Glossary of OFBiz Terms and Concepts
This glossary is intended to help beginners with OFBiz terms and concepts. Most of them come from the Data Model Resource Book some are OFBiz specific.
There is a such glossary which defines terms used by the Apache Software Fundation
Concept or Term | Definition | Example |
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Party | User, person, organisation or other entity (where entity is not an OFBiz "Entity" but rather entity in the legal sense) implied in at least one process modelled and implemented by OFBiz.
(from HR glossary) In OFBiz a party is a term used to simplify collecting information that used in a common manner by different people and things. The most common party types are people and groups. Both people and groups have contact information. A party is identified by a unique Party Id. Using this id OFBiz can collect and find contact (and other information and processes) for both people and groups in the same way. This is why you will often see Party Id as a field in a form or a filter as you work in OFBiz. | eg : administrator of the website; a company dealing goods and/or services via the website; an OFBiz customer assigned a unique party identifier, etc. |
| Party Id | The unique identifier for a party. The id is stored as text so in some cases you will see an id that helps you identify the party it is linked to (e.g. Party Id DemoEmployee, or DemoSupplier). Generally by default where the id is created by OFBiz, it will be a number that starts from the sequence 10000. | |
ERP | An acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning, an ERP is basically a category of software used for managing a business. It is often a package containing several individual, but integrated, applications. Some of those applications might be Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, General Ledger, or Point of Sale. | Apache OFBiz, OpenBravo, Odoo |
CRM | Customer Relationship Management |
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E-Business |
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E-Commerce | The buying and selling of goods or services over electronic systems. |
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MRP | Material Requirements Planning |
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SCM | Supply Chain Management |
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CMMS/EAM |
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Vendor | Role of a party that sells something with the system |
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Supplier | Role of a party that something if purchased from |
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Component | An OFBiz component is a directory used by the OFBiz framework to specify and load application server resources necessary to execute an OFBiz instance. Each OFBiz component must have a unique name (typically the name of the root directory for the component) and a configuration file called: "ofbiz-component.xml". Component resources may include, but are not limited to: webapps, Java source/classes, classpath resources, scripts, entity definitions, entity data files, service definitions, service and entity ECA rules, test suites, and encryption keystores. A component contains applications and/or the lower level tools and definitions needed by applications. A component can be used for self-contained extensions, including applications and logic/data modifications, to the suite of tools and applications that come with OFBiz. | NOTE: This definition is too technical for end users. Might be OK in a tech glossary but not here |
Application | A part of Component (at the user level) beginning with the ~webapp directory. A single component may contain several applications each mounted on a unique URL. Within each component, the "ofbiz-component.xml" file defines the available applications and how those applications shall be mounted on URLs. | Examples: OOTB the Accounting component has three applications: Accounting, AP and AR. |
| Agreement | An agreement is a way of recording a business arrangement or contract that your business makes with other companies or individuals. | Examples: Customer or Supplier payment terms (eg.30 days to pay), Discounts (e.g products or volome), Commissions, Customer Contracts (agreement to sell x number of widgets for y price, or sell at y price for a certain time frame) |
| Annual Revenue | Annual revenue is the amount of revenue for a group that is reported in the Party Group Information screenlet of the groups profile See Profile. | |
Assets | These are all of the non-inventory "things" that the enterprise owns. These are items of value owned by the business. There are different types of assets (fixed, current, intangible) In accounting assets are shown as balance sheet accounts. | Examples :Furniture, computer or manufacturing equipment, vehicles, bank accounts, investments and goodwill. |
| Asset Maintenance | Any expense incurred during the process of maintaining an asset. | Real Estate assessor fees, stock broker fees, vehicle maintenance costs |
Accounts Payable | These are the debts that your business owes to suppliers. It is also called 'A/P' for short or 'Creditors'. | |
| Accounts Receivable | These are the outstanding debts that your customers owe to your business. It is also called 'A/R' for short or Debtors. | |
| Accounts Payable Invoice | AP invoice is a document raised by the customer and sent to the company with the details of the items sent, qty sent, price and other details. The company will enter this invoice details in the Payable module and then pay the customer according to the credit terms. This invoice may come along with the consignment or may be sent to the company separately. | |
| Accounts Receivable Invoice | AR Invoice is a document raised by the company and sent to the customer with the details of items sold, qty sold, price, tax and other details. Based on this invoice, the customer will send the payment in case of credit sales. | |
