The Glossary.
Plain-English definitions of the 95 concepts our templates are built on — grouped by what you're running, so the terms map to the lines they belong to. Every entry links to a full explainer and the templates that put it to work.
Operator OS
Pricing, costing, inventory and selling for a small operation.
- Bid markup The percentage a contractor adds to a job's cost to set the price — not the same as margin.
- Effective hourly rate What a freelancer actually earns per hour once you count every hour behind the money — revenue ÷ hours worked, not the rate you quoted.
- Flat-rate pricing Charging a fixed, up-front price for each service task instead of billing by the hour — the price book service trades quote from.
- Cost-per-mile What it costs an owner-operator to run their truck one mile — the floor under every freight rate.
- Standard mileage deduction The IRS deduction for business driving — your business miles times the year's standard mileage rate, which bundles gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation into one rate. The tax break most gig drivers lose for want of a log.
- Cost basis (for resellers) What an item truly cost you to have for sale — purchase price plus supplies plus a share of sourcing mileage — the number you subtract from a sale to find real profit and the figure that offsets a 1099-K.
- RevPAR Revenue per available night for a short-term rental — accommodation revenue divided by available nights, blending nightly rate and occupancy into one number to compare listings fairly.
- Schedule E The US tax form where landlords report rental income and expenses — rents received minus operating costs, line by line, to a net rental income; the form a landlord workbook keeps ready all year.
- Cost of doing business A photographer's yearly overhead plus target pay over billable hours — the cost per hour that's the floor under every package price.
- Booth rent A flat fee a hairstylist or barber pays a salon to use a chair — you keep your income and tips and run as an independent 1099 business.
- Cost per service What one appointment costs a beauty pro to deliver — the supplies it consumes at their cost per use, plus the share of room overhead the chair time occupies. The floor under every menu price.
- COGS The direct cost of making what you sell — the materials and labor in each unit.
- Recipe costing Pricing a made product by costing every ingredient and step that goes into it.
- Profit margin What's left after costs, as a percentage of price — the number that says if a product pays.
- Print-on-demand margin The profit left on a print-on-demand sale after base cost, fees, and shipping, as a percent of what the buyer pays.
- Makeup-lesson policy The rule a private teacher sets for when a canceled lesson earns a makeup credit versus is charged — the notice window, late cancels, no-shows, and credit expiration.
- Keystone pricing The old retail rule of doubling your cost — a 100% markup, a 50% margin — and where it fits (and doesn't) for handmade work.
- Etsy SEO How Etsy ranks listings, and the titles, tags and attributes that get you found.
- SKU system A consistent code scheme for products and variants so inventory stays unambiguous.
- Restricted fund accounting How a nonprofit tracks money a donor gave for a specific purpose separately from money it can spend freely — restricted vs. unrestricted net assets.
- Year-end giving statement The annual summary a congregation gives each household of what they contributed that year — the total, often split by fund — for the household's own records and taxes.
- Effective CPM What a brand deal actually pays per 1,000 people reached — fee ÷ reach × 1,000 — the honest verdict on whether a sponsorship was priced fairly against your floor.
- Usage rights A brand's permission to use your content beyond the organic post — ads, whitelisting, or a buyout — priced as a separate line, commonly +25–50% for paid usage.
Team & Talent
Seeing a team's capability and risk on one grid.
- 30-60-90 plan An onboarding plan splitting a new hire's first three months into three phases — learn and set up, contribute and connect, own and grow — with goals, owners, and check-ins for each.
- 9-box grid A 3×3 grid plotting people on performance × potential, from Talent Risk to Star — for talent reviews and succession planning.
- Mentorship program A structured effort pairing mentors with mentees to work on development goals, with a coordinator matching pairings and tracking participation, goal completion, and satisfaction.
- One-on-one meeting A short, regular, recurring conversation between a manager and one of their people — for progress, blockers, feedback, and development, kept on track by a running record.
- Performance calibration The review-cycle step where managers compare rating distributions across the team and across raters before ratings are final — to catch rating inflation and rater-to-rater drift.
- OKR Objectives and Key Results — a qualitative goal paired with measurable key results scored each cycle, to set and track team goals and roll them up.
- Skills matrix A grid scoring people against skills — to spot gaps, plan staffing and find key-person risk.
