Every business term, in plain English.
Accounting, payroll, HR, inventory, and CRM jargon decoded by operators who've actually used these words in context. No textbook language, no paywalls.
Every term, every module.
Accounts payable (AP)
Money your business owes to suppliers and vendors. Think of it as your "we owe them" list — invoices you've received but haven't paid yet.
Read definitionAccounts receivable (AR)
Money owed to you by customers. Your "they owe us" list — invoices you've sent that are still unpaid.
Read definitionAmortization
Spreading the cost of an intangible asset over its useful life. Like depreciation, but for things you can't touch — patents, licenses, goodwill.
Read definitionAsset
Anything your business owns that has value — cash, equipment, inventory, even intellectual property. Assets go on the left side of your balance sheet.
Read definitionAudit trail
A chronological record of every change made to a financial entry — who changed what, when, and why. Non-negotiable for compliance.
Read definitionAttrition rate
The percentage of employees who leave over a given period without being replaced. Different from turnover — attrition means the role disappears too.
Read definitionBalance sheet
A snapshot of what your business owns (assets), owes (liabilities), and is worth (equity) at one specific moment. Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Always.
Read definitionBurn rate
How fast your business spends cash each month. If you have $120K in the bank and burn $20K/mo, you've got 6 months of runway. Startups live and die by this number.
Read definitionBilling cycle
The recurring time period between invoices — monthly, quarterly, annually. Mismatch your billing cycle with your cash needs and you'll feel it fast.
Read definitionBenefits administration
Managing employee benefits: health insurance, retirement plans, PTO, perks. At 10+ employees this stops being a spreadsheet job.
Read definitionBill of materials (BOM)
A complete list of parts, components, and quantities needed to build a product. Your recipe card, but for manufacturing.
Read definitionBank reconciliation
Matching your accounting records to your actual bank statement. The monthly ritual of figuring out why the numbers don't match — and fixing it.
Read definitionCash flow
The actual movement of money in and out of your business. Profitable companies go bankrupt from bad cash flow. This is the number that keeps the lights on.
Read definitionChart of accounts
The master list of categories you use to classify every transaction — income, expenses, assets, liabilities. Your financial filing system. Get this wrong early and you'll regret it at tax time.
Read definitionChurn rate
The percentage of customers who stop paying you in a given period. For SaaS, anything above 5% monthly means your bucket has a hole.
Read definitionCost of goods sold (COGS)
The direct costs of producing what you sell — materials, labor, manufacturing. Doesn't include rent or marketing. Revenue minus COGS = gross profit.
Read definitionContractor vs employee
The classification that determines who handles taxes, benefits, and labor protections. Misclassify this and the IRS will find you. It's their favorite audit trigger.
Read definitionCRM (Customer Relationship Management)
A system for tracking every interaction with leads and customers. At its best, it's your business's institutional memory. At its worst, it's a data graveyard.
Read definitionThe terms everyone looks up
These get the most traffic across all eight modules. If you're starting from zero, start here — these are the concepts your accountant assumes you know.