E

earnings: a sum of money gained from employment, usually quoted before tax, including extra reward such as fringe benefits, allowances, or incentives. In business, income or profit from a business, quoted gross or net of tax, which may be retained and distributed in part to the shareholders.

e-business: the conduct of business on the Internet, including the electronic purchasing and selling of goods and services, servicing customers, and communications with business partners. 

e-commerce: the exchange of goods, information products, or services via an electronic medium such as the Internet. 

Enterprise: A venture characterized  by innovation, creativity, dynamism, and risk. An enterprise can consist of one project, or may refer to an entire organization.  

Entrepreneur: An innovator of business enterprise who recognizes opportunities to introduce a new product, a new process or an improved organization, and who raises the necessary money, assembles the factors for production and organizes an operation to exploit the opportunity.  

equal opportunities: the granting of equal rights. privileges, and status regardless of gender, age, race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. Equality in employment is regulated by law in most Western countries. 

equipment: Physical property of a more or less permanent nature ordi­narily useful in carrying on operations, other than land, buildings or improvements to either of them. Examples are machinery, tools, tracks, cars, ships, furniture and furnishings.

equity: A financial investment in a business. An equity investment car­ries with it a share of ownership of the business, a stake in the profits and a say in how it is managed. Equity is calculated by subtracting the lia­bilities of the business from the assets of the business.

equity capital: Money furnished by owners of the business.  

ergonomics:  the study of workplace design and the physical and psychological impact it has on workers. Ergonomics is about the fit between people, their work activities, equipment, work systems, and environment to ensure that workplaces are safe, comfortable, efficient, and that productivity is not compromised.  

Euro:  the currency of 12 member nations of the European Union. The Euro was introduced in 1999, when the first 11 countries to adopt it joined together in an Economic and Monetary Union and fixed their currencies' exchange rate to the Euro. Notes and coins were brought into general circulation in January 2002, although banks and other financial institutions had before that time carried out transactions in Euros.

exchange: The process by which two or more parties give something of value to one another to satisfy needs and wants.

exchange controls: The regulations by which a country's banking system controls its residents' or resident companies' dealings in foreign currencies and gold. 

exchange rate: The rate at which one country's currency can be exchanged for that of another. 

excise duty: a tax on goods such as alcohol or tobacco produced and sold within a particular country. 

expense account: amount of money that an employee or group of employees can draw on to reclaim personal expenses incurred in carrying out activities for an organization. 

Expenses: personal costs incurred by an employee in carrying out activities for an organization that are reimbursed by the employer.  

Export agent: an intermediary who acts on behalf of a company to open up or develop a market in a foreign country. Export agents are often paid a commission on all sales and may have exclusive rights in a particular geographic  area. 

Exporting: the process of selling goods to other countries.

F

Facsimile machine (FAX): Machine capable of transmitting written input via telephone lines.  

Factor: a variable investigated in a statistical study.  

Feasibility study: an investigation into a proposed plan or project to determine whether and how it can be successfully and profitably carried out.  

Federal funds: an deposits held in reserve by the Federal Reserve System. 

Feedback: the communication of responses and reactions to proposals and changes or to the findings of performance appraisals with the aim of enabling improvements to be made.

FIFO: FIRST IN FIRST OUT, a method of inventory control where the stock of a given product first placed in store is used before more recently produced or acquired goods or materials.

Finance: the money needed by an individual or company to pay for something, for example, a project or stocks.  

Financial statements: Documents that show your financial situation.  

Fiscal: relating to financial matters, especially in respect to government collection, use. and regulation of money through taxation.

Fixed asset: a long term asset of a business such as a machine or building that will not usually be traded.  

Fixed expenses: Those costs which don't vary from one period to the next. Generally, these expenses are not affected by the volume of business.  

Float: The period between the presentation of a check as payment and the actual payment to the payee. 

Floating rate: an interest rate that is not fixed and which changes according to fluctuations in the market 

Floor: a lower limit on an interest rate, price, or the value of an asset. 

Flow chart: a graphic representation of the stages in a process or system or the steps required to solve a problem.  

Forecast: a prediction of the value of a variable in a statistical study

Forward pricing: the establishment of the price of a share in a mutual fund based on the next asset valuation.

Forward rate: an estimate of what an interest rate will be at a specified future time.

Franchise: an agreement enabling a third party to sell or provide products or services owned by a manufacturer or supplier. The franchise is regulated by a franchise contract, or franchise agreement, that specifies the terms and conditions of the franchise.  

Franchise chain: a number of retail outlets operating the same franchise. A franchise chain may vary in size from a few to many thousands of outlets and in coverage from a small local area to worldwide. 

Fraud: the use of dishonesty, deception. or false representation in order to gain a material advantage or to injure the interest of others.

Freebie: a product or service that is given away, often as a business promotion. 

Free enterprise: the trade carried on in a free-market economy, where resources are allocated on the basis of supply and demand. 

Free market: a market in which supply and demand are unregulated except by the country's competition policy, and rights in physical and intellectual property are upheld. 

Fulfillment: the process of responding to customer inquiries, orders, or sales promotion offers. 

Future: a contract to deliver a commodity at a future date. 

Futures market: a market for buying and selling securities, commodities, or currencies that tend to fluctuate in price over a period of time. The market's aim is to reduce the risk of uncertainty about future prices.

Fundraising: Events staged to raise revenue.