Business software glossary
Abbreviations and jargon you come across when choosing software, each explained in two sentences. For each term you read why it matters, when you deal with it and which software goes with it. Every explanation lists its sources.
Administration and invoicing
- Audit file (XAF)
- An export of your accounts in a fixed format (XAF) for the Tax Administration or your accountant.
- E-invoicing
- Sending invoices as a structured file that the recipient processes automatically.
- General ledger account
- An account in the books that collects all entries of one kind.
- OCR (scan and recognise)
- Text recognition that turns a scan or PDF into readable data, as in scan and recognise.
- Peppol
- Network and agreements for exchanging e-invoices and orders between organisations.
- PSD2
- European payments directive that lets software retrieve your bank data with your consent.
- SBR
- Dutch standard for submitting tax returns, annual accounts and bank reports digitally.
- UBL
- Open XML format for invoices and orders that software can read in directly.
Types of business software
- ATS
- Software that manages vacancies and applications from posting to hiring.
- Business intelligence (BI)
- Combining business data from different systems into reports and dashboards.
- CPQ
- Software to configure products, calculate the price and create a quote.
- CRM
- Software that records customer contacts, deals and appointments in one place.
- DMS
- Software to store documents centrally with versions, permissions and search.
- ERP
- One system for finance, purchasing, inventory, production and sales on the same data.
- HRM
- Personnel matters from recruitment to departure, and the software that records them.
- LMS
- Learning platform to offer training and record progress and certificates.
- MRP
- Calculates from orders and bills of materials which materials you need to buy or make, and when.
- POS system
- A till system for settling and recording sales, with software and hardware.
- WMS
- Software that directs receiving, storage, order picking and shipping in a warehouse.
Cloud, integrations and communication
- API
- A fixed agreement through which software exchanges data with other software.
- EDI
- Automatically exchanging orders, delivery notes and invoices between trading partners' systems.
- SaaS
- Software you use over the internet on a subscription, managed by the supplier.
- VoIP
- Calling over the internet, for businesses often with a phone system in the cloud.
Security, standards and legislation
- eIDAS
- European rules for electronic identification and signatures, valid throughout the EU.
- Electronic signature
- A digital signature on a document, at three levels of assurance.
- ISO 27001
- International standard for managing information security (ISMS).
- ISO 9001
- International standard for quality management: documenting, measuring and improving processes.
- NEN 7510
- Dutch standard for information security in healthcare, based on ISO 27001.
- NIS2
- European cybersecurity rules, in the Netherlands the Cybersecurity Act (Cyberbeveiligingswet) since 15 August 2026.
- Two-step verification (2FA)
- Logging in with your password plus a second proof, such as a code or security key.