Accountants who're fearless with numbers must also be able to dash off reports and commentaries with confidence, style and authority. CALUM ROBSON finds out why.
Those who want to forge a successful career in finance have long been made aware of the need to hone their communication skills. At interviews, in meetings, at networking events and in the office, the ability to liaise, present, negotiate and schmooze carries considerable currency.
Yet it's no longer enough to simply excel in face-to-face contact. Today's finance job advertisements frequently call for evidence of good written communication skills - as accountants increasingly find themselves working closely with people whose grasp of finance is minimal. Impatient sales directors, entrepreneurial owner-managers, stressed-out marketing executives, brisk HR professionals and no-nonsense plant managers might all require information about the financial implications of their actions. And that information must frequently be supplied in writing - free of jargon and easily digested.
Make sense of the figures
'The need for good writing skills has always been there but it's much more heightened recently,' says Kirsten MacLeod, operations director at financial recruiters, ECHM. 'In an economically strong marketplace, there's an increase in opportunities for accountants to go into analytical and business support roles, where the focus is on communicating financial information in written form to non-finance people.
'Users of financial information have to make sense of the figures to help them run more effective businesses. The factory manager wanting to know his yield and wastage will have different requirements from the head of advertising planning a new campaign - but what they share is the need for that information to be clear, concise and in plain English.'
The need for audit trails and greater transparency has added new impetus to a writing skills shortage, according to Adele Weatherill of recruitment consultancy Hewitson Walker: 'Organisations require documented procedures for just about everything now. Where there's a high turnover of staff and no formal written processes, new people will struggle to do their jobs and a lot of time can be spent back-tracking. If there's a time gap between different people doing the same job - especially when there are a lot of temporary staff being employed - it's essential that written information is produced and stored somewhere so that auditors can verify what has happened, as well as what was intended to happen.'
MacLeod believes increases in corporate governance activity have also contributed to the call for better writing skills within the profession: 'Accountants have to deal with more business issues surrounding risks and controls - and need to communicate their responses in written format, both internally and externally,' she says. 'A bigger focus by finance teams on ethics and corporate social responsibility means they also have to convey information about non-financial matters themselves.'
Talking on paper
But of course, accountants often have a natural leaning towards numbers and figures - and away from words. Many have embarked on a finance career confident that there would be little call for expressing themselves fluently in words or on paper.
Paul Ayling is the managing director of Writing Machine, a professional writing services company that teaches writing skills to accountants as part of its programme of courses. He was prompted to devise the course after frustration understanding what accountants and finance advisers were telling him.
'I pay a great deal of interest to the documents I get given by people who work for me,' he says. 'But I've been appalled by the fact that I spend a lot of money for a written report, only to have to spend even more on hiring the author to come in and explain what it means. You can be the brightest beancounter on the planet but if you can't communicate clearly, you're not going to be much use.
'Most accountants I've met are fairly eloquent - they have no problem talking with authority. But talking on paper - that's another story. The good news, though, is that writing is a skill; like accounting techniques, it can be learned.'
Ayling believes a large part of the problem is that accountants won't take writing seriously enough: 'Many of them don't think clearly before they put pen to paper - but time is never wasted doing reconnaissance; you don't just go into battle without a plan. It's the same thing with writing. You have to consider what you want to communicate and plan how to present it with relevant facts to reflect and reinforce your message.'
Create a good impression
'There's a certain fear factor about writing,' he continues. 'Yet clients and colleagues of accountants need to trust what they're reading, and a good accountant earns his money by presenting himself as someone who knows his onions. It's one thing to know something; it's another thing entirely to communicate it in a way that will convince someone to put their faith in you. That's where writing becomes important.'
But having a way with words can backfire if vocabulary is misused. Andy Hughes, author of 'The Little Book of Big Words and How to Use Them', says professional people too often make the classic mistake of overly relying on flowery language - and leave their readers bamboozled: 'In the business world, you have to create a good impression but many people use the right words in the wrong way,' he explains. 'There's no point producing a brilliant financial report whose highlight is a huge blunder through using a big word out of context.'
Ayling says a direct approach with language is crucial: 'No-one trusts a business adviser who's airy-fairy or long-winded,' he says. 'Talking with authority requires not just a strong argument but a simple explanation of the alternatives and a persuasive dismissal of them. And if you're dealing with monetary figures, a wordy or evasive commentary will encourage suspicion.'
Developing an appropriate vocabulary helps to build the rounded professional, according to Hughes: 'For accountants, it's good to have another string to your bow; it helps build the whole package,' he says. 'Understanding how to present ideas on paper in a more colourful way isn't about being a smart-arse but being more interesting and relevant to your audience.'
Send the right message
But if a good command of the written word helps propel you forward in the office, what about when you come to change jobs?
The informality of emails can breed recklessness, says Kirsten MacLeod: 'A slapdash covering mail or cv sends the wrong message,' she explains. 'Giving advice on written presentation is now an important part of how recruitment consultants work with their candidates. Failing to spell-check might just be carelessness but it can signal poor attention to detail or even a lack of commitment to the job.'
And employers are paying more attention to writing skills at the selection stage.
'Some of our clients have briefed us to ask candidates to prepare written applications,' says MacLeod. 'They want to see how they construct sentences and why they convey information in a certain way. It's an important part of the recruitment process - not just to assess writing skills but for weeding out those who're not interested and can't be bothered putting the application together.'
Make writing fun
Those for whom writing strikes a note of terror need not panic. Paul Ayling believes that having a methodical approach to order and structure - which shouldn't be alien to those of a more mathematical bent - can make the writing process fun for even the most word-shy finance professional.
'Think of writing as an intellectual pursuit,' he advises. 'Knowing techniques is fine and dandy but what should make it more interesting is the logic of planning. The whole point of thinking about it beforehand - and 90% of people don't do this - is that you're getting the stretching, challenging part out of the way first. By doing all your thinking up front, you're using your brain in a different way - and when you get onto the actual writing, it's much enjoyable than you anticipated.'
Andy Hughes says the comfort factor comes into play, within reason: 'When communicating with people - perhaps in a group email - it can be a pleasure to use words you wouldn't normally use, provided you use them correctly. But be selective. It feels good to have a strong command of language but it doesn't feel good to set out to baffle people. Sensible use of vocabulary is all that's needed.'
Think of writing in a positive way, and the rest will follow, says Ayling: 'For too many accountants, writing is a complete nightmare - they see a blank piece of paper and start to sweat,' he says. 'But there's absolutely nothing to fear.'
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