What this is
Every word here turns up on a document you send or a document you are sent: a quote, an invoice, a receipt, a purchase order, a lien waiver. Each entry gives the plain definition first, then what it means when you are the one doing the work, a worked example with real numbers, where the term shows up on the paperwork, and what usually goes wrong with it.
There is no accounting theory in here for its own sake. If a term does not change how you quote, bill or get paid, it is not on the list.
Start here
- InvoiceA document that asks a client for payment for work already delivered.
- QuoteA fixed price you are offering for named work, held open until a stated date.
- Payment termsThe line that says when payment is due, how to pay, and what happens if the date passes.
- DepositPart of the price paid before the work starts, credited against the final balance.
- Net 30Payment is due 30 days after the invoice date.
- Late feeA charge added to an invoice that is paid after its due date.
- Progress billingInvoicing one job in stages as they are completed, rather than in a single invoice at the end.
- Invoice numberThe unique reference that identifies one invoice, running in sequence with no repeats.
All terms
57 terms
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- Cash flowThe money moving in and out of your business, as opposed to the profit you have earned on paper.
- Change orderA written record of a change to the scope, price or schedule after the quote was accepted.
- ChargebackA card payment reversed by the client's bank after it has already reached you.
- COGS (cost of goods sold)The direct cost of what you sold: the materials and the labour that went into the job.
- Credit noteA document that cancels all or part of an invoice you have already issued.
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- Days sales outstanding (DSO)The average number of days it takes you to get paid after invoicing.
- DepositPart of the price paid before the work starts, credited against the final balance.
- DiscountAn amount taken off a price, shown as a percentage or a figure on the line or the total.
- Due dateThe date payment on an invoice is expected, written as a date rather than a term.
- DunningThe sequence of reminders sent to collect an overdue invoice.
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- MarkupThe amount added to your cost to reach the price, expressed as a percentage of the cost.
- Merchant accountThe account that lets a business accept card payments and holds the money until it settles to your bank.
- Milestone billingInvoicing when a named stage of a job is finished rather than at the end.
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- Payment portalA hosted page where a client can pay an invoice by card or bank transfer.
- Payment processorThe company that moves a card or bank payment from your client's account to yours.
- Payment termsThe line that says when payment is due, how to pay, and what happens if the date passes.
- PO numberThe client's own reference for an order, quoted on your invoice so their accounts team can match it.
- Proforma invoiceA document that shows what the final invoice will contain, sent before the work or the shipment.
- Progress billingInvoicing one job in stages as they are completed, rather than in a single invoice at the end.
- Purchase orderA document you issue to a supplier that commits to buying named goods at named prices.
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- ReceiptProof that a payment was made, issued after the money arrives.
- Recurring invoiceAn invoice issued on a repeating schedule for work that continues month after month.
- Remittance adviceThe note a client sends saying which invoices a payment covers.
- RetainageA percentage of each progress payment held back by the client until the job is accepted.
- RetainerMoney paid in advance to hold your availability or to draw against for ongoing work.
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No term matches that. Try a shorter word, or browse the letters above.