Every term below links to the post that explains it — definition, formula, and a worked example on real numbers. It grows as posts publish; if a term you need isn’t here yet, it’s probably on the series roadmap.

ABCDEFGINOPQR

27 terms so far.

A

Asset turnover Jargon, Decoded
How much revenue a company generates per rupee of assets. Asset turnover as a pure efficiency measure, and why it says nothing at all about margins.

B

Balance sheet Jargon, Decoded
A balance sheet is a photograph, not a video. What a company owns, what it owes, and why assets always equal liabilities plus equity, read line by line.
Book value per share Jargon, Decoded
What each share is worth on the books. Desi Bites lists on the exchange, and book value per share becomes the first ratio with a share price attached to it.

C

Capex intensity Jargon, Decoded
What share of revenue a company must plough back into plant and equipment just to keep going, and how capital-hungry business models show up in the numbers.
Cash conversion cycle Jargon, Decoded
Inventory, debtor and creditor days combined into one number: how many days cash is genuinely stuck in the business, and what a negative cycle means.
Cash flow statement Jargon, Decoded
Profit is an accounting opinion; cash is a fact. How the three sections of a cash flow statement reveal what an income statement can quietly hide.
Creditor days (payable days) Jargon, Decoded
How long a company takes to pay its own suppliers, and why stretching payables is interest-free funding right up until the point that it isn't.
Current ratio Jargon, Decoded
Can short-term assets cover short-term bills? The current ratio, why textbook thresholds mislead, and the four numbers to read around it before trusting it.

D

Debt-to-equity Jargon, Decoded
How much of a business runs on borrowed money. D/E, why this series counts only interest-bearing debt, and why high leverage is not automatically bad.
Debtor days (receivable days) Jargon, Decoded
Once a sale is made on credit, how long until the cash actually arrives? Debtor days, DSO, and why receivables are a claim on money rather than money.

E

EBITDA margin Jargon, Decoded
EBITDA margin isolates the core operating business before interest, tax and depreciation. What it usefully strips out, and what it conveniently hides.
EPS (earnings per share) Jargon, Decoded
Profit sliced into one share's worth. Why diluted and undiluted EPS diverge sharply after a fresh issue, and which of the two this series always uses.
Equity multiplier Jargon, Decoded
Total assets divided by equity: how far an asset base is levered above the equity backing it, once every liability is counted, not just the loans.

F

Free cash flow (FCF) Jargon, Decoded
After running the business and paying for capex, how much cash is genuinely left over? FCF, the formula, and why negative FCF is sometimes good news.

G

Gross margin Jargon, Decoded
Out of every rupee of sales, how much survives the direct cost of making the thing? Gross margin, COGS, and the pricing power the number quietly reveals.

I

Income statement (P&L) Jargon, Decoded
The P&L is a waterfall from revenue down to profit. Every stopping point along the way, from gross profit to EBITDA to PAT, and what each one tells you.
Interest coverage Jargon, Decoded
Whatever the debt load, can operating profit comfortably pay the interest bill? EBIT over interest, and why lenders reach for this ratio first.
Inventory days Jargon, Decoded
How many days of stock a company sits on before it sells. Inventory days, the formula, and what a steadily rising number usually signals about demand.

N

Net debt/EBITDA Jargon, Decoded
How many years of operating profit it would take to clear the debt. The ratio credit rating agencies watch, and what a negative reading actually means.
Net margin Jargon, Decoded
Net margin is what survives every single cost, including interest and tax. How to read it alongside gross and EBITDA margin rather than on its own.
Net working capital Jargon, Decoded
Current assets minus current liabilities: the rupee cushion between short-term resources and short-term obligations, and when a large cushion is a bad sign.

O

OCF/PAT (cash conversion of profit) Jargon, Decoded
An earnings quality check: how much reported profit turns up as real operating cash in the same year, and what a persistent gap between them tends to mean.

P

P/E (price-to-earnings) Jargon, Decoded
How many years of current earnings the market is charging for. The P/E formula, why high is not automatically expensive, and the earnings quality behind the E.

Q

Quick ratio Jargon, Decoded
The acid test: coverage once inventory is stripped out entirely. Why the quick ratio is the stricter cousin of the current ratio, and when the gap matters.

R

ROA (return on assets) Jargon, Decoded
ROA measures the profit a company squeezes out of everything it owns. How it differs from ROE and ROCE, and why asset-light businesses score so differently.
ROCE (return on capital employed) Jargon, Decoded
ROCE measures the return a business earns on all the capital in it, equity and borrowings together, and why that is often a fairer quality test than ROE.
ROE (return on equity) Jargon, Decoded
ROE asks what shareholders' own money earned this year. The formula, why the average equity denominator matters, and how leverage can flatter the number.