Практический курс английского языка = Practical Course of English for Students of Economics. Учебное пособие для студентов экономических специальносте

11. In the following phrases, the first noun acts as an attribute, e.g. cheque book. How many N+N phrases can you make?

12. Fill in the blanks with prepositions where necessary. Give synonyms to the underlined parts.

1. Please transfer Ј 100 ... the Westland Bank Ltd., Bournsea, ... the credit of Clark & Sons Ltd., debiting ... our № 1 account. 2. Please refund this sum ... us crediting our account ... you ... advice ... us. 3. Kindly effect the following payments ... us. 4. ... effect... 1 January will you please discontinue payment ... the Great Eastern Bank authorised ... our letter ... 1 June Last. 5. Referring ... the instructions regarding payment

... I.I. Hooper Ltd., and contained ... our letter ... 3 April, we now wish to cancel these. 6. Please withhold payment of Ј 500 deposit... Messrs N as the purchase ... the equipment concerned may not now be made. We will keep you informed ... any developments. 7. Please suspend payment ... our cheque N°... drawn ... favour ... Messrs Pink & Brown, as it appears to have been lost ... the post. 8. We have been reported ... our London office that the captioned draft has been lost. 9. We are pleased to say that our records now agree ... your statement. 10. Kindly credit all sums received ... Ј 25 ... our № 2 account. Please also transfer Ј 500 ...

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our current account ... deposit account. 11. We are advised ... our principals that the proceeds ... the above transfer were credited ... the payee’s account only on 25 September. Kindly, therefore, look ... the matter and inform us ... the reasons if any ... such an inordinate delay ... effecting payment to enable us to advise ... our clients. 12. ... reply ... your letter ...

16th ... ultimo and ... addition ... ours ... the 14 ... instant, we inform you that the payment order ... caption was transmitted ... us ... your letter

№167 ... other payment orders, amounting ... $ 5,600 ... all.

13.Fill in the blanks with the words given in brackets and their deriva-

tives.

1.We propose ... by Bill of Exchange at 30 d/s, documents against ....

Please confirm if this is ... to you. (pay, accept (use 2 times)) 2. You may draw on our London agent, Messrs N at 60 d/s for the amount of your invoice. Our agents have been instructed ... and advised of the terms of our agreement. (according) 3. We have received your letter and invoice dated 3 January and are willing ... your draft for the amount involved, ...

at 60 days’ sight. (accept, pay) 4. In ... with our terms of payment we have drawn on you at 30 days’ sight for the amount of the enclosed invoice. (according) 5. We apologise for our ...... you that we had drawn on you. This was ... to a misunderstanding and we shall take care to avoid any recurrence. (fail, due) 6. Please note that we have domiciled the following

... with you. Will you kindly honour them at ... date and advise us at the time of .... (accept, due, pay) 7. Please ... the bill for ... and then discount it at the current rate, for the credit of our account. (accept, pay) 8. Your draft for the shipment by S.S. Calcutta was presented yesterday and ...

met. We should now like to ask you if you are willing ... us in future on 60 d/s, D/A terms, as other ... in your country are already allowing us this credit. (due, supply (use 2 times)).

14.* Render in English:

1. Наш коммерческий банк занимается финансированием cельского хозяйства. 2. Некоторые сберегательные банки идут навстречу новым финансовым запросам людей. 3. Этот кредитный союз состоит из членов нашего отдела. 4. Коммерческий банк заинтересован в высокой прибыли. 5. Общие сберегательные банки, как правило, не дают краткосрочных ссуд фирмам. 6. В случае необходимости коммерческий банк требует дополнительное обеспечение в поддержку ссуды. 7. Компаниям с хорошей финансовой репутацией назначают базовую процентную ставку. 8. Большинство банков предлагают своим клиентам различные депозитные сертификаты. 9. Около двух третей коммерческих банков в США – федеральные банки. 10. Многие банки устанавливают высокую плату за свои услуги. 11. Федеральная резервная система контро-

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лирует разнообразные финансовые учреждения и является банком “банкиров”. 12. Все национальные банки являются членами Федеральной резервной системы и владеют ею совместно с правительством. 13. Банки – члены Федеральной резервной системы время от времени берут ссуды в местных резервных банках. 14. Федеральная резервная система предоставляет финансовую поддержку и консультирует своих членов. 15. Банки-члены Федеральной резервной системы получают дивиденды на капитал, которым владеют резервные банки. 16. Федеральная резервная система контролирует поступление денежных средств. 17. Самое сильное оружие системы – дополнительные резервные обязательства. 18. Если банк держит на руках 30 процентов фондов, он может давать ссуду из остальных 70 процентов. 19. Когда Федеральная резервная система покупает правительственные ценные бумаги, поступление денег увеличивается. 20. Система использует эти методы для “тонкой подстройки” экономики. 21. Федеральная резервная система также устанавливает предельные уровни кредитования, покупок капитала и ценных бумаг. 22. Она также передает чеки из банка, где они были учтены, в банк, где они были выписаны. 23. Система страхует вклады на случай банкротства банка. 24. Она дает клиентам сведения о состоянии банка и его наличного капитала.

