Beginnings and endings matter

Getting the start and finish of your documents right. They are more likely to be remembered than the long bit in the middle.

The introduction and summary contain the key messages of the entire document and the reader’s expectations are set by them.

Let’s face it, this might be the only bit someone reads and you want them to be impressed, don’t you?

In long documents you need provide a brief overview of the purpose and key messages of the document for the busy reader. This should enable them to decide within 60 seconds whether to read the rest, and if they do read it, which parts to look for.

The introduction and/or summary need to have enough content to be able to stand alone and represent the entire document.

I think this can be shorter than people often expect (but writing concisely takes more effort than waffling).

I always recommend to my students not to write long backgrounds as introductions to their essays. If the background information really is essential (and perhaps it is) then it should be in the body of the document, not in the introduction.

Even in an email, it is worth thinking about the opening sentence. Don’t waste the receiver’s time with niceties or rambling introductions. Just get straight to the point. Ask for what you want, or explain that the attached document is for a decision or for information or whatever.

Three productivity tips for accountants

There are countless podcasts, articles and blogs about productivity. I’m a listener/reader of some and I don’t think I have ever come across one specifically made or written with accountants in mind.

Allow me to step into that gap with (my first) three productivity tips for accountants.

Use keyboard shortcuts

Navigating documents and spreadsheets is quicker using the arrow keys than using a mouse or trackpad. There are shortcuts for most of the popular actions such as copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C), paste (Cmd/Ctrl + V), save (Cmd/Ctrl + S), and open (Cmd/Ctrl + O). In Word the shift key combined with arrow keys highlights text faster than you can drag a mouse.

You can see the shortcuts next to the items in the menus in apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You could also do a web search for lists of shortcuts

Don’t try to learn every shortcut in one go. Learn one or two and when they become second nature learn another couple.

Use text expansion

There are some phrases, sentences and paragraphs you use over and again. This could be contact info like your email address or a standard reply to email requests or standard disclaimer text for a report. Whenever you notice you are writing something you have written before, or find yourself looking for an existing document to copy the text for re-use, there is a candidate for text expansion.

Text expansion is a service where you link a short trigger phrase to a longer piece of text so that when you type the trigger phrase it is replaced by the text. For example, when I type ‘socf’ it is replaced by ‘statement of cash flows’ and ‘xbs’ is replaced by balance sheet. I also use text expansion for auto-correction of words. For example, when I type ‘cipfa’ it will automatically be capitalised to CIPFA.

There are many text expansion apps available and which suits you depends in part on the devices you have and how much you are willing to pay to save time. TextExpander is the one I use. (If you use Apple devices you can do text expansion for free because it is built into the operating systems. Go to the Keyboard section of settings to set it up.)

Use your voice

I am sure you can speak faster than you can type. Smartphones are getting better and better at voice to text translate. Now, we can all dictate our writing without having a personal assistant and the artificial intelligence means the translation improves the more you use it.

I suggest next time you have a document or long email to write that is a few paragraphs long try dictating the first draft on your phone. I think you could save a stack of time and effort. The more you use dictation the

Let me know your productivity tips and perhaps I could include them in a future post.

"Writing is easy."

Mark Twain said “Writing is easy. You just cross out the wrong words.”

Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit.”

Whilst we may not be the equal of these great storytellers we can learn from them and every other author.

Once you have written your first draft you should not click Save and send it off to the audience. Revise and edit your work. Make it as good as you reasonably can before you declare it finished.

I know sometimes we can be up against a deadline. The report is due at 5pm and you finish it at 4.55. Well, yes that does happen, but if something is important you need to manage your time to get it right. That means leaving enough time to edit your first draft.

And let me be clear — I mean you should edit the draft of the content BEFORE it is formatted for despatch.

I have several tips for you about revising and editing.

• If you can, leave the draft for a day or two so you come back to it with a fresh mind.

• Fewer words is usually better than more words so try to reduce the document by at least 10 per cent. Sometimes a lot more than 10 per cent can be cut.

• Reading your words aloud can really help you with making sure it flows properly.

• Grammar checking software, like Grammarly and even an app called Hemingway, can help.

• Work hard on getting the opening right. Often I find the first draft includes lots of unnecessary information in the introduction, words written as a sort of warm up, to get the thing going. These can be quickly deleted and the document will be the better for it

• Don’t be afraid to “kill your darlings”. Do not keep something in the document just because you spent a long time writing it. If it does not add value to the reader it needs to be cut out.

Less is more (influential)

Last week I wrote that perfection comes from including only the essential. Let me explain one way to apply that thinking to an audit report or similar (as taught to me when I worked at a Big Four firm).

Let’s say that the work being reported has identified 10 issues. Naturally some of those will be more significant or important than others.

One approach may be to list all 10 issues as findings with reasons/evidence, implications and recommendations. To be more convincing convincing you might list them in descending order of significance.

This seems a persuasive way of reporting the findings. The trouble is, the items at the bottom of the list (or several pages into it) are weak, either because the implications of the findings are *relatively* trivial and/or the evidence behind the findings is not as strong.

This relative weakness gives the recipient of the report an opportunity to be critical. They could resist the inclusion of those findings, either explicitly or implicitly. This can then result in their view of the overall report being diminished, potentially to the point where they can justify to themselves that the report can be ignored.

What my audit partner taught me was to include only the strongest handful of findings and recommendations. That way, the one at the bottom of the list is still significant and well-evidenced, making the whole report more impactful.

If you feel that the minor items must be included in the report consider putting them in an appendix. That way they are reported but you are signalling to the reader that they are not essential to understanding the report’s main message(s).

To be good at writing you must read a lot

A common piece of advice for aspiring creative writers is to read as much as you can.

I think we can apply that to accountants who want to improve their writing skills.

They should read finance reports and documents written by others, inside and outside their organisation, but I would add a qualification ...

When reading finance reports do it with a sense of curiosity. If you read something that seems to be very effective, ask yourself how it differs from your work. Is the use of language or structure different? Or is the layout of the words and figures done in a way that is especially clear? Or perhaps there has been good use made of graphical features like colours and fonts?

By the same token, I suggest you do the same when you read something that is not very effective. Indeed, perhaps you should be just as keen to learn from what does not work as from what works.

I am always on the lookout for examples of good finance reporting writing so if you have any please post a link in the comments below.

What are the signs that you could improve your writing?

Allow me to make some suggestions.

First, your boss or mentor or a client tells you so.

I suspect that is quite rare. More subtle is the case where your boss or mentor or client does not tell you outright but asks questions that you thought your document had answered.

Or maybe you receive documents by other finance people and you’re impressed by how well technical material is explained. Or you wonder how they managed to make the text, charts and tables look so good.

If (when?) you identify that there is room for improvement what should you do? Here are some ideas:

• Learn some more about grammar, typography and data visualisation

• Practice your skills as much as you can

• Get a coach to work with you

• Hire an editor to refine the documents you write

• Hire a ghost writer to write documents for you

I can help you with the last three of these. Contact me by email or go to my page on Calendly and arrange an introductory call with me.