Speak Business English Like an American » LESSON 2 - Talking about Financial Issues
Juan: I'm really excited about the launch of our new line of fat free Delicious Delight donuts.
Diane: Me too. But before we go any further, we'd better make sure this product line is going to be profitable.
Juan: I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations. Take a look.
Diane: I see you've estimated $2 million for the new equipment. Where did you get that figure?
Juan: That's an educated guess based on some equipment I bought last year.
Diane: You're going to need to double-check that. Using old estimates can get us in hot water.
Juan: No problem. I'll get on the phone with the manufacturer in Dallas and get & price quote.
Diane: Do you have a sense for market demand? We should get the forecasts from the marketing department before we crunch the numbers.
Juan: We don't have those yet. Mary from marketing said maybe we'd have them next week.
Diane: It just blows my mind when marketing people want us to run numbers, and they don't bring us the information we need!
Juan: If we end up in the red on this project, it's going to be their heads on the chopping block, not ours. They're the ones with P&L* responsibility!
Diane: Our CFO* won't give this project the green light until he sees all the numbers. If it doesn't look like we'll make money or at least break even, he'll pull the plug on the project.
*P&L - profit & loss. Those with P&L responsibility are in charge of making sure the business makes a profit. They manage the "P&L statement," also called the "income statement." This shows the financial results of operations over a certain time period, usually a month, a quarter, or a year.
* CFO - chief financial officer. The senior manager responsible for the financial activities of a company.
NOTE: This expression refers to the quick calculations one would do informally, as on the back of an envelope.
NOTE: You will also see the noun form of this expression, "number cruncher," used to describe somebody who makes a lot of financial calculations as part of his or her job.
NOTE: This expression comes from the accounting practice of marking debits (subtractions to the account) in red and credits (additions to the account) in black. The opposite of "in the red" is "in the black," meaning profitable.
NOTE: A chopping block is a piece of wood on which food or wood is chopped. Having your head" on the block would suggest that it is going to be cut off. Fortunately, the meaning here is not literal. If your head is on the chopping block, you might lose your job, but at least you'll still have your head!
ORIGIN: This expression refers to removing a plug to make something stop working — when you pull the plug out of the wall, your appliance doesn't work. In the 19th century, when this term originated, the plug was for a toilet. To flush the toilet, you had to pull out a plug.
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