161 terms
Glossary
Business words explained simply, in English with the Roman Urdu meaning and an example from a real shop.
A
ABC Analysis
ABC analysis sorts products into three groups by their share of sales or profit: A for the few that bring most of it, B for the middle, and C for the many that bring little.
Accounts Payable
Accounts payable is the money a business owes its suppliers for goods or services it has received but not yet paid for.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable is the money customers owe a business for goods or services already supplied on credit.
Active Taxpayer List (ATL)
The Active Taxpayer List is FBR's published list of persons who have filed their income tax return (or are otherwise active), which decides whether lower filer tax rates apply to them.
Average Bill Value
Average bill value is total sales for a period divided by the number of bills, showing how much a customer spends per visit on average.
B
Backorder
A backorder is a customer order accepted for an item that is out of stock now and will be delivered when new stock arrives.
Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is a statement showing, on one date, what a business owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities) and what is left for the owner (equity).
Barcode
A barcode is a machine-readable pattern of bars or squares printed on a product or label that a scanner reads to identify the item.
Barcode Printer
A barcode printer is a label printer that prints barcodes and prices on stickers you attach to products, different from a receipt printer that prints bills.
Barcode Scanner
A barcode scanner is a handheld or counter device that reads a product barcode and sends the code to the billing software, which finds the product and adds it to the bill.
Batch Tracking
Batch tracking records each purchase lot separately with its own expiry date.
Billing Software
Billing software is a program that makes bills or invoices, records how each one was paid and updates stock and sales totals at the same time.
BOM (Bill of Materials)
A bill of materials is the list of raw materials and quantities needed to make one unit of a product, used to plan production and work out its cost.
Break-Even Point
The break-even point is the level of sales at which gross profit exactly covers fixed expenses, so the business makes neither profit nor loss.
Bulk Purchase
A bulk purchase is buying goods in large quantities, usually to get a lower price per unit from the supplier.
C
Card Terminal
A card terminal is the device that reads a debit or credit card and asks the bank to approve the payment.
Cash Drawer
A cash drawer is the lockable drawer under the counter that holds notes and coins and opens when a cash sale is completed.
Cash Flow
Cash flow is the movement of money into and out of a business over a period, which shows whether it has enough cash to pay its bills on time.
Cash Memo
A cash memo is a simple bill given to a customer who pays in cash at the time of sale, showing the items, prices and total.
Cash Over and Short
Cash over and short is the difference between the cash counted in the drawer at closing and the cash the bills say should be there.
Cash Register
A cash register is the till or drawer at the counter where cash is kept, together with the daily record of money in and out.
Chargeback
A chargeback is when a card payment is reversed by the customer's bank after the customer disputes it, and the money is taken back from the merchant.
Cloud POS
A cloud POS is billing software whose data is stored on internet servers, so sales and stock can be seen from any device and branch.
COD (Cash on Delivery)
Cash on delivery means the customer pays when the order is delivered, not when it is placed.
COD Reconciliation
COD reconciliation is matching the cash a courier collected for your orders with the payments it actually sent you, order by order.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
Cost of goods sold is the purchase cost of the items a business actually sold in a period, which is subtracted from sales to find gross profit.
Combo Deal
A combo deal is a set of products sold together at one price, usually lower than buying each item separately.
Consignment
Consignment is an arrangement where goods are placed in a shop to sell, but the owner of the goods is paid only after they are sold.
Controlled Drugs Register
A controlled drugs register is a record a pharmacy keeps of every purchase and sale of narcotic and other restricted medicines, with patient and prescriber details.
Credit Note
A credit note is a document a seller issues to reduce what a buyer owes, usually because goods were returned or an invoice was overcharged.
Credit Sale
A credit sale is a sale where the customer takes the goods now and pays later, so the amount is recorded as money owed to the shop.
Credit Terms
Credit terms are the conditions on which goods are sold on credit, mainly the number of days allowed before payment is due and any limit or discount for early payment.
Customer Display
A customer display is a second screen facing the customer at the counter that shows the items, the total and the change as the bill is made.
D
Day Book
A day book is the daily record of every transaction in a business, in the order they happened: sales, receipts, payments and expenses.
