Translating a French balance sheet into English: terms and method

Why translate your balance sheet into English

A foreign lender, an investment fund, a group parent company, a buyer in an international tender: sooner or later someone asks for your accounts in English. They want to assess your financial strength without relying on a rough machine-translated version.

Article L123-12 of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) states that the annual accounts comprise the balance sheet, the income statement and the notes, which form an indivisible whole. That is a sound principle for translation too: a balance sheet sent on its own, without the notes explaining policies and commitments, usually raises more questions than it answers.

Translation is not conversion to IFRS

This is the most common misunderstanding. A balance sheet prepared under the French chart of accounts (règlement ANC n° 2014-03) remains a French GAAP balance sheet once translated. Translation makes the headings understandable; it does not reclassify items or restate any figures.

If your counterpart requires IFRS or US GAAP accounts, that is restatement work for your accountant, done beforehand. To avoid any ambiguity, state at the top of the translated document: “Prepared in accordance with French GAAP”.

Balance sheet vocabulary

British accounting English (UK GAAP) and IFRS terminology do not always use the same words. Pick one set and stick to it throughout the document.

Classic traps

• “Passif” is not “liabilities”. The French passif includes equity; in English, liabilities means debts only. The total is therefore headed Total equity and liabilities.
• “Provision” is a false friend. In English a provision is a liability. A write-down of an asset is an impairment or an allowance, never a provision in the French sense.
• Amortissement: depreciation for tangible assets, amortisation for intangibles.
• “Stocks”: correct in British English, but an American reader will hear “shares”. For a mixed audience, prefer inventories.
• “Résultat”: never result, but profit, loss or net income.

Figures, dates and currency

• Separators: 1 254 300,50 becomes 1,254,300.50.
• Negative amounts: English-language accounts often show them in brackets; use a single convention.
• Units: “en milliers d'euros” becomes €'000 or €k.
• Columns: “Exercice N / N-1” becomes Current year / Prior year, and “31/12/2024” is written 31 December 2024 in British English.

Step-by-step method

1. Gather the full set: balance sheet, income statement, notes and, where there is one, the statutory auditor's report (see our page on translating an audit report). For a broader document, read the guide to translating an annual report.
2. Check the format: an Excel or Word export, or a PDF generated by your accounting software, has a text layer. A printed and scanned tax pack does not, and cannot be processed.
3. Upload the file in the Manuce app: words are counted on the actual document and the quote appears before any payment.
4. Check the free sample: look at how “passif”, “provisions” and “capitaux propres” have been handled. If those three are right, the rest usually follows.
5. Have your accountant review it: identical totals, correct signs, headings consistent with the notes.

Your document goes to Métis, our finance and accounting specialist. Tables stay in place and the original layout is preserved. On confidentiality: no human reads your files, servers are in France and no training is done on your documents (details in our privacy policy).

How much does it cost?

A balance sheet alone runs to only a few hundred words. Add the income statement and notes and you quickly reach 3,000 words, around 8 pages. These are the prices shown on the quote on the day of writing for 3,000 words from French into English:

For the same 3,000 words into English, German and Spanish at Professionnel level, the gross €162 qualifies for the 30% multilingual discount: €114 in total. Delivery takes a few minutes with no express surcharge, and VAT does not apply (article 293 B du CGI). If you translate your accounts every year, the business account gives 25% off translations with a single monthly invoice. The full price list is on the pricing page, and our article on getting an English translation quote explains how to read it.

When do you need a certified translation?

Some foreign authorities or courts require a certified translation of company accounts. Manuce does not provide sworn or certified translation: in that case, contact a translator accredited by a French court of appeal (traducteur expert près une cour d'appel). Our guide on when certified translation is mandatory will help you decide. For a bank, an investor or a parent company, a professional translation reviewed by your accountant is generally enough; ask them before you order.