🗓️ Idiom: Balance the Books (v)
💬 Meaning
- To make sure that you don’t spend more than you earn.
- Trying to make more money to stop a financial loss.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The sales team had to sell extra items to balance the books.
- Good management of expenses helped the company to balance the books.
- In order to balance the books, many employees were fired.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom originates from traditional accounting, where financial data was recorded in physical ledgers (accounting books). Balancing the books referred to making sure that all income and expenses were properly accounted for. So the final totals on both sides of the ledger matched.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The accountant stayed late to __________ the books before submitting the report.
Answer
balance
2. Choose the correct meaning of “balance the books”:
A) Rewrite a financial plan from scratch
B) Make sure financial records are accurate and totals match
C) Spend more money than the company earns
Answer
B) Make sure financial records are accurate and totals match
3. Rewrite the sentence using: Balance the Books
“The accountant checked everything to keep the finacial records accurate.”
Answer
The accountant checked everything to balance the books.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 Finance and Accounting Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