Dead Stock
Dead stock is inventory that has not sold for a long time and is unlikely to sell at its normal price.
Debit Note
A debit note is a document a buyer sends a supplier when returning goods or claiming a deduction, recording that the amount owed should go down.
Delivery Challan
A delivery challan is a document that goes with goods being delivered, listing the items and quantities, which the receiver signs to confirm delivery.
Depreciation
Depreciation is the way the cost of an asset such as a machine or vehicle is spread over the years it is used, as it loses value.
Discount
A discount is a reduction from the normal selling price, given as a fixed amount or a percentage on an item or a whole bill.
DRAP
DRAP, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, is the federal body that regulates medicines in Pakistan.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is selling products online without holding stock: when an order comes in, the seller buys the item from a supplier who ships it straight to the customer.
E
E-commerce
E-commerce is buying and selling goods or services over the internet, through a website, an app, a marketplace or social media.
E-Invoicing (Digital Invoicing)
E-invoicing is issuing sales tax invoices electronically through a system connected to the tax authority, which validates each invoice and gives it a unique number.
EAN-13
EAN-13 is the 13-digit barcode standard printed on most retail products sold outside North America, including in Pakistan.
Easypaisa
Easypaisa is a mobile wallet and digital banking service in Pakistan, used to send and receive money, pay bills and pay merchants by account number or QR code.
Escrow
Escrow is when a neutral party holds a payment until both buyer and seller have done their part.
Expiry Management
Expiry management is the routine of tracking expiry dates, selling near-expiry stock in time, and removing or returning expired goods before they reach customers.
F
FBR POS Integration
FBR POS integration is the live link between a retailer's point of sale and the Federal Board of Revenue, so that each sale invoice is reported to FBR and carries an FBR invoice number and QR code.
FEFO (First Expiry, First Out)
FEFO is the stock rule that the batch with the nearest expiry date is sold or used first, whatever order it arrived in.
FIFO (First In, First Out)
FIFO is the stock rule that the oldest stock is sold first.
Fixed Cost
A fixed cost is an expense that stays about the same each month whatever the amount sold, such as shop rent or a salaried employee.
Food Cost Percentage
Food cost percentage is the cost of the ingredients in a dish or in all food sold, divided by the selling price or food sales.
Franchise
A franchise is an arrangement where a brand owner (the franchisor) lets another person (the franchisee) run an outlet under its name and system, usually for a fee or share of sales.
G
Galla
A galla is the cash box or drawer at a shop counter where the day's cash sales are kept and change is given from.
Generic Name (Salt)
A generic name, called the salt or formula in Pakistani pharmacies, is the active ingredient of a medicine, as opposed to the brand name it is sold under.
GMV (Gross Merchandise Value)
GMV is the total value of goods sold through a platform before fees, returns and discounts are taken off.
GRN (Goods Received Note)
A goods received note records what actually arrived from a supplier, checked against the purchase order, before the stock is added and the bill is paid.
Gross Margin
Gross margin is gross profit shown as a percentage of the selling price: (selling price minus cost) divided by selling price.
Gross Profit
Gross profit is sales minus the cost of the goods sold, before rent, salaries, bills and other expenses are taken off.
GST (General Sales Tax)
GST, or General Sales Tax, is the common name in Pakistan for sales tax charged on the supply of goods and charged by registered businesses on their sales.
H
Hold Bill
Holding a bill means parking an unfinished sale at the counter so the cashier can serve the next customer and resume the first bill later.
I
IBFT (Interbank Funds Transfer)
IBFT is an instant transfer of money from an account at one bank to an account at another bank in Pakistan, using the account number or IBAN.
IMEI
An IMEI is the 15-digit number that identifies a mobile phone handset.
Input Tax and Output Tax
Input tax is the sales tax a registered business pays on its purchases; output tax is the sales tax it charges on its sales. The business pays the difference.
Inventory
Inventory is the stock of goods, materials or parts a business holds to sell or use.
Inventory Turnover
Inventory turnover is how many times a business sells through its average stock in a period, calculated as cost of goods sold divided by average stock at cost.
Invoice
An invoice is a document a seller issues to a buyer that lists the goods or services supplied, their prices and the amount due, usually with payment terms.
