs, and restricted stock, used to attract and retain talent.
The process of arranging for the management and distribution of assets during life and after death, minimizing taxes and ensuring wishes are carried out.
Federal tax on the transfer of assets from a decedent's estate above a statutory exemption threshold.
Quarterly tax payments required from self-employed individuals and businesses that expect to owe $1,000 or more in taxes not covered by withholding.
Monthly recurring revenue added from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, or seat additions.
Additional recurring revenue generated from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, or increased usage.
AI systems and techniques making model decisions interpretable and transparent to human users.
International standards from the Financial Action Task Force setting AML and counter-terrorism financing requirements.
The credit scoring model developed by Fair Isaac Corporation, the most widely used by lenders to evaluate consumer creditworthiness.
Adherence to Fair Labor Standards Act requirements for minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping.
Federal law providing eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave annually for qualifying family and medical reasons.
Using financial instruments to reduce currency risk exposure on foreign-denominated revenues or expenses.
Selling accounts receivable to a third party at a discount in exchange for immediate cash.
Interest rate at which banks lend reserves to each other overnight, set by the Federal Reserve.
Machine learning approach training models across distributed datasets without centralizing raw sensitive data.
AI technique providing a small number of task examples in the prompt to guide model performance.
Legal obligation to act in another party's best interest, arising in relationships of trust and confidence.
Building quantitative representations of a company's finances to support decision-making and valuation.
Further training a pre-trained AI model on domain-specific data to improve performance on specialized tasks.
An employer-sponsored account allowing pre-tax contributions for qualified medical or dependent care expenses, with annual use-it-or-lose-it requirements.
The time gap between when a payment is initiated and when funds are actually debited or credited, creating a temporary balance discrepancy.
U.S. tax credit for income taxes paid to foreign governments, reducing double taxation on foreign-source income.
Cash generated from operations minus capital expenditures, available for debt, dividends, or reinvestment.
Anti-dilution protection resetting preferred stock conversion price to the lowest price of any subsequent share issuance.
Adherence to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, governing how organizations collect, store, process, and transfer personal data of EU residents.
The master record of all financial transactions in a business, organized by account and used to produce financial statements.
AI systems capable of creating new content—text, images, code, or data—based on patterns learned from training.
Annual IRS limit allowing tax-free gifts per recipient without consuming lifetime gift tax exemption.
A broad-based consumption tax applied to most goods and services, similar to VAT, used in Canada, Australia, India, Singapore, and other countries.
An intangible asset representing the premium paid in an acquisition above the fair market value of the target's identifiable net assets.
The percentage of revenue remaining after subtracting the direct cost of goods sold, measuring production profitability.
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers excluding any expansion, capped at 100%.
A tax-advantaged savings account paired with a high-deductible health plan, offering triple tax benefits for qualified medical expenses.
IRS rules that disallow deducting losses from activities not engaged in with a profit motive.
International Bank Account Number standardizing account identification for cross-border transactions.
Global financial messaging standard enabling richer, more structured payment data across institutions.
A financial statement showing a company's revenues, expenses, and net profit or loss over a specific period.
Contractual obligation by one party to compensate another for losses arising from specified events or breaches.
A passively managed investment fund that tracks a market index like the S&P 500, offering broad diversification at very low cost.
Investor contractual rights to receive regular financial statements and company information.
Non-physical assets with economic value including patents, trademarks, copyrights, software, customer relationships, and brand names.
AI-powered technology combining OCR, NLP, and machine learning to automatically extract, classify, and process data from complex financial documents.
The fee paid by a merchant's bank to a cardholder's bank for processing a card transaction, forming the largest component of merchant payment processing costs.
The policies, procedures, and practices designed to safeguard assets, ensure financial accuracy, prevent fraud, and promote operational efficiency.
A ratio measuring how many times a company sells and replenishes its inventory over a period, indicating inventory management efficiency.
A financing arrangement in which a business sells its outstanding invoices to a third party at a discount in exchange for immediate cash.
Financial model analyzing private equity returns from a leveraged buyout at various exit scenarios.
