Business Money Changing Subject Conversation People Tax Government

Businesses have to create many different types of "reports" (written or oral descriptions of progress) to the government, "shareholders" (people who own stocks or small parts of a business), owners, and "creditors" (people and organizations who have loaned money and expect to be paid back).

Tax "filings" (information officially sent to an organization) are a common way of reporting to the government. Businesses have to "fill out" (write information on) tax "forms" (pieces of paper with empty lines to write down specific information) about how much money they have received and spent. The forms are used to calculate how much the business should pay to the government in taxes.

Shareholders and owners also want to have information about how a business is doing, usually more frequently than the government. Businesses regularly send their "financial statements" (pages showing how much money a business has in different "accounts" (money set aside for a particular purpose), usually "quarterly" (four times a year; every three months). Once a year, businesses usually give their shareholders and owners an "annual report" that includes the financial statements, as well as a written summary of what the business has done in the past year and what it is planning for the future.

Creditors are most interested in what a business is doing with its "loan" (the money the creditor has given) and whether the business will be able to "pay it back" (return the money with "interest" (extra money)). As long as the business is making payments, the creditors might not be interested in additional information. However, if the business has trouble repaying its loan, the creditor will probably begin asking for more detailed reports and explanations.