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Banking and Finance

BID bɪd

Verb

  • The price a buyer is willing to offer for shares in a company.
Example Sentences: When trading online, be careful that you don't bid too high for the shares.
How much did you bid for the shares?
 

VENTURE CAPITAL vɛntʃər kæpɪtl

Phrase

  • Money raised by companies to finance new ventures in exchange for percentage ownership.
Example Sentences: Venture capital firms have a reputation for negotiating tough financing terms and setting high demands on target companies.
The company is looking for venture capital investment in order to expand. They're willing to sell 25% of the company for $400,000.
 

STOCK OPTIONS stɒk ɒpʃən

Phrase

  • Are options, usually given to employees, to purchase stock in the company at a future date.
Example Sentence: After working for Microsoft for more than 10 years, I was able to cash in my stock options and retire comfortably at the age of 42.
 

LIQUIDATION lɪkwɪˈdeɪʃən

Noun

  • This refers to the sale of all the assets of the company.
Example Sentence: The assets of a company that has gone into liquidation are often sold off at an auction.
 

IPO  

Phrase

  • Initial Public Offering (IPO) refers to first sale of stock by a private company to the public.
Example Sentences: Alibabas IPO was 100 times oversubscribed.
There has been a 30% rise in the number of IPOs compared with last year.
 

FIXED COSTS fɪkst kɒst

Phrase

  • Are costs that are incurred by the firm whether it produces or not, and that remain constant in amount whether its production volume is large or small.
Example Sentences: Rent, insurance, and salaries of supervisory personnel are common examples of fixed costs.
Or fixed costs are too high, we will need to reduce the number of staff we employ.
 

BURN RATE bɜrn reɪt

Phrase

  • Refers to the amount of money a start-up company spends from month to month (money burnt) in order to survive.
Example Sentences: A burn-rate of $50,000 would mean the company spends $50,000 a month above any incoming cash flow to sustain its business.
Our current burn rate is US$15,000 per month. At this rate, we'll be able to continue operating the business until the end of the year.
 

BAD DEBTS bæd dɛt

Phrase

  • Are funds owing to a business which are determined to be uncollectable.
Example Sentence: If you extend credit to numerous customers, and your experience is that a certain amount of your sales on account will be uncollectable, you should probably set up a reserve for bad debts.
 

APPRAISED VALUE əˈpreɪz vælyu

Phrase

  • Is the value placed on an item, product or business by an appraiser who is recognized for experience in a particular field.
Example Sentence: The appraised value of our business is much higher than we thought. One of our competitors has made enquiries about buying us out.
 

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE əˈkaʊnt rɪˈsivəbəl

Phrase

  • This is the amount billed to customers and due from them but not yet collected.
Example Sentence: You must maintain an accounts receivable ledger account for each customer you extend credit to.
 

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE əˈkaʊnt peɪəbəl

Phrase

  • Is the amount that the company has been billed but has not yet paid. This is money owed to its regular business creditors from whom it has bought goods and services.
Example Sentences: You should keep an accounts payable ledger account for each supplier.
Expenses from the cash disbursements journal are, at the end of each day, posted to the appropriate accounts payable ledger.
 

LEGAL TENDER /ligəl tɛndər/

Noun

  • Legal tender is the money which can be officially used in a country.
Example Sentences: A French person tried to pay using old British pound notes. I told him they weren't legal tender any more.
 

INVISIBLE EXPORTS /ɪnˈvɪzəbəl ɪkˈspɔrt/

Noun

  • Services supplied to foreign countries such as banking and other financial services are called invisible exports
Example Sentences: Invisible exports now make up more than half of the United Kingdom's GDP
 

THE GRAVY TRAIN  

Phrase

  • The gravy train is a way of making money quickly, easily, and often dishonestly.
Example Sentences: With no end to the property boom in sight, speculators are continuing to ride the gravy train.
 

STANDING ORDER /stændɪŋ ɔrdər/

Noun

  • A standing order is an instruction to a bank to pay some money at regular times to another bank account.
Example Sentence: The electricity company requires all its customers to settle their bills by standing order.
 
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