Finance Acronyms: The Boardroom Reference

Every finance acronym that shows up in board meetings, quarterly reviews and investor decks — defined by operators, not textbooks.

Finance is the language the board, your CFO and your investors all share. EBITDA, ARR, MRR, IRR, WACC, LTV, CAC, Rule of 40 — knowing the words isn't optional once you're in the room.

This page is the working finance vocabulary for senior operators: the acronyms that actually come up in P&L reviews, board updates and investor conversations. Click any term for the full definition, a real-world example, and how it shows up in meetings.

The list — 57 acronyms

• ACV — Annual Contract Value
• AOV — Average Order Value
• ARPU — Average Revenue Per User
• ARR — Annual Recurring Revenue (advanced)
• Burn Multiple — Burn Multiple
• Burn Rate — Monthly Cash Burn
• CAC — Customer Acquisition Cost
• CAC Payback — Customer Acquisition Cost Payback Period
• CAGR — Compound Annual Growth Rate
• CapEx — Capital Expenditure
• CCC — Cash Conversion Cycle
• Churn — Customer Churn Rate
• COGS — Cost of Goods Sold
• CRR — Customer Retention Rate
• D&A — Depreciation & Amortization
• DCF — Discounted Cash Flow
• DIO — Days Inventory Outstanding
• EBITDA — Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
• EPS — Earnings Per Share
• EV/EBITDA — Enterprise Value to EBITDA
• EV/Revenue — Enterprise Value to Revenue
• EVA — Economic Value Added
• FCF — Free Cash Flow
• GAAP — Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
• GM% — Gross Margin Percentage
• GRR — Gross Revenue Retention
• IOI — Indication Of Interest
• IPO — Initial Public Offering
• IRR — Internal Rate of Return
• LBO — Leveraged Buyout
• LOI — Letter of Intent
• LTV — Lifetime Value
• LTV:CAC — Lifetime Value to Acquisition Cost Ratio
• M&A — Mergers and Acquisitions
• Magic Number — SaaS Magic Number
• MBO — Management Buyout
• MoM — Month over Month
• MRR — Monthly Recurring Revenue
• NOPAT — Net Operating Profit After Tax
• NPV — Net Present Value
• NRR — Net Revenue Retention
• OpEx — Operating Expenditure
• P/E — Price-to-Earnings Ratio
• P&L — Profit and Loss
• PE — Private Equity
• PIK — Payment In Kind
• QoQ — Quarter over Quarter
• Quick Ratio — SaaS Quick Ratio
• ROCE — Return On Capital Employed
• ROI — Return on Investment
• ROIC — Return On Invested Capital
• Rule of 40 — Rule of 40
• Runway — Months of Survival
• TCV — Total Contract Value
• VC — Venture Capital
• WACC — Weighted Average Cost of Capital
• YoY — Year over Year