20 Top Business Administration Vocabulary Words for English Learners

(1) Facilitate

To facilitate means to make things easier and help them run more smoothly. A facilitator is the person whose job is to facilitate.
Sample sentence: “The course facilitator is there to provide guidance and encouragement for the group to find out the answers
for themselves.”
(2) Coordinate

The verb to coordinate means to arrange for two or more parties (people or groups) to work together. The person
who coordinates tasks or activities is known as a coordinator.
Sample sentence: “We need someone to coordinate the conference call with our business partners in Europe and Asia.”
(3) Prioritize

To prioritize means to deal with things in their order of importance or urgency. Things that are more important are given a
higher priority so they get done before the less important things.
Sample sentence: “I have eight emails waiting in my inbox. Let me prioritize which ones I should answer first.”
(4) Schedule

The verb to schedule means to plan for an event (such as meetings, conference calls and deliveries) to take place at a certain time
and place.
Sample sentence: “Peter’s stuck in a traffic jam. We may run into scheduling problems if we can’t confirm what time he’ll be at
the office for the meeting.”
(5) Process

The verb to process means to put something through a series of actions to achieve a certain result. The
noun processing describes the series of actions and steps needed to produce a certain result.
Sample sentence: “You may submit your business loan application today. Processing usually takes up to two to three weeks.”
(6) Motivate

The verb to motivate means to provide a good reason for doing something, or to encourage someone to work harder.
Sample sentence: “George doesn’t seem to be putting in much effort lately. It’s time his sales manager steps in
and motivates him to meet his quota.”
(7) Collaborate

The verb to collaborate means to work together with another person or group to achieve a common goal.
Sample sentence: “Higher management wants us to collaborate with our partners in Britain to develop a better product.”
(8) Supervise

The verb to supervise means to direct and be in charge of someone or something. The adjective supervisory is used to describe
the quality of someone who’s in charge.
Sample sentence: “The contractor will be in later to supervise the office remodeling.”
(9) Document

You might already know that the noun document refers to a paper or computer file. The noun documentation refers to the
creation of records or files.
Sample sentence: “I think you should read the document carefully before signing it.”
(10) Budget

The verb to budget means to make a plan for the amount of money to spend on something. The word budget can also be used as
a noun to mean the amount of money that’s made available for spending.
Sample sentence: “If you’re organizing a year-end office party, you’ll have to work out a budget for it.”
(11) Negotiate

The verb to negotiate means to formally discuss something and come to an agreement. The noun negotiation refers to the formal
discussion to arrive at a decision that all parties agree to.
Sample sentence: “After a week of negotiation, we still can’t agree on the terms of the contract.”
(12) Implement

The verb to implement means to effectively start using or enforcing an action or plan. You might implement a set of measures
or rules, for instance.
Sample sentence: “We’re now ready to implement security measures that we hope will make this office building a safer place for
our employees.”
(13) Communicate

You’ve probably heard of the verb to communicate, which means to pass on information to someone. The
noun communication refers to the act of expressing or exchanging information.
Sample sentence: “Due to the lack of communication, we don’t have all the facts we need.”
(14) Recruit

The verb to recruit means to find suitable people to work for your company.
Sample sentence: “After securing this deal, we had to recruit more managers to head the projects.”
(15) Authorize

The verb to authorize means to give approval or permission to someone to do something. Authorization, or the act of giving
approval, is commonly given in the form of a signature.
Sample sentence: “I’ll have to get my supervisor to authorize this check before I send it to you.”
(16) Merchandise

The noun merchandise simply refers to the products or goods that are bought and sold by your company.
Sample sentence: “This year, there has been an increase in our imports of foreign merchandise.”
(17) Inventory

The noun inventory refers to the items or products you have in stock.
Sample sentence: “The year end is the time when we check our stock and update our inventory lists.”
(18) Turnover

The noun turnover is pretty interesting. It may refer to the amount of money your company receives in sales, or the rate at which
your company’s merchandise is sold and replaced by new stock. It could also mean the rate at which staff leave your company
and are then replaced by new people.
Sample sentence: “Our total sales turnover this year is higher than the past two years combined. You can all expect a bonus at
the end of the year.”
(19) Distribution

