Financial Management: The strategic planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of financial undertakings in an organization or institute to achieve its goals and ensure long-term health and growth. It involves making smart decisions about sourcing, investing, and managing funds.
Profit: The amount of money a business earns after subtracting all its expenses from its revenue.
Loss: Occurs when a business’s expenses exceed its revenue.
Revenue (Sales/Turnover): The total income a business generates from selling goods or services before any expenses are deducted.
Expenses: The costs incurred by a business in order to generate revenue.
Assets: Resources owned by a business that have economic value and can provide future benefits.
Liabilities: What a business owes to others, such as debts or obligations.
Equity: The ownership value in a business after all liabilities is subtracted from its assets. It’s what the owners or shareholders “own” in the company.
Cash Flow: The movement of money into and out of a business.
Liquidity: Measures a company’s ability to meet its short-term obligations using its current assets.
Financial Planning: The comprehensive process of setting financial goals for a business and creating a detailed roadmap or strategy to achieve them. It is forward-looking and strategic.
Budgeting: A more specific, quantitative part of financial planning. A detailed plan outlining how a business expects to spend money (expenses) and earn money (revenue) over a specific period.
Costing: The systematic process of identifying, collecting, and analyzing all the expenses incurred by a business in its operations to accurately determine the true cost of producing items, delivering services, or running the overall business.
SMART Financial Goals: A framework for setting goals.
Financial Forecasting: The process of estimating a business’s future financial performance, including future revenues, expenses, and cash flows.
Variance Analysis: The process of comparing budgeted figures to actual results to understand the differences and make adjustments.
Pricing Model (Pricing Strategy): The method and approach a business uses to determine the price of its products or services, aiming to cover costs, generate profit, attract customers, and position the business effectively.
Cost-Plus Pricing (Markup Pricing): A pricing model that adds a standard markup (percentage or fixed amount) to the total cost of the product to determine the selling price.
Value-Based Pricing: Setting prices based on the perceived value to the customer, rather than just the cost. Used when a product offers significant, demonstrable benefits.
Competitive Pricing (Market-Oriented Pricing): Setting prices based on what competitors are charging for similar products.
Break-even Analysis: A financial calculation that determines the point at which total revenues equal total costs, meaning no profit or loss is made.
Contribution Margin per Unit: The amount each unit sold contributes towards covering fixed costs and generating profit (Selling Price per Unit – Variable Cost per Unit).
Mobile Money: Financial services accessed and operated through a mobile phone, allowing users to store, send, and receive money, pay bills, and make purchases without needing a traditional bank account.
Mobile Money Integration: The process of incorporating mobile money services directly into a business’s operational workflow for handling transactions, enabling seamless customer payments and business receipt/management of funds.