Readers of a translated financial statement — a bank analyst, a prospective investor, a group auditor — compare it against other periods and against other companies. Consistency therefore matters more than elegance.
Number formats that shift unnoticed
Indonesian uses a full stop as the thousands separator and a comma as the decimal separator. English does the opposite. If this conversion is not handled deliberately, a figure can read as a thousand times larger or smaller than it is.
- Agree at the outset which number format the output uses, and apply it consistently across the whole set.
- State units explicitly — in thousands, in millions, or full value.
- Keep the original currency. Rate conversion is not the translator's job, and adding it unbidden creates risk.
- Recheck figures in tables and in the notes, not just in the primary statements.
Naming the line items
A financial statement line item is not an ordinary word; it refers to a specific accounting concept. Rendering it with something that sounds natural but is not the standard term forces the professional reader to guess. The correct approach is to use the standard term in the accounting framework the target reader uses.
If your company already has an English version of the previous year's statements, send it as a reference. Consistency between periods is worth more than a terminology improvement that makes comparison harder.
Banking and compliance documents
| Document type | Critical point | Usually needs sworn? |
|---|---|---|
| Audited financial statements | Line item naming, number format, notes | Yes, for official submission |
| Independent auditor report | Opinion wording that must not be softened | Yes |
| Credit facility agreement | Definitions, conditions, security clauses | Yes |
| Security and collateral documents | Description of the asset and certificate numbers | Yes |
| Customer due diligence files | Names, addresses and ownership structure | Per the bank's requirement |
| Bank statements | Transaction figures and dates | Per the bank's requirement |
| Prospectus and disclosure documents | Consistency with the official version | Per regulator requirements |
Structure that must be preserved
Financial statements are read by jumping: the reader looks for a line item, then follows it to the note that explains it. Note numbering, item order and table structure therefore have to match the original exactly. A translation that has been "tidied up" damages its usefulness.
Send last year's version as a reference
If this is not the first year your statements are translated, sending last year's version lets the translator keep line item naming identical. An analyst comparing two years will notice immediately if it is not.
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