The jargon, acronyms and formulas from the Marginkraft curriculum, in your industry's language — a quick reference for meetings, budget reviews and everything in between.
115 terms
An accounting method that records revenue and expenses when they are earned or incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands.
The systematic allocation of the cost of an intangible asset over its useful life.
The point at which total revenue equals total costs, resulting in zero profit or loss.
Capital Expenditure. Money spent on acquiring or maintaining fixed assets like property, plant, and equipment.
The net amount of cash and cash equivalents moving into and out of a business.
The revenue per unit sold minus the variable cost per unit, used to assess profitability.
The systematic allocation of the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life.
A valuation method that estimates the value of an investment based on its expected future cash flows, discounted to present value.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. A measure of operating performance that strips out financing and accounting decisions.
A cost that does not change with the level of production or sales.
Cash generated by operations after capital expenditures, available for distribution to investors.
The difference between revenue and cost of goods sold, expressed as a percentage of revenue.
Internal Rate of Return. The discount rate that makes the NPV of an investment zero.
Net Present Value. The difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a period.
The percentage of revenue that remains as profit after all expenses are deducted.
Operating Expenditure. Money spent on the day-to-day operations of a business.
Profit and Loss statement. A financial statement summarizing revenues, costs, and expenses over a specific period.
Return on Assets. Measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate profit.
Return on Equity. Measures how efficiently a company uses shareholders' equity to generate profit.
Return on Investment. A measure of profitability relative to the cost of an investment.
The profit earned by a single unit of a business — one delivery, one policy, one room-night, one subscriber, one shilling lent — calculated as what the unit earns minus what it costs to serve it. The sector-specific expression of contribution margin, and the test of whether growth creates or destroys value.
A cost that changes in proportion to the level of production or sales.
Weighted Average Cost of Capital. The average rate of return a company is expected to pay to all its security holders.
The difference between current assets and current liabilities, representing short-term liquidity.
Available Seat Kilometres. A measure of airline capacity calculated as the number of seats multiplied by the distance flown.
Revenue generated from non-ticket sources, such as baggage fees, seat upgrades, and onboard sales.
Cost per Available Seat Kilometre. The unit cost of operating one seat for one kilometre, used to measure airline operational efficiency.
The percentage of available seating capacity that is filled with passengers.
Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre. The unit revenue generated per seat per kilometre flown.
Revenue Passenger Kilometres. A measure of airline traffic calculated as the number of passengers multiplied by the distance flown.
The cost per unit of output, typically measured per available seat kilometre in the airline industry.
The average revenue per passenger per kilometre flown.
The average number of items purchased per transaction, or the average transaction value.
The number of people entering a retail store or shopping area.
Gross Margin Return on Investment. A measure of inventory profitability calculated as gross margin divided by average inventory cost.
A reduction in the original selling price of a product, typically to clear inventory.
A measure of retail store productivity calculated as total sales divided by selling area.
A measure of revenue growth from stores that have been open for at least one year, excluding new store openings.
The percentage of inventory sold relative to the amount received from the supplier.
The loss of inventory due to theft, damage, or administrative errors.
Average Daily Rate. The average revenue earned per occupied room per day.
Cost per Occupied Room. The total cost of servicing one occupied hotel room.
The percentage of incremental revenue that flows through to the bottom line as profit.
Gross Operating Profit per Available Room. A measure of hotel profitability that includes all revenue streams.
The average number of nights guests stay at a hotel.
The percentage of available rooms that are occupied.
Revenue per Available Room. A measure of hotel performance calculated as total room revenue divided by available room nights.
Average Revenue per User. A measure of revenue generated per subscriber.
The time it takes to recover the cost of acquiring a customer.
Customer Lifetime Value. The total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship with the company.
The percentage of subscribers who discontinue their service over a given period.
The number of new subscribers minus the number of churned subscribers.
The percentage of a market that has subscribed to a service.
Subscriber Acquisition Cost. The cost of acquiring a new subscriber.
The cost per full-time equivalent student.
The percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll.
Full-Time Equivalent. A unit that measures the workload of an employee or student.
The percentage of students who complete their program within a specified time frame.
Tuition revenue minus financial aid and scholarships.
The percentage of students who continue their enrollment from one period to the next.
Amounts deducted from a manufacturer's invoice by a wholesaler for sales to qualified entities like government programs.
A list of medications covered by a health insurance plan.
The difference between a drug's gross sales price and its net revenue after rebates, discounts, and chargebacks.
