Project Glossary.

A

Acceptance Criteria

Objective criteria a deliverable must meet to be accepted by the client. They must be defined before the work starts, not after.

Agile

Iterative development approach based on the Agile Manifesto (2001): incremental delivery, continuous feedback, adaptation to change. Most common flavors in enterprise projects: Scrum, Kanban and SAFe.

Aging (AP/AR Aging)

Open-item bucketing by overdue range (0–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+ days), for vendors (AP) or customers (AR). Key KPI for credit management and cash forecasting.

AP — Accounts Payable

Vendor accounting. The AP flow covers the full procure-to-pay tail: invoice receipt, reconciliation against PO and GR (3-way match), accounting posting, open-item handling, payment run.

AR — Accounts Receivable

Customer accounting. The AR flow covers the order-to-cash tail downstream of the invoice: issue, open-item handling, dunning, cash application and credit management. Directly tied to DSO.

AS-IS / TO-BE

Classic pair from the analysis phase: AS-IS describes the current state of processes, TO-BE the target state. The gap between the two is the scope of the transformation effort.

Asset Accounting

Accounting area for fixed assets: asset master, automated depreciation, retirements, parallel statutory and tax valuations. In ERPs typically integrated with Procurement (asset purchase) and Plant Maintenance.

B

Backlog

Prioritized list of everything left to do. The Product Backlog contains product features; the Sprint Backlog contains the tasks selected for the current sprint.

Batch (lot)

Sub-identification of a material with specific characteristics (expiry date, vendor lot, production run) under the same material code. Critical in pharma, food and chemicals for traceability and product recall.

BAU

Business as Usual. Regular operational activities, as opposed to project work. A typical boundary line when scoping AMS or a go-live cutover.

BOM — Bill of Materials

Structured list of components needed to produce a finished good, with quantities and hierarchy. The heart of MRP, product costing and engineering. Multi-level for complex products.

BRD

Business Requirements Document. Document that captures business needs in language understandable by the client, before they are translated into functional and technical requirements.

Burn-down chart

Chart showing remaining work over time (ideally a curve descending toward zero). Standard tool for tracking sprint or project progress.

C

CapEx / OpEx

Capital Expenditure / Operating Expenditure. Crucial accounting distinction in IT projects: an on-premise license is typically CapEx (capitalized), a cloud subscription is OpEx (expensed). It shapes the business case.

Cash Application

Process of automatically matching incoming bank receipts to AR open items. In modern ERPs enhanced by machine learning engines to reduce manual effort on complex matches.

Change Request (CR)

Formal request to change project scope, time or cost. Must be assessed, approved and documented: managing CRs is one of the most critical governance processes.

Closing (Period-End / Year-End)

Monthly, quarterly or yearly closing: stock valuation, depreciation, accruals, GL reconciliation, period closing. A "fast close" (closing in a few days) is a typical goal for listed companies.

Cost Center

Organizational unit collecting costs of an internal area (a department, a team, a site). Foundation for indirect cost reporting and for allocations to products and orders.

Credit Management

Customer credit risk handling: assigning a credit limit, automatic order block when exceeded, internal or external scores. Fundamental to control DSO and reduce bad debt.

Critical Path

Longest sequence of dependent activities between project start and end. A delay on any critical-path activity delays the whole project: that's where the PM's attention focuses.

D

Deliverable

Tangible, verifiable output the supplier hands to the client: a document, a working system, a report. Deliverables are what gets accepted and paid for under the contract.

Demand Planning

Process of forecasting future demand, the basis for production and procurement planning. Combines historical data, sales forecast and market signals. Typical responsibility of the Supply Chain function.

Dependency

Constraint between two activities: one cannot start (or finish) before the other. Dependencies can be internal to the project or external (a vendor, an authorization, another initiative).

DoD

Definition of Done. List of conditions that must be met for a task to be considered "done" (code written, tested, documented, deployed). Standard practice in Agile teams.

DoR

Definition of Ready. List of conditions a user story must meet before entering a sprint (clear acceptance criteria, dependencies resolved, estimate done).

DPO — Days Payable Outstanding

Treasury indicator: average days between vendor invoice receipt and payment. Higher DPO = better working capital on the AP side; lower DPO = faster payments. To be balanced with contractual terms.

DSO — Days Sales Outstanding

Key OTC indicator: average days between issuing a customer invoice and collecting cash. Lower DSO = faster collections, more efficient working capital. Typical CFO and OTC KPI.

Dunning

Automated process to remind customers of overdue items. Typically structured at escalating levels (1, 2, 3) with final escalation to collections or legal. One of the most automated processes in ERPs.

