to balance the books
1
3.7
- phrasal verb
:
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- At the end of each month, the manager meets with the team to balance the books and review expenses.
- help to balance the books
- balance the books this year
But now Uber is aiming to balance the books.
- But now Uber is aiming to balance the books.
- If we do all these things, we won't just balance the books.
- Using mass layoffs to balance the books.
Examples
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They've sold players like Richardson and Anthony Gordon to help them balance the books and they felt that they had got themselves in good shape.
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I try to balance the books.
Fiction book (1993) -
It's Danby's job to balance the books.
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lt'll be all right so long as we balance the books by the end of the month.
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She was good with numbers, so he had her balance the books.
Fiction book (1998) -
He balanced the books, and that's what we elected him to do.
Blog text (27) -
He hired an accountant to help him balance the books for his small business.
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Before submitting the financial report, she needs to balance the books to ensure accuracy.
Antonyms
How Accurate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'balance' (to equalize credits and debits) applied to 'the books' (financial records) yields the meaning of checking and adjusting accounts directly; a B1 learner who knows these constituent meanings can derive the overall sense. This is a straightforward verb + object composition used in accounting rather than a metaphorical or idiomatic shift, and comparable constructions occur in other languages, supporting full transparency.
Etymology
Balance the books comes from old money records where people wrote amounts in two columns or imagined them as two sides of a scale. To balance the books meant making the two sides equal, so today it means 'to check and adjust financial accounts'.