Translation of company details into English: regulations, templates, preferences
The use of bank details and details of enterprises, representing a certain set of values, takes place both in the accounting of monetary transactions and in other spheres of life. Abbreviations and acronyms are almost always used in this case. Provided that you have to work on the translation of abbreviated legal terms, there are the following difficulties:
- Absence of identical analogues in the language of interest;
- Need to choose from several translation options.
There is no need to rewrite the expression of interest in Latin, i.e., refer to transliteration. Our translation agency knows how to cope with any task: to translate contracts, company cards or extracts from the register of enterprises. There will be no problems with the translation of all kinds of certificates of different banks, certificates from work, constituent documents and websites.
Justification of the choice of options
It is obligatory to transliterate organizational and legal forms, since "ТОВ" is a Limited Liability Company or LLC in English. In British English, Limited Trade Development (Ltd.) is preferable. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the organizational and legal form is placed after company name: Associated Hotels, LLC; Supranational Hotels Ltd.
But experienced translators know the difference between "ТОВ" and English versions of LLC/Ltd. In this regard, this kind of renaming of the company is fraught with problems. For example, with regard to the term LLC, according to information found on TranslatorsCafé forum, it is believed to be of American English. But LLC is considered an acceptable option for the domestic sphere of activity. The need to emphasize that the organization operates in our country, just requires the preservation of the original form of organizational and legal form.
If we talk about exceptions to the rules, then it would be a mistake to resort to transliteration in relation to sole proprietor (ІП in Ukrainian). The secret is that in a number of languages, the abbreviation IP stands for Internet Protocol. A similar situation is observed for the US counterpart – Sole proprietor and the British version - Sole trader. It is possible to eliminate confusion in such situations only by refusing to translate organizational and legal forms. In an agency with qualified employees, they usually prefer the maximum preservation of correlation with the Russian term, i.e., they use a more literal version – Individual entrepreneur.
Experienced translators will not go against the traditions. So, if there is an English name used in official documentation, on a website or advertising, it is almost always used.
Taxpayer identification number (IPN), Tax registration reason code (KPP), etc.
According to some representatives of the translation market, the above-mentioned terms should be transliterated. But it would be more correct to indicate the full translation of the term of interest, and add an abbreviated version in brackets. This approach is explained by the fact that the transliteration of IPN gives the abbreviation understandable to Ukrainian speakers (even without explaining the context). But in English, this option is unacceptable. If ТОV or ZAO can be used without description due to the presence of the company name next to it, then abbreviation of IPN following by the number, turns out to be difficult to understand.
The best solution would be the description following by the translation. For example, "ІПН" is a Taxpayer Identification Number, so transliteration (IPN) is added in parentheses next to the number. There is no need to create a new abbreviation TIN, since it cannot be used at all in the translated version.
In a situation where there is an extreme narrowness of the original term, a detailed explanation is used: IPN (an identification number used by the Internal Revenue Service in the administration of tax laws). However, along with the details, such explanation is too much.
For example:
- ІПН 7839078339 - Taxpayer Identification Number (IPN) 7839078339;
- КПП 783901001 - Tax Registration Reason Code (KPP) 783901001;
- ОГРН 1177847045750 - Primary State Registration Number (OGRN) 1177847045750.
Bank details
In this case, everything is determined by the differences in the details of domestic internal accounts from international analogues. According to the experts, it is worth using a general term to translate the expression "розрахунковий рахунок". But with regard to the BIC, extreme caution will be required. The fact is that different countries have their own peculiarities:
- UK – current account;
- USA – checking account;
- Australia – transaction account.
A universal option that allows you not to attribute the features of foreign analogues to domestic current accounts will be account.
As a result of decoding the BIC (Bank Identification Code), there are no problems with translation into English. Namely: Bank Identifier Code, abbreviated form - BIC. But even with the appearance of the correct solution at first glance, it is best not to translate the BIC at all. With all the similarity of abbreviations, the domestic analogue includes 9 digits, and BIC, i.e., SWIFT code, can consist of 8-11 digits and letters.
Address translation
In order not to complicate the work of postmen, you should not translate "вулиця" as street or look for a suitable translation equivalent to designate an alley or village. It is best to transliterate an address. And although for cities and countries it is worth using well-known options, but the location of the elements changes only at the request of the client.
Even though it is not customary to show the contract at the post office, companies prefer to use the exact address of the counterparty specified in the contract in correspondence. This is the reason why translators adhere to the sequence of the original and make as few changes as possible to the delivery address. For example: 190121, Киев, Дровяной переулок, 22, литера А, пом. 2Н, in English - 190121, Kiev, Drovyanoy pereulok, 22, litera A, pom. 2Н.
To perform tasks of any complexity, translation agency usually uses templates for translating details for different types of documents. Only the special wishes of customers will force it to move away from the repeatedly tested standards.