E

Epic

Agile work item larger than a user story, typically too big to fit in a single sprint. Broken down into multiple user stories during refinement.

Escalation

Formal procedure to bring an issue to the next hierarchical level when it can't be solved at the current one. Escalations should be planned, not improvised.

F

Fit-Gap Analysis

Analysis comparing client requirements with standard product features: what fits, what is a gap requiring customization. Central in SAP Greenfield projects.

Forecast

Updated projection of remaining costs, time or effort based on actual project performance, distinct from the original plan (baseline). Forecast vs baseline delta is a key KPI.

G

Gantt

Horizontal bar chart showing project activities along a timeline, with dependencies and milestones. Old-school but still everywhere in PM tools (MS Project, Smartsheet, Jira).

Gap Analysis

Systematic analysis of the difference between current state (AS-IS) and target state (TO-BE), to size the effort. See also Fit-Gap Analysis.

GI — Goods Issue

Posting of the physical issue of material from the warehouse (customer shipment, production consumption, scrap). Triggers an automatic accounting entry and updates stock.

GL — General Ledger

General ledger or "main book": contains all economic and balance sheet postings and account balances. The heart of accounting: every transaction eventually lands here.

Go / No-Go

Binary decision authorizing (or blocking) the move to a next phase. Classic go/no-go gates: before system go-live, before a rollout, before a code freeze.

Governance

Set of roles, rules and recurring meetings that oversee a project: who decides what, with what cadence, on which documents. Weak governance is the leading cause of project failure.

GR — Goods Receipt

Posting of physical material receipt (from vendor, from production, from customer return). Updates stock and creates the partial accounting document that will close out via GR/IR.

GR/IR — Goods Receipt / Invoice Receipt account

Suspense account balancing the value between goods receipt (GR) and invoice receipt (IR). If the vendor has delivered but not yet invoiced, GR/IR is in debit; if invoiced without delivering, in credit. To be reconciled at close.

H

Hand-over

Formal handover between teams or phases: from project team to run team, from supplier to client, from outgoing to incoming consultant. Includes knowledge transfer and documentation.

Handling Unit (HU)

Physical handling unit: pallet, carton, container with a unique identifier. Allows to move and track groups of materials together. Central in modern warehouses and shipping.

I

Inbound Delivery

Expected goods receipt document: the vendor has confirmed shipment, the system creates the inbound delivery that drives warehouse activities (putaway, quality control, GR).

Issue

A problem that has already happened and needs action (unlike a risk, which is still potential). Tracked in the Issue Log or RAID.

Iteration

Short delivery cycle in Agile (in Scrum it coincides with the Sprint, typically 2 weeks). Allows incremental value delivery and rapid feedback collection.

K

Kanban

Agile method based on a visual board with columns (To Do, Doing, Done) and Work-In-Progress limits. Unlike Scrum it has no sprints: it's continuous flow. Typical for AMS and run teams.

Kick-off

Formal opening meeting of a project: introduces team, objectives, governance, milestones. Held both internally and, in a separate version, with the client.

KPI

Key Performance Indicator. Measurable metric to track project performance (budget adherence, schedule adherence, test hit rate) or business processes (DSO, OTIF, fill-rate, OEE).

L

Lead time

Time elapsed between requesting an activity and its delivery. Used in production (vendor lead time) but also in project management (CR approval lead time).

Lessons Learned

Project closure document gathering what went well, what should be repeated, and what should be avoided. Rarely read but fundamental for organizational maturity.

LIV — Logistics Invoice Verification

Verification of a vendor invoice against PO and GR (3-way match). If matched, the invoice posts in AP; if not, it's blocked until clarified. Heart of P2P control.

M

Material Master

Record holding all information about a material (descriptions, units of measure, classifications, planning data, accounting data). Organized in views by functional area: Basic, MRP, Sales, Purchasing, Costing, Storage.

Milestone

Significant point in the project plan (kick-off, blueprint sign-off, go-live). Milestones have no duration: they are events. Payments are often tied to milestone achievement.

MoM

Minutes of Meeting. Meeting minutes capturing attendees, decisions, action items with owner and due date. Sent within 24 hours after the meeting to consolidate alignment.

MoSCoW

Requirements prioritization technique: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have (this release). Standard in Agile and transformation projects.

MRP — Material Requirements Planning

Algorithm computing material requirements based on demand, stock and lead time. Generates planned purchase and production orders. Heart of operational planning.

MTO / MTS

Make-to-Order / Make-to-Stock. Two opposite production strategies: MTO produces only after customer order (configured, made-to-spec); MTS produces to stock based on forecast (commodity, high-volume). The choice reshapes the entire supply chain.

