BALANCE SHEET
One of the basic financial statements of a company detailing the assets and liabilities at the end of an accounting period; both sides have to be reconciled.

BRAND
Name, logo or symbol referring to a product or service of a certain provider, that is distinct from the competition.

STOCK EXCHANGE
Organised market for trading in securities, raw materials, options etc. In Slovenia such a market is the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

MARKET PRICE
The price (of a security) on the stock exchange quoted by the bidder as the purchase or selling price.

STOCK EXCHANGE QUOTATION
The organised securities market where securities are traded on the basis of a trading authorisation issued by the competent authority.

SHARE
A security proving ownership of share capital of the company which issued it.

SHAREHOLDER
Owner of a certain stake in the share capital of a public limited company.

JOINT-STOCK COMPANY
Legal organisational form of a company in which the share capital is divided into shares whose ownership is usually quickly and easily transferable. Such a company is liable for its obligations up to the amount of its total assets, while the shareholders are not directly liable.

DIVIDEND
Part of a company's profit paid out to shareholders.

RETURN
The ratio between the cash return and investment cost.

GLOBALISATION
Development beyond national borders through the establishment of large economic communities, deregulation of numerous economic sectors, improved transport connections, electronic communications and the forming of comprehensive economic links.
(Source: Terminološki slovar trženja, Vekoslav Potočnik, Alenka Umek, GV Založba, Ljubljana 2004.)

SUBSIDIARY
A limited liability company established by another, parent company.

HOLDING
Organisational form of a company with individual units that are not connected through business. A holding is a company which owns majority stakes in legally independent companies and is mainly engaged in the establishment, financing and management of these companies.

PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
A public limited company is usually owned by many individuals who do not actively participate in its operations. The shares of a public limited company are traded on the organised market (stock exchange) in which supply and demand meet. The market price and share trading are conditioned by supply and demand. The operations are normally connected with greater transparency.

CAPITAL
Permanent source of financing invested in a company by owners or arising from successful performance. From the company's point of view it represents a liability to the owners – if not sooner, then at the time the company ceases to operate.

CODE OF ETHICS
Company rules and policy defining guidelines on how employees should behave and act.
(Source: Terminološki slovar trženja, Potočnik Vekoslav, Umek Alenka, GV Založba, Ljubljana 2004.)

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE FOR JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES
A collection of recommendations on the management and governance of listed companies which were drafted and adopted by the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the Association of Supervisory Board Members of Slovenia and the Managers' Association.

GROUP
A group, a set of companies, which in European terminology usually refers to a company with many inter-connected business activities. A group of companies comprised of one controlling and one or more subsidiary companies, jointly managed by the controlling company or under the controlling contract. A group may also consist of companies under joint management with none of the companies being the controlling one.

GROUP COMPANY
Company included in a group (forming part of a group).

CONSOLIDATION
Procedure for bringing together the financial statements of two or more units under accounting treatment, usually of the parent company and related subsidiaries; the effects of mutual trading are usually eliminated from this procedure.

CORPORATION
A company, usually a large one; in American business terminology the term denotes every company registered under certain regulations. Typical of a corporation is that its interest is separate from that of its founders and shareholders, so that the latter are only entitled to rights arising from shares and cannot directly influence the decisions of management bodies.

QUOTATION/MARKET PRICE
The price (of a security) on the stock exchange, quoted by the bidder as the purchase or selling price.

ANNUAL REPORT
The report which is once a year drafted by companies (especially public limited companies). It contains a business report and financial statements as well as an estimate, i.e. the opinion of the Management Board, of the company's performance in the past year and future business prospects.

LICENSE
Authorisation/entitlement to exercise industrial property rights, for instance under a patent, brand and similar. The authorisation for performing a certain activity as an independent profession (e.g. auditing).

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS (IAS)
Agreed accounting principles published by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and increasingly implemented in more and more countries around the world.

SUPERVISORY BOARD
General term for a supervisory body of a company representing the interests of shareholders/members and assigned a different function, composition and/or name in different countries depending on the legislation. In some countries, it also comprises the workers' representatives of a company.

INVESTMENT
In the broadest sense the use of material, non-material and cash assets for increasing or generating new assets.

INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Non-current assets of a company contributing to the development of the company's business capacity; they comprise investments in the acquisition of material rights, namely investments in concessions, patents, licences, trademarks and similar rights.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Assets held by a company to perform its activity, including e.g. land, buildings, equipment etc.

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Values, norms, patterns of conduct, symbols and experience reflecting a company's special features and connecting the employees; in situations not regulated by formal rules. At an unconscious level it provides an orientation for the actions of the employees.

OUTSOURCING
Assigning those works to be performed outside the organisation that are not of crucial importance or which an outsourcer can provide more efficiently (at a lower cost and/or higher quality).

PATENT
Legally protected exclusive right to market a new invention for a certain period.
(Source: Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika)

COMPANY
Organisation involved in a business activity with the aim of generating a profit.

PORTFOLIO/ASSETS
All assets held by a company or individual. The term portfolio is also used for assets composed of securities.

MISSION
Definition of what a company or organisation strives to be: determination of ongoing objectives, the corporate philosophy, beliefs, the values of the organisation and business areas it will be involved in.

ASSETS (see PORTFOLIO)

PROFITABILITY OF OPERATIONS
A company's ability to generate profit as measured by financial indicators.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Documents which systematically show the financial position, performance and changes in a company's assets, providing insights to users; basic financial statements include the balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Report compiled for users outside the accounting department. It contains estimates, notes and explanations of budget and accounting data as well as financial statements.

REGISTERED OFFICE
The formal seat of a company.

SYNERGY
A situation when two or more business elements (e.g. organisational units or products) together have a greater impact than the sum of their impacts individually (e.g. due to economies of scale or the transfer of technological knowledge); the creation of synergy is the most common reason underlying strategic connections.

GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
Supreme body of a public limited company representing the interests of shareholders; it usually decides on the Annual Reports of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board, and appoints the Supervisory Board.

SPONSOR
Natural person or company financially supporting a person or organisation of an event (cultural, sports etc.) in exchange for a right to advertising related to such a person or event.

STRATEGY
Strategy aimed at influencing the business environment and not only responding to impacts of the environment.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
When a company operates in such a way as to create a balance between the economic, social and natural environments.

MANAGEMENT BOARD
Top managerial employees of a company, namely managers authorised for operational management of a company, usually accountable to the Supervisory Board.

MANAGEMENT
Activity involving the regulation, connection and guidance of the functioning of an organisation as a whole.

VISION
Idea for the realisable and appealing future of a company.

VALUE
The conviction that a certain conduct, work method or situation is desired or better than some others.

EMPLOYMENT
Recruitment activity of a company.

Sources:

Slovar poslovnofinančnih izrazov, Dušan Mramor, Gospodarski vestnik, Ljubljana, 1999.

Slovar poslovnih izrazov v angleščini in slovenščini, Nenad Filipović, Milojka Popović, Danica Purg, Denise Vakanjac, Založba Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana, 2001.