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Financial Glossary

 

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A

Acquisition:
When a company buys another company, often to grow its business.

Amortising Loan:
A loan where you make regular repayments of capital and interest over an agreed period of time.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR):
The total cost you'll pay for borrowing money, including both the interest rate and any additional fees, shown as a yearly percentage.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ACR):
The amount of revenue a company expects to repeat annually.

Assets:
Items a company owns that have value, like money, equipment, or property.

Assets Under Management (AUM):
The total value of investments a VC firm manages.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU):
The value each customer brings the business.

 

 

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B

Balance Sheet:
A financial snapshot that shows what a company owns (assets), owes (liabilities), and what's left over (equity).

Base Rate:
The starting interest rate that banks use to determine their loan and overdraft rates.

Bootstrapping:
Starting a business using your own money, or business profits, without borrowing from others.

Business Angels:
People who invest their own money into small businesses, in exchange for shares, to help them grow.

Business Plan:
A detailed document that explains what a business does, its goals, and how it plans to achieve them.

 

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C

Cap Table:
A table that shows who owns how much of a company's shares.

Capital Expenditure:
Money a company spends on things that will help it make money in the long run, like buying new equipment.

Cashflow:
The movement of money in and out of a business, through sales or money owed.

Collateral:
Something valuable that you give to a lender, as a promise to pay back a loan.

Corporation Tax:
The money a company pays to the government based on its profits.

Crowdfunding:
Many people giving small amounts of money, in exchange for shares, to help fund a project or business.

 

 

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D

Debenture:
A loan agreement in writing between a borrower and a lender that is registered at Companies House. It gives the lender security over the borrower’s assets.

Debt:
Money that a person or company owes to someone else.

Debtor:
Someone who owes money to another person or company.

Depreciation:
An accounting method which recognises the reduction in an assets value over time.

Distributions to Paid-In Capital (DPI):
The amount of capital returned to investors divided by the amount of capital paid in.

Dividend:
A portion of a company's profits distributed to its shareholders.

Due Diligence:
The process of investigating a potential investment opportunity.

 

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E

EBITDA:
Short for ‘earnings before interest, tax, debt, and amortisation, EBITDA is a measure of a company's earnings. It shows how much money it makes before taxes and other expenses.

Economies of Scale:
When a company makes more things, it can often make them cheaper per individual item.

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS):
A way to encourage people to invest in small businesses by providing tax efficient benefits.

Enterprise:
Another word for a business or company.

Equity:
Ownership in a company, usually represented by shares.

 

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F

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA):
A government agency that regulates financial service providers to protect consumers.

Financial Management:
Taking care of money-related matters in a business.

Fintech:
Using technology to provide financial services, such as an app to make payments, loans, or investing.

Fixed Cost:
Expenses that stay the same no matter what.

 

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G

Grants:
Money given to a person or business for a specific purpose, usually without needing to pay it back.

Gross:
The total amount before any deductions.

 

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H

 

 

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I

Inflation:
When the prices of goods and services go up over time.
Insolvency: When a person or business can't pay their debts.

Intellectual Property:
Ideas, inventions or creative work that can be legally protected, like patents and copyrights.

Investment:
Putting money into something with the hope of making more money in the future.

Investors:
People or companies that provide money to support a business in exchange for ownership or a share of the profits.

Invoice Factoring:
Selling your unpaid invoices to a funder in return for investment.

 

 

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J

 

 

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K

 

 

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L

Limited Partner:
Investors who provide capital to VC funds.

Liquid Asset:
Something valuable that can be sold and quickly be turned into cash.

Liquidity:
How easily something can be turned into cash.

 

 

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M

Margin:
The difference between the cost of making something and how much you sell it for.

Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC):
The value or performance of an investment relative to its initial cost.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP):
The most basic version of a product that can be released to market.

 

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N

Net:
The amount left after deducting all expenses.

 

 

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O

Operating Profit / Loss:
The money a company makes or loses from its main activities.

Overdraft:
If you borrow more money than you have in your bank account, you may enter an overdraft and have to pay interest on the amount you are overdrawn by.

Overheads:
Regular operating costs a business must pay that do not directly generate any revenue.

 

 

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P

Patent:
Legal protection for a new invention.

Pay As You Earn (PAYE):
A system where taxes are taken out of wages by employers.

Personal Guarantees:
A promise by an individual to pay back a loan if the business cannot.

Pitch Deck:
A presentation that explains a business idea to potential investors.

Pre-money Valuation:
How much a company is worth, often created before seeking investment.

Pre-seed:
The very first stage of funding for a new business idea, typical investors will be friends and family.

Post-money Valuation:
How much a company is worth after getting new investment.

Product-Market Fit:
When a company's product satisfies a strong market demand.

Profit and Loss Account:
A statement showing a company's income and expenses to calculate profit or loss.

 

 

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Q

 

 

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R

Return on Investment (ROI):
How much profit you make compared to how much you invested.

Revenue:
The total money a business makes from selling its products or services.

 

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S

Security:
Something valuable you give to a lender to promise repayment of a loan.

Seed:
Often referred to as the first real funding stage – designed to get a venture started. Typical investors will be business angels and crowd funders. 

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS):
A way to encourage people to invest in small businesses by providing tax efficient benefits.

Series A Funding:
The first significant round of investment following on from seed funding, will typically involve larger venture capital organisations.

 

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T

Term Sheet:
A document outlining the basic terms and conditions of an investment deal.

Total Addressable Market:
The total potential market size for a product or service.

Turnover:
The total amount of money a company earns from its activities.

 

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U

 

 

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V

Venture Capital:
Money from investors, in exchange for shares, that helps a new business grow.

 

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W

Working Capital:
The money a company has available for day-to-day operations.

 

 

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X

 

 

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Y

 

 

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Z