Dutch business vocabulary (zakelijk Nederlands) is essential for anyone working in or with Dutch companies. Core terms: het bedrijf (company), de onderneming (enterprise/business), de organisatie (organisation), de afdeling (department), de directie (board/management), de aandeelhouder (shareholder), de raad van bestuur (board of directors), de CEO (chief executive officer — often called directeur-generaal in Dutch), de CFO (chief financial officer — financieel directeur), de COO (operations director).
Financial vocabulary: de omzet (turnover/revenue), de winst (profit), het verlies (loss), de marge (margin), de kosten (costs/expenses), het budget (budget), de investering (investment), de financiering (financing), het eigen vermogen (equity), de schuld (debt), de balans (balance sheet), de jaarrekening (annual accounts), de audit (audit — same word). These terms appear constantly in Dutch business documents and press releases.
Meeting and process vocabulary: de vergadering (meeting), de agenda (agenda — same word), het verslag (minutes/report), de actiepunt (action point), de deadline (deadline — same word), de presentatie (presentation), het voorstel (proposal), de offerte (quotation/offer), het contract (contract), de overeenkomst (agreement), de onderhandeling (negotiation), de samenwerking (collaboration/partnership). Dutch business communication tends to be direct and outcome-focused — meetings should have a clear agenda and result in concrete actiepunten.