Pharmacy Benefit Manager. A company that manages prescription drug benefits for health insurers.
A requirement that a healthcare provider obtain approval from a payer before prescribing a medication or service.
Discounts or refunds paid to payers (insurance companies, government programs) based on volume or other agreements.
Sell-through is the actual sale to the end consumer; sell-in is the sale from manufacturer to distributor or retailer.
Annual Recurring Revenue. The annualized value of all subscription contracts.
A measure of capital efficiency calculated as net burn divided by net new ARR.
Customer Acquisition Cost. The cost of acquiring a new customer.
Additional revenue generated from existing customers through upsells or cross-sells.
Lifetime Value. The total revenue expected from a customer over their lifetime.
Monthly Recurring Revenue. The monthly value of all subscription contracts.
The monthly revenue lost due to customer cancellations or downgrades.
Net Revenue Retention. A measure of revenue retention that includes expansion, contraction, and churn.
A costing method that includes all manufacturing costs (direct materials, direct labor, and overhead) in the cost of a product.
A comprehensive list of all materials, components, and quantities needed to manufacture a product.
The percentage of a manufacturing plant's total capacity that is being used.
A production methodology focused on minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness. A measure of manufacturing productivity calculated as availability x performance x quality.
The percentage of materials or units that are discarded as waste.
The predetermined cost of producing a unit of output, based on expected costs of materials, labor, and overhead.
The rate at which a system produces output.
The percentage of good units produced relative to the total units started.
A measure of a bank's capital relative to its risk-weighted assets.
The interest rate paid by banks for the funds they use to make loans.
A measure of bank efficiency calculated as operating expenses divided by operating income.
The ratio of a bank's total loans to its total deposits.
Net Interest Margin. The difference between interest income and interest expense, divided by interest-earning assets.
The percentage of loans that are written off as uncollectible, net of recoveries.
The practice of setting aside funds to cover potential loan losses.
Return on Risk-Weighted Assets. A measure of bank profitability that accounts for the risk of its assets.
The percentage of stores or outlets that carry a product.
The difference between a product's gross sales price and its net revenue after trade promotions, discounts, and allowances.
The profit margin earned per case of product sold.
A visual representation of how products should be arranged on store shelves to maximize sales.
The sale of products from a manufacturer to a retailer or distributor.
The sale of products from a retailer to the end consumer.
The return on investment from trade promotional spending.
The money spent by manufacturers to promote their products to retailers, including promotions, displays, and discounts.
The rate at which a product sells through retail stores, typically measured in units per store per week.
The share of electricity revenue that reaches the collection pot after subtracting freebie days, subsidies and arrears from gross billed energy.
A grid investment programme that has been approved in advance by the regulator — projects added to the rate base before they are built, reducing disallowance risk for the utility.
The regulator's test of whether an investment was reasonable when made. Failing it risks disallowance — capital spent but excluded from the rate base, earning nothing for the asset's life.
The allowed profit a utility earns on a rate-base asset: the WACC applied to the asset's remaining net value. Depreciation merely recovers the original cost.
The accumulating net book value of approved network assets on which a regulated utility earns its allowed return. Grows with prudent, regulator-approved capital expenditure and shrinks with depreciation.
Energy lost as heat through wires and transformers (technical) plus the gap between energy delivered and revenue collected due to theft, metering errors and unbilled accounts (commercial).
The contractual order in which project revenue is paid out: O&M first, then reserves, then debt service, and only the remainder to equity — which is why equity absorbs volatility.
Cash flow available for debt service divided by scheduled debt payments. Below 1.0x means the project cannot pay its debt from operations; lenders typically require 1.2x–1.35x.
The discounted lifetime cost of building and operating a project divided by its discounted lifetime energy output — the minimum average price per MWh at which the project breaks even.
The cost per MWh of delivering energy through a battery — the decision number for hybrid bids, compared against the shape premium and scoring points storage unlocks.
Probabilistic annual production estimates: P50 is exceeded half the time (the fair business-case number); P90 is exceeded nine years in ten (the conservative number lenders size debt on).
The mismatch between when a plant produces (e.g. midday solar) and when power is most valuable (evening peak) — the reason a flat $/MWh price is rarely the whole story in a PPA.
A standalone project company that owns a single power plant, isolating its assets and cash flows from the developer's balance sheet so lenders depend only on the project itself.
The worst outcome in project tenders: winning at a price below the project's true economics, locking in losses for the 15–20 year contract term.