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User Guide
Financial Glossary
- APR - Annual Percentage Rate
- Administration
- Amortisation
- Annual Report
- Approving a Sale
- Assurance
- Authorisation Process
- Balance Sheet
- Balloon Payment
- Base Rate
- Benefits
- Bill Of Exchange
- CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate
- CAPEX - Capital Expenditure
- CEO - Chief Executive Officer
- CFO - Chief Financial Officer
- CIO - Chief Information Officer
- COO - Chief Operating Officer
- CTO - Chief Technology Office
- Capital
- Capital Goods
- Capital Lease
- Capital Spend
- Cash Burn
- Chairman
- Chapter 11
- Charge
- Chinese Walls
- Churn
- Cockroach Effect
- Contract Hire
- Cost Of Capital
- Cost Savings
- Covenant
- Credit Scoring
- Credit Search
- Creditors
- Cross Charging
- DCF - Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
- DSO
- Debentures
- Debtors
- Depreciation
- Directors' Report
- Discount Rate (pa%)
- Dividend
- Dividend Yield
- EBITDA
- EPS - Earnings Per Share
- EVA %
- EVA - Economic Value Add
- Earnings
- Efficiency Improvements
- Ego
- Endorsement
- Equity
- Equity Rental
- Extension Rentals
- FD - Finance Director
- FRS 17
- Factoring
- Finance Lease
- Financial Returns
- Fixed Assets
- Floating Charge
- Forward Multiple
- Fraud Reduction
- Funds Flow Statement
- Gearing
- Goodwill
- Gross Profit Percentage
- Hire Purchase
- Hurdle Rate
- IPO - Initial Public Offering
- IRR - Internal Rate Of Return
- Impairment Charge
- Incoterms
- Infrastructure
- Initial Lease Period
- Insider Trading
- Insolvency
- Intangible Asset
- Inventory
- Investment Appraisal
- LIBOR - London Inter Bank Offered Rate
- Lease Purchase
- Leasing
- Leverage
- Like-for-like
- Liquidation
- Liquidity
- Liquidity Ratio
- Loaded Cost
- Loans
- Loss
- MD - Managing Director
- MMC - Monopolies and Mergers Commission
- Margin
- Marginal Cost
- Mark Up
- Market Capitalisation
- Market Value
- Minimum return (pa%)
- Monthly Costs (averaged)
- Multiple
- NPV - Net Present Value
- Net Asset Value
- Net Asset Value (per share)
- Non-Executive Director
- OPEX
- Off Balance Sheet Financing
- Offshore
- On Balance Sheet
- Operating Lease
- Outright Purchase
- Outsourcing
- Ownership - Risks
- Ownership Rewards
- P/E Ratio
- Payback
- Private Limited Company
- Profit
- Profit and Loss Account
- Prospective Earnings
- Prospectus
- Public Company
- Quoted Company
- ROCE - Return On Capital Employed
- ROI - Return On Investment
- Rate Of Return
- Regulatory Costs
- Renting
- Residual Value
- Results
- Return On Assets (ROA)
- Return On Equity (ROE)
- Return On Investment Capital (ROIC)
- Return On Net Assets (RONA)
- Return On Sales (ROS)
- Revaluation
- Revenue
- Review period
- SLA - Service Level Agreement
- Security
- Share Capital
- Shareholder Value
- Shareprice
- Spend Deferment
- Stock
- Substance Over Form
- Sweating the Assets
- TCO
- Target Price
- Tax Avoidance
- Tax Evasion
- The Market
- Time Is Of The Essence
- Tranche
- VAE - Value Added (Economic)
- VAE%
- Volatility
- WDA - Writing Down Allowance
- Weighted Average Cost Capital (WACC)
- Whole Useful Life
- Window Dressing
- Wooden Dollars
- Working Capital
- Write Downs
International Trade Glossary
Depreciation
A decrease in the value of asset caused by wear-and-tear, technological obsolescence or time. The allowance or charge made to a company’s profit and loss account, to reflect this change in value.
Straight Talk
How do you appreciate depreciation? Imagine buying your dream car - the moment it moves off the forecourt then it’s worth less than what you paid for it. That difference is depreciation - the loss in value of an item caused by time, use, or technical obsolescence.