V. Speech practice exercises

1. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Финансовые отчёты должны предоставлять объективную и досто­вер­ную информацию о финансовом положении и результатах работы предприятия.

2. Большинство компаний включают три финансовых документа в свои годовые отчёты.

3. Балансовый отчёт показывает финансовое состояние компании на опре­де­лённое число и включает все элементы бухгалтерской сбаланси­ро­ван­ности.

4. Активы это то, чем вы владеете; пассивы это то, что вы должны.

5. Ликвидность – это уровень лёгкости, с которой активы могут конверти­роваться в наличные деньги.

6. Текущие активы включают наличные денежные средства, ценные ры­ноч­­ные бумаги, счета к получению и товарно-материальные запасы.

7. Такие понятия (items) как гудвилл, патенты, торговые марки и авторс­кие права являются долгосрочными нематериальными активами. Они измеряются финансовыми терминами и могут принести компании боль­шие прибыли.

8. Чтобы сохранить в равновесии бухгалтерскую сбалансированность, компании используют систему двойной бухгалтерской записи.

9. Отчёт о прибылях и убытках можно сравнить с кинофильмом, так как он показывает, насколько прибыльной была организация за длительный период времени, обычно за один год.

10. Расходы и подоходные налоги вычитаются из вырученных средств, чтобы показать реальную прибыль или убыток компании. Эта цифра называется чистым доходом или низшей строчкой отчёта.

11. Отчёт о движении денежных средств показывает приток в компанию и отток из компании наличных денежных средств между датами балан­сового отчёта.

12. Наличность, включающая в себя деньги в виде банкнот и монет и банковские депозиты, является «живительной кровью» любой компании.

13. В неблагоприятный год компания использует наличные фонды для возмещения торговых или производственных убытков.

2. Accountants and financial managers regularly deal with lots of figures and numbers. Let’s practise saying numbers.

Currencies

$7.80 seven dollars eighty

$765 seven hundred (and) sixty-five dollars

€250 two hundred (and) fifty euros

¥5,000 five thousand yen

£256 two hundred (and) fifty-six pounds

Bigger numbers

3,560 three thousand five hundred (and) sixty

15,622 fifteen thousand six hundred (and) twenty two

598,347 five hundred (and) ninety-eight thousand, three hundred (and) forty-

seven

1,300,402 one million three hundred thousand, four hundred (and) two

4,035,520 four million thirty-five thousand, five hundred (and) twenty

1m one / a million (1,000,000)

3 bn three billion (3000,000,000)

$7.5 bn seven point five billion dollars

€478 m four hundred (and) seventy eight million euros

Decimals

0.5 (zero / nought) point five

0.25 (zero / nought) point two five

0.185 (zero / nought) point one eight five

0.05 point zero five

10.06 ten point oh six

75.72 seventy five point seven two

16.5% sixteen point five percent

17.38% seventeen point three eight percent

Dates

June 10, 1980 June the tenth, nineteen eighty

August 25, 2009 the twenty –fifth of August, two thousand (and) nine

25.12.2004 December the twelfth, two thousand (and) four

10.5.2010 May the tenth, two thousand (and) ten

Say it in English:

1) $8.50; $350; €465; €3,100; £6,370; £17,525; ¥15,540; ¥20,535; $27,400;

$141,600; £365,420; €198,865; ¥732,660; $2,025,530; €2m; $4 bn; $8.6 bn; €287 m;

2) 0.6; 0.37; 0.04; 0.357; 4.345; 12.07; 65.62; 15.5 %; 75%; 9.25 %;

3) April 10, 1999; July 22, 2012; December 31, 2010; 13.10.2015; 20.9.2013; 15. 4.2020;

3. David Palmer opens his own law office on May 1, 2012. During the first

month of operations, the following transactions occur:

1. Invested $10,000 in cash in the law practice.

2. Paid $800 for May rent on spare office.

3. Purchased office equipment on account, $3,000

4. Rendered legal services to clients for cash, $1,500

5. Borrowed $700 cash from a bank on a note payable.

6. Rendered legal services to clients on account, $2,000.

7. Paid monthly expenses: salaries, $500; utilities, $300; and telephone, 100.

Prepare the income statement at May 31 for David Palmer, Attorney at Law.

David Palmer Attorney at Law Income Statement For the Month Ended May 31, 2012 1. Revenues Fees Earned 2. Expenses Rent Expense Salaries Expense Utilities Expense Telephone Expense Total Expense 3. Net Income

David Palmer Attorney at Law Owner’s Equity For the Month Ended May 31, 2012 David Palmer, Capital, May 1 Add: Net Income David Palmer, Cpital, May31

4. Read the dialogue between Andrew, a financial analyst, and his friend Bob. Do you agree with Andrew’s view of the problem? Can you add anything to his arguments? Try to reproduce the main points of the dialogue.

