Accounting & finance in Chinese 财务
cáiwù
Finance in Chinese is 财务 (cái wù).
Also searched for as: accounting, finance, bookkeeping, profit and loss, accountant, cash flow.
Profit, cash flow and keeping the books. 15 essential accounting & finance words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
Whether you're reading a report or chasing an expense claim, the word you'll hear most is 财务 (cái wù), which means both finance and the finance department itself. Around it sit 利润 (lì rùn), profit, 成本 (chéng běn), cost, and the all-important 报销 (bào xiāo), getting your expenses reimbursed. These terms help you follow a budget meeting and talk clearly about how a business is doing.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 财务 | cái wù | finance; finance department |
| 会计 | kuài jì | accountant; accounting |
| 做账 | zuò zhàng | to keep the books |
| 成本 | chéng běn | cost |
| 利润 | lì rùn | profit |
| 毛利 | máo lì | gross profit; gross margin |
| 净利润 | jìng lì rùn | net profit |
| 营业额 | yíng yè é | turnover; revenue |
| 现金流 | xiàn jīn liú | cash flow |
| 预算 | yù suàn | budget |
| 报销 | bào xiāo | to claim expenses; to be reimbursed |
| 报表 | bào biǎo | financial statements; report |
| 审计 | shěn jì | audit; to audit |
| 亏损 | kuī sǔn | loss; to make a loss |
| 收支平衡 | shōu zhī píng héng | to break even |
Usage tips
- 报销 (bào xiāo) almost always needs a 发票 (fā piào), so when you pay for a taxi or meal on business, ask 能开发票吗 (néng kāi fā piào ma)?
- In 毛利 (máo lì), gross profit, 毛 means 'gross' or 'unrefined', the same use as in 毛重 (máo zhòng), gross weight; net is 净 (jìng), as in 净利润 (jìng lì rùn).
- In casual talk people say 赚钱 (zhuàn qián) and 亏钱 (kuī qián) for making or losing money, while 盈利 (yíng lì) and 亏损 (kuī sǔn) are the versions you'll see in reports.
Common mistakes
- Reading 会计 as huì jì: in accounting words 会 is pronounced kuài, so it's 会计 (kuài jì).
- Using 营业额 (yíng yè é) to mean profit: it's turnover or revenue, before any costs are taken off.
- Confusing 利润 (lì rùn), profit, with 利息 (lì xī), interest; both start with 利 but mean quite different things.
Mini dialogue
- A上个月的报表做好了吗？Shàng ge yuè de bào biǎo zuò hǎo le ma?Are last month's financial statements done?
- B做好了。营业额创了新高，可是利润不太好。Zuò hǎo le. Yíng yè é chuàng le xīn gāo, kě shì lì rùn bù tài hǎo.Yes. Turnover hit a record high, but profit wasn't great.
- A为什么？成本涨了吗？Wèi shén me? Chéng běn zhǎng le ma?Why? Have costs gone up?
- B对，原材料和人工都涨了，我们得控制预算。Duì, yuán cái liào hé rén gōng dōu zhǎng le, wǒ men děi kòng zhì yù suàn.Yes, materials and labour have both gone up, so we need to keep the budget under control.
- A好，我下午去跟财务谈谈。Hǎo, wǒ xià wǔ qù gēn cái wù tán tan.OK, I'll go and talk to finance this afternoon.
Example sentences
- 这件事你问财务吧。Ask finance about that.
- 我们公司请了两个会计。Our company has two accountants.
- 月底会计要做账。The accountant does the books at the end of the month.
- 今年人工成本涨了很多。Labour costs went up a lot this year.
- 今年利润比去年高。Profit is higher this year than last year.
- 这个产品毛利有百分之四十。This product has a 40% gross margin.
- 扣完税净利润不多。After tax, net profit isn't much.
- 上个月营业额创了新高。Turnover hit a record high last month.
- 现金流比利润还重要。Cash flow matters even more than profit.
- 明年的预算批下来了。Next year's budget has been approved.
- 出差的费用可以报销。Business trip expenses can be claimed back.
- 财务报表下周交。The financial statements are due next week.
- 年底要做审计。There's an audit at the end of the year.
- 公司今年第一次亏损。The company made a loss for the first time this year.
- 今年终于做到收支平衡了。We finally broke even this year.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Accounting & finance speaking island has 8 everyday questions about accounting & finance to prepare your own answers to.