Упражнения: Numbers

If you decide to choose accounting as a career, you'll have to deal with numbers a lot. Do you know how to say numbers in English? For example, this one? Let's check. This number is a hundred and fifty-two trillion eight hundred and sixty-three billion four hundred and seventy-four million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand and sixteen. Not as difficult as it may seem. Remember the following: we have one hundred, one thousand, one million, one billion and one trillion. There are numbers bigger than a trillion, but they are rarely used. Instead of "one", you can use "a", so you can say "a hundred", or "a thousand" and so on.

Let's have a closer look at how we say numbers. So, this number is one hundred and fifty-two, or you can say "a hundred and fifty-two", or you can also say "one fifty-two". And that's actually all you need to know to read big numbers because we just add the words "trillion", "billion", "million" or "thousand". Look: one hundred and fifty-two trillion eight hundred and sixty-three billion four hundred and seventy-four million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand and sixteen. Notice that we don't say the words "billion", "million" and so on in plural: it's "four hundred and seventy-four million", not "hundreds" and "millions".

Now, pay attention to where the word "and" goes. It doesn't go where the commas are; it goes after the first number. One hundred and fifty-two trillion eight hundred and sixty-three billion four hundred and seventy-four million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand and sixteen.

Let's imagine we change "four" here to a "zero". Then the word "and" disappears: one hundred and fifty-two trillion eight hundred and sixty-three billion seventy-four million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand and sixteen. Now let's imagine we have more zeros. So, this number would be fifty-two trillion sixty-three billion seventy-four million twenty-five thousand and sixteen. So, no "ands" here. The only "and" we still need is the one before "sixteen".

The job of an accountant is in high demand in any country. So, if you have chosen this profession, you may consider moving to another country. Of course, you may need specific certification and language skills, but the accounting skills themselves are pretty much the same everywhere.

So, I'm going to give a short overview of 5 countries where, on average, accountants are paid more than in other places. The information refers to the year 2019.

Let's start with the USA. There, accountants are among the highest-paid in the world and are hugely in demand. On average, an American accountant earns $54,680 a year.

In Europe, Iceland would be a good country for a career in accounting. Despite its small size, Iceland has offices of all the major accounting firms. Moreover, it's one of the highest-paying countries in the world. An accountant in Iceland makes $55,260 a year.

But of course, that's not as much as in Switzerland with its average salary of $88,570 a year. Well, it's not surprising: the economy of Switzerland is built upon finance and banking. That's a very desirable destination for accountants.

In Switzerland's neighbouring country, Austria, an accountant has an average yearly salary of $56,910. Austria is one of Europe's most financially stable countries, so it's definitely a good place for a career in accounting.

And one more country I'd like to mention is Monaco. After Vatican City, it's the smallest country in Europe, but at the same time, an important financial location. Monaco is a major banking centre, and there's plenty of work for accountants, who can make $71,000 a year there.