Invoice vs Bill
An invoice is the document a seller gives a buyer asking for payment for goods or services, and the same document is a bill from the buyer's side.
J
JazzCash
JazzCash is a mobile wallet and branchless banking service in Pakistan, used to send and receive money, pay bills and pay shops by number or QR code.
K
Khata
A khata is a ledger, traditionally a paper register, that records what each customer owes a shop on credit and what they have paid back.
Kitchen Display System (KDS)
A kitchen display system is a screen in the kitchen that shows incoming orders in place of printed tickets, and lets cooks mark dishes as cooking and ready.
KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket)
A KOT is the ticket, printed or on a screen, that tells the kitchen what to cook for an order.
L
Landed Cost
Landed cost is the full cost of getting goods into your shop: the purchase price plus freight, loading, duties, taxes that cannot be claimed back, and other charges, less any discount.
Layaway
Layaway is reserving an item and paying for it in parts; the customer takes it home once it is fully paid.
Lead Time
Lead time is the number of days between placing an order with a supplier and receiving the goods.
Ledger
A ledger is a book or file that records transactions grouped by account, such as a customer, a supplier or an expense, with a running balance for each.
Loose Sale
A loose sale is selling part of a pack, such as single tablets from a strip, single cigarettes or a few eggs from a tray, at a per-unit price.
Loyalty Points
Loyalty points are credits a customer earns on purchases and can later redeem for a discount or a gift, to encourage repeat visits.
M
Making Charges
Making charges are what a jeweller charges for the labour of making a piece, added to the value of the gold or silver in it.
Markdown (Price)
A markdown is a lasting reduction in the selling price of an item, usually to clear slow or old stock, unlike a discount, which is applied to a particular sale.
Markup
Markup is the amount added to the cost price to get the selling price, usually expressed as a percentage of cost.
Menu Engineering
Menu engineering is the review of each dish by how often it sells and how much profit it earns, to decide which dishes to promote, reprice, change or remove.
Modifiers (Add-ons)
Modifiers are options a customer chooses with an item, such as extras, removals, spice level or size, which may change the price and are passed to the kitchen.
MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
MOQ, or minimum order quantity, is the smallest amount of an item that a supplier is willing to sell in one order.
MRP (Maximum Retail Price)
MRP is the retail price printed on a product's pack by the manufacturer, which is the most a shop is expected to charge the customer.
Multi-Branch Management
Multi-branch management is running several shops or outlets from one system, with each branch's stock, cash and sales kept separately and seen together.
N
Net Profit
Net profit is what is left from sales after the cost of goods and all business expenses have been taken off.
NTN (National Tax Number)
The National Tax Number is a taxpayer's identification number with FBR, obtained through FBR's IRIS portal.
NTN vs STRN
An NTN (National Tax Number) identifies a taxpayer for income tax with FBR, while an STRN (Sales Tax Registration Number) identifies a business registered for sales tax.
O
Offline POS
An offline POS keeps making bills when the internet is down, saving them on the device and sending them to the server when the connection returns.
Online Marketplace
An online marketplace is a website or app where many sellers list products and customers buy from them, with the platform handling the storefront and often payment and delivery.
Opening Float
The opening float is the fixed amount of change placed in the cash drawer at the start of a shift, before any sale is made.
Opening Stock
Opening stock is the quantity and value of goods a business has at the start of a period, or when it starts using a new system.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses are the regular costs of running a business that are not part of the goods sold, such as rent, salaries, electricity and internet.
Overhead
Overhead is the ongoing cost of running a business that is not tied to making or selling a single item, such as rent, electricity, salaries and internet.
P
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is a service that lets a website or app accept card, wallet or bank payments online and passes the money to the seller's account.
Petty Cash
Petty cash is a small amount of cash kept for minor business expenses such as tea, transport, cleaning and small repairs.
POS (Point of Sale)
The point of sale is where a sale is completed: items are scanned or picked, payment is taken and a receipt is given.
POS Machine
A POS machine is the device at a shop counter, a computer, tablet or all-in-one terminal, that runs billing software and is usually connected to a receipt printer, barcode scanner and cash drawer.
Prescription
A prescription is a written instruction from a doctor or other licensed prescriber naming the medicines, strength, dose and duration for a patient.
