(Also check out About.com's Entrepreneur's Glossary at: entrepreneurs.about.com/library/glossary/blglossary.htm)

Accounts Payable
Amount owed by a business to suppliers of goods and services.

Accounts Receivable
Amount owed to a business for goods or services purchased by its customers.

Acquisition
Taking ownership of another business. Frequently used in conjunction with the word merger, as in mergers and acquisitions or M&As.

Advertising
The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast or electronic media. Not to be confused with marketing or public relations.

Angel Investors
Individuals who back emerging entrepreneurial ventures, usually as a bridge to get from the self-funded stage to the level of business that would both need and attract venture capital. Funding level ranges anywhere from $50,000 to $2 million.

Appraisal
A formal estimate of the value of something on the open market. It also describes how the estimation and conclusion of value was made.

Asset
Any item of value (including cash) owned by your business.

Balance Sheet
A financial statement that shows the value of your business at a particular point in time. The balance sheet consists of two columns, assets and liabilities, which must be equal.

Barter
Direct exchange of merchandise and/or services between businesses.

Break Even Point
The level of sales whereby you are neither making a profit or incurring a loss. Revenue exactly matches total costs at the break-even point.

Business Incubator
Provides workspace, coaching and support services to entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses.

Business Valuation
An estimate of the worth of a business entity and its assets.

Capital Expenditures
An expenditure for an item for use in your business that you expect to use for a long time (more than one year) such as machinery or a vehicle. Capital expenditures are fixed assets and are usually subject to depreciation.

Cash
The sum of cash and marketable securities (securities convertible into cash in a short period of time) owned by a business.

Cash Flow Statement
A chart showing the flow of cash into and out of your business on a monthly basis.

Common Stock
The amount paid by owners for shares of Common Stock. Common Stock represents the residual equity in the Assets and Net Earnings of a business.

Commercial Finance Company
A company that makes business loans for equipment collateralized by the equipment itself. Interest rates at a commercial finance company are typically higher than at a bank.

Consumer Direct Marketing
Network Marketing in which the distributors are all also consumers, i.e., they must also buy the product for their personal use.

Consumer Finance Company
A company that makes small personal loans secured by collateral, such as a car title. Interest rates are typically higher at a consumer finance company than a bank.

Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection for published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works that have been fixed in a tangible or material form.

Corporation
A body that is granted a charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity having its own rights, privileges and liabilities distinct from those of its members. The primary advantage of a corporation is to shield its investors from personal liability for any losses the corporation may experience.

Cost of Goods Sold
The direct and indirect product costs associated with the net sales recognized in an accounting period.

Credit Score
A number calculated to reflect the likelihood of a particular person meeting their debt obligations. A credit score is reported to potential lenders when they review your credit report.

Depreciation
A period cost of operations reflecting the decline in the value of Plant, Property and Equipment due to use and the passage of time.

Dividends
A distribution to the owners of a business of either cash or securities.

Downline
In a Multi-Level Marketing business, the collection of all people signed up underneath an individual on which the individual receives payment on their sales.

Due Diligence
The inquiry process of obtaining sufficient and accurate disclosure of all material documents and other information which may influence the outcome of a transaction.

Ending Balance
On a cash flow statement, the amount of cash left over at the end of the month after all cash outflows have been subtracted from the total inflow of cash. The ending balance always equals the opening balance of the next month.

Entrepreneur
A person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk for a business venture.

Equity
The value of the owner's investment in the business. On the balance sheet, equity is calculated by subtracting total assets from total liabilities and is written on the liability side of the balance sheet.

Fixed Assets
Items owned by the business that the business expects to use for more than one year such as machinery or vehicles.

General Partnership
An organizational structure in which each general partner shares in the administration, profits and losses of the operation.

Gross Profit
Revenue minus the cost of raw materials used to manufacture the items that were sold (if you are a manufacturer) or revenue minus the cost of buying items for re-sale (if you are a retailer). Gross profit is calculated for each individual item sold and for the business as a whole.

Home Based Business
A home based business is a business whose primary office is in the owner's home. The business can be any size or any type as long as the office itself is located in a home.