London Interbank Offered Rate, the formerly dominant global benchmark for short-term interbank lending, now discontinued.
AI system trained on vast text data to understand and generate human language across many tasks.
Bank guarantee ensuring a seller receives payment once specified documentary conditions are met.
Preliminary document expressing a party's intent to enter a transaction, outlining key proposed terms.
Tax-deferred swap of investment real estate for similar property under IRS Section 1031.
A provision giving preferred stockholders the right to receive their investment back before common shareholders in a company sale or liquidation.
A bank service that collects and processes customer check payments sent to a dedicated PO box, accelerating cash application and reducing float.
Percentage of customer accounts (logos) that renew over a given period.
Application of algorithms that learn from financial data to make predictions and automate decisions.
A SaaS sales efficiency metric measuring how much new ARR is generated for every dollar spent on sales and marketing.
The legal entity responsible for processing customer payments, managing tax compliance, and handling refunds and chargebacks for digital goods and services sales.
Financial model assessing the accretion or dilution to acquirer EPS resulting from an acquisition.
Hybrid debt-equity capital subordinated to senior debt, carrying higher yields and often warrant coverage.
Framework for constructing investment portfolios to maximize return for a given level of risk.
Computational technique using random sampling to model probability distributions of financial outcomes.
The number of unique users who engage with a product at least once within a 30-day period, measuring product reach and engagement.
The normalized monthly value of all active recurring subscriptions, the operational pulse metric for SaaS businesses.
AI field enabling computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language from text or speech.
The percentage of revenue remaining as net income after all expenses including interest, taxes, and non-operating items.
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers including expansions, showing whether a customer base grows on its own.
The total value of all assets minus all liabilities, representing an individual's or company's overall financial position.
Computational system loosely inspired by brain neurons, capable of learning complex patterns from data.
Monthly recurring revenue generated from customers acquired for the first time in a given period.
Preferred stock that receives its liquidation preference OR converts to common stock, but not both.
Optical Character Recognition technology that extracts text from financial documents like invoices and receipts, automating data entry into accounting systems.
A framework enabling third-party applications to access bank account data and initiate payments via APIs, with customer consent, to enable innovative financial services.
The primary business bank account used for daily operational transactions including payroll, vendor payments, and customer receipts.
Day-to-day expenses required to run a business, expensed immediately on the income statement.
The percentage of revenue remaining after all operating expenses including COGS and overhead, excluding interest and taxes.
Annual cap on total cost-sharing required of an insured under a health plan.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — a set of security requirements for organizations that handle cardholder data, mandated by card networks.
Preferred stock that receives its liquidation preference and also participates in remaining proceeds alongside common stockholders.
IRS rules limiting deduction of losses from activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate.
Time required to recover the customer acquisition cost from a customer's gross profit contribution.
Entity that aggregates merchant payment acceptance under a master account, enabling sub-merchant onboarding.
Software infrastructure that processes, verifies, and authorizes online and in-person payment transactions between merchants and customers.
Taxes levied on wages and salaries, split between employee withholding and employer contributions, funding social programs like Social Security and Medicare.
A fixed daily allowance provided to employees for meals and incidentals while traveling for business, simplifying expense management and IRS compliance.
Annual or periodic cash award tied to achieving individual or company performance targets.
The process of realigning a portfolio's asset allocation back to target weights by selling overweight assets and buying underweight assets.
A legal document authorizing a designated person to manage financial, legal, or healthcare decisions on behalf of the principal.
The use of statistical models and machine learning to forecast future financial outcomes including revenue, cash flow, churn, and credit risk.
Regular payment made by a policyholder to maintain insurance coverage.
Minimum wage rate for construction and service workers on government-funded projects, set by the Department of Labor.
Market capitalization divided by net book value, indicating how much investors pay per dollar of assets.
A valuation metric comparing a company's stock price to its earnings per share, indicating how much investors pay for each dollar of earnings.
A funding round in which the company's value is formally determined and investors receive shares at a specific price, establishing a definitive valuation.