- Competency matrix A grid scoring people against a role's competency framework — the level each is expected to reach, and where they stand — for reviews, progression, and development.
- Structured interview A hiring interview that asks every candidate the same job-related questions and scores the answers on the same anchored scale — a fairer, more consistent way to hire than a free-form chat.
- Stay interview A short conversation with a current employee to learn what keeps them and what would make them leave — the opposite of an exit interview, asked while you can still act on it.
- ILUO matrix A skills matrix using the four-step In training / Limited / Unsupervised / Operator scale to show coverage and key-person risk.
- Cross-training Teaching people to run tasks beyond their main role, so more than one person can cover each task — a fix for single points of failure.
- Toolbox talk A short, focused safety briefing — five to fifteen minutes on one hazard, given to a crew before a shift or task, then logged as a record that it happened.
- PTO accrual How employees earn paid time off over time — a set amount each pay period — instead of a lump annual grant. The balance is the part you track.
- Volunteer skills matrix A grid of volunteers against roles, recording who's ready for each — to see coverage, build the roster, and spot gaps.
- Gap analysis The structured distance between where you are and where you need to be.
- Training-needs analysis Comparing the skills a team needs against the skills it has, then ranking and costing the training that closes the gap — a TNA.
- Pay band A salary range — minimum, midpoint, and maximum — for a level of work, the building block of a pay structure.
- Compa-ratio A salary divided by its band midpoint — 1.00 sits at the midpoint — so pay is comparable across roles.
- Succession planning Naming and developing who could step into each critical role, so a key departure doesn't stall the business.
- Bus factor How many people would have to be lost before the work stops — a bus factor of one is a single point of failure.
- Regrettable turnover The share of departures you'd have preferred to keep — separating a real retention problem from healthy, expected churn, and the most useful split in any turnover number.
- Cost of turnover The fully-loaded cost of losing and replacing one person — recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and ramp time — commonly a fraction of annual salary and up.
- Labor cost percentage Total labor cost divided by sales for the same period — the number shift-based businesses use to judge whether a schedule is affordable.
- Utilization rate Booked or billable hours divided by available hours — the share of a person's capacity spent on client work, and the number teams that sell time watch for idle cost and overload.
- Capacity planning Matching committed work against available people-hours ahead of time — spotting over-allocation and slack so you can answer whether the team can take on the next project.
- Seasonal staffing Hiring a temporary workforce to meet a predictable peak — holiday retail, a summer rush, harvest, warehouse Q4 — then unwinding it; sized from a demand forecast, timed backward from opening day, and costed against revenue.
- Freelancer bench The roster of contractors and freelancers an agency or studio can call on to staff projects — who they are, what they can do and at what level, their rate, and whether they're available.
- On-the-job training Structured learning done while doing the real work, under a mentor — logged by hours against the competencies it builds, and verified by sign-off. The hands-on half of an apprenticeship.
- Registered apprenticeship A formal earn-and-learn program registered with a government agency, combining paid on-the-job training with related classroom instruction, that leads to a recognized credential.
Life Admin
Keeping health, home and records in order before you need them.
- Life-admin binder One organized place recording where a household's documents, accounts, insurance and wishes live — a map, not a vault.
- Emergency binder One organized record of a household's evacuation plan, documents to grab, home inventory and contacts — ready before an emergency. A readiness record, not professional advice.
- Family command center One place a household keeps its shared schedule, deadlines, forms and contacts — physical, digital or both — so the information stops living in one person's memory.
- Household operations manual One organized reference for how a home runs — utilities, shutoffs, maintenance, emergency contacts and an if-I'm-away handoff. A map to the house, not the codes.
- Vehicle service history The dated, mileage-stamped record of every service and repair a vehicle has had — what was done, when, at what odometer, by whom. The proof a buyer, a mechanic, or a warranty claim asks for.
- Home maintenance log One record of a home's appliances, warranties, repairs and seasonal upkeep — so coverage, model numbers and service history are findable when something breaks.
- Estate binder An organized record of where a person's will, accounts, insurance and wishes are kept — what an executor needs. Not a will.
- Caregiver binder One organized record of an aging parent's care — medications, appointments, providers, insurance and documents. A record of care, not medical advice.