The noun distribution refers to the delivery of products or merchandise to your store or business.
Sample sentence: “The new manager takes care of the distribution of our sports and fitness products to other countries.”
(20) Profitability

The noun profitability refers to the profit or amount of money gained from your sales or business.
Sample sentence: “Management would like you to conduct a study of the profitability of expanding our market overseas.”

management - those in charge of running a business

marketing - the commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a
product or service
profit - the amount of money left over after expenses are taken out
telecommuting - involves working at home usually on a computer
downsizing - a planned reduction in the number of employees needed in a firm in order to
reduce costs and make the business more efficient
outsourcing - contracting out selected functions or activities of an organization to other
organizations that can do the work more cost efficiently
R&D - Research and Development: Business or government activity that is purposely designed
to stimulate invention and innovation
headquarters - (usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
market - the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold

25 Advanced Business English Words You Need in

Your Vocabulary Right Now
1. Organize

The verb to organize means to arrange something in an orderly way (such as reports or products) or to plan for a certain function
(such as business meetings or events).
Sample sentence:
Our sales and marketing team will organize the upcoming Annual Sales Convention in Las Vegas.
2. Guidance

The noun guidance comes from the verb to guide, which means to direct or lead the way. Therefore, guidance refers to the act
of giving direction or help.
Sample sentence:
Martha, our manager, tells us we can go to her for guidance any time.
3. Expand

The verb to expand means to increase the size or amount of something. In business, we often talk about expanding a department
or a business.
Sample sentence:
I hear that your company plans to expand to Europe and China next year.
4. Clause

In business law, the noun clause refers to a statement or term in the contract.
Sample sentence:
Our legal team has raised some questions about a couple of clausesin the contract.
5. Null and void

The phrase null and void refers to a contract or clause that’s invalid, non-binding or which has no legal force.
Sample sentence:
Our lease will become null and void in 30 days if we don’t renew it now.
6. Competitor

The noun competitor refers to another business that is trying to perform better than your business and others in the same market.
You can also refer to all of your competitors as the competition.
Sample sentence:
Management is concerned about the number of new competitors entering the market this year.
7. Invoice

The noun invoice refers to an itemized bill showing the list of goods sold or services provided, their prices and the total amount
to be paid.
Sample sentence:
Don’t forget that we need to pay within 45 days of receiving the invoice.
8. Counter offer

A counter offer is an offer you make in response to an offer made by another party. If you’re unhappy with an offer someone has
made to you, you may make a counter offer.
Sample sentence:
John offered to sell me his used car for $15,000. It’s a nice car but that’s a little too expensive. So I’m going to make him
a counter offer.
9. Trademark

The noun trademark refers to an officially registered name, symbol or logo used to represent a product or firm. Trademark can
also be used as a verb. It’s similar in some ways to a copyright or a patent, but not quite the same.
Sample sentence:
One of the most famous trademarks in the world today is the “Golden Arches,” the symbol of McDonald’s.
10. Consensus

The noun consensus refers to an idea or opinion that’s been agreed on by everyone.
Sample sentence:
After a four-hour meeting, the committee still couldn’t come to a consensus, so they’ll be meeting again next week.
11. Public relations

Public relations refers to the activities used to promote and create a good public image of your company so that people will view
it in a positive way. It’s also common to use the abbreviation PR.
Sample sentence:
I feel that sponsoring the Fitness For All program will be an excellent public relations move.
12. Agenda

The noun agenda refers to a list of things to be discussed or done at a meeting or business event.
Sample sentence:
Are you sure we can cover everything on today’s agenda in 2 hours?
13. Visual aids

Visual aids are things like charts, pictures, maps, etc. that make it easier for your audience to understand something. You
commonly use visual aids if you’re giving a presentation or when you’re in a meeting.
Sample sentence:
Your visual aids really helped me get a better picture of this complex construction project.
14. After-sales service

