The Pocket Manager [antikvár]

A ABC ANALYSIS - Ranking inventory by three classes (ABC) of descending "usage value" - that is, class A will consist of the 20% of the inventory items which, as Pareto's Law will tell you, account for 80% of the movements in and out of the inventory. Obviously, you concentrate attention on the class A goods in the warehouse and don't waste too much time on the less significant Cs. (See also-. Pareto's Law.) ABOVE-THE-LINE - Two unrelated meanings here, both the opposite of below-the-line. Both above and below have different senses, one financial, the other marketing. Financially, above the line is where they keep the profits - so a firm that charges R&D as a current expenditure (which it should) puts it above the line. A foolish firm, though, would treat R&D as a capital item and set it below that line - thus inflating the profits above. Neither accounting approach, of course, makes a penny's worth of difference to the underlying value of the company. Below the line, though, is a perfectly legitimate place to stow away exceptional items that really shouldn't be charged against current income. In marketing, above-the-line expenditure is obviously a current expense - it's advertising: in the press, on TV, radio, or anywhere else. Below-the-line spending is plainly just as current, but refers to promotional spending: free gifts, sponsorship, in-store displays, competitions.