Benchmark lending rate charged by banks to their most creditworthy customers, tracking the federal funds rate.
The right of existing investors to participate in future funding rounds proportionally to maintain their current ownership percentage.
A prospective customer who has demonstrated buying intent through meaningful engagement with a product — such as using a key feature or hitting a usage threshold.
Craft of designing and optimizing inputs to AI language models to reliably produce desired outputs.
A formal document issued by a buyer to a seller specifying the goods or services, quantities, prices, and delivery terms for a purchase transaction.
20% deduction for pass-through business income under IRC Section 199A for eligible self-employed taxpayers.
IRS-designated economically distressed area offering capital gains tax deferral and reduction for long-term investments.
Prepayment of income and self-employment taxes made four times per year by self-employed individuals and investors.
A strict liquidity measure comparing the most liquid assets — cash, investments, and receivables — to current liabilities, excluding inventory.
A federal and state tax incentive allowing businesses to claim a credit for qualifying research and development expenditures.
Mechanism adjusting investor ownership percentage upward if performance targets are missed post-investment.
Central bank payment system settling large-value transactions individually in real time with immediate finality.
Financial and operational reporting that reflects current data as of the moment of viewing, rather than end-of-day or end-of-period snapshots.
Preferred stockholder right to require the company to repurchase shares after a specified period.
Insurance purchased by insurance companies to transfer part of their risk to other insurers.
A document sent by a payer to a payee specifying which invoices a payment covers, facilitating accurate cash application.
Contractual statements of fact in a purchase agreement that allocate risk between buyer and seller.
Equity awards that vest over time and convert to actual shares upon vesting, taxed as ordinary income at vesting.
One-time payment incentivizing a key employee to remain with the company through a specified date.
AI technique grounding language model responses in specific retrieved documents to improve accuracy.
A profitability ratio measuring how efficiently a company generates net income from its total assets.
A profitability ratio measuring how much net income a company generates per dollar of shareholders' equity.
A measure of the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to its cost, expressed as a percentage.
The accounting principle determining when and how much revenue can be recorded on the income statement under GAAP.
Flexible bank credit line allowing repeated borrowing and repayment up to an approved limit.
Investor right to purchase shares before a stockholder transfers them to a third party.
Software robots that automate repetitive, rule-based digital tasks in financial processes by mimicking human interaction with systems and applications.
Continuously updated financial forecast extending a fixed period ahead, replacing point-in-time annual budgets.
An individual retirement account funded with after-tax dollars, offering tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals in retirement.
A SaaS benchmark stating that a company's revenue growth rate plus profit margin should sum to 40% or more.
The number of months a company can operate at its current burn rate before exhausting its cash reserves.
A Simple Agreement for Future Equity — a startup financing instrument that converts to equity at a future priced round, without accruing interest or setting a maturity date.
Confidential report filed by financial institutions with FinCEN when they detect potentially illegal activity.
Single Euro Payments Area enabling standardized electronic payments across 36 European countries.
A security audit standard developed by the AICPA assessing a service company's data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy controls.
Secured Overnight Financing Rate, the primary U.S. replacement for LIBOR, based on overnight Treasury repo transactions.
Adherence to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements for financial reporting controls and auditor independence for public companies.
Unique identifier (BIC) for financial institutions used in international wire transfers.
A metric measuring SaaS revenue growth quality by comparing new and expansion MRR gained to churned and contracted MRR lost.
A prospect that has been reviewed and confirmed by the sales team as meeting target criteria, ready for direct sales engagement.
The level of connection between a business and a state sufficient to require the business to collect and remit sales tax in that state.
Process of checking customers, counterparties, and transactions against government sanctions lists to prevent prohibited activity.
Developing multiple coherent narratives about future business conditions to prepare strategic responses.
Immediate expensing of qualifying business property rather than depreciating it over multiple years.
An internal control principle requiring different people to handle different stages of a transaction to prevent fraud and errors.
Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by self-employed individuals on net self-employment income.
Amount a company pays out-of-pocket per loss before excess insurance coverage begins.