Income Statement
A financial statement that measures the profitability of a business. Also known as the profit and loss statement or the operating statement.

Income Tax Expense/Credit
Amount of Federal and state income tax owed by/owed to a business during an accounting period.

Independent Contractor
One who practices an independent trade, business or profession in which they offer their services to the public. The person contracting for their services must have the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result.

Intrapreneur
A intrapreneur is one who takes on entrepreneur-like ventures within a large corporate environment.

Inventory
Lower of total cost or market value of raw materials, work in process and finished goods owned by a business.

Joint Venture
A legal entity created by two or more businesses joining together to conduct a specific business enterprise with both parties sharing profits and losses. It differs from a strategic alliance in that there is a specific legal entity created.

Liability
Money owed by the business such as accounts payable, loan interest or loan principal.

Limited Liability Company (LLC)
A legal entity that is not taxable itself and distributes the profits to its owners, but shields personal assets from business debt like a corporation.

Limited Partnership
A business arrangement in which the day-to-day operations are controlled by one or more general partners and funded by limited or silent partners who are legally responsible for losses based on the amount of their investment.

Line of Credit
Similar to a business loan, except that the borrower only pays interest on the amount actually used. Much like a credit card, the business makes periodic payments against the outstanding balance.

Marketing
The process of researching, promoting, selling and distributing a product or service. Marketing covers a broad range of practices, including advertising, publicity, promotion, pricing and overall packaging of the goods or services.

Merger
A joining together of two previously separate corporations. A true merger in the legal sense occurs when both businesses dissolve and move their assets and liabilities into a newly created entity.

Multi-level Marketing
Any business in which a person receives proceeds not only from their own sales, but from the sales made by people they have signed up, and potentially people those people have signed up, and so on.

Net Profit
Gross profit minus operating expenses.

Net Sales
For accrual-based businesses, the dollar amount of revenue earned (net of allowance accounts) during an accounting period.

Network Marketing
A business in which a distributor network is needed to build the business. Usually such businesses are also Multi-level Marketing (see above).

Networking
Developing business contacts to form business relationships, increase your knowledge, expand your business base or serve the community. Also used to describe linking computers systems together.

Operating Expenses
Expenses incurred by the business that are not directly related to production such as utilities, salaries, office supplies, etc. Operating expenses do not change when the business' level of production rises or falls.

Outsourcing
Purchasing standard operational services from another business. Outsourced services typically include accounting, payroll, IT, advertising, etc.

Partnership
A business form in which two or more individuals carry on a continuing business for profit. A partnership is legally regarded as a group of individuals rather than as a single entity, and each of the partners file their share of the profits on their individual tax returns.

Patent
A property right granted to an inventor to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Planning
A detailed method, formulated beforehand, for managing a business.

Public Relations
The deliberate promotion of a specific image for a business. Often confused with publicity which is simply the materials used in a specific part of a public relations effort.

Return on Investment
Net profit divided by total assets. Measures how much the business owner has earned on his/her investment in the business.

Revenue
Sales (in units) multiplied by price per unit.

Sales
The exchange of a product or service for money. Also refers to the profession of that activity or a department within a company that performs that activity.

SCORE
Service Corps of Retired Executives; they provide counseling advice for small businesses.

Small Business Administration (SBA)
The United States Government Agency charged with "providing customer-oriented, full-service programs and accurate, timely information to the entrepreneurial community".

Sole Proprietorship
A business owned and operated by one person.

Strategic Alliance
An ongoing relationship between two businesses in which they combine efforts for a specific purpose.

Trademark
A form of legal protection for words, names, symbols, sounds or colors that distinguish goods and services. Trademarks, unlike patents, can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in business.

Venture Capital
A form of financing for a company in which the business gives up partial ownership and control of the business in exchange for capital over a limited time frame, usually 3-5 years. Investments typically range from $500,000 to $5 million, although there are occasionally VC investments for as low as $50,000 or as high as $20 million.

Working Capital
Current assets minus current liabilities. A company has a working capital shortage when it is unable to pay its suppliers and creditors easily and service new orders.