OmniDocHow to write a corporate annual report translation strategy: Pre-translation preparation and terminology unification
Before translating a corporate annual report, first determine the terminology, style positioning, and readership, and then start the translation. This article explains the steps to prepare for translation, how to unify terminology, and how to take advantage of terminology consistency and style options in OmniDoc.
Key points of this article
- Before writing, list the company name, product name, financial accounts and other terms, and determine the unified translation of each word.
- Annual reports often have multiple readership groups, so the style must be determined first: investors focus on financial caliber, while regulatory and legal issues focus on precise wording.
- Numbers, units, currencies and dates must be checked before translation, and then compared item by item with the original text after translation.
- The translation is only a first draft, and paragraphs involving financial and legal expressions need to be reviewed by someone familiar with the business.
- Retaining tables and layouts can reduce post-translation typesetting rework, and bilingual comparisons also facilitate paragraph-by-paragraph verification.
Corporate annual reports usually have dozens to hundreds of pages and include letters to shareholders, business overview, management discussion and analysis, financial statements and notes. Many teams get the original text and start translating it directly. As a result, the same financial subject is translated differently in different chapters, and the company name is written inconsistently. The translation has to be reworked when it is handed over to investors or partners.
This article is written for finance, investor relations and marketing personnel who are responsible for the external version of annual reports. It is also suitable for people who need to hand over annual reports to overseas teams or overseas readers. After reading, you will know what to prepare before starting translation, how to list and unify terms, and how to use terminology consistency and style options in OmniDoc to implement this set of preparations.
How to ensure stable translation of corporate annual reports? One sentence conclusion
Determining the terminology and style first and then starting the translation can help keep the tone of the entire annual report consistent. It doesn’t take much time to prepare before translation, but it can reduce the workload of changing words paragraph by paragraph later. The table below provides suggestions for common situations.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| The annual report will be shown to foreign investors and regulatory agencies at the same time. | Terms are defined according to the two calibers of finance and law, and the style is chosen as business or legal. | The same word requires different accuracy in the eyes of two types of readers. |
| The annual report has an English version for the previous year | First extract terms from the old version and use the translation methods that have been used externally. | The external caliber is continuous to prevent investors from seeing inconsistent names. |
| The document contains a large number of financial statements and notes | List the account names and accounting policy terms separately and check them one by one. | Mistranslation of subjects will directly affect readers’ understanding of financial data. |
| This is my first annual report in English and there is no ready-made terminology. | The financial and business leaders will first confirm the core terminology and then hand it over to the translator. | The definition of terms needs to be confirmed by people who understand the business, and cannot just rely on the words given by the machine. |
| The file is long and needs to be translated by multiple people in chapters. | The glossary is shared and final verification is done by one person | It is easy to have multiple translations of the same word when translating according to the division of labor |
# how to list the glossary before I can really use it?
The glossary is the basis for the translation of annual reports. It is not only a vocabulary list, but also a list of the standard translation, scope of application and prohibited translation of each word. For example, "operating income" is always written in English and notes that other chapters should not be rewritten as synonyms.
It is recommended that the glossary contain at least the following categories:
-the company is related to the brand: the company's full name, acronym, subsidiary name, product and brand name, which are usually written in a fixed way without free translation. -Financial subjects: special expressions such as balance sheet, profit statement, cash flow statement, non-recurring profit and loss, etc. -Business and industry words: the names of products, technologies and channels unique to the industry. Governance and disclosure terms: fixed statements such as board of directors, board of supervisors, independent directors, types of audit opinions, etc.
Why is it easy to have problems with the unification of terms?
A common problem is that the same concept is used differently in different chapters, such as "R & D investment" and "R & D expenditure" are mixed in financial statements and management discussions. If the translator does not see the overall situation, it is difficult to find out for himself. Another problem is the mixed use of abbreviations and full names, which should be written in full and abbreviated for the first time, and then be consistent.
style is not embellishment, but reader orientation
Style determines the formality of sentences, the proportion of passive voice and the way professional words are handled. The letter to shareholders can be biased, while the financial notes require precision and less modification. Translating the two in the same style usually makes the financial part appear loose or the speech part stiff. Therefore, before translation, we should first confirm the main readers of this annual report, and then choose the corresponding style setting.
# Core comparison
| Practice | Is the terminology uniform? | Does the style have a basis? | Amount of rework after translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open the translation directly and turn the words at the same time | Easy to be inconsistent | Rely on the translator's personal judgment | Usually more. |
| List the glossary first, then divide the work by chapter | To be unified, someone needs to check it. | Set by chapter | Medium |
| The terminology and style are defined in advance, and the whole article will be processed uniformly and then reviewed by the business staff. | More stable | Have a clear basis | Relatively few |
The table compares the way you work, and the actual effect also depends on the length of the document and the division of labor of the team.
# how to use it
To translate the annual report on OmniDoc, you can prepare and execute it in the following order:
- Sort out the company name, product name, financial subject and industry words from the original text, form a glossary and indicate the standard translation of each word.
two. Confirm the audience of the annual report and choose the style category that matches it, such as business or law.
- Upload the original text on omnidoc.top. Common annual report formats such as PDF, Word and Excel can be uploaded directly, and the scanned version of PDF also supports translation.
- Choose the output mode: bilingual control when you need to check paragraph by paragraph, and only translation when you need to formally deliver.
- Use the term consistency function to check the whole translation, check it item by item against the glossary, and find that the inconsistent words are revised uniformly.
- Download the translation. Tables, formulas, and pictures are retained, but you still need to check that the numbers, units, and currency symbols are consistent with the original text.
- Financial and legal paragraphs are reviewed by people familiar with the business, especially accounting policies and risk tips.
If individual paragraphs need to be modified, you can modify the paragraph text directly in the PDF editor on the desktop client, and the client download address is download.omnidoc.top. The results of machine translation need to be checked before being used for external use, especially numbers and legal terms should be confirmed item by item.
# which method is suitable for you?
When the annual report is for internal reference only, you can first read through the bilingual version quickly, and then decide which paragraphs need to be formally translated. -when the annual report is to be disclosed to the public, it is recommended to complete the glossary, style setting and business review. -when the English version has been available for many years, the historical version of the terminology should be used as the starting point and should only be supplemented for new business.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. Should the glossary be completed before translation?
It is recommended to complete at least the core part, including the company name, main financial subjects and business keywords. Other terms can be added after the initial translation, but go back to check the translated chapters after the supplement.
2. Do the figures in the annual report need to be checked separately?
Need. The translation may change the numerical format or units, and the translation should be compared with the original item by item, especially the total count, the year-on-year number and the monetary unit.
3. Can the scanned annual report be translated directly?
Sure. OmniDoc supports scanned PDF translation, but the recognition results still need to be checked manually, especially the small characters and numbers in the table.
4. How to tell whether the PDF is scanned or not?
Use the mouse to try to select a text and copy it. If it cannot be selected, or if it is copied out to be blank, it is usually a scanned piece or picture PDF.
5. Does the translation need to be reviewed by professionals?
The annual report disclosed to the public is recommended to be reviewed by financial, legal or personnel with relevant qualifications. Machine translation can improve efficiency, but it is no substitute for the judgment of financial and legal implications.
# Summary
The key to the translation of enterprise annual reports is to determine the terms and styles before translation and to check them uniformly after translation. By stringing the glossary, reader positioning and business review into a fixed process, the caliber of the annual report can be consistent and rework will be reduced.
