ACCRUAL BASIS OF ACCOUNTING is a method wherein revenue and expenses are recorded in the period in which they are earned or incurred regardless of whether cash is received or disbursed in that period. This is the accounting basis that generally is required to be used in order to conform to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in preparing financial statements for external users.

ACCRUED ASSETS are assets from revenues earned but not yet received.

ACCRUED EXPENSES are expenses incurred during an accounting period for which payment is postponed.

ACCRUED INCOME is income earned during a fiscal period but not paid by the end of the period.

ACCRUED INTEREST is interest earned but not paid since the last due date.

ACCRUED LIABILITIES are liabilities which are incurred, but for which payment is not yet made, during a given accounting period. Some examples in a manufacturing environment would be: wages, taxes, suppliers/vendors, etc.

ASSET is anything owned by an individual or a business, which has commercial or exchange value. Assets may consist of specific property or claims against others, in contrast to obligations due others.

BALANCE SHEET is an itemized statement that lists the total assets and the total liabilities of a given business to portray its net worth at a given moment of time. The amounts shown on a balance sheet are generally the historic cost of items and not their current values.

BOTTOM LINE, in accounting/finance, is specifically net income after taxes. In general, it is an expression as to the end results of something, e.g. the net worth of a corporation on a balance sheet, sales generated from a marketing campaign, or final decision on most any subject (Often said: “give me the bottom line”).

BRAND NAME is a brand identifier that can be spelled and spoken.

BRANDING is the process of establishing the elements of a brand, including its name, identifying symbols and related marketing messages.

BRAND is any name, symbol or other identifier used individually or in combination to identify the goods and/or services of a seller and differentiate them, on any tangible or intangible basis, from similar goods and/or services of competitors.

BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS is an analysis method used to determine the number of jobs or products that need to be sold to reach a break-even point in a business.

BREAK-EVEN POINT is the volume point at which revenues and costs are equal; a combination of sales and costs that will yield a no profit/no loss operation.

BUDGET is an itemized listing of the amount of all estimated revenue which a given business anticipates receiving, along with a listing of the amount of all estimated costs and expenses that will be incurred in obtaining the above mentioned income during a given period of time. A budget is typically for one business cycle, such as a year, or for several cycles (such as a five year capital budget).

BURN RATE is the rate at which a new company uses up its venture capital to finance overhead before generating positive cash flow from operations. It is the rate of negative cash flow, usually quoted as a monthly rate.

CASH BASIS OF ACCOUNTING is the accounting basis in which revenue and expenses are recorded in the period they are actually received or expended in cash. Use of the cash basis generally is not considered to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and is therefore used only in selected situations, such as for very small businesses and (when permitted) for income tax reporting. See also Accrual Basis.

CASH FLOW is the amount of money which flows in and out of a business, the difference between the two being the important number. If more money flows into a business than out of it, it is cash positive. If more money flows out than in, it is cash negative.

CASH AND EQUIVALENTS is the value of assets that can be converted into cash immediately, as reported by a company. Usually includes bank accounts and marketable securities, such as government bonds and bankers' acceptances. Cash equivalents on balance sheets include securities that mature within ninety days.

COST OF GOODS SOLD (COGS) is a figure representing the cost of buying raw material and producing finished goods. Included are precise factors, i.e. material and factory labor; as well as others that are variable, such as factory overhead.

CURRENT ASSETS are those assets of a company that are reasonably expected to be realized in cash, or sold, or consumed during the normal operating cycle of the business (usually one year). Such assets include cash, accounts receivable and money due usually within one year, short-term investments, US government bonds, inventories, and prepaid expenses.

CURRENT LIABILITIES are debts owed by a company  which are due for settlement within 12 months. These include creditors and taxes, due etc.

CURRENT CASH DEBT RATIO measures ability to pay current liabilities in given year with cash derived from operating activities. Calculated using net cash from operating activities divided by average current liabilities.

DEPRECIATION is the charge in a company's accounts which reflects the reduction in value of an asset over time as its useable life is exhausted.

GROSS PROFIT is net sales minus cost of sales.

GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON SALES (GPM) is one of the key performance indicators. The gross profit margin gives an indication on whether the average markup on goods and services is sufficient to cover expenses and make a profit. GPM shows the relationship between sales and the direct cost of products/services sold. It measures the ability of both to control costs and to pass along price increases through sales to customers. The gross profit margin should be stable over time. A persistent gradual decrease is likely to indicate that productivity needs to be increased to return profitability back to previous levels.

GROSS RECEIPTS is the total amount received prior to the deduction of any allowances, discounts, credits, etc.

LIABILITY in accounting, is a loan, expense, or any other form of claim on the assets of an entity that must be paid or otherwise honored by that entity.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY is an attractive arena of relevant marketing action in which a particular organization is likely to enjoy a superior and competitive advantage. (Kotler)

MARKET POSITIONING refers to the user's perceptions of the place a product or brand occupies in a market segment. Or how the company/library's offering is differentiated from the competition's.

MARKETING PLAN is a document composed of an analysis of the current marketing situation, opportunities and threats, analysis, marketing objectives, marketing strategy, action programs, and projected income statement. 

MARKET SHARE is a proportion of the total sales/use in a market obtained by a given facility or chain.

NET INCOME is the difference between a businesses total revenue and its total expenses. This caption and amount is usually found at the bottom of a company's Profit and Loss statement. Same as Net Profit.

NET PROFIT is the company's total earnings, reflecting revenues adjusted for costs of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses. Same as Net Income.

POSITIONING is defining, within the minds of the market, a brand (corporate, product, or service) relative to the competition. It is the latter part of the definition -- i.e., relative to the competition -- that separates positioning from other marketing communications messages.

PRODUCT POSITIONING is the way users/consumers view competitive brands or types of products. This can be manipulated by the company. The library's video collection, available for free, is competitive with local video stores that charge, if video collections are comparable. If the collections are not, the library is differentiating the video collection from the video store.

PROFITABILITY is company's ability to generate revenues in excess of the costs incurred in producing those revenues.

SG&A refers to the indirect overhead costs contained within the Sales, General and Administrative expense/cost categories.

SITUATION ANALYSIS (SWOT) is an examination of the internal factors of a library to identify strengths and weaknesses, and the external environment to identify opportunities and threats. 

TRADEMARK is legal protection given to a brand name and/or logo. 

WORKING CAPITAL is a company’s current assets (cash, debtors, work in progress) less its current liabilities (creditors, taxes due).  

Source: financial terms: VentureLine.com