The growing demand for professional translation services as part of the numerous economic exchanges that take place between companies has led to the current boom in «financial translation» as a specialty in translation studies. In this respect, the so-called annual accounts are a paradigmatic example within the field of financial translation, and that is why we have decided to address their most significant characteristics.
Financial translation as a specialized field
However, before going fully into the analysis of annual accounts as financial documents, it is necessary to consider to what extent financial translation can be conceived as a specific area in the field of translation.
So, when defining a specialized branch of translation, we must take into account the following criteria:
- Its codification in the academic field allows it to be given its own treatment, something that is usually reflected in university curricula.
- It is subject to growing interest from the linguistic research community.
- It demands a larger number of qualified personnel as part of the labor market requirements.
Certainly, as far as financial translation is concerned, it tends to fall within a broader field, that of «legal-economic translation». However, if we take these criteria as a reference, there is no apparent reason to exclude a differentiated space for financial translation.
There’s no doubt that financial translation meets all these assumptions, although it is true that its presence in academic studies tends to be more established in post-university training (due in part to the complexity involved).
Criteria for defining a financial text
Specialized translation can be described according to, among other categorizations, intratextual or extratextual criteria. While the former focus on the thematic or functional aspects, the latter focus on features external to the text, such as the translator’s specialization, the purpose of the translation or the circumstances of the production process.
Focusing on the thematic area, some scholars propose a conceptual delimitation of finance based on the distinction between macrofinance, mainly focused on the use of public authorities to frame and govern the activities of individuals, and microfinance, from a private enterprise approach. In this sense, the translation of annual accounts should be part of the «microfinance translation» (we will now see why).
Also, from a more stylistic perspective, we can highlight some characteristic features of financial texts:
- Lexical variation as a classifying element of the financial language: resources such as polysemy, synonymy or metaphor are frequent.
- It is a living language, which translates into a very particular lexicon where neologisms abound.
- While it is true that the dominant function of economic translation is informative, financial texts often have an exhortative or argumentative as well as expository communicative purpose.
Definition and structure of annual accounts
The annual accounts (also called «financial statements» or «accounting statements») can be defined as those documents through which the economic-financial information of the company is presented.
The annual accounts arise as a result of the Administration’s legitimate commitment to demand transparency in the management of companies established in the country. Every year, every economic entity must file its annual accounts report with the corresponding commercial registry, in order to provide interested parties (shareholders, creditors, debtors, etc.) with the necessary data to identify the situation of the company.
The annual accounts constitute a macro-document, and their preparation follows a mandatory structure established by the General Accounting Plan (GAP); likewise, the generally accepted accounting principles (GCAAP) as well as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) must be applied. The elements comprising the financial statements include the following:
- The balance sheet, which reflects the Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.
- The profit and loss statement.
- The statement of changes in net equity.
- The statement of cash flows.
- The report.
Strategies and resources for the translation of annual accounts
There are many reasons why companies need to translate their annual accounts into another language, for example, for tax, criminal law or business internationalization reasons. In many cases, these translations must be accompanied by the signature of a sworn translator.
In the translation of annual accounts or any other type of corporate document that reflects the economic situation of the company, there must be no room for error. This requires specialized professionals who are fully familiar with the terminology of the financial sector.
Initially, when translators are confronted with this type of document, they often encounter many difficulties, largely due to a lack of understanding of the subject matter and the differences between the various accounting systems. To make up for this shortcoming, a series of strategies and resources should be taken into account to reinforce the learning of accounting translation:
– Acquisition of prior thematic competence. Due to the lack of subject matter competency on the part of the translator, the learning process must begin by establishing basic theoretical knowledge about what accounting is, as well as the main accounting standards that we will encounter. At this theoretical stage, it is also necessary to reflect on the concept of functional equivalence, which is characteristic of comparative law, and which is the very objective of translation as a whole.
– Comparison of original parallel texts. By comparing similar texts in different languages, the translator will also be able to appreciate the differences in terminology from one balance sheet to another.
– Terminology extraction from accounting standards. From virtually identical texts, the translator will be able to identify terms more easily and compile a glossary with the different equivalents that exist for each language. This extraction task makes it necessary to familiarize oneself with the accounting standards and their contents, thus facilitating subsequent consultations when resorting to documents of this type.
– Exhaustive analysis of the documentation. Before starting to translate, it is necessary to perform a detailed analysis of the documentation itself, as in many cases we will already be able to identify a pre-existing translation in the target language.
Having made this brief overview of the world of accounting translation, we have seen that it is a field that involves numerous difficulties, which requires a considerable degree of specialization on the part of the translator.
At FAST.txt, we have the best experts in the translation of accounting documents, so if you need to hire a team to translate your company’s annual accounts, don’t hesitate to call on us: you can count on FAST.txt.
Carlos Sánchez Luis