How to do financial translation into Spanish
Financial translation into Spanish is a highly specialised service. Many finance-related documents are complex and difficult to understand, especially for non-specialists. There is therefore no room for error. Like many other technical areas, the better you understand the original, the better the translation will be.
Who can do financial translation?
Financial and business translations should be carried out by people with experience in finance and business. Not everyone has a Master’s degree in Finance, but even those who have one might have doubts. If so, researching vocabulary on Google probably won´t cut it. You must get in touch with the customer and ask for further clarification.
Understanding the original text
As a customer, we recommend you talk to potential suppliers first. Find out how well they understand finance.
- Ask them to explain how compound interest works, for example.
- Make sure they understand what mortgages and credit loans are...
- Are they familiar with bankroll, capitalize, endow, fund, stake, subsidize, underwrite…
Institution-specific guidelines
As in most industries, most companies or institutions will have their own terminology and linguistic preferences. A professional translation service should always ask whether the customer has a glossary. If not, build one for them.
They might also have guidelines referring to formatting, numbering, presentation, currencies, etc.. Our translators and reviewers have at least basic training in finance and business.
Financial terms in Spanish
The technicality of financial jargon cannot be overemphasized. Some examples:
- Where do you put the currency symbol? In front of or after the amount?
- Which language uses decimal points and which uses decimal commas?
- How do you translate trustee?
- What is a fiduciary?
- Should you translate into Spanish the names of institutions such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)? Are there any equivalents in Latin America?
- Do you know the difference between a transferencia and a traspaso?
- Or between a préstamo and a crédito?
- What exactly is flujo de caja? Is it synonymous to tesorería?
Over the years we have put together a team of highly specialized Spanish translators and reviewers. Some of them have Master’s degrees and MBAs.
Together with our processes and methodology, this is the only way to ensure accuracy, speed and reliability.
Some common errors
The Number Mistake
Financial texts are sure to have numbers, values and currencies. If you are translating a financial text to Spanish, you need to be very careful. If you are also changing the currency to a local currency, be careful not to give your audience the wrong money value.
For example, 1,000,000,000,000 is a billion in the United Kingdom, a trillion in the United States, and a millón de millones in Spanish. Be careful of how you translate values as it could make your financial translation incorrect.
Examples of finance-related documents
Financial documentation can be found in all companies, not just financial institutions. Here are some examples:
- Business cases
- Key investor information documents (KIID)
- Balance sheets
- Profit and Loss accounts
- Investment fund reports
- Activity reports
- Stock exchange documentation
- Banking
- Insurance
- Risk management and asset management
- Audit reports
- Mergers and acquisitions
- etc.
The use of Translation Memories (TMs) in financial translation
Financial documentation can be very repetitive. For example, annual company accounts always have the same headings. The only thing that changes is the amounts (numbers). So translating new versions of the same document every year can be very inefficient. Unless you use Translation Memories, that is.
TM-based software (client-specific always) allows you to re-use segments of text translated in the past. If past projects have been managed with a TM, today’s project will be faster. It will also be cheaper and more consistent linguistically.
Conclusion on financial translation into Spanish
Quicksilver’s blend of modern day software and professionalism ensures that your content is in safe hands. We have trained, experienced translators and reviewers. We also have specialised software which makes the whole process easier and more effective.
