I help accountants and auditors turn insights into impact by improving their business writing.
Internal audit reports have not changed much since I wrote my first one in 1987. The technology has changed but not the content or structure. I wrote my first audit reports in the 1980s by hand and they were then copied by a typist before being sent to the client. Modern technology hasn’t done much more than remove the typist from the process. But they don’t have to be a mass of text with the occasional table.
Over the last 2 months I have been writing a diary on the PFM Board managed by Mauro Napodano. My diary describes the process of writing my book from a casual conversation about the original idea in 2008 all the way through to writing the third edition that will be published next week.
The final entry includes the opportunity to win a free signed paperback copy of the new edition. Go there to read the diary and enter the draw.
Finance reports are not crime novels so don’t write them as if they are! Whether writing an email or a 20-page report we tend to think of it needing a beginning, middle and end. This encourages a structure along the lines of: Here’s a problem ==> This is the cause ==> These are possible solutions ==> Analysis of solutions ==> Recommended solution The problem with this kind of structure, for busy people at work, is that the important bit is at the end.
I’ve shared before that, Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. When you write an email keep it as short as you can. Then… Before you press send, review it. Remove all the sentences you don’t need. That probably means taking out the opening niceties so that you get to the point straight away. Remove details that aren’t essential.
I wrote a list of the five best books about how governments collect and spend taxes. Check it out.
#PFM #publicfinance #tax
My free copies of the 3rd edition of Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector came today.
1️⃣ 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.
The new edition of my book, Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector, is not due for publication until 14th March but today I got an email saying my (free) author copies are on their way to me. Exciting.
#accounting #pfm #publicsector #author
These are the rules for smart writing, the Axios way. Rephrase sentences to be shorter and clearer. Reformat paragraphs so what’s key stands out. Remove filler words so readers stay focused. Style your text to be quick and easy to scan.
To get a promotion you need to have something that makes you better than the competition. You might decide that for you that thing will be your technical knowledge. You will know accounting standards inside out or you will be the person everyone turns to when they can’t figure out how to do something with the finance system. If you can’t, or don’t want to, be the best in your business at the technical stuff, here’s a suggestion for a way to stand out.