MVP

Minimum Viable Product. Smallest releasable version that delivers real value to users. Not a "stripped-down" version: the "essential but sufficient" version to validate the idea.

N

NDA

Non-Disclosure Agreement. Confidentiality agreement binding the parties not to disclose confidential information. Typically signed before accessing client data or systems.

NWC — Net Working Capital

Net working capital: trade receivables + inventory − trade payables. Key indicator of operating liquidity. Reducing DSO, optimizing inventory and managing DPO releases cash: an enterprise transformation typically impacts all three levers.

O

OKR

Objectives and Key Results. Goal-setting framework (Google, Intel) based on ambitious qualitative objectives and measurable key results. Modern cousin of KPIs, more outcome-oriented.

On-time / On-budget

The two simplest indicators of project health: schedule adherence and budget adherence. Trivial on the surface, very hard to keep together in complex projects.

Open Items

AP/AR postings not yet cleared: unpaid invoices, uncollected invoices, unreconciled down-payments. Open-item management is the heart of daily accounting work.

OTC

Order to Cash. End-to-end process from order receipt to cash collection. Spans Sales, Logistics, Finance, credit management, billing and collection. Typical KPI for order-to-cash efficiency.

Outbound Delivery

Goods issue document originating from the sales order: drives warehouse activities (picking, packing, GI) and becomes the basis for billing. Pillar of the OTC flow.

P

P2P

Procure to Pay. End-to-end process from purchase request to vendor payment. Spans Procurement, Logistics and Finance. Typical KPI for procure-to-pay efficiency.

Payment Run

Automated execution of vendor payments: the system selects open items based on payment terms, generates a proposal, and after approval produces the bank file (SEPA, MT940) and accounting postings.

Payment Terms

Coding of commercial due dates and discounts (e.g. "net 30", "2/10 net 30"). Drives the due date in AP/AR open items and enables cash discount in the payment run.

Picking

Physical retrieval of goods from the warehouse to fulfill an order. Driven by efficiency rules: wave picking (by waves), batch picking (by similar lots), zone picking (by area). One of the most optimized activities in modern warehouses.

PMO

Project Management Office. Function (or team) overseeing methodology, standards, reporting and cross-project governance. Can be client-side, supplier-side, or joint.

PO — Purchase Order

Procurement document: vendor details, items, quantities, prices, delivery terms. The reference for GR (goods receipt), LIV (invoice verification) and AP accounting. Heart of P2P.

PoC

Proof of Concept. Minimal, scoped implementation to demonstrate that a technology solution is feasible. Unlike an MVP, it isn't meant to go to production: it's only to inform a decision.

Product Owner

Scrum role responsible for the product and the backlog. Decides priority and accepts delivered user stories. Typically a business / client representative, not IT.

Profit Center

Organizational unit collecting both revenues and costs, producing a segmented operating result (by business unit, by product line, by geography). Foundation for internal margin reporting.

Putaway

Physical placement of received goods into warehouse locations. The system proposes the optimal location based on rules (storage area, capacity, rotation). Inverse of picking.

Q

QA

Quality Assurance. Set of processes, roles and activities ensuring deliverable quality: code reviews, tests, audits, quality gates. Distinct from QC (Quality Control) which is just the final check.

Quick Win

Visible result achievable in short time with limited effort. Strategic for building trust and momentum in the first weeks of a transformation project.

R

RACI

Responsibility matrix assigning four roles to each activity: Responsible (does the work), Accountable (answers for it), Consulted (gives input), Informed (kept in the loop). Foundational governance tool.

RAID

Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies. Unified log tracking risks (potential), assumptions (the plan rests on), issues (already happened) and dependencies (toward other teams). Updated at every status meeting.

Reconciliation

Comparison between two data sources that should match: GL vs sub-ledgers (AP/AR/Assets), books vs bank, physical inventory vs accounting stock, GR/IR account etc. A typical period-end activity.

Reorder Point (ROP)

Stock level below which the system automatically generates a purchase or production order proposal. Computed as average consumption during lead time + safety stock.

RFI

Request for Information. Document the client uses to gather preliminary information from suppliers; non-binding. Typically precedes the RFP.

RFP

Request for Proposal. Tender through which the client requests detailed technical and economic proposals from shortlisted suppliers. Generates the offer that becomes the contract base.

RFQ

Request for Quotation. Quote request on a scope already defined. More focused than an RFP: competition is on price, not on solution.

Risk Register

Project risk log with probability, impact, owner and mitigation action. Part of the RAID. Should be reviewed and updated periodically, not only at kick-off.

Roadmap

High-level plan showing how a project (or product) will evolve over time, by phase or milestone. Not the detailed plan: the vision communicated to stakeholders.

