D. Write a business letter to a potential new customer of your company requesting information about some products they sell.

 

Reading 2: Types of business documents

 

A company uses documents to communicate, transact business and analyze its productivity. Since documents provide proof of an organization’s dealings and may be referred to for years to come, it is important that they be well written. Business documents range from brief email messages to complex legal agreements. Some documents are prepared by employees and business owners, while others are drafted by professionals from outside of the company, such as accountants and lawyers.

 

A. Study the information below and do the task after it.

1) an enquiry	a request of information (sent by the customer)
2) a quotation	the price given for goods or a piece of work
3) an estimate	an approximate calculation of the cost of smth
4) a counter-proposal	a letter where the customer tries to get better terms
5) an order	a request to supply goods (sent by customer)
6) an invoice	a bill for goods or work done
7) a remainder	a letter to a customer about an unpaid invoice
8) a receipt	a document that proves you have paid for some goods
9) a statement	a list of amounts paid and still owed, sent every month
10) a complaint	a letter saying you are not satisfied about smth

B. In which documents from the above exercise would you find the following sentences?

1) I am afraid your minimum quantity is too high for our first order. Please let us know if you are able to reduce this.

2) When we opened the package we noticed that some of the goods were damaged.

3) We saw your advert in a recent issue of Engineering magazine. We are interested in…

4) Unfortunately it is not possible to reduce the delivery time, but we could offer a discount of 2% for an order of this size.

5) Thank you for a letter of 21 April asking about…. We are pleased to enclose our current brochure and price list.

6) We note from our records that your account for the first quarter is still not paid. We hope to receive payment of this account as soon as possible.

 

 

 

Contracts

A. Study the topical vocabulary

essential clauses	основные условия контракта
to strike a deal	заключить сделку
standard contract	типовой контракт
contracting parties	договаривающиеся стороны
supplement	дополнять
eliminate	исключать, устранять
to be in conformity with	соответствовать
firm price	твердая цена
fixed price	фиксированная цена
sliding price	скользящая цена
be subject to	подлежать чему-то
to quote a price	назначить цену
TT (telegraphic transfer)	телеграфный перевод
mail remittance	почтовый перевод
bill of lading	коносамент (расписка капитана судна, подтверждающая прием груза на борт)
invoice	счет-фактура
for collection	на инкассо
bill of exchange	переводной вексель
draft=bill of exchange	драфт, тратта
sight draft	тратта на предъявителя
term draft	тратта с оплатой в конце обусловленного периода
collection of a bill	инкассирование векселя, взыскание денег по векселю
letter of credit (L/C)	аккредитив (поручение банка покупателя банку поставщика производить оплату счетов поставщика за отгруженный товар)
confirmed ~	аккредитив ~ подтвержденный
irrevocable ~	~ безотзывный
draft contract	проект контракта
hereinafter known as/ hereinafter referred to as	именуемый в дальнейшем
the seller undertakes	поставщик берет на себя обязательство/ обязуется
to pay the charges	оплачивать расходы
penalty clause	статья о санкциях
to invoke	зд. применять
in the event=in case	в случае
to reclaim	потребовать вернуть
dispute	разногласия

 

Reading 3: Essential clauses of a contract

B. Read the text.

When striking a deal, contract forms are widely used. Standard contracts are not a must as some articles may be altered and supplemented, eliminated and replaced, but still normally they include the following parts: legal title of the contracting Parties, Subject of a Contract, Price and Total Amount of a Contract, Delivery and Payment Terms.

Introduction part of a Contract contains the legal names of the contracting Parties, personal names and official positions of the representatives from the parties.

Subject of Contract names the product for sale or purchase. It also indicates the unit of measure for specific commodities.

Quality. The Quality of machines and equipment is to be in conformity with the technical specification of the Contract. The Quality of raw materials and foodstuffs is determined, as a rule, by standards, by sample or by description.

Price. The price in a contract may be firm, fixed or sliding. Firm price. Firm price are not subject to change in the course of the fulfillment of the contract. Fixed price. It is the price governing in the market on the day of the delivery or for a given period. Sliding prices. These prices are quoted for machinery and equipment which require a long delivery.

Payment. A cheque is a written order to a bank given and sighned by someone who has money deposited there to pay a certain amount mentioned in the cheque to a person named on it.

In the place of the cheque system Banks provide an international system of Bank Transfers. The Seller gives TT (telegraph transfer) or mail remittance terms to a Buyer when he is a trusted customer or agent. It involves risk as the Seller ships goods without any assurance of getting payment.

Like a cheque, a draft is an order to pay. It is made out by an exporter and presented to the importer. It is also called a bill of exchange. A sight draft is a bill which is paid immediately on presentation. A bill to be paid at a later date is called a term draft. There are 30-day, 60-, 90- and 120-day drafts.

A very useful method is to attach the shipping documents (the Bill of Lading, the Insurance Policy and the Invoice) to the Draft and hand them to the Bank for collection. This method of payment does not involve risk when drafts are presented against L/C. With a letter of credit, at least when it is confirmed and irrevocable, the payment is guaranteed.

C. Answer the questions.

1) Why are standard contracts widely used?

2) What are the essential items of a contract?

3) What information is contained in different sections of a contract?

4) What sort of prices may be indicated in a contract?

5) What is a check?

6) Whom do you give TT terms to?

7) What are the two types of drafts?

8) What is an irrevocable L/C?

9) Who guarantees payment against a confirmed letter of credit?

10) Does a term draft involve risk for an exporter?