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Finance & Banking vocabulary · Financial Statements

In the black

Meaning in finance & banking, with examples

idiomCommon term

In finance & banking, in the black means: Making a profit, or having a positive balance in an account. It is the opposite of 'in the red'.

In Turkish: karda olmak, kara geçmek, artıda olmak

How it is used

Informal but widely used in business news and meetings. Companies are in the black, get back into the black or end the year in the black. The idiom comes from old bookkeeping, where profits were written in black ink and losses in red.

Example sentences

  1. After two years of losses, the airline is finally back in the black.

  2. The new branch should be in the black by the end of its second year.

Common collocations

  • be in the black
  • back in the black
  • move into the black
  • end the year in the black
  • in the redLosing money or owing money: a company is in the red when it makes a loss, and an account is in the red when its balance is below zero.
  • profitMoney a business earns after subtracting its costs from its revenue. When costs are higher than revenue, the result is a loss.
  • net incomeWhat is left of a company's revenue after all costs, interest, taxes and other expenses are deducted. When it is negative, it is called a net loss.
  • break evenTo earn exactly enough to cover all costs, so that there is neither a profit nor a loss.

More terms: Financial Statements

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.