After-sales service refers to the service, such as maintenance and repairs, that you continue to provide after your customer buys
your product or service.
Sample sentence:
Our company’s after-sales service is considered one of the best in the electronics market.
15. Strategy

The noun strategy in business refers to a plan that’s been carefully put together to achieve a certain goal.
Sample sentence:
Our corporate department is developing a strategy to place our company at the top of the tourism industry.
16. Estimate

The noun estimate refers to a general idea about the value, size or cost of something based on a rough calculation. Estimate can
also be used as a verb, but the pronunciation is a bit different; click here to hear the differences.
Sample sentence:
The finance team is requesting estimates from several information technology companies to get an idea of the project cost.
17. Equipment

The noun equipment is used to talk about a set of tools or devices you need for a special purpose. For instance,
office equipment may include photocopiers, cabinets, etc.
Sample sentence:
My manager thinks we should sell off the unused office equipment to create more space.
18. Branch

The noun branch refers to the local office or shop of a company.

Sample sentence:
Our bank will be opening many new branches in smaller cities next year.
19. Dress code

The phrase dress code refers to a set of company rules about what clothing may and may not be worn at work.
By the way, if you want to do business internationally, it’s definitely a good idea to do some research about the dress codes (both
for business and informal situations) for the country you’ll be working in. It may be very formal or strict compared to your home
country—and some rules may surprise you!
It’s also a good idea to check out some pictures to see what business dress looks like in English-speaking countries, as well
as clothing tips for all kinds of situations in countries all over the world.
Sample sentence:
Our company has a strict dress code that requires all customer service staff to wear a suit.
20. Guarantee

The verb to guarantee means to make an assurance, usually in written form, of the quality of your product or service. The
noun guarantee refers to the assurance itself. If the guarantee also involves a physical document, that document is often called
a warranty.
Sample sentence:
Don’t worry, all our products come with a guarantee against major defects.
21. Market research

The phrase market research refers to the research you do to collect information about what your customers need or prefer in a
certain product or service.
Sample sentence:
New market research shows that food manufacturing is one of our country’s top income earners.
22. Authorization

The noun authorization comes from the verb to authorize, which means to give someone the legal or official approval to do
something. Authorization refers to the approval itself.
Sample sentence:
A manager’s authorization is required for refunds over $500.
23. Penalty

The noun penalty refers to an official punishment, usually through a fine or other payment, for breaking a contract.
Sample sentence:
If you don’t pay your suppliers on time, there will be a penalty of 15%.
24. Headquarters

The noun headquarters refers to the head office where a company is controlled or managed from. It can be used with a singular
or plural verb.
Sample sentence:
Apple’s new headquarters in Silicon Valley cost around $5 billion to build!
25. Commercial

The noun commercial refers to a paid advertisement on radio or TV.

Sample sentence:Our marketing department has a brilliant idea for our next Super Bowl commercial.
Basic business terms
1. Business plan

Business plans don’t always go idea –> ???? –> profit.

A business plan is, as the name suggests, a document used to outline plans for a business, setting out
growth goals for the next three to five years, and identifying information needed to achieve those goals,
such as target market, unique selling points, marketing goals, and so on. It might also outline strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats (also known by the abbreviation “SWOT”). Business plans are
essential for those setting up or developing a business, and will be needed in order to secure funding
from banks, the Government or investors.

2. Balance sheet
A balance sheet details the company accounts at a certain point in time (often the end of the financial
year). It lists the values of the company’s assets (things belonging to it), liabilities (what it owes) and
ownership equity (what’s left after liabilities). It’s intended to provide a snapshot of how the company is
doing financially, which can then be compared with goals outlined in the business plan.

3. Start-up

Start-ups can offer a more relaxed working environment.

The term “start-up” is used to describe a brand new business, typically in its first few months or years of
trading. The term has connotations of entrepreneurship, and the implication is often that the company will
grow significantly in size. It’s often associated with the tech industry, because the term was used
extensively during the dot com boom, but it can apply to any new business. Start-ups are typically thought
of as forward-thinking, often with a relaxed atmosphere in unconventional offices. Because start-ups are
in their infancy, they have a small number of employees and often no strict hierarchy, making them
attractive places to work.

