Financial terms have very specific meanings and are frequently used to mean something completely different from their colloquial use.
It is very important that your work is translated by translators who are completely at ease with the terminology in both the source and target language.
Our Experience
We have been working with financial translations for thirty years. Over that time we have developed an extensive database of specialist financial translators, many of whom we have worked with for literally decades. We consequently have an unusually long track record of handling financial translations and dealing with the common (and uncommon!) issues that arise.
We routinely translate financial material including:
- company accounts
- presentations
- website content
- shareholder communications
- financial statements
- press releases
We often work with highly confidential materials and are able to provide a secure translation environment that has been audited by two global investment banks. To watch a video explaining more, click here.
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Example: P&L statements and balance sheets are presented differently in different countries. This is not simply a language issue but stems from variations in accounting rules. Click here for an article explaining some of the different account policies / “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (GAAP). Translating a financial statement from one language to another will not necessarily make it comprehensible. To interpret the financial statement also requires an understanding of how the GAAP rules vary between the relevant countries. For example, in the UK the most common way of presenting a balance sheet is in a “vertical” form highlighting net current assets (or liabilities). In France, the balance sheet is presented with two, balancing, sides – assets and liabilities. French balance sheets also differ in that they do not make the same explicit distinction between short term and long term liabilities. A German balance sheet, conceptually, is more like a French Bilan than a UK balance sheet.
To see a comprehensive report on the differences in accounting practices in the UK and France published by Deloitte, click here.
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Of course, our job is not to provide GAAP reconciliations. However, to produce a good translation of a financial statement, an agency will need to allocate the work to a translator who knows the relevant terms in both languages and what the terms actually mean. That’s what we do.