Price List
A price list is a list of products with their selling prices, often with separate columns for retail, wholesale and pack prices.
Procurement
Procurement is the process a business follows to choose suppliers, order goods or services and pay for them.
Product Variant
A product variant is one version of a product that differs by size, colour, flavour or similar, and has its own stock, price and code.
Profit and Loss Statement (P&L)
A profit and loss statement is a report of sales, costs and expenses over a period that shows whether the business made a profit or a loss.
PTA Approved
A PTA-approved phone is a handset registered with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, so it keeps working on Pakistani mobile networks.
Purchase Bill
A purchase bill is the document a supplier gives a business for goods it has bought, showing the items, quantities, prices and amount due.
Purchase Order (PO)
A purchase order is a document a buyer sends a supplier listing the items, quantities and agreed prices it wants to buy.
Purchase Return
A purchase return is goods sent back to the supplier because they were damaged, wrong, short-dated or unsold under an agreed return arrangement.
Q
Qist (Installment Plan)
Qist is selling an item on installments: the customer pays an advance, takes the item, and pays the rest in fixed monthly amounts.
QR Code
A QR code is a square pattern of dots that a phone camera can read, used to open a link or carry information such as a payment request.
Quotation
A quotation is a written offer to supply goods or services at stated prices, valid for a set time, given before the customer decides to buy.
R
Raast
Raast is the State Bank of Pakistan's instant payment system for real-time transfers between bank and wallet accounts, using a Raast ID such as a mobile number.
Raast QR (Merchant QR)
A merchant QR is a code displayed at the counter or printed on the bill that customers scan with a banking or wallet app to pay the shop directly.
Receipt
A receipt is the slip given to a customer as proof of payment, listing what was bought, the prices, any discount, the total and how it was paid.
Recipe Costing
Recipe costing works out the cost of one portion or batch of a dish by adding up the cost of every ingredient in the quantity the recipe uses.
Refund
A refund is money paid back to a customer for a returned item or a cancelled order.
Reorder Level
A reorder level is the stock quantity at which a new order should be placed, so stock arrives before the shelf runs empty.
Reseller
A reseller is a person or business that buys products from a maker or wholesaler and sells them again, often without making the product themselves.
Retail Margin
Retail margin is the part of the selling price a shop keeps after paying for the goods, usually shown as a percentage of the selling price.
RTO (Return to Origin)
RTO is a parcel that the courier could not deliver, or the customer refused, and that is sent back to the seller.
S
SaaS (Software as a Service)
SaaS, or Software as a Service, is software you use over the internet and pay for on a monthly or yearly plan, instead of buying and installing it once.
Safety Stock
Safety stock is the extra quantity of an item kept in hand so the shop does not run out if sales are higher than expected or a delivery is late.
Sales Return
A sales return is goods coming back from a customer after a sale, with the stock put back and the money refunded, adjusted in khata or exchanged.
Sales Tax (GST)
Sales tax, often called GST in Pakistan, is a tax on the supply of goods charged under the federal Sales Tax Act, 1990, with services taxed separately by the provinces.
Sales Tax Invoice
A sales tax invoice is the invoice a sales tax registered person must issue for a taxable supply, showing the details the Sales Tax Act, 1990 requires, including both parties' registration numbers and the tax charged.
Sales Tax on Services
Sales tax on services is the tax provinces charge on services such as restaurants, salons, gyms and courier work, collected by PRA, SRB, KPRA and BRA under provincial laws.
Scale Barcode
A scale barcode is a label printed by a weighing scale that carries the item code together with its weight or price, so the counter can bill a loose item by scanning it.
Serial Number Tracking
Serial number tracking records the unique serial of each high-value unit from purchase to sale, so every piece can be traced for warranty, returns and theft.
Service Charge
A service charge is a percentage or fixed amount a restaurant or service business adds to the bill for service, separate from the price of food and from tax.
Shrinkage
Shrinkage is stock that is lost without being sold, through theft, damage, spoilage, counting mistakes or supplier short deliveries.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
An SKU is a code for one exact product variant in stock, so each size, colour or pack size is counted separately.
