Business A to Z

Every trade has words it uses without explaining. In business the cost of not knowing one is real: some of them are ordinary jargon and some of them are a decision that can take a house.

Please note: This page explains what a term means. It is general information, not legal, financial, tax or investment advice, and it does not know anything about your business. Before you sign, file or commit to anything, check it with an accountant, a solicitor, or the official guidance we link to.

Studying business? We write GCSE revision songs, and there is one for business studies. Listen to the revision playlist.

16 terms filed under I, showing 1–10 (page 1 of 2).

I

Importing

Bringing goods in, and the duties and declarations that come with them.

Incoterms

Standard three-letter terms saying who pays for what and where risk passes.

Indemnity

A promise to cover someone else's losses. Broader and more dangerous than ordinary contractual damages.

Influencer and affiliate marketing

Paying somebody else to recommend you, and the disclosure rules that come with it.

Inheritance tax and business property relief

Tax on an estate, and the relief that can apply to a trading business.

Insolvency options

What happens when a company cannot pay, and the choices before it gets there.

Insurance excess and underinsurance

Paying part of a claim yourself, and the penalty for insuring for too little.

Insurance for professional advice

Getting professional indemnity cover right: the retroactive date and run-off.

Intellectual property

Also called IP, Copyright, Trade mark

The rights in what you have created — and by default, some of it does not belong to you.

Interoperability

Whether your systems can work together. Ask before buying, not after.

Something missing?

If there is a word you have been nodding along to, tell us and we will write it up. This library exists because of the questions people were too polite to ask.

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