- Aging in place Staying in your own home safely as you get older, rather than moving to assisted living — usually with home-safety modifications like grab bars, better lighting, and removed trip hazards.
- IEP An Individualized Education Program — the written plan a public school develops for a student who qualifies for special education, setting their goals, services and accommodations. Not the same as a 504 plan, and not legal or educational advice.
- Baby records binder One organized place for a baby's first years — growth, milestones, feeding and sleep, appointments and where documents live. Records and memories, not medical advice.
- Heritage recipe A family recipe handed down by cooking, not writing — measured 'by feel' and tied to the cook who made it. It carries a family's history, and it vanishes with the person who knows it unless it's written down.
- Medication tracker One organized record of the medications someone takes — the dose, the schedule, refills, and the appointments around them. Not medical advice.
- Home inventory A room-by-room record of what you own, for insurance claims and peace of mind.
- Blood pressure What the two numbers mean, and how to log readings between appointments.
- Resting heart rate Your heart rate at rest, what's normal, and why the trend matters more than one reading.
- A1C A lab test that estimates your average blood glucose over about three months — the long-arc companion to your daily readings. Not medical advice.
- Financial affidavit A sworn statement of your income, expenses, assets and debts, filed in a divorce so support and property are decided on full information. A court form, not legal advice.
- Zakat Islam's obligatory annual almsgiving — commonly 2.5% of qualifying wealth held a full lunar year, once it passes the nisab threshold. General background, not a religious ruling.
- Tithe Traditionally a tenth — 10% — of income given to one's church or faith community, with offerings often given on top. General background, not religious advice.
- EOB (Explanation of Benefits) The statement a health insurer sends after processing a claim — not a bill. It shows what was charged, allowed, and paid, and what your responsibility is: the number to check a medical bill against.
- Insurance appeal A formal request asking your health insurer to reconsider a denied or underpaid claim, on a firm deadline. Most people never file one — and a meaningful share of appeals succeed.
- SSDI Social Security Disability Insurance — the benefit you qualify for through your own work record when a condition stops you working. Decided in five steps, with a 60-day appeal window that runs from receipt — 65 days from the notice date in practice.
- ALJ hearing The third level of a Social Security disability appeal: an impartial judge reviews your claim again. Non-adversarial — there is no lawyer for SSA arguing against you.
- Travel points program A loyalty program that rewards flying, staying, or spending with points or miles you redeem for travel — airline miles, hotel points, and card points. Balances often expire, frequently on inactivity.
Big Decisions
Scoring a high-stakes choice instead of agonizing over it.
- PITI What the four letters of a mortgage payment mean — principal, interest, taxes and insurance — and the costs the payment still leaves out.
- Total cost of ownership (TCO) Every cost of owning something across the whole time you own it — purchase, financing, carrying costs, replacements and the cost to exit — not just the sticker price.
- Decision matrix Score options against weighted criteria to make a hard choice defensible.
- Weighted decision scoring Rate each option against criteria that each carry a weight, so the best overall fit — not the loudest factor — wins.
- Total compensation The full annual value of a job offer — base, bonus, equity, and benefits, minus what you pay back — not just the base salary.
- BATNA Your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement — what you'll do if the deal falls through, and the true source of your leverage.
- Amortization How a loan's balance, interest and principal change over its life.
Trackers
Cataloging the things you love.
- Wuxia The Chinese martial-arts genre of the jianghu, where skill comes from training, not divinity — and how it differs from xianxia, xuanhuan, and guzhuang.
- K-pop photocard The small collectible idol cards fans trade and collect — where they come from and how trading works.
- Media backlog The pile of shows, games and books you mean to get to — and how to tame it.
- Set retirement When a construction-toy set stops being produced — what it really means for a LEGO® collection's value, and what it doesn't.
- TTRPG A tabletop role-playing game — and how its vocabulary (system, campaign, GM) differs from board-game terms.
More terms
Planning and process frameworks that aren't tied to a single line.
- Kanban board Visualize work as cards moving across columns from to-do to done.
- RACI matrix Settle who's Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task.
- Risk register A log of what could go wrong, how likely, how bad, and what you'll do about it.
- Stakeholder register Who has a stake in the work, their influence, and how to keep them engaged.
- SWOT analysis Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats — a quick strategic snapshot.