Numbers dressed up in fancy suits pretending to be words.
The practice of selling investments at a loss to offset capital gains and reduce tax liability, then often buying similar assets to maintain market exposure. It's using the tax code's lemons to make lemonade.
Government money injected into the economy during crises, based on the economic theory that the best way to fix problems is to print cash and hope for the best. It's designed to stimulate spending and growth, though recipients often prefer to save it or pay down debt, completely missing the point. Politicians love stimulus packages because they get to look generous with other people's money while economists argue about whether it actually works.
The magical number left over after you subtract all expenses from revenue, assuming your accounting department is feeling generous about what counts as an expense. It's what companies supposedly exist to generate, though many startups operate for years as if this is merely optional. Shareholders love it, the IRS wants to tax it, and CFOs have seventeen different ways to calculate it.
Selectively choosing favorable data points while ignoring unfavorable ones, or choosing which trades to allocate to which accounts after seeing results. It's the art of making anything look good through strategic omission.
An accounting entry recognizing that an asset is now worth less than its book value, forcing companies to admit their expensive acquisition was actually terrible. It's the corporate version of finding out your vintage comic book collection is worthless.
The original purchase price of an asset used to calculate capital gains taxes, proving that the IRS wants documentation of every financial decision you've ever made. Lose track of it and prepare for tax-time panic.
A metric measuring a company's ability to meet short-term obligations with liquid assets, like the current ratio or quick ratio. Think of it as the financial equivalent of asking whether you can make rent next month without selling your car.
A bank account that automatically transfers excess funds to higher-yielding investments overnight, then sweeps them back for daily operations. Like having a very diligent financial butler who never sleeps.
The discount rate that makes the net present value of an investment zero—basically the breakeven return that justifies the project. If IRR exceeds your hurdle rate, it's theoretically a go; if not, it's a hard pass.
An accounting method that assigns overhead costs to products based on the activities that actually drive those costs, rather than arbitrary allocations like direct labor hours. It's acknowledging that not all products consume resources equally, which revolutionized cost accounting but requires painful implementation.
A report categorizing accounts receivable by how long they've been outstanding, typically in 30-day buckets. It's a snapshot of who owes you money and which customers are slow payers or potential deadbeats.
The practice of rolling over short-term loans continuously to make them function as long-term financing, or cosmetically refreshing products to extend their revenue life. It's kicking the can down the road with extra steps.
A government's unconditional guarantee to honor debt obligations using its taxing power, theoretically the safest backing possible. 'We'll tax citizens into oblivion before we default' in more dignified language.
Internal accounting focused on providing information for management decisions rather than external reporting. Unlike financial accounting's rigid rules, managerial accounting embraces whatever analysis helps executives decide which division to blame for poor performance.
Informal direction from central banks to commercial banks about lending levels, used extensively in Japan to control credit without formal policy. It's called 'guidance' but functions more like strongly-worded suggestions you can't ignore.
Combining the financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries into a single unified report, eliminating intercompany transactions to avoid counting the same revenue twice. It's like merging family budgets while hiding the money you owe your brother.
The prices charged between subsidiaries of the same multinational corporation for goods or services, theoretically based on arm's-length principles but conveniently used to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions. Tax authorities are not amused.
The direct costs of producing goods or services that were actually sold, abbreviated as COGS. It includes materials and labor but not the CEO's golf club membership, no matter how insistently he argues it's 'client development.'
The polite adjective for anything related to money arguments in government or business, where "budgetary concerns" means "we don't want to pay for that." It's the formal way of discussing fiscal matters while avoiding words like "broke," "wasteful," or "embezzled." When someone mentions budgetary constraints, they're either actually out of money or just don't want to fund your brilliant idea.
The cumulative profits a company has kept rather than distributing to shareholders as dividends—basically the corporate equivalent of money in the mattress. It's how companies fund growth without begging investors for more cash.
The process of distributing an acquisition's cost across the target company's assets and liabilities at fair value, usually creating a giant plug number called goodwill for the amount that can't be justified. It's accounting's way of making an overpriced acquisition look systematic.
A loan covenant preventing borrowers from pledging assets as collateral to other lenders, protecting unsecured creditors from being subordinated. It's lenders making sure you can't promise the same car to multiple people.
A simplified cost accounting system that records costs only when production is complete, skipping the tedious tracking of work-in-process. It's for manufacturers who prefer speed over precision and assume everything flows smoothly.
Current assets divided by current liabilities, measuring whether you can pay short-term bills with short-term assets. A ratio above 1.0 suggests solvency; below suggests you should probably start returning the recruiters' calls.