← DictionaryMargin
also called gross margin
The share of revenue left after the direct costs of delivering the work.
How much of each sale survives delivery.
What It Is
You will find Margin in the Business layer, alongside the rest of Finance. The canonical meaning is the share of revenue left after the direct costs of delivering the work.
It is something measured and compared over time, so one reading in isolation tells you almost nothing. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Margin earns its keep in commercial decisions, pricing conversations and how the business runs. It is usually discussed together with Profit, Revenue and Pricing Model. The practical test is whether it is measured the same way each period, against something.
Why It Matters
The cost of being vague about Margin shows up later, not today. When it is unclear, margin leaks in places nobody is looking. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a number on a dial. The number only means something next to yesterday's number. How much of each sale survives delivery.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Margin as shorthand and expect no explanation — the share of revenue left after the direct costs of delivering the work.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: how much of each sale survives delivery.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Margin: how much of each sale survives delivery. Everything after that is detail.