4. Forecast
Just as a weather forecast predicts what the weather’s going to be doing, so a business forecast predicts
various aspects of a business’s future movement based on its current situation, external factors, new
products, plans for marketing and such like. The timeframes are usually somewhat longer than those
involved in a weather forecast – three to five year forecasts are common. Types of business forecast
include sales, profit and loss, and cashflow; the latter helps business owners predict whether they’re likely
to run out of money.

5. Marketing
Marketing refers to the promotion of a product or service. It can take numerous forms, including
advertising, emailing customers, sending out leaflets or brochures, engaging with potential customers via
social media, and so on.

6. USP

“Our USP is repetition.”

A “USP” is the “Unique Selling Proposition” of a company, product or service – in other words, what
makes it different from similar offerings. USPs are considered when a company is set up or a new product
or service is launched, and they’re also at the forefront of marketers’ minds, because it’s the unique
aspects that enable those charged with marketing to succeed, by highlighting reasons why customers
should choose them rather than another company.

7. HR
The abbreviation “HR” stands for “Human Resources”, and it’s the part of a company that deals with
matters relating to its employees. The goal of someone who specialises in HR is to ensure that
employees are happy and productive, reducing turnover of employees (that is, reducing the frequency
with which employees leave and new ones are hired) and maximising the cost-effectiveness of the
company’s investment in its workforce. HR oversees employee training and development, enforces
company regulations and deals with payroll (everything to do with the payment of employees). HR is also
there to handle disciplinary matters, and to deal impartially with problems arising between employees,
and between employees and their managers.
8. Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of hiring new employees. Companies exist whose sole purpose is to match
employers with potential employees; these are known as recruitment agencies.

9. Brand

There’s lots of branding on display here.

“Brand” is the term given to a company’s name and the recognisable attributes that go with that company,
which define its unique identity. The company’s tone of voice and design of official communications are
part of what gives it this “brand identity”.

10. Public Relations

Public Relations, or PR, is the role within a business devoted to communicating with the press, and
ensuring favourable media coverage of a company, product or service.

11. Minutes
The “minutes” of a meeting are notes taken during the meeting to record what was said, what was
agreed, and to assign actions to individuals whose responsibility it will be to complete them.

12. Cold call

This is a phone call, usually from a sales representative of a company, to a potential customer or client
who is not expecting the call and with whom there has been no previous contact, with the aim of trying to
sell them something. Cold calls have a bad reputation, and are often referred to by customers as
“nuisance” calls.

Office jargon
A particular category of business-related vocabulary is known in English as “office jargon”, and it’s a
widely derided language all of its own. Also known as “management speak”, these are the self-
aggrandising terms that many people in business use in order to make themselves sound clever and
important; at least, that’s what they think. In reality, most people loathe office jargon, and those who use it
lose the respect of those around them. We introduce you to a few such terms here, so that you know
what they mean if you hear them yourself (and so that you know what to avoid saying in a business
environment!).
13. Going forward
This is usually used to mean “from now on”. Some may consider it to have connotations of moving on
positively from something negative that may have occurred: “we’ll adopt a different approach going
forward”.

14. Thinking outside the box

Thinking outside the box can conjure up some ridiculous images.

A favourite of ‘quirky’ creative agencies, the phrase “thinking outside the box” means to think creatively,
abandoning all preconceptions.

15. Blue sky thinking

The archetypal piece of office jargon, the term “blue sky thinking” is another way of expressing the idea of
“thinking outside the box”.

16. Action
You’ll know the word “action” from its normal contexts, such as action movies, or simply describing
something being done (“taking action”). However, in the business environment this one of many examples
of a noun being turned into a verb. “Can you action that?” might be a request you’d hear in an office,
meaning simply “Can you do that?”
17. Stakeholders

Not that sort of stakeholder…

This word is used to refer to anyone who’s involved in a particular project. If someone has a say in the
outcome of a piece of work, they are a “stakeholder”.