Bob - Good morning, Andrew! How are you getting on?

Andrew - Oh, Bob! Nice to meet you. Any problems? You look so anxious.

Bob - I need your professional advice, Andrew. You see, I’m going to invest in a company.

Andrew - That’s a good idea. I’ll do my best to help you, old fellow. You know it’s not easy to make a profitable investment. So, what are you going to begin with?

Bob - I think first of all I’ll have to read the annual reports to learn about the company’s financial strength and profit potential.

Andrew - In fact most publicly traded corporations “tell all” in their financial reports to shareholders, but finding the important information in them isn’t easy. At first you’ll have to learn how to read annual reports.

Bob - Would you help me then? I fully trust your expertise and experience.

Andrew - Glad to hear that. The point is that the real story about the company’s financial health is often buried in footnotes and dense tables.

Bob - What do you mean?

Andrew - Any certified public accountant will tell you right off the bat if a company’s report conforms with “generally accepted accounting principles”. Then go to the footnotes. Check to see whether earnings are up or down. If they’re down only because of a change in accounting, maybe that’s good! The company owes less tax and has more money in its pocket.

Bob - And if earnings are up?

Andrew - If earnings are up, maybe that’s bad. They may be up because of a special windfall that won’t happen again next year. The footnotes often tell the whole story.

Bob - What can you say about the letter from the chairman addressed to the shareholders? I guess, the chairman’s tone reflects the personality, the well-being of the company.

Andrew - In this letter, the chairman should tell you how the company fared this year. But more important, the letter should tell you why. Keep an eye out for sentences that start with “Except for…” and “Despite the…” They’re clues to problems.

Bob - What’s the way to avoid problems?

Andrew - You’ll have to find out what happened and why. For example, look for what’s new in each line of business. Is management getting the company in good shape to weather the tough and competitive years ahead?

Bob - What other sources can be used to find the important information?

Andrew - One source is the balance sheet. Now – and no sooner – begin digging into the numbers!

Bob - Well, as far as I know the balance sheet is a snapshot of how the company stands at a single point in time. I’m not a financial expert as you are, Andrew, but I know that on the top are assets – everything the company owns. Things that can quickly be turned into cash and current assets. On the bottom are liabilities – everything the company owes. Am I right, Andrew?

Andrew - You’re quite right, Bob. Current liabilities are the debts due in one year, which are paid out of current assets. The difference between current assets and current liabilities is working capital, a key figure to watch from one annual report to another. Look, Andrew! If working capital shrinks, it could mean trouble. One possibility: The company may not be able to keep dividends growing rapidly.

Bob - I see. The second basic source of numbers is the income statement, isn’t it?

Andrew - You’re right. It shows how much money the company made or lost over the year. By the way, what figure in the income statement would you look at first?

Bob - It’s in the income statement at the bottom: earnings per share.

Andrew - Watch out. It can fool you! The company’s management could boost earnings by selling off a plant. Or by cutting the budget for research and advertising. See the footnotes!

Bob - It sounds true. But what number in the income statement is worth looking at first of all then?

Andrew - The number you should look at first in the income statement is net sales. Ask yourself: Are sales going up at a faster rate than the last time around? When sales go down, the company may be in trouble. And ask yourself once more: Have sales gone down because the company is selling off a losing business? If so, profits may be soaring.

Bob - I never thought that figuring out an annual report was going to be so difficult! What else should I know?

Andrew - Another important thing to study is the company’s debt. Get out your pocket calculator, and turn to the balance sheet. Divide long-term liabilities by owners’ equity. That’s the debt-to-equity ratio.

Bob - What does it mean?

Andrew - A high ratio means the company borrows a lot of money to spark its growth. That’s okay – if sales grow, too, and if there’s enough cash on hand to meet the payments.

Bob - A company doing well on borrowed money can earn big profits for its shareholders. Am I right?

Andrew - Sure. But if sales fall, watch out. The whole enterprise may slowly sink. Some companies can handle high ratios; others can’t.

Bob - What would you advise me in this case?

Andrew - That brings up the most important thing of all: One annual report, one chairman’s letter, one ratio won’t tell you much. You have to compare. Is the company’s debt-to-equity ratio better or worse than it used to be? Better or worse than the industry norms? Better or worse after this recession than it was after the last recession? In company-watching, comparisons are all. They tell you if management is staying on top of things.

Bob - Thank you very much, Andy. I appreciate your helping me greatly.

Andrew - Always glad to help an old friend. And keep in mind – each year, companies give you more and more information in their annual reports. Profiting from that information is up to you. I hope you profit from mine.