Business Glossary: [Organisation or domain name]
Governed list of business terms with, for each term, an approved definition, an accountable owner, a steward, a status, related terms and links to the data and metrics that implement it. Definition-writing rules follow the principles of ISO 704:2022 (terminology work), restated in original words; the glossary role is described in the Metadata Management knowledge area of DAMA-DMBOK (2nd Edition Revised), cited by name only. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example. Worked examples use Corvid Commerce, a fictional SaaS retailer.
Document control
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Document ID | [GLOS-BUS-001] |
| Version | [0.1] |
| Status | [Draft / In review / Approved] |
| Register owner | [@head-of-data-governance] |
| Approvers/reviewers | [@governance-council-chair], [@domain-data-owners] |
| Scope | [Domains and languages covered] |
| Catalogue location | [Link to the glossary in the catalogue tool, if exported] |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Classification | [Internal] |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Author | Change summary |
|---|
| 0.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@name] | First 20 terms from the revenue reporting workshop |
| [x.y] | YYYY-MM-DD | [@name] | [Terms added, changed or deprecated] |
1. Scope and rules for inclusion
A term is included when at least one of these is true:
- It names a KPI, a reported figure or a dimension used across more than one team.
- It appears in a contract, policy or regulatory report.
- Two or more teams use it with different meanings today.
- A data product or certified dataset implements it.
Out of scope: product feature names, internal project code names, and technical terms that belong in a data dictionary.
2. Definition-writing rules
| ID | Rule | Weak (Example) | Better (Example) |
|---|
| DR-1 | Define the concept, not the word's history or value | "Net revenue is our most important growth signal" | "Order value after discounts, excluding sales taxes and shipping, for valid orders in a period" |
| DR-2 | Start with the broader category, then the distinguishing characteristics | "Something a customer does on the site" | "A customer visit to a storefront that contains at least one page view" |
| DR-3 | One sentence where possible; put rules and examples in separate fields | Long paragraphs mixing formula, exceptions and owners | Short definition; exceptions in the Notes field |
| DR-4 | No circular definitions: do not use the term, or a term that depends on it, in its own definition | "An active customer is a customer who is active" | "A customer with at least one valid order in the last 90 days" |
| DR-5 | Use other approved terms and link them | "Order (excluding the bad ones)" | "Order with status not Cancelled (see Valid order)" |
| DR-6 | State the time reference and unit where they matter | "Customers who came back" | "Customers with a second valid order within 30 days of the first" |
| DR-7 | Avoid negative definitions unless the concept is a negation | "Not a test account" | "A customer account created through a public storefront" |
3. Term lifecycle
| Status | Meaning | Who can move it on |
|---|
| Candidate | Proposed; definition draft; may lack owner | Anyone proposes; steward picks up |
| UnderReview | Owner and steward named; definition circulated to affected teams for at least [10] working days | Steward |
| Approved | Owner approved; may be used in certified data and reports | Owner |
| Deprecated | Kept for history with a pointer to the replacement term | Owner, informed by the council |
4. Glossary entries
4.1 Summary
| ID | Term | Domain | Status | Owner | Steward | Last reviewed |
|---|
| BT-001 (Example) | Valid order | Sales | Approved | Head of sales operations | Sales data steward | 2026-10-12 |
| BT-002 (Example) | Net revenue | Finance | Approved | Financial controller | Finance data steward | 2026-10-12 |
| BT-003 (Example) | Active customer | Growth | UnderReview | Head of growth | Growth analyst | 2026-10-20 |
| BT-004 (Example) | Seller | Marketplace | Candidate | [To be named] | Marketplace analyst | 2026-10-25 |
| BT-010 (Example) | Gross merchandise value | Marketplace | Approved | Head of marketplace | Marketplace analyst | 2026-10-12 |
| [BT-nnn] | [Term] | [Domain] | [Status] | [@owner] | [@steward] | YYYY-MM-DD |
4.2 Full entry format
BT-002 Net revenue (Example)
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Definition | Order value of valid orders in a period after discounts, excluding sales taxes and shipping, in euros |
| Synonyms (allowed) | Net sales |
| Deprecated or forbidden terms | "Revenue" on its own in finance reports; "GMV" (a different concept, see BT-010) |
| Broader term | Revenue |
| Related terms | BT-001 Valid order, BT-010 Gross merchandise value, Refunds (reported separately) |
| Notes and rules | Refunds are not deducted; they are reported separately as Refunds (MET-REV-006). Orders in other currencies are converted to euros at the daily reference rate of the order date |
| Examples | An order with goods of 120.00 EUR before tax, a 20.00 EUR discount, 20.00 EUR VAT and 4.90 EUR shipping contributes 100.00 EUR; a later refund on it does not change this figure |
| Implemented in | Metric MET-REV-001 (data/metric-definition); semantic model entity orders; dataset urn:corvid:dataset:sales:orders |
| Owner | Financial controller |
| Steward | Finance data steward |
| Status and date | Approved, 2026-10-12 |
| Source of definition | Finance reporting policy FRP-04, section 2 |
| Translations | [Language: term] (translations name the same concept; they do not change the definition) |
[BT-nnn] [Term]
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Definition | [One sentence following section 2] |
| Synonyms (allowed) | [Terms] |
| Deprecated or forbidden terms | [Terms and why] |
| Broader term | [Term] |
| Related terms | [BT-nnn] |
| Notes and rules | [Rules, exceptions] |
| Examples | [Example] |
| Implemented in | [Metrics, datasets, reports] |
| Owner | [@owner] |
| Steward | [@steward] |
| Status and date | [Status], YYYY-MM-DD |
| Source of definition | [Policy, contract or law, with section] |
| Translations | [Language: term] |
5. Change requests and conflicts
| ID | Term | Request or conflict | Raised by | Decision | Decided by | Date |
|---|
| GCR-001 (Example) | BT-003 Active customer | Growth counts 30 days; finance counts 90 days | Financial controller | Two terms: "Active customer (90 days)" approved; growth metric renamed "Recently active customer" | Governance council | 2026-10-20 |
| [GCR-nnn] | [BT-nnn] | [Request] | [@name] | [Decision] | [@name] | YYYY-MM-DD |
6. Review and quality checks
| Check | Rule | Frequency |
|---|
| Owner coverage | Every Approved term has an active owner and steward | Monthly |
| Review age | Approved terms reviewed at least every 12 months | Monthly report |
| Circularity | No definition uses its own term or a term that depends on it | On every change |
| Usage | Approved terms linked from at least one metric, dataset or report; unused terms reviewed for deprecation | Quarterly |
7. References
| Reference | Version or date checked | Use |
|---|
| ISO 704:2022, Terminology work: Principles and methods, https://www.iso.org/standard/79077.html | 4th edition (2022); checked 2026-10-30 | Principles behind the rules in section 2, restated in original words |
| DAMA-DMBOK, 2nd Edition Revised, DAMA International | 2024; checked 2026-10-30 | Named only as the reference that places the business glossary in metadata management |
Standard and licence note
Structure aligned with the principles of ISO 704:2022, Terminology work: Principles and methods (4th edition): one concept per entry, definitions by broader category and distinguishing characteristics, and no circularity. These principles are restated in original words; no ISO text or definitions are reproduced. Official text: ISO, purchase or licensed access: https://www.iso.org/standard/79077.html (also sold by national standards bodies). DAMA-DMBOK (2nd Edition Revised, 2024) is cited by name only. The rules, lifecycle, entry format and examples are original, and Corvid Commerce is fictional. This template is original text written for this collection. Check the current editions before use. Template licence: MIT.