Plain-English definitions of AI, accounting, and SaaS-finance terms.
An accounting method that records revenues and expenses when earned or incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands.
Provisions in preferred stock terms that protect investors from dilution if the company raises money at a lower valuation in a future down round.
A ratio measuring how efficiently a company generates revenue from its asset base.
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.
Funds spent acquiring, upgrading, or maintaining long-term physical assets for business operations.
A financial statement showing all cash inflows and outflows across operating, investing, and financing activities over a period.
Situation where personal interests or competing loyalties may improperly influence professional judgment or decision-making.
An accounting model that distributes close activities throughout the period using automation and real-time data, reducing the month-end close crunch.
A liquidity ratio measuring a company's ability to pay short-term obligations using current assets, calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities.
A leverage ratio comparing total debt to shareholders' equity, measuring how much a company relies on borrowed funds versus owner capital.
The systematic allocation of a tangible asset's cost over its useful life, reducing its book value on the balance sheet each period.
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.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization — a proxy for operating cash generation used in valuation and financial analysis.
Net income attributable to common shareholders divided by weighted average shares outstanding.
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.
The master record of all financial transactions in a business, organized by account and used to produce financial statements.
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.
A financial statement showing a company's revenues, expenses, and net profit or loss over a specific period.
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.
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.
Financial and operational reporting that reflects current data as of the moment of viewing, rather than end-of-day or end-of-period snapshots.
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.
Integrated financial model linking the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
A report listing all general ledger account balances to verify that total debits equal total credits at a given date.
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.
