Dictionary of Accounting Terms: slope
slope
tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x-axis. It is equal to (y2 - y1) / (x2 - x1) when(x1, y1) and (x2, y2) are two distinct points on a nonvertical line. The slope indicates generally the steepness and direction of the line. More specifically, the slope is the change in y for every unit change in x. Slope is a necessary parameter for utilization of linear regression models. It is b in the cost-volume formula y = a + bx.
