Name: Business English Vocabulary Lesson for ESL - Finance & Accounting Vocabulary 2
Uploaded: 2026-01-24T17:16:48.000Z
Duration: 10 min 8 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

You're watching video vocab by businessenglishpod.com.

Today we're looking at business vocabulary related to accounting.

Balance Sheet Balance Sheet the balance sheet is a summary of a company's financial position at a specific point in time, usually the end of its financial year.

A company's balance sheet should indicate the value of everything the company owns, its assets, as well as everything that it owes its liabilities.

Our balance sheet is not as strong as last year since we've taken some heavy losses on investments.

Asset Asset an asset is anything owned by a company that can be converted into cash or used to generate income.

Most of the company's assets consist of accounts receivable from very risky customers and until they are paid, it's hard to be sure of their actual value.

An asset may be tangible like a building, or intangible like a valuable patent or copyright.

Consulting firms usually have few tangible assets and their main intangible asset is the reputation they've established.

Liability Liability A liability is a financial obligation or debt held by a company.

Some of the more common types of liabilities include accounts payable, bank loans, and outstanding taxes.

Managing liabilities effectively is critical to good financial planning.

Short term liabilities are usually those that must be paid within one year, while long term liabilities are repayable after more than a year.

Our short term liabilities have grown very quickly this year as we expanded into new territories.

Profit Profit A company's profit is the amount the business earns in a given period, usually a year after deducting all expenses.

Profits for many firms have declined the due to a slowdown in consumer spending.

Profit Margin A profit margin is the percentage of gross income a company retains after all costs are deducted.

If the cost of producing a product is almost as high as the selling price, the profit margin will be very low.

The profit margin on luxury automobiles is much higher than on economy vehicles.

If a single transaction costs more than it earns, the company is said to make a loss or a take loss on that transaction.

We've always taken a loss on our equipment sales, but

we make it up by generating revenue through after sales service.

If a company's profit for an entire year is negative, it is said to make a loss or run at a loss for that year.

Companies that run at a loss for several years may be forced to stop trading on the stock exchange.

A profit and loss statement is one type of accounting report that companies publish on a regular basis.

Debt Debt Debt is money owed by a company to another company.

Most corporate debt is in the form of loans from banks or bonds that have been sold to investors.

This year's balance sheet shows that the company's bank debts have have been fully repaid.

Gross Gross A gross figure is a sum that does not include any deductions.

For example, the total amount of money earned by selling a company's products can be described as gross income.

Another term for gross income is revenue.

The company's gross sales have risen 20% in the last quarter alone.

To gross can also be used as a verb, meaning to earn gross income.

The film was a great success and grossed more than $50 million on its first weekend.

Net net A net figure is a sum that includes all deductions.

The amount of money earned through a company's sales after subtracting all costs associated with the sales can be described as net income.

We netted more than $100,000 from a single day of direct marketing.

To net can also be used as a verb meaning to earn net income.

Pre Tax Pre Tax the adjective pre tax means before payment of tax.

Accountants normally show pre tax profit or pre tax income on one line of a company's financial statement and show profit after tax on a separate line.

Our overseas results look better on a pre tax basis because we operate in several countries where corporate taxes are very high.

Now it's your turn to practice some of the words we have studied.

In this episode, you'll hear a series of sentences with a word blanked out or replaced with a beep.

Repeat the whole sentence but say the missing word.

For example, if you hear some of your more recent may not be showing up in our records yet.

Some of your more recent transactions may not be showing up in our records yet.

We'll play an example answer after each exercise.

I expect the firm to make a this quarter unless our sales improve in March.

I expect the firm to make a loss this quarter unless our sales improve in March.

Most of the companies consist of real estate projects in different stages of development.

Most of the company's assets consist of real estate projects in different stages of development.

Gross income looks impressive, but after costs the profit is quite disappointing.

Gross income looks impressive, but after costs, the net profit is quite disappointing.

The new government's policies will allow us to retain more of our earnings.

The new government's policies will allow us to retain more of our pre tax earnings.

You can visit the website at www.businessenglishpod.com to watch and download lots more videos on business Eng.