What does turnover mean?
Turnover is most often a business term for the total value of sales generated by a company during a period. It is not the same as profit: a business can have high turnover while earning little. In employment contexts, turnover means the rate at which staff leave and are replaced. The word can also describe physically turning something over, transferring ownership or control, or losing possession in a sport. The verb is normally written as two words, “turn over,” meaning “reverse or rotate” or “pass control to someone else.” British and American usage is broadly similar. Turnover is therefore useful not only as an accounting term but also as a way of discussing organizational stability and the movement of people, stock, or property.
nounIn business, turnover is the total amount of goods sold or services provided during a particular period. It can also mean the rate at which employees leave and are replaced, as well as the literal or figurative act of turning something over.
- The total amount of goods sold or services provided by a business during a specified period.
- The rate at which employees leave an organization and are replaced by new workers.
- The act or process of turning or being turned over.
- A transfer or change of ownership, management, or control.
- In a sport, a loss of possession without a successful shot or other attacking action.
"The company increased turnover by expanding its online sales, but its profits remained modest."
"Annual turnover exceeded fifty million dollars."
"High staff turnover made it difficult for the team to maintain a consistent working rhythm."
Turnover is usually uncountable when referring to total sales or the general rate of staff turnover. The plural is used for separate instances of a change of ownership, control, or possession.
"The company counted three executive turnovers during the year."
Turnover began with a flip: money and stock passed from hand to hand, while workers began leaving jobs—two modern senses that feel surprisingly far apart.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of turnover
Turnover is a compound formed from the English words turn and over. It developed from the literal idea of rotating or reversing something and was extended to commerce for the transfer of goods, money, or ownership. Its modern meanings concerning business sales and staff departures are later developments of this broader sense of things passing from one state or holder to another.
How turnover is actually used
Turnover is widely used in business and employment contexts in both British and American English. In finance it refers to sales or revenue rather than profit, although informal usage sometimes treats the two as equivalent. The verb form is normally written as the separate phrase turn over.
Easily confused with turnover
Turnover is normally a noun, while turn over is a verb phrase meaning to rotate something, reverse it, or transfer it to someone else.