The language of accounting

Ewa | Jan 09, 2026Jan 07, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• discuss accounting from various perspectives;
• practise accounting vocabulary and suffixes;
• listen to part of a lecture on tax minimisation strategies. 

In this lesson, students reflect on tasks accountants do, work with useful vocabulary (e.g. ledger, asset, benchmark) and talk about the consequences of financial decisions. They use suffixes to create words, discuss key accounting concepts and explain the difference between related phrases (e.g. tax exemption and tax deduction). Students also listen to part of a lecture about legal tax reduction and work in pairs, using the target vocabulary to answer questions and make comments.

WARM-UP AND ACCOUNTING VOCABULARY

This lesson focuses on accounting vocabulary and starts with a warm-up. Students list tasks an accountant does regularly. After that, they examine statements related to accounting and choose the correct definitions of words (e.g. incur, audit, depreciation). Moving on, students pick four situations from the previous exercise and say what the consequences of the decisions might be. They explain their reasoning. Afterwards, students use suffixes to complete words (e.g. exemption, deduction, taxable, receivable) in pairs of sentences. Following that, they look at the words they created in the previous task and change them into verbs where possible (e.g. exempt, deduct, tax, receive). Next, students add missing letters to create words in questions and answers about accounting concepts (e.g. How might one accrue interest? by earning on an investment), referring to the words from the previous exercises. They then add one more possible answer to each question.

LISTENING PRACTICE AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students review accounting vocabulary and explain the difference in meaning between pairs of phrases (e.g. fiscal year and calendar year). After that, they listen to part of a lecture where a professor explains how companies can legally reduce taxes. Students listen to it and note down three methods the professor mentions. Moving on, they listen to the lecture again and complete the words they hear (e.g. liquidity, deduct, compliance). Finally, students work in pairs. Student A chooses a question and answers it using the target vocabulary from the lesson. Their partner listens to it and, after they have finished, adds one more detail or comments on what was said. Then, students swap roles and continue until both of them have answered two questions.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students practise accounting vocabulary and choose the correct words in sentences. They then choose five sentences and finish them with their own ideas. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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