Business Terms

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.