An Overview of Accounting English

Across the world, there are an estimated 1.8 million chartered accountants, with 1.1 million of these registered in the United States - an English-speaking country - alone. It is a long established profession, and strong accounting is key to the success of any business, so much so that most professionals are likely to engage in some of its processes throughout the course of their career. If you have ever managed a budget or paid a tax return, for example, then you have been involved in accounting, even if you do not identify as an accountant.

Although the first thing that people might think of when it comes to accounting is numbers (it’s definitely important to get those right!), Accounting English is a form of English in its own right, and to be able to master the art of global financial negotiations and transactions, it is important to be familiar and comfortable with using the industry-terms.

As with Legal, Tech and Science English, Accounting English is very formal in tone and contains a lot of technical terms. The need for numbers to be accurate means that the accompanying vocabulary needs to be concise, with little room for misinterpretation. But, that doesn’t mean that accountancy (nor accountants) can’t be fun!

How well do you consider your knowledge of Accounting English to be? Can you match the right definitions to the right terms in our quiz below?

To ensure that our Accounting English learning content meets high, industry-set standards, we have collaborated with a range of senior professionals for their insights into the sector. Not only that, but our Founder is a Chartered Management Accountant with many years of industry experience. Follow our blog to hear more from our discussions with other financial professionals too, sharing their experiences with the Big 4, ICAEW and CIMA among others. Explore our Accounting English courses, or contact us for a tailored course for your company.