;Speaking

1.Argue for or against the following debating themes:

a)Active mutual and state-owned banks can lower the profitability of privately owned banks, since they tend to care less about profits.

b)For all central banks’ importance, they remain tiny participants in huge financial markets.

c)In the longer term banks might have something else to worry about: electronic money.

2.Explain a) why banks evolved; b) how they function; c) what they do;

d)the challenges they face.

3.Discuss the following problems:

a)Some people argue that credit cards make it too easy for people to get into debt which they can’t afford. Should a bank limit whom they issue credit cards to?

b)The cost of credit cards is added to the price of goods. This means that customers who pay cash subsidise those who do use credit cards for interest-free credit. Is this fair? If not, what can be done about it?

c)Getting money from a cash dispenser is risky. Someone might see you and rob you. How can banks give protection to customers using their cash machines at night?

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d)EFTPOS are more of a help to banks than to customers. Customers can easily pay by cheque or in cash. Why have EFTPOS?

e)It can be very risky to rely on plastic money. If you lose your cards you lose everything. In the UK 5,000 cards are lost or stolen each day. How can banks minimize the losses through stolen cards?

4. Working in pairs or small groups discuss the following questions:

1.Where do banks get their money?

2.How has the mix of bank deposits changed in recent years?

3.How can you account for it?

4.Expand on the difference between deposit-taking practices in the UK and the US?

5.Do you believe that we witness the age of new services in banking?

6.Would you say that there has been a shift in the interrelation of traditional and innovative types of banking services?

5.Comment on the willingness of modern banks to act as financial department stores.

a) Suppose you are planning to set up a new bank. What will be its organizational form and functions depending on the objectives you aim at? Draw up an organization chart of your future bank.

b) What are the modern tendencies in banking?

6.Make presentations illustrating your arguments with examples:

a)In Europe, banks are at risk from an economic slowdown.

b)Technology allows banks to market products more effectively – and not just traditional banking services but all the other things.

с) Most central banks set monetary policy with the aim of keeping inflation low.

;Writing

1.Write about long-term prospects of the banking business using the following:

traditional banks; increased competition in lending; to expand one’s lines of business; a fusion of banking and other financial services; to launch something; a telephone and Internet bank; disintermediation; to raise money; proprietary trading; to cut costs; net banking; online banks; to move online; to come up with one’s own Internet strategy; offline services.

2.Write an essay on the basis of one of the following statements (150– 200 words):

a) The world might be faced with another full-scale banking crisis in one or more countries.

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b)From an economic point of view, it would be best if bank supervision were centralized, either under the ECB or a new, independent European regulator.

c)Banks are likely to become more pan-European as the single currency encourages cross-border mergers and greater cross-border exposures.

;Key vocabulary

documents against payment (D/P) documents against acceptance (D/A)

Unit 5

A C C O U N T I N G

; Lead-in

What do you think of accountants and their job?

Choose the description that is closest to your idea of accountants.

1)Accountants are dull functionaries toiling in a back room, endlessly adding up numbers.

2)Accountants are creative people on whom a company’s prosperity largely depends.

3)if other, specify.

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; Reading

Text 1

1. Read the text and single out the definitions of the following notions:

●accounting

●financial accounting

●management accounting.

The Nature of Accounting

Accounting is the system a business uses to measure its financial performance by recording and classifying sales, purchases, and other transactions. Accounting also provides ways to present this information that make it possible to evaluate a company’s past performance, present condition, and future prospects.

Accounting is important to business for two reasons: it helps managers plan and control a company’s operations, and it helps outsiders evaluate the business. Because these two audiences use accounting information in different ways, accounting has two distinct facets. Financial accounting is concerned with preparing information for the outside world; management accounting is concerned with preparing information for internal use.

Financial accounting. The outsiders who use accounting information have a variety of interests. Suppliers, banks, and other lenders want to know whether the business is creditworthy; investors and shareholders are concerned with the company’s profit potential; government agencies are mainly interested in regulating the business and collecting taxes. These users need information that is objective, consistent over time, and comparable to information supplied by other companies. Thus financial accounting statements adhere to certain standard formats and are prepared according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that have been established and agreed on by the accounting profession over many years.

Management accounting. Management accounting, in contrast, is tailored to the needs of managers in a particular company. Its overall purpose is to help the managers evaluate results and make informed decisions. In a typical company, the management accounting system covers a wide range of financial activities, from recording sales and sending out invoices to helping top management evaluate expenditures on buildings, equipment, and labor.

Thus, of the several available definitions of accounting, the one developed by an American Accounting Association committee is perhaps the best because of its focus on accounting as an aid to decision making.

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This committee defined accounting as “the process of identifying, measuring, and communicating economic information to permit informed judgments and decisions by users of the information.”

2.Read the text again and say if the following statements are true or false according to the information in the text; correct the wrong ones.

