The translation of financial statements is required in many situations: exporting abroad, internationalising an offer, or finding local investors or business partners in different countries. As with any financial document, the annual statement must be translated with great care, by qualified professionals.
What is a financial statement?
The annual financial statement of a company is a document produced at the end of the accounting year, which outlines the company's performance. A financial statement includes:
- A letter from the Chairman of the Board to introduce the statement.
- An annual activity statement, which reviews the significant events of the year, future prospects, risk factors, and future objectives.
- The annual accounts, which include the balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes to the accounts, and sometimes the company accounts, audit statements, etc.
This document is mandatory in some countries for commercial companies. Amongst other things, the financial statement allows stakeholders to see the financial state of a company.
Why use a specialist translator to translate your financial statement?
Financial translation is a specialist field. Only professional translators who specialise in the world of finance and who have solid expertise in this field will be able to carry out such a translation.
Indeed, the translator must have training or professional experience in the financial sector, to apply all the specifics related to this field and to the type of content to be translated.
For example, the translator should be familiar with international accounting standards (IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards; GAAP – Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, etc.) concerning the reporting of financial documents, to adapt the translation to the standards of the target country.
In addition, financial statements contain different types of content (editorial content, quantitative data, etc.) which call for various and very specific skills, both linguistic and financial.
A specialist professional translator with strong linguistic skills and financial expertise will master all the specifics of such a document and will be able to produce a highly accurate translation.
What are the challenges of translating a financial statement?
The drafting and translation of a proper financial statement is essential as it is a key document for any company. In particular, it may be required for transactions with banks or when applying for financing from international investors.
Finally, confidentiality is another key element in this type of document. Therefore you should use a reliable and reputable translation agency, which will be able to guarantee total discretion.
FAQ on the translation of financial statements
The financial statement should be translated into the language of the target country. Make sure you use a native translator from the country in question to guarantee the reliability of the translation. At Optilingua, our specialist translators can translate your financial statements into more than a hundred different languages.
As with any translation, the price of translating a financial statement varies according to the number of words to be translated, the language pairing and other criteria. To find out how much it would cost to translate your financial statement, request a quote online.
You can send us your financial statement in its original format (Word, PowerPoint, Excel...) and we will send you the translation of the final document in the same format.