SKU vs Barcode
A SKU is the internal code a business gives an item to track it, while a barcode is the printed pattern a scanner reads, which may carry a manufacturer's code or your own.
Split Bill
Splitting a bill means dividing one table's order into separate bills, by item or by equal shares, so each guest pays their own part.
Split Payment
A split payment is one bill paid with more than one method, such as part cash and part card, wallet or khata.
Stock Adjustment
A stock adjustment is a manual correction to a product's stock quantity, with a reason, when the system figure does not match reality.
Stock Register
A stock register is the record of each item a business holds: what came in, what went out and what is left on hand.
Stock Take
A stock take is a physical count of the goods on the shelves and in the store, compared with what the system says should be there.
Stock Transfer
A stock transfer moves goods from one branch, store or warehouse of the same business to another, reducing stock at one place and adding it at the other.
Stock Valuation
Stock valuation is the money value of the inventory a business holds on a date, usually counted at cost.
Stock-out
A stock-out is when an item a customer wants is not available because the shop has sold all of it.
STRN (Sales Tax Registration Number)
The Sales Tax Registration Number identifies a business registered with FBR for sales tax.
Supply Chain
A supply chain is the series of steps and businesses that move a product from the maker, through wholesalers and shops, to the final customer.
T
Table Turnover
Table turnover is how many times a restaurant table is used by new guests during a meal period or a day.
Thermal Receipt Printer
A thermal receipt printer prints bills on heat-sensitive paper rolls without ink, usually 58 mm or 80 mm wide.
Tier-1 Retailer
Tier-1 retailer is the sales tax category for larger retailers, such as chain-store outlets and shops in air-conditioned malls, that must integrate their POS with FBR.
Tola
A tola is the traditional South Asian unit for weighing gold and silver, equal to about 11.66 grams, and the unit in which gold rates are quoted in Pakistan.
Trade-In
A trade-in is when a customer hands over an old item, such as a used phone or old gold, and its agreed value is counted towards the price of a new one.
U
Udhaar
Udhaar is credit given to a customer: goods are taken now and paid for later.
Unit of Measure
A unit of measure is the unit in which a product is bought, stocked or sold, such as piece, dozen, carton, kg, litre or metre.
UPC (Universal Product Code)
UPC is the 12-digit barcode standard used mainly in the United States and Canada, readable by the same scanners as EAN-13.
V
Variable Cost
A variable cost is an expense that rises and falls with the amount sold or produced, such as the cost of goods, packaging or delivery.
Vendor
A vendor is a person or company that sells goods or services to a business, also called a supplier.
Void (Bill Void)
To void a bill is to cancel a completed sale so it no longer counts, while keeping a record that it existed and who cancelled it.
W
Warranty
A warranty is a promise by the seller or maker to repair, replace or refund a product that develops a fault within a stated period.
Wastage
Wastage is stock that is damaged, spoilt, expired or used up without being sold, and must be written off.
Wholesale Price
A wholesale price is the lower price charged to buyers who purchase in bulk or resell the goods, such as retailers, contractors or institutions.
Wholesale vs Retail
Wholesale is selling goods in large quantities to businesses that resell them, while retail is selling single items or small quantities directly to the final customer.
Withholding Tax
Withholding tax is income tax deducted at source by the payer, such as a company paying a supplier, and deposited with FBR on the recipient's behalf.
Work Order
A work order is an instruction to carry out a specific job, such as a repair, an installation or a production run, with the work, parts and person responsible.
Working Capital
Working capital is the money tied up in running the business day to day: stock plus money owed by customers plus cash, minus what is owed to suppliers.
Z
Z-Report
A Z-report is the end-of-shift or end-of-day summary that totals the sales, payments, returns and cash for a till and closes it.
Short answer
Business and retail words explained simply, in English with the Roman Urdu meaning: khata, udhaar, POS, SKU, batch, margin, COD and more, each with an example from a Pakistani business and how Nafaa handles it.
Roman Urdu mein
Karobar ke alfaaz asaan zubaan me: khata, udhaar, POS, SKU aur bohat kuch, misaal ke saath.
Key facts
- Each term
- Meaning, Roman Urdu, an example and how Nafaa handles it
- Languages
- English with Roman Urdu
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