ESL Podcast 668 - Having Cash Flow Problems

to crunch the numbers - to make a calculation, especially in accounting or finance; to perform a mathematical operation, such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing to get an result or answer

I wonder whether these students would be able to crunch the numbers without a calculator.

to meet payroll - to be able to pay the salaries of one's employees; to be able to pay people the money they are owed for the work they have done

If the company isn't able to meet payroll, why is anyone still working there?

cash flow - liquidity; the amount of money a company has available to pay its bills and other expenses, without considering how much money a company has invested in assets

Many companies struggle with cash flow for the first two years, because all of the money they make from sales has to be used to pay off loans and invest in growth.

projection - forecast; an educated guess about what will happen in the future based on what has happened in the past

Our projections show that the firm will double in size by 2014.

to anticipate - to foresee; to believe that something will happen in the future and prepare for it

I didn't anticipate it would rain today. If I had, I would have brought an umbrella.

shortfall - a shortage; a lack; a situation in which one does not have enough of something

When the government collects fewer taxes, schools have to find creative ways to cover their funding shortfall.

income - revenue; the amount of money that is received; the amount of money coming into an organization or business during a certain period of time

It's often easier to reduce expenses than to increase income.

to set aside - to reserve; to determine that one will not use part or all of something right now, instead saving it for later or for someone else

It's a good idea to set aside a little money each month, just in case we need it in a future emergency.

to hedge - to protect oneself against certain risks, especially financial risks; to do something that will reduce the problems created by some future event, especially related to finance

They're investing in gold to hedge against fluctuation in the housing market.

stopgap - a temporary fix or solution; something that will temporarily fix a problem, although it will not last forever

They hired temporary workers as a stopgap for the heavy workload they had last month.

line of credit - a loan; an amount of money that one takes from a bank, although one must pay it back later with interest

Which bank gave you a line of credit to make repairs on your house?

to overextend - to have too much debt or too many commitments; to not be able to keep one's promises, especially related to one's time or the money one owes to another person

Annie already works two jobs and takes care of her three children, so she really overextended herself by agreeing to lead the parent-teacher association.

to push (one's) luck - to try to get too much of a good thing, so that one fails and ends up in a worse position; to try to continue one's history of having very good luck or having unexpected successes, even though there are no guarantees that one will continue to be that lucky

It didn't snow at all last week while we repaired our home, so we decided to push our luck and replace the roof, even though we know it normally snows a lot this time of year.

to hold off on - to delay or postpone something; to decide to not to do something now, instead doing it at some future time

They've decided to hold off on the wedding until they've saved enough money for a house.

supplier - a company that sells goods or products to another company

Trey really likes shopping at this grocery store, because most of the suppliers are local farmers.

as predicted - as expected; as one had believed would happen; a phrase used when one's prediction comes true

As predicted, the cost of health care increased again last year.

to give (someone) assurances - to give someone a feeling of confidence that something will happen; to tell someone that everything is okay; to help someone stop worrying about something

If you want people to vote for you, you need to give them assurances that their lives will become easier once you are president.