ROM estimate

Rough Order of Magnitude. Preliminary cost/time estimate with ±50% accuracy, produced during scoping. Useful to decide whether the project is worth pursuing, not for signing contracts.

Routing

Sequence of operations with times and work centers needed to produce an item. Together with the BOM it's the basis for product cost standards (product costing) and for capacity planning.

S

S&OP — Sales & Operations Planning

Monthly managerial process aligning sales plan, production plan, inventory and finance. The forum where CFO, COO and Sales make coordinated decisions on the supply chain.

Safety Stock

Buffer stock kept above forecast demand to absorb demand or lead-time variability. Configured on the material master and considered by MRP when computing reorders.

Scope creep

Gradual, unmanaged expansion of project scope: new requests accepted without formal CRs, "it's just a small change". The leading cause of time and cost overruns.

Scrum

Agile framework based on fixed-length sprints (typically 2 weeks), three roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team) and five recurring events (Planning, Daily, Review, Retro, Refinement).

SoW

Statement of Work. Contractual document defining scope, deliverables, schedule, price, acceptance criteria of a project. Annexed to the master agreement or standalone.

Sprint

Fixed-length Scrum iteration (1–4 weeks) during which the team produces a usable product increment. Content is locked at the start: if it changes, the sprint is over.

Stage Gate

Phased governance model with stages separated by decision gates: at every gate the project may continue, change or stop. Typical in waterfall projects and multi-year programs.

Stakeholder

Anyone who is affected by the project or affects it: sponsors, users, IT, business, suppliers, regulators. The stakeholder map is one of the PM's first deliverables.

SteerCo

Steering Committee. Project's steering body, made up of client and supplier sponsors. Decides on scope, budget, escalations; doesn't run operational tasks. Typically monthly.

Storage Bin

Most granular physical warehouse location: the shelf, the pallet space, the cell. Identified by a unique code (e.g. 01-A-03-04). Where putaway and picking happen.

Storage Location

Organizational sub-division of a Plant for basic warehouse handling. Distinct from Storage Bin (physical level): the storage location is "logical", the bin is "physical".

Storage Type

Grouping of storage bins with homogeneous characteristics (high-bay rack, fast-pick area, refrigerated zone, quarantine block). Drives putaway and picking strategies.

T

Three-way Match (3-Way Match)

Automated reconciliation across three documents to authorize payment: PO (purchase order), GR (goods receipt) and IR (vendor invoice). If all three match in quantity and price, the invoice is approved; if not, it's blocked. Heart of P2P control.

Time-boxing

Time management technique where an activity has a fixed maximum duration: at the deadline it stops, regardless of completion. Core idea of Scrum (sprint = 2-week time-box).

Tollgate

Synonym for Stage Gate. Formal control point between project phases where progression is decided. Term especially used in automotive and engineering contexts.

Trial Balance

Report of all GL accounts with their balance at a given date, grouped by nature. A standard close-cycle tool: if the trial balance doesn't balance (debit ≠ credit), there's an inconsistency to investigate before close.

U

UAT

User Acceptance Test. Test phase where the client's end users verify that the system meets business requirements. Typically the last gate before go-live.

V

VAT

Value Added Tax. In ERPs managed via tax codes, automatic determination via tax procedure, periodic VAT reporting and electronic filing (in Italy: Esterometro / e-invoice via SDI).

Velocity

Number of story points completed by a Scrum team in a sprint. Once stable over 3–5 sprints, it becomes the basis for forecasting future capacity.

Vendor

Standard English term for supplier. In enterprise contexts often distinguished between vendor (sells the software) and system integrator (implements it).

Vendor Master

Vendor record: general data (address, VAT ID), purchasing (terms, info records), accounting (reconciliation account, payment terms, withholding tax). In modern ERPs unified into the Business Partner concept.

W

Waterfall

Linear, sequential approach: analysis → design → build → test → go-live, one pass per phase. Historically dominant, still suitable for projects with stable, regulated requirements.

Wave (Wave Picking)

Grouping of multiple outbound deliveries into a single picking "wave", optimized by route or by delivery vehicle. Typical technique to optimize warehouse efficiency.

WBS

Work Breakdown Structure. Hierarchical decomposition of the project into ever smaller work units, down to assignable tasks. The basis of the project plan.

Withholding Tax

Tax withheld by the customer at payment time and remitted directly to the tax authority. In ERPs managed via withholding tax codes on the vendor master, automatic computation in the invoice, annual reporting (in Italy: CU).

Workstream

Horizontal stream of work (e.g. Finance, Logistics, Change Management) cutting across all project phases, with its own team and lead. Typical in large, multi-functional programs.