Writing a chronological narrative puts conclusions and recommendations at the end, which busy readers might not see (especially if your story is boring!). Here are 𝘁𝘄𝗼 better ways to structure a report. If you are writing a short report or an email on a single topic, try the 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺–𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲–𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. First you describe the problem/issue, then explain why it has occurred before stating your recommended action(s). For longer reports there is the 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲 approach.

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Excel changed the world by allowing users to format and beautify data, although this is often at the cost of clarity. This trend is worse with Microsoft Word, where users are bombarded with formatting options. That massive ribbon at the top of the screen is a siren calling to the user to mess about with styles and borders and colours, when they should be concentrating on writing. Historically, writers wrote the content; typists dealt with the formatting, and the limitations of typewriters meant that the writing remained clear.

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The 3Ss of effective documents: substance, structure and style. Substance The content of the document. This is your message, and it is the reason for writing in the first place. Structure There are lots of ways you might organise your thoughts and you need to work out which way is best for the message. Generally, I like structures that put the conclusion/recommendation/request first, and follows up with explanation. But sometimes you might decide a strict chronological structure is best.

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One of my former bosses always wanted “KISS” reports. Keep it simple, stupid. It’s easier to say than do. Us technical folk think in technical terms but, here’s the thing, when we communicate to non-technical people we need to simplify. Here’s an example of what not to do. Recently I got an email from The North Face explaining a data breach. It began … 𝘖𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 13, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘐𝘛 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴.

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There are countless places where you can find tips for better writing. They’ll all say you should be brief. Cut out the waffle and the jargon. The point of cutting your draft is not to make it shorter, but to make it better. Well, sometimes I think you should cut out 100% of a document. Just don’t write it! Instead of less is more it’s a case of nothing is more than enough.

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Why not write your next finance report the Axios way. The Axios mission statement is “Axios gets you smarter, faster on what matters.” They’re focused on the news of course, but as an #accountant or #auditor, don’t you want to get your colleagues or clients smarter, faster? If you do, you need to apply Axios’s four principles to your own writing: 1️⃣ Rephrase sentences to be shorter and clearer. 2️⃣ Reformat paragraphs so what’s key stands out.

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In accounting, substance trumps form. In writing about accounting, it doesn’t. The form of what you write is as important as the substance. Whenever you write something – whether an email, a business plan, a board report or a customer letter – there are three dimensions to get right. Sure, there is the substance, or content, of the document. This is your message, and it is the reason for writing in the first place.

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Reports have three dimensions that you can change. These are the content (the words, numbers, graphs and tables you use to convey your message), the structure (how you organise the information you want to communicate), and the style (how you set out your content on the page or screen so that they are easily readable and understandable). Recently, I did a makeover of the monthly management report for a nonprofit organisation where I changed the content, structure and style.

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Aristotle wasn’t an accountant or auditor but he was an advocate of transparency in accounting. To prevent the exchequer from being defrauded, let all public money be delivered out openly in the face of the whole city and let copies of the accounts be deposited in the different wards, tribes and divisions.” Aristotle also identified 5 aspects of persuasion which you can follow when you are creating a presentation:

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