To pass this unit, please study the 20 vocabulary words below.
- Above board
- Backdoor
- Be in the ballpark
- Bean counter
- Blow
- Bull market
- Close of play
- Cooked the books
- Downsize
- Drill down on
- Hold fire
- Like herding cats
- Loophole
- Make ends meet
- Meat-and-potatoes
- On the fritz
- PBC (Prepared by Client)
- Rip-off
- Well-off
- Went bust
Adjective
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in a legal and proper manner
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"We are not worried about the audit as everything was prepared above board."
Noun (thing)
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dishonest, unethical or illegal
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"The company was fined when the tax authority realized that their return had been prepared in a backdoor way."
Unknown
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to estimate with reasonable accuracy
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"They didn't know the exact figure and guessed at 500,000 which turned out to be in the ballpark."
Noun (person)
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a person who is very concerned with small details
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"Even as a young boy Peter was a bean counter, so it made perfect sense when he said he wanted to be a financial controller."
Verb (infinitive)
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to spend a large amount of money (in a wasteful way)
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"The new manager didn't know what he was doing and blew the yearly overtime budget in 2 months."
Noun (thing)
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a time when the prices of most shares are rising
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"By studying the stock market over a period of time, you can see if we are in a bull market or not."
Unknown
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the end of the working day
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"I may be late home tonight as I have to finish this report by the close of play."
Verb (infinitive)
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changed numbers dishonestly in the accounts of a company
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"The financial controller was fired after he was caught cooking the books."
Verb (infinitive)
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to make smaller by reducing the number of people working in a place
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"A lot of companies have had to downsize as a result of the financial crisis."
Verb (infinitive)
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to study something in great detail
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"We really need to drill down on the budget and find out where we went wrong."
Verb (infinitive)
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to delay, or wait for something before continuing
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"They had to hold fire on the accounts preparation, as they were waiting for the client to supply some missing documents."
Unknown
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to be difficult and time consuming
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"Dealing with the IRS can be like herding cats as there are so many forms which need to be completed."
Noun (thing)
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a small mistake in an agreement or law which can be abused for benefit
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"The contract was carefully written so that there were no loopholes."
Verb (infinitive)
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have just enough money to pay for things you need
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"Most people want more than to make ends meet."
Noun (thing)
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more basic or important than other things
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"The company produces many items, but the meat-and-potatoes products are plant pots."
Adverb
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temporarily broken or out-of-order
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"I always have a coffee before I go to work as the office coffee machine is usually on the fritz."
Noun (thing)
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Used to show that documents were not prepared by professionals
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"The job involves checking PBC documents to make sure they contain no errors."
Noun (thing)
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something which is not worth what you have paid for it
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"That new computer was a real rip-off, he could have bought one much cheaper."
Adjective
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wealthy, or having money
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"John had always been well-off, but after his investments paid off he became a multi-millionaire."
Verb (infinitive)
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forced to close because of being financially unsuccessful, to go bankrupt
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"When the company went bust over 500 people lost their jobs."