Testing how a financial model's outputs change when individual input assumptions are varied.
Compensation paid to employees upon involuntary termination, beyond their final paycheck.
Risk-adjusted return metric measuring excess return earned per unit of total volatility.
Risk-adjusted return metric using only downside deviation rather than total standard deviation.
Bank guarantee drawn only if an obligor fails to fulfill a contractual or financial obligation.
Tax rule resetting an inherited asset's cost basis to fair market value at the decedent's date of death.
Rights to purchase company shares at a fixed price (strike price) within a specified exercise window.
Debt that ranks below senior obligations in payment priority in the event of default or liquidation.
A bank account that automatically transfers excess funds into an interest-bearing investment at the end of each business day, maximizing returns on idle cash.
Large loan provided jointly by a group of lenders to a single borrower, arranged by a lead bank.
Employee spending on business travel, meals, and client entertainment, managed through expense reports and corporate policies.
A right allowing minority shareholders to sell their shares alongside a majority shareholder on the same terms in a proposed sale.
An investment strategy of selling assets at a loss to offset capital gains or ordinary income, reducing current tax liability while maintaining portfolio exposure.
Bilateral agreement between countries to reduce double taxation on income earned across borders.
The process by which employers deduct income taxes from employees' paychecks and remit them directly to tax authorities on the employee's behalf.
Non-binding document outlining the key terms of a proposed investment or acquisition deal.
Integrated financial model linking the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
An accounts payable control process that verifies a vendor invoice against the corresponding purchase order and goods receipt before approving payment.
Replacing sensitive payment data with a non-sensitive substitute token that has no exploitable value.
Complete value of all monetary and non-monetary benefits provided to an employee in exchange for their work.
Full committed revenue from a customer contract over its entire term, including all fees.
An individual retirement account funded with pre-tax or after-tax dollars, offering potential tax deductions now and tax-deferred growth until withdrawal.
The pricing of goods, services, and intellectual property exchanged between related entities within a multinational company, governed by the arm's length principle.
The organizational function responsible for managing a company's liquidity, cash flow, investments, debt, and financial risk.
A report listing all general ledger account balances to verify that total debits equal total credits at a given date.
Process of evaluating, pricing, and accepting or rejecting insurance risk based on applicant characteristics.
State-federal program providing temporary income replacement to workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own.
A consumption tax levied at each stage of production and distribution, collected by businesses on behalf of the government throughout the supply chain.
Statistical estimate of maximum potential loss over a time period at a given confidence level.
Performance-contingent compensation including bonuses and commissions that fluctuates based on results.
Systematic comparison of actual financial results to budgeted or prior period figures to identify and explain differences.
The timeline over which an employee earns the right to exercise stock options or receive equity grants, typically over four years.
Average number of new users each existing user generates through referrals or organic sharing.
A traditional full-time or part-time employee whose taxes are withheld by the employer, documented annually on IRS Form W-2.
Anti-dilution adjustment formula balancing down-round share price with the volume of new shares issued.
The blended rate of return required by all of a company's capital providers — debt and equity — weighted by their proportions, used as the discount rate in valuation.
Legal safeguards and financial awards for employees who report corporate fraud or securities violations.
An electronic transfer of funds between banks processed directly and irrevocably, used for large, time-sensitive, or international payments.
State-mandated insurance providing medical and wage benefits to employees injured or ill due to work.
The difference between current assets and current liabilities, measuring a company's short-term liquidity and operational efficiency.
Optimizing the balance between current assets and current liabilities to sustain daily operations and cash flow.
Budgeting approach requiring all expenses to be justified from zero each period rather than incremented from prior year.
AI capability to perform tasks on categories or domains not seen during training, using semantic knowledge.
A self-employed independent contractor who provides services to a business without being classified as an employee.
An employer contribution to employees' 401(k) retirement accounts, typically matching a percentage of employee contributions up to a salary limit.
A tax-advantaged education savings account allowing after-tax contributions to grow tax-free and be withdrawn tax-free for qualified education expenses.
