100 Business English Words Every Professional Learner Needs

No.	Term	Definition
1.	Action item	Task to complete after meeting.
2.	Agenda	Planned topics for a meeting.
3.	Align	Agree on goals or direction.
4.	Annual report	Yearly summary of company performance.
5.	Approval	Official permission to proceed.
6.	Assets	Valuable resources owned by a business.
7.	Assignee	Person responsible for a task.
8.	At your earliest convenience	As soon as reasonably possible.
9.	Backlog	Pending work not yet completed.
10.	Balance sheet	Statement of assets, liabilities, equity.
11.	Benchmark	Standard for comparison and evaluation.
12.	Best practice	Proven effective method or process.
13.	Bid	Offer to do work for price.
14.	Board meeting	Meeting of company directors.
15.	Bottom line	Net profit; key outcome.
16.	Brand	Public identity of a company.
17.	Budget	Planned income and spending.
18.	Business case	Justification for a project decision.
19.	Buy-in	Agreement and support from stakeholders.
20.	Cash flow	Money moving in and out.
21.	Client	Customer receiving professional services.
22.	Close the loop	Follow up and confirm completion.
23.	Collaboration	Working together toward shared goals.
24.	Compliance	Adherence to laws and policies.
25.	Confidential	Not to be shared publicly.
26.	Consensus	General agreement among group members.
27.	Contract	Legally binding agreement document.
28.	Cost-effective	Good value for the cost.
29.	Counterproposal	Alternative offer in negotiation.
30.	Credit terms	Payment conditions and deadlines.
31.	Customer satisfaction	How well needs are met.
32.	Deadline	Final date for completion.
33.	Deliverable	Specific output to be provided.
34.	Department	Organizational unit within a company.
35.	Discount	Reduced price from standard rate.
36.	Due diligence	Thorough review before agreement.
37.	Earnings	Company profits; income.
38.	Efficiency	Achieving results with minimal waste.
39.	Email thread	Series of related email replies.
40.	Escalate	Raise issue to higher authority.
41.	Estimate	Approximate calculation of cost or time.
42.	Executive summary	Brief overview of key points.
43.	Expense	Cost incurred in operations.
44.	Extension	Additional time granted for deadline.
45.	Feedback	Comments to improve performance or work.
46.	Fiscal year	Company’s accounting year period.
47.	Follow-up	Later action to confirm progress.
48.	Forecast	Prediction of future results.
49.	Framework	Structured approach or set of rules.
50.	Full-time equivalent (FTE)	Workload measure equal to full-time.
51.	Goal	Desired result to achieve.
52.	Gross margin	Revenue minus direct costs.
53.	Guidelines	Recommended rules for consistent action.
54.	Headcount	Number of employees in organization.
55.	Hiring	Recruiting and employing staff.
56.	Hold	Pause action temporarily.
57.	Implementation	Putting a plan into action.
58.	Incentive	Reward encouraging desired behavior.
59.	Income statement	Report of revenue and expenses.
60.	Initiative	New effort to reach a goal.
61.	Invoice	Bill requesting payment.
62.	Key performance indicator	Metric tracking progress toward goals.
63.	Kickoff	Start meeting for a project.
64.	Lead time	Time from order to delivery.
65.	Leverage	Use to maximum advantage.
66.	Liability	Debt or financial obligation.
67.	Line manager	Direct supervisor responsible for staff.
68.	Logistics	Planning and managing movement of goods.
69.	Long-term	Over an extended period.
70.	Margin	Difference between revenue and costs.
71.	Market share	Company’s portion of total sales.
72.	Meeting minutes	Written record of meeting decisions.
73.	Milestone	Significant checkpoint in a project.
74.	Mission statement	Organization’s purpose and core aims.
75.	Negotiation	Discussion to reach an agreement.
76.	Net profit	Earnings after all costs.
77.	Next steps	Planned actions after current stage.
78.	Objective	Specific measurable target to achieve.
79.	Onboarding	Process of integrating new employees.
80.	Opportunity	Favorable chance for business growth.
81.	Out of office	Not available; automatic email reply.
82.	Outsource	Hire external provider for work.
83.	Overhead	Ongoing operating costs not direct.
84.	Payment terms	Agreed schedule and method of payment.
85.	Performance review	Formal evaluation of employee work.
86.	Pipeline	Prospective deals in progress.
87.	Policy	Official rule guiding decisions.
88.	Pricing	Setting prices for products or services.
89.	Prioritize	Arrange tasks by importance.
90.	Procurement	Process of purchasing goods or services.
91.	Project scope	Boundaries and deliverables of project.
92.	Proposal	Suggested plan offered for approval.
93.	Quarterly	Occurring every three months.
94.	Query	Question or request for information.
95.	Quote	Stated price for specific work.
96.	Reach out	Contact someone to discuss.
97.	Revenue	Income from sales or services.
98.	Risk	Potential for loss or harm.
99.	Roadmap	Planned timeline of major initiatives.
100.	ROI	Return on investment; profitability measure.