Business Terms in Plain English

Every piece of financial jargon your accountant, investor, or analyst uses — translated into language you can actually use to run your business.

EBITDA
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation — a measure of core operating profit.
Working Capital
The money available to run your business day-to-day — what you own minus what you owe in the short term.
Cash Flow
The actual movement of money into and out of your business over a specific period.
Burn Rate
How fast your business is spending its cash reserves each month.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value that shows how effectively your business is achieving its key objectives.
Gross Profit
Revenue minus the direct cost of the goods or services you sold.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
The predictable, recurring revenue your business generates every month from subscriptions or repeat contracts.
Contribution Margin
Revenue minus variable costs — the amount each unit sold "contributes" toward covering fixed costs and generating profit.
Dead Stock
Inventory that has not sold and is unlikely to sell — tying up cash and warehouse space.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop buying from you in a given period.
Liquidity
How easily your business can convert assets into cash to meet immediate financial obligations.
Accounts Receivable
Money that customers owe your business for goods or services already delivered but not yet paid for.
Balance Sheet
A financial snapshot showing what your business owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities), and what's left for the owner (equity) at a specific point in time.
Unit Economics
The revenue and cost directly associated with a single "unit" of your business — whether that's one product sold, one customer, or one transaction.