The United States trade with China is in the billions. For instance, the two-way goods trade between the US and China totaled at worth $559.2 billion in the year 2020. Similarly, more businesses, both large and small, are now engaged in importing and exporting their goods and services across borders. A question arises here. How do these corporations manage to communicate with their multinational partners as they work with significant amounts of money despite linguistic barriers? Well, the short answer to this question is financial translation services.
What is Financial Translation?
Financial translation services, as the name implies, deal with the translation of financial materials. These financial materials could be any balance sheets, cash flow statements, account audit reports, and more.
Companies that often need specialized financial translations could be financial institutes such as banks or other similar corporations. The documents and statements they have related to their finances are conveyed in a language that the other party involved in the transaction can understand. We generally refer to that language as the target language.
When the financial documents are available in other languages, multilingual partners and other stakeholders can easily keep up with all the financial records. Financial translations can also prove very handy in instances such as international mergers and acquisitions.
What is an example of a Financial Translation?
The financial sector is very diverse, as you know. Therefore, the translation of this kind involves working for industries such as real estate, manufacturing, and insurance. Thus, an example of a financial translation can include the translation of income statements and purchase agreements for real estate companies. It can also include the translation of expense reports for companies such as manufacturing firms.
Why is Financial Translation Important?
Below we’ll give you the top reasons why financial translations are important for your business.
Accuracy
When it comes to financial translation, accuracy is the top catchword for it. Therefore, attention to detail becomes critical, not just for the success of the translation but also for the success of your company overseas.
Translation of financial records is always important. Done right, it can make all the difference. Done wrong, it can lead to potential damages. Because if you just switch a word or misplace a comma, it can change the whole picture.
Hence, whenever you’re dealing with financial transactions around the world, you can’t rely on a bilingual colleague or partner to translate that document for you. Since accuracy in financial translations is a vital aspect, you need specialized translation services to do the job for you.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an essential aspect of your financial details. Any information leak could result in serious problems for your company. That said, you need specialized translation services for financial documents that can maintain professional secrecy.
Consistency
Want to build trust among your customers, partners, and employees across the globe? You need to ensure consistency in the information you provide to them.
This often demands the expertise of a professional financial document translation service that can make sure your transmitted message is the same across all markets. They will do this by keeping a unified tone of voice throughout the translation.
Reputation and Competitiveness
Financial translations are highly important if you want to build a strong brand reputation on the world stage. No matter where you do business, expert translation for financial services will keep your communication secure.
It will also give you an edge over your arch-rivals in the market. Now you will be able to compete with local players with increased confidence. Your information is correct and available in the mother tongue of your customers. It will definitely make your business more accessible and lift you up.
Cases when you may need Legal Translation Services?
Legal translation services generally transfer documents from one language to another while staying within the legal system.
But there are instances when financial translation intersects with legal translation.
One such example is the translation of the “share purchase agreement,” which describes the conditions and terms for buying shares in a company. Such documentation usually involves legal language for the transfer of ownership, dispute resolution, indemnification, and more.
Here is another example. You need to translate your tax return information into other languages. This can also include legal language which relates to tax laws application, credits, deductions, etc.
Therefore, you can’t ignore the significance of professional legal translation services when translating your financial project. At the very least, you should look for a translator or agency that exhibits great fluency in both financial and legal terminology.
Cases when you may need Engineering Translation Services?
The focus and subject matter of engineering translation services is generally distinct from financial translation. But they can also play a great role in accurately conveying financial information to your target audience.
Consider the following case where both of these services may overlap with each other.
Let’s say you’re an investment firm or bank that develops financial products for the engineering sector. This could be any product or service related to project financing or infrastructure bonds. In order to effectively translate the technical information of such financial products, you will need experts on your side who are experienced in both financial and engineering translation services.
Conclusion
This pretty much sums up our conversation about financial translation services, what they are, and why they are important for your business. In the end, we also mentioned some scenarios where you may need to combine financial translation with other services, such as legal and engineering translation.
What you need to do is, understand your project needs, your target audience, and the language they speak to translate your financial documents effectively. You must pay special attention to your documents whether they contain any technical or legal information etc. This will help you decide on the right partner with the right expertise for your translation.
Hope you find this article helpful, and thanks for reading.