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Create a terminology sheet
Ask the responsible finance team to define the measures used in the presentation and identify the underlying records. Distinguish customer activity from the company’s own earnings where the operating model involves partners or intermediaries. Avoid treating all money passing through a system as the company’s revenue. If a measure is operational rather than an accounting figure, label it accordingly.
Use definitions consistently
Apply the same terms across charts, tables and spoken explanations. Show whether figures are gross or net of specified items only where that treatment has been confirmed. Keep unconfirmed economics visible rather than inventing a margin. A glossary can be short and still prevent major confusion. The editorial task is to make management information understandable; accounting treatment and investment interpretation should remain with the appropriate qualified reviewers.
Put the guide to work
Add one worked example using clearly hypothetical numbers when a definition is difficult to understand. Keep it separate from company results. An example can explain the difference between customer activity and company earnings without implying that the illustrated economics apply to the actual business.
Hypothetical example
A marketplace-style business reports total customer purchase value in one slide and calls it revenue in another. Its terminology review identifies the mismatch. The updated deck labels purchase value separately and directs reviewers to the finance-approved measure of company revenue.
Make it practical.
Use this checklist as you read. Checks are not stored.Published by Tap Tap Go. Product availability and eligibility vary by programme and market. About our stories.
