Окончательный расчёт то и дело откладывают.

This is a very common Russian pattern: 3rd person plural with no stated subject.

So Окончательный расчёт то и дело откладывают literally looks like They keep postponing the final settlement/payment, but in English we would often translate it more naturally as:

• The final settlement keeps getting postponed
• They keep postponing the final payment
• The final payment is postponed again and again

Russian uses this structure when the people doing the action are unknown, unimportant, or deliberately left vague.

Compare:

• Стучат в дверь. = Someone is knocking at the door
• Говорят, что... = They say that... / It is said that...

So here, откладывают does not mean a specific they. It means people / whoever is responsible.

То и дело is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• again and again
• repeatedly
• constantly
• every few moments
• sometimes all the time

In this sentence, it gives the idea that the postponement happens repeatedly.

So:

• Окончательный расчёт то и дело откладывают
  = They keep postponing the final settlement = The final settlement is repeatedly postponed

It is not usually translated word-for-word. You should learn то и дело as a fixed phrase.

Examples:

• Он то и дело смотрит на часы.
  = He keeps looking at the clock.
• Телефон то и дело звонит.
  = The phone keeps ringing.

It actually is the direct object, so it is in the accusative. But for an inanimate masculine singular noun, the accusative form is often the same as the nominative.

Here is the breakdown:

• расчёт = masculine, inanimate
• nominative singular: расчёт
• accusative singular: расчёт

The adjective matches it:

• nominative: окончательный
• accusative (inanimate masculine singular): окончательный

So:

• nominative: окончательный расчёт
• accusative: окончательный расчёт

They look identical.

That is why English speakers often wonder whether it is the subject, but it is actually the object of откладывают.

Not in this sentence.

Расчёт can mean different things depending on context, including:

• calculation
• settlement
• payment
• final financial settlement

In окончательный расчёт, it usually means something like:

• final settlement
• final payment
• final payout

For example, in work or business contexts, окончательный расчёт can refer to the final amount paid when employment ends or when accounts are settled.

So although расчёт often means calculation in other contexts, here it is more about settling money/accounts.

Because the sentence describes a repeated, ongoing pattern, not one single completed action.

• откладывать = imperfective
• отложить = perfective

The phrase то и дело strongly suggests repetition, so the imperfective is the natural choice.

Compare:

• Окончательный расчёт откладывают.
  = They are postponing / keep postponing the final settlement

• Окончательный расчёт отложили.
  = They postponed the final settlement

• Окончательный расчёт то и дело откладывают.
  = They keep postponing the final settlement again and again

So the imperfective fits the idea of something happening repeatedly.

Here окончательный means final in the sense of:

• definitive
• last
• conclusive

So окончательный расчёт is not just any payment or settlement. It is the final one, the one that should finish the matter.

This adjective is common in formal, administrative, and business language.

Examples:

• окончательное решение = final decision
• окончательный ответ = final answer
• окончательный расчёт = final settlement/payment

The sentence sounds fairly neutral-to-formal because of this vocabulary.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it usually changes emphasis, not the core meaning.

The given sentence:

• Окончательный расчёт то и дело откладывают.

This puts окончательный расчёт up front, making it the topic.

Other possible orders:

• То и дело откладывают окончательный расчёт.
• Откладывают то и дело окончательный расчёт.

These versions still mean roughly the same thing, but the focus shifts a little.

Very roughly:

• Окончательный расчёт... = talking about the final settlement specifically
• То и дело... = emphasizing the repeated nature first
• Откладывают... = emphasizing the action of postponing

The original sentence sounds natural and balanced.

A very literal translation would be:

• The final settlement they postpone again and again

That is understandable, but it is not natural English.

More natural translations are:

• They keep postponing the final settlement
• The final settlement keeps getting postponed
• The final payment is repeatedly postponed

This is a good example of where Russian and English structure differ:

• Russian often uses 3rd person plural with no subject
• English often prefers someone/they or a passive construction like is postponed

The main stresses are:

• оконча́тельный
• расчёт
• де́ло
• откла́дывают

So the sentence is:

оконча́тельный расчёт то и де́ло откла́дывают

A few helpful notes:

• ё in расчёт is always stressed
• то и дело is pronounced smoothly as a fixed phrase
• откладывают has the stress on кла́

A rough pronunciation guide:

• a-kan-CHA-tel-ny ras-CHYOT ta ee DYE-la at-KLA-dy-vayut

That guide is only approximate, but it may help if you are reading it for the first time.

It sounds mostly neutral, with a slightly formal/business flavor because of окончательный расчёт.

The idiom то и дело is common and natural, not especially formal.
But окончательный расчёт sounds like administrative or financial language.

So the overall effect is something like:

• natural Russian
• suitable for speech or writing
• slightly businesslike because of the noun phrase

In everyday conversation, a speaker might use a simpler phrase depending on context, but this sentence itself is perfectly normal Russian.