18. Buy-in
This term refers to the idea of gaining acceptance for something. If someone agrees to subscribe to a
particular way of doing things, for example, they are “buying in” to the idea. You might see a phrase like
“seek buy-in from employees” in an HR document discussing the implementation of a new set of rules, for
example.

19. Leverage
Though “leverage” is another word that’s meant to be a noun – meaning the use of a lever to apply force
– it’s often heard in a business context being used as a verb, meaning to utilise something to the
business’s advantage – “leverage our contacts to spread the word”, for example.

20. Touch base

This is surely one of the most cringe-worthy pieces of office jargon, and it’s filtered its way through from
the pitches of American baseball into the offices of the UK. All it means in the office environment is “to
make contact”. You might hear “let’s touch base”, meaning “let’s talk”.
21. On the same page

“All singing from the same hymn sheet” has a much more elegant quality to it.
In the world of office jargon, it’s apparently acceptable to take a well-known idiom – in this case “singing
from the same hymn sheet” – and dumb it down for use in the boardroom. If you’re “on the same page” as
someone, you’re approaching something from the same point of view as them, with the same agreed
assumptions in mind.

22. Feedback
Yet another example of a noun becoming a verb for the purposes of awful office jargon is the word
“feedback”, which should be used as a noun to describe constructive comments on something (as in
essay feedback). However, in an office environment it’s not unusual to hear it used as a verb – “We’re
waiting for him to feed back on the ideas” – or even, horrifically, in the past tense: “He’s fed back to us
that he doesn’t like it”.

23. Price point

For some reason, some business types like to talk about “price points” instead of just “prices”. This is one
of many examples of using more complicated language in lieu of a simpler word or phrase.

24. End of play

Do you need to pretend you’re a footballer to motivate yourself at work?

This irritating term refers to the end of the working day. “Close of play” is a variant, as in “Can you get this
over to me by close of play today?”

25. Drill down

You might hear this term used to describe something that deserves closer inspection: “we need to drill
down to the finer details”.

26. Best practice

You might hear colleagues referring to industry “best practice”, which describes a generally
acknowledged ‘best way of doing things’ in order to achieve optimum results.

27. Core competency

This bewildering phrase refers to the strengths of a person or company. The word “competent” doesn’t
even refer to strength – it means the ability to do something to a satisfactory standard.

28. Scalable

This isn’t what they mean by ‘scalable’.

If something is “scalable”, this means that it’s an idea that will work easily on a larger scale to the one it
currently works on. For example, a “scalable” business model is one that’s easy to replicate in order to
expand the business.

29. Skill set

This refers to someone’s range of skills. It’s jargon because it’s an unnecessary way of describing what
could easily be referred to simply as “skills”.

30. Vertical
You’d have thought that the word “vertical” is simply the opposite to “horizontal”, but not in a business
context. In the world of business jargon, it refers to an area of expertise. Rather than saying “we cater for
the logistics industry”, some business types might say “we cater for the logistics vertical”.
31. Get the ball rolling
This is simply a way of saying “start”. You might hear it at the beginning of a meeting, when the person
organising the meeting might say “let’s get the ball rolling” to mean “let’s begin the meeting”.

32. Annual leave

Robert, from Accounts, taking his annual leave.

Many business people now write in their out-of-office emails that they’re on “annual leave”. This simply
means that they are on holiday. “Annual leave” is really a term used by the military, and it’s unclear how it
became adopted into the world of civilian business.

33. Low-hanging fruit

Imagine picking fruit from a tree: you’d go for the ones hanging low first, as they’re easiest to get. In
business, the phrase “low-hanging fruit” is used to describe the tasks or opportunities that are easiest to
tackle.

34. Quick wins

This horrible phrase refers to the same sort of thing as “low-hanging fruit” – the things that are easiest to
achieve.

35. Helicopter view

Believe it or not, this means “a quick overview”. Why anybody felt that describing it in this way was
necessary is anybody’s guess; but the same could be said of any of the examples on this list of office
jargon, so you’re best off avoiding these terms if you want to be taken seriously in an office environment.