Glossary
Approval, process and back-office terms, explained
31 plain-English definitions for the words that come up when you organize approvals, onboarding, purchasing and other internal processes, each with an example.
A
Accountable plan
An accountable plan is an IRS-recognized way to reimburse employee business expenses so that the payments are not treated as taxable wages.
FinanceApproval matrix
An approval matrix is a table that says who can approve which type of request, up to which amount, so approvers follow from rules.
FinanceApproval workflow
An approval workflow is the fixed route a request follows to get a yes or no: who reviews it, in what order, and under which rules.
Process managementAudit trail
An audit trail is a chronological record of who did what and when on a transaction or record, detailed enough to reconstruct how it got there.
Process managementB
C
COBRA continuation coverage
COBRA lets employees and their families keep group health coverage for a limited time after events like job loss, usually paying the full premium.
HRCorrective and preventive action (CAPA)
Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) fixes the root cause of a problem so it does not recur, and prevents likely problems before they happen.
OperationsCycle time
Cycle time is how long a piece of work takes from start to finish, such as the days between submitting a purchase request and placing the order.
Process managementD
E
Employee offboarding
Employee offboarding is the set of steps when someone leaves: access removal, equipment return, final pay, benefits notices and knowledge handover.
HREmployee onboarding
Employee onboarding is everything between a signed offer and a productive new hire: paperwork, equipment, accounts, training and a first-week plan.
HREscalation
Escalation brings in more people or a higher level when a task is overdue or beyond its owner's authority, so it does not stall.
OperationsExpense report
An expense report is the form an employee submits to list business expenses paid out of pocket or on a company card, with receipts, for approval.
FinanceF
Form I-9
Form I-9 is the federal form every US employer completes for each new hire to verify identity and authorization to work in the United States.
HRForm W-9
Form W-9 is the IRS form a US person or business fills in to give its taxpayer identification number to a payer that must file information returns.
FinanceI
N
P
Petty cash
Petty cash is a small cash fund kept on site for minor expenses, refilled only after the custodian accounts for what was spent with receipts.
FinancePrinciple of least privilege
The principle of least privilege gives each person and system only the access needed to do the job, and nothing more, for no longer than needed.
ITProcess documentation
Process documentation records how work actually gets done (steps, owners, inputs, rules and exceptions) so others can run, audit and improve it.
Process managementProof of delivery
Proof of delivery (POD) is the record that goods reached the right recipient: who received them, when, where and in what condition.
OperationsPurchase order
A purchase order (PO) is the document a buyer sends a supplier to confirm what it is buying, in what quantity, at what price and on what terms.
FinancePurchase requisition
A purchase requisition is an internal request to buy something. Once it is approved, purchasing turns it into a purchase order for the supplier.
FinanceR
S
Segregation of duties
Segregation of duties splits a transaction among different people, so no one person can request, approve, record and pay for it alone.
FinanceService level agreement (SLA)
A service level agreement (SLA) is a commitment on how fast or how well a service is delivered, such as answering IT tickets within one business day.
OperationsStandard operating procedure (SOP)
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written, step-by-step description of how a recurring task is done, by whom, and to what standard.
Process managementT
Three-way match
A three-way match pays an invoice only when it agrees with the purchase order and with the receiving record that shows the goods arrived.
FinanceTwo-way match
A two-way match checks a supplier invoice against its purchase order (items, quantities and prices) before the invoice is approved for payment.
FinanceU
W
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