| Accrual Based Accounting | This is a method where you record the income when the sale occurs and not necessarily when you receive the payment. Also you record an expense when you receive goods or services, even though you may not pay for them until later. | |
| Balance Sheet | This is like a financial snapshot of your business at a certain point in time. It lists your assets, liabilities and the difference between the two which is the net worth (or equity) of the business. The balance sheet is also called the 'Statement of Financial Position' | |
| Budget | ||
| Budget Item | ||
| Budget Role | ||
| Capital | This is money invested in the business by the owners. It is also called equity. | |
| Cash Based Accounting | This method is when you record income only when you receive the cash from your customers. You also only record an expense when you actually pay your suppliers. | |
| Chart of Accounts | This is a list or hierarchy of account descriptions that you use to keep the accounting records for your business. | |
| Cost of Goods Sold | This is the amount it costs you to provide your product or services sold to your customers. It is often called and abbreviated to 'COGS' | |
| Creditor | This is a company or an individual that you owe money to. | |
| Credits | One component of every accounting transaction (journal entry) is a credit. Credits increase liabilities and equity but decrease assets. | |
| Current Assets | Normally these are things that the business owns that are in the form of cash or will generally be converted to cash or used up within a year. | Examples: Accounts Receivable (because people owe you money that you expect will pay you), Inventory and money in your company bank account |
| Current Liabilities | Normally these are debts that the business owes that are generally payable within a year. | Examples: Accounts Payable, Taxes and Payroll |
| Debits | One component of every accounting transaction (journal entry) is a debit. Debits increase assets but decrease liabilities and equity. | |
| Debtor | This is a company or an individual that owes you money. | |
| Depreciation | This is a write-off of a portion of the cost of fixed assets, such as vehicles and equipment. It is usually done annually but can be done more frequently. Depreciation is also listed as part of the expenses on the 'Profit & Loss' or 'Income Statement' | |
| Double Entry Accounting | In this method every transaction has two entries: a debit and a credit (also called a journal entry). Debits must always equal credits. Most if not all accounting software use double entry accounting. | |
| End of Year Rollover | At the end of the financial year the Profit & Loss accounts totals are reset to zero and the balance sheet accounts totals are carried forward into the next financial year. | |
| Equity | This is the net worth of your business. It is also called 'Capital' or 'Owner's Equity. Equity is made up of investment in the business by the owners plus any profits that the business has made that hasnt been taken out. | |
| Fixed Assets | These are assets that are generally not going to be converted to cash within a year. | Example: Manufacturing equipment or vehicles. |
| General Ledger | This is a collection of different types of accounts (balance sheet, income, expense) that are used to keep the accounting records of a business. A general ledger works with double entry accounting and journal entries for each transaction. | |
| Income Accounts | These are the accounts that are used to keep track of your sources of income. | Examaple: Sales, Consulting Income or Interest. |
| Income Statement | This is also called a Profit and Loss Statement' or a 'P&L'. It lists the income, expenses, and net profit (or loss) for the business. The net profit (or loss) is equal to the total income minus the total expenses. | |
| Intangible Asset | This is something of value that is owned by the business that cannot be touched physically. | Examples: A trademark, patent or goodwill |
| Inventory | These are goods are held for sale to customers. Inventory is also referred to a Stock. Inventory can be items that are bought for resale or it can be products that are manufactured and sold to the customer. | |
| Invoice Date | This is the date that the invoice was created. Normally this will be based on when products were shipped or services were provided | |
| Invoice Due Date | This is the last possible date that payments can be made or received for an invoice without triggering any late payment penalties | |
| Journal | This is a detailed accounting transaction that is recorded (or posted) in the general ledger. It can also be referred to as a Journal Entry. It is made up of a debit and a credit component. | |
| Journal Entry | This is a detailed accounting transaction that is recorded (or posted) in the general ledger. It can also be referred to as a Journal. It is made up of a debit and a credit component. | |
| Liabilities | These are the debts that your business owes to its suppliers, banks or the government. | Examples can be taxes or loans. |
| Long Term Liabilities | These are debts that a business owes to its suppliers that are not generally due to be paid off within a year. | An example would be a mortgage payment. |
| Net Income | This is also called 'Profit' or 'Net Profit'. It is the total income minus the total expenses | |
| Profit & Loss Statement | his is also called the 'Income Statement' or 'P&L'. It is the total income minus the total expenses for the business. | |
| Retained Earnings | hese are profits from the business that have been kept or 'retained' in the business and not paid out to the owners. | |
| Stock | These are goods are held for sale to customers. Stock is also referred to as Inventory. Stock can be items that are bought for resale or it can be products that are manufactured and sold to the customer. | |
| Trial Balance | This is a list of the general ledger accounts showing the debits in one column and the credits in another. The main objective of a trial balance is to ensure that the total credits and total debits balance (eg. total debits = total credits). It also validates that the double entry accounting is working correctly. | |