#ESL Podcast 232 – Business Bookkeeping

##GLOSSARY

**on the side –** extra; in addition to one’s regular job

*Janice works as a science teacher at the high school, but she offers private

classes for younger students on the side to make extra money.

**accounting –** the study or job of keeping correct records of money spent and

received by a business or organization

*Kareem is detail-oriented and he’s very good at math. Has he considered a

career in accounting?

**bookkeeping –** keeping correct records of money that a business or

organization spends or receives

*Shelly and her husband run a small business together. She is responsible for

marketing and sales, and he is responsible for bookkeeping.

**cash flow –** having enough cash for a business to pay its bills

*The company had a problem with cash flow last month, and the owners had to

request a bank loan to pay their employees.

**ledger –** the book or computer file in which a business or organization records

money that it spends and receives

*Years ago, ledgers were written by hand, but today, they are usually

computerized.

**debit –** money that is spent by a business or organization; money that should be

subtracted or taken away; payments

*These records don’t look right. Did you remember to record the debit after we

made that big product purchase?

**credit –** money that a business or organization receives; money that should be

added

*She was happy to see that there were more credits than debits in her account

last month.

**break-even point –** the point where a business’s revenues (money received) are

equal to its total expenses (money spent)

*When the business finally reached its break-even point, the owners had a party

to celebrate their success.

**asset –** something that has value or is worth money and is owned by a business,

organization, or person

*Miyung doesn’t have very much money in the bank, but he does have other

assets: a big house, an expensive car, and a new boat.

**liability –** money that a business, organization, or person owes to someone else

*The bills that a company needs to pay should be listed as liabilities on its

financial statements.

**administrative expense –** cost of operating a business, such as telephone bills,

secretary salaries, and paper for the printers and copiers

*Every time we hire a secretary, our administrative expenses go up. Are you

sure you need another assistant?

**budget –...