Business English Vocabulary: 75 Essential Words

This business English vocabulary list covers 75 words you'll actually hear in an office, an email thread, or a job interview — organized into six practical categories instead of one long alphabetical list. It's built for B1+ learners preparing for work in English: new hires, job seekers, and anyone who understands everyday English but still hesitates in a meeting or a formal email.

Each word below comes with a short definition and, where it helps, an example sentence showing how it's actually used.

Meetings & Discussions

The vocabulary of running, joining, and following up on a meeting.

agenda – the list of topics to be discussed in a meeting ("Can you send the agenda before we start?")
minutes – the official written record of what was discussed and decided
action item – a specific task assigned to someone after a meeting
kick off – to begin a meeting or project ("Let's kick off with a status update.")
follow up – to check on progress or continue a discussion after the fact
brainstorm – to generate ideas as a group, without judging them yet
feedback – comments on how well something is working, meant to improve it
update – a short report on the current status of something
touch base – to make brief contact to check in ("Let's touch base tomorrow.")
reschedule – to change a meeting to a different time
attendee – someone who is present at a meeting
chair (verb) – to lead or run a meeting
table (a topic) – to postpone discussing something until later
consensus – general agreement among a group

Negotiations & Deals

The core B1–C1 vocabulary of reaching (or not reaching) an agreement — this is where the list moves from simple words like deal toward more precise ones like leverage and concession.

deal – an agreement, especially in business ("We closed the deal on Friday.")
negotiate – to discuss terms in order to reach an agreement
terms – the specific conditions of an agreement
counteroffer – a new offer made in response to one you didn't accept
concession – something given up in order to reach an agreement
leverage – advantage that gives you more power in a negotiation
stakeholder – anyone with an interest in the outcome of a decision
client – a person or company that pays for a service
vendor – a company that supplies goods or services to another
contract – a legally binding written agreement
terms and conditions – the detailed rules attached to an agreement
breach (of contract) – failing to meet the agreed terms
win-win – an outcome that benefits both sides

Email & Communication

Business email has its own conventions — these show up in almost every message.

Dear [Name] – a common formal greeting for a business email
Best regards / Regards – a common formal sign-off
attach / attachment – a file sent along with an email
CC / BCC – copying others on an email (BCC hides who else was copied)
forward – to send a received email on to someone else
reply-all – responding to everyone included in the original email
draft – an unfinished or unsent version of a message
reach out – to contact someone, often for the first time ("I'll reach out to the client this week.")
circle back – to return to a topic later ("Let's circle back on pricing next week.")
per my last email – a pointed way to reference something already said
out of office – an automatic reply sent while someone is away
correspondence – written communication, especially formal

Management & Leadership

Vocabulary for talking about roles, responsibility, and how teams are organized.

manager – someone responsible for overseeing a team or project
supervisor – someone who directly oversees others' work
delegate – to give a task or responsibility to someone else
accountable – responsible for the outcome of a task or decision
performance review – a formal evaluation of an employee's work
onboarding – the process of integrating a new employee into a company
promote / promotion – to move someone to a higher position
report to – to be managed by ("She reports to the VP of Sales.")
direct report – an employee who reports directly to a specific manager
workflow – the sequence of steps in getting work done
mentor – someone who guides and advises a less experienced colleague
workplace culture – the shared values and behavior of an organization

Numbers & Finance

The words behind budgets, reports, and financial conversations — useful even outside a finance role, since most meetings eventually touch money.

revenue – the total money a business earns from sales
profit – money remaining after costs are subtracted from revenue
budget – a plan for how money will be spent
forecast – a prediction of future financial performance
invoice – a document requesting payment for goods or services
expense – money spent, often for business purposes
quarter (Q1, Q2…) – a three-month period used for financial reporting
fiscal year – a company's 12-month accounting period, which may not match the calendar year
ROI (return on investment) – how much profit an investment generates relative to its cost
overhead – the ongoing costs of running a business, such as rent and utilities
break even – the point where revenue equals costs, with no profit or loss
margin – the difference between the cost of something and its selling price

Strategy & Decision-Making

The C1 layer of this list — words for talking about plans, priorities, and how decisions get made.

strategy – a plan for achieving a long-term goal
objective – a specific goal to be achieved
initiative – a new plan or project, often meant to solve a problem
prioritize – to decide what's most important and address it first
trade-off – a balance between two competing options, gaining one thing at the cost of another
scalable – able to grow without needing significant extra resources
benchmark – a standard used to measure performance against
proactive – acting in advance rather than reacting after the fact
pivot – to change strategy or direction, often significantly
align / alignment – making sure people or plans are working toward the same goal
bottleneck – a point that slows down an entire process
due diligence – careful research done before making a business decision

What's the difference between business English and general English?

The grammar is the same — business English is really general English applied to a narrower set of situations, with its own recurring vocabulary and a more formal tone. You still need everyday words for basic conversation, but a meeting, a negotiation, or a formal email leans on a specific set of terms (like the ones above) that rarely come up in casual conversation. Business English also tends to favor indirect, polite phrasing over blunt statements — "I was wondering if we could revisit the timeline" instead of "Change the timeline."

How many business English words do I need to know?

For most day-to-day professional communication, 75–150 well-chosen words like the ones above cover the large majority of situations: meetings, email, basic negotiation, and talking about numbers. Specialized fields (law, finance, tech) add their own vocabulary on top, but the general business core is smaller than most learners expect — it's a specific, learnable list, not an open-ended one.

What level of English do I need for a job interview?

Most companies expect at least a solid B1–B2 for an entry-level interview in English, with B2–C1 preferred for more senior or client-facing roles. The vocabulary in this list — especially the Management & Leadership and Strategy sections — overlaps heavily with what comes up in interviews. If you're specifically prepping for interview questions, the job-focused vocabulary in Work & Careers is a closer match, since it covers job titles, applications, and interview language rather than day-to-day office vocabulary.

Practice this vocabulary

Reading a list once makes these words familiar, not automatic — the difference matters the moment you're actually in a meeting and need to produce "counteroffer" or "align" without pausing to translate. Study the Business English flashcard sets in Budling's library to turn this list into active recall — start with the B2 business English vocabulary set, which covers meetings, negotiations, management, and deal-making: each card tests you instead of just showing you the word, spaced repetition brings back the ones you're shakiest on, and your pixel pet levels up as you review. Sign up free and start with the category you'll need first.