1.Accounting information can help managers evaluate a company’s prospects. 2. It is management accounting that is concerned with preparing information for the outside world. 3. Financial accounting prepares information for internal use. 4. The outsiders that need a company’s accounting information are banks, suppliers, investors, government agencies. 5. Financial accounting statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. 6. Management accounting helps the managers to evaluate a company’s performance and make informed decisions. 7. Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, and communicating economic information.

3.Complete the following sentences on the basis of the information in the text.

1.Accounting is the system of measuring … . 2. Accounting helps managers plan … . 3. Accounting helps outsiders … . 4. Lenders want to know if the business … . 5. Government agencies are interested in

…. 6. Financial accounting statements are prepared according to … . 7. Management accounting is tailored to …. . 8. Management accounting activities include… .

4. Summarize the contents of the text in 5–7 sentences.

Text 2

1. Scan the text below and pick out the terms that are used to name accounting titles and jobs in the USA.

The Profession of Accounting in the USA

In most organizations the accounting group is the largest staff unit, that is, the largest group other than the “line” activities of production and marketing. The accounting group consists essentially of two types of people: (1) bookkeepers and other data-entry employees who maintain the detailed operating records and (2) professional accountants who decide how items should be reported, prepare the reports, interpret these reports, prepare special analyses, design and operate the systems through which information flows, and ensure that the information is accurate.

In 2008 there were 1,762,000 accountants and auditors in the United States.

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All publicly owned companies and many other organizations have their accounting reports audited by a public accounting firm. These firms also perform other services for clients. Some of these firms are very large: the four largest (colloquially called the Big Four) each have tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of offices around the world, with annual revenues totaling billions of dollars. They are far larger than any law firm, medical group practice, or other professional firm. At the other extreme, thousands of public accountants practice as individuals.

Most public accountants are licensed by their state and are designated as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). The professional organization of CPAs is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Many accountants employed by industry belong to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Many college and university accounting faculty members belong to the American Accounting Association (AAA).

Although accounting is a staff function performed by accounting professionals within an organization the ultimate responsibility for the generation of accounting information rests with management. Management’s responsibility for accounting is the reason that one of the top officers of many businesses is the controller. Within the division of top management’s duties, the controller is the person responsible for satisfying other managers’ needs for management accounting information and for complying with the requirements of financial reporting. To these ends the controller’s office employs accounting professionals in both management and financial accounting. These accountants design, install, and operate the information systems required to generate financial and managerial reports.

2. Sort out the functions listed below into two categories:

(1)those performed by bookkeepers (2) those performed by accountants a. payment of invoices; b. calculation of all incoming and outgoing

transactions; c. setting up and monitoring the procedures for dealing with the figures; d. the issuing of invoices for sales of the company’s products or services; e. dealing with non-routine situations where decisions have to be made about how and where to record special kinds of income or expenditure; f. providing information on cash flow; g. looking for ways to present company’s figures in the most advantageous light with regard to tax liability; h. producing monthly and annual financial reports.

3. Give an overview of the system of jobs in the accounting profession in the Republic of Belarus. Do additional research into the issue if necessary.

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Text 3

1. Read the text below and take notes of its content.

Financial Statements

After a few months, the transactions recorded by a bookkeeper will accumulate, making it difficult for management to sort out what is going on. To simplify the picture, accountants prepare financial statements that summarize the transactions. Three of the most important are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flow.

The Balance Sheet. A balance sheet, also known as a statement of financial position, is a kind of “snapshot” of where a company is, financially speaking, at one moment in time. It includes all the elements in the accounting equation, showing the balance between assets on the one hand and liabilities and owner’s equity on the other. Figure 1 is a balance sheet for Sweet Dreams Ice Cream, Inc., a small corporation that makes ice cream and sells it through its own shop.

But no business can stand still while its financial condition is being examined. A business may make hundreds of transactions of various kinds every working day. Even during a holiday, office fixtures grow older and decrease in value, and interest on savings accounts accumulates. Yet the accountant must set up a balance sheet so that managers and other interested parties can evaluate the business’s financial position as if it were static.

Accordingly, every company prepares a balance sheet at least once a year, most often at the end of the calendar year, covering from January 1 to December 31. However, many business and government bodies use a fiscal year, which may be any 12 consecutive months. For example, a business may choose a fiscal year that runs from June 1 to May 31 because its peak selling season ends in May. Some companies prepare a balance sheet more often than once a year, perhaps at the end of each month or quarter.

The Income Statement. The income statement reflects the results of operations over a period of time, typically one year. If the balance sheet is a “snapshot,” the income statement is a “movie”. It summarizes all revenues (or sales), the amounts that have been or are to be received from customers for goods or services delivered to them, and all expenses, the costs that have arisen in generating revenues. It then subtracts expenses from revenues to show the actual profit or loss of a company, a figure known as net income – profit or the “bottom line.” Figure 2 is an income statement for Sweet Dreams Ice Cream, Inc.

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Figure 1

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