Globalization has radically altered the business strategy and financial policies of present-day companies, pitching increasing number of players to compete in international markets. The job of a Financial Translator is extremely challenging, which is why good financial translators are hard to come by. The job involves translation of financial documents such as Annual Reports, Income Statements, Budgets, Forecasts, P & L Statements, Balance Sheets, Tax Statements, Auditor’s Reports, Documents of Insurance, and Bank Statements. There is no scope for even a minute error since most of the key data that is crucial to an organization is encompassed in its Financial Documents.
Since this is a highly specialized skill, only a translator who has a sound knowledge base of financial terms and terminologies, as well as accounting practices of the specific countries that are being dealt with can successfully handle financial translation projects. The key players that have spiralled the demand for professional financial translation services include multinationals, banks, accounting firms, financial service providers, mortgage firms, financial institutions and investor firms. The first and foremost criterion for any organization that has a financial translation requirement is that the confidentiality of its highly sensitive and critical documents be maintained at all times. If the client cannot entrust you with his or her private documents, then it defeats the entire purpose altogether.
The next requirement of course is the accuracy of translation which includes correctly translating the content of the source document into its translated version, keeping in mind the domain-specific terms as well as accounting practices of both countries. For certain types of assignments, apart from knowledge of financial terms, one also needs to know about regulatory requirements for financial transactions, trade agreements etc between the two countries. Another important aspect is the formatting of the documents. It is always recommended that clear guidelines be taken from the client as to how the formatting of the source document should be. Moreover, after the translation process is completed, a qualified proof reader must recheck the document for errors and finally look into the formatting of the document, to ensure that it exactly meets the prescribed standards.
A financial translator might be highly qualified and experienced, but what sets one apart from the rest of the crowd is credibility, trust-worthiness and above all, integrity under all circumstances.
