Chapter Summaries
Chapter Summaries
For any business professional to succeed and become a competent and successful professional, he must possess good communication skills. Communication skills such as written communication, oral communication, and interpersonal communication are necessary to survive in today’s competitive era. The same fact also stands true for accounting professionals. According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), communication skills are and will remain in future as important a skill as any other professional skill. AICPA lists “effective business writing” as a necessary skill for competence in public accounting. Unfortunately, some of the entry level accountants do not give much thought to their communication skills and hence either they do not get a job or they are not able to keep it for a long time. Chapter 1 of the book deals with the problem of ignorance accountants has when it comes to communication skills. It shows exactly when and where in the job, communication skills will be required, and why they should put more effort into developing it.
In any type of accounting related job, writing is an essential communication skill a professional should have. An accountant has to write every day, whether he is in public, management, not-for-profit and government accounting or specializes in the areas of tax, auditing, and systems. For example, a tax accountant has to write letters to the public advising on how to best handle their tax problems or to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of clients. Similarly, auditors have to fill the audit papers or write memos to their colleagues seeking advice or informing about the audit results. System analysts have to prepare documents informing others on the usage of software or they might have to write a complex report on system applications. The point is, does not matter in which specialization or field an accountant is working, he has to write. If an accountant cannot write clearly he is not able to express his ideas. It will result in miscommunication and will adversely affect the accountant’s professional image. It will prove to be a hindrance to his work.
Above arguments prove that an accountant must possess good communication skills. If an accountant lacks in it, he should put time and effort to improve his skills. The truth is, anyone can possess a good set of communication skill. He just has to work towards this goal. Chapter 1 of the books provides with few tips to guide a professional in the right direction. A good writing focuses on content, critical thinking, appropriateness for readers, conciseness, clarity, coherence, and revision. Whenever you are writing anything, you must know what you are going to write about. Get a clear picture of what you are going to write. Then you analyze the issue and mention only the points which are relevant to it. The next step is to keep your readers in mind. You are not writing for yourself but for your readers. They should be able to understand it. Use simple language, so that it is easy to grasp. Your ideas should flow from one line to another. Do not jump between the ideas, make it coherent. Write as few words as you have to, be concise. The last step is to revise your draft thoroughly before publishing it. Check for any errors in grammar, punctuation or sentence structure. Revise it thoroughly and then send.
Chapter 1 focuses on the problem that many time accountants do not give communication skills a very high regard. However, by the end of the chapter, one understands that communication skills are as important a skill as any. The seven tips to obtain an improved writing are very beneficial. Using these tips, one can improve the standard of their writing. I really like the way the author has taken a problem and at the start of the chapter and guides the reader through to possible solution at the end. Understanding the importance of writing is the first step. If we will not acknowledge the problem we will never find a solution. Chapter 1 makes a reader acknowledge the problem and gives a taste of the solution in the end.
Chapter 2 deals with the overview of the writing process. It provides the framework for any document to be written. Using the framework one can write any document. The chapter guides the reader through the steps involves in any good writing. The framework has three main steps with sub-steps between them. The main steps are planning, creating a draft and revising.
Planning is the most important step of the framework. If you do not plan your writing, no matter how much you revise it later, the writing will not improve. Before you put down even a word on the paper you should first read and consider the task at hand. What it is you are going to write about. The second step is to analyze the purpose of the document. This is a question you should ask before you start writing. Normally, all the documents have one of the three following purposes: to propose a course of action, to give out information about something, or, to solve a problem. Understanding the purpose of the document is half of the planning work. Write down the purpose first. Now, identify the accounting issues which you might have to address. Once you have identified the issue, take a step back and think about the readers of the document. How you can make them understand about the issue. Once you have analyzed the reader’s point of view gather information on how to address that issue.
The second step is to produce a draft. You now have all the materials to produce a rough draft of the document. Jot down all the ideas, you had while critically thinking and analyzing the problem. Do not worry about the organization of ideas right now. Just put everything you have on the paper. This will be your first draft. In your draft arrange the ideas following a basic structure; Introduction, Concise statement of main ideas, Development of the main ideas and Conclusion. The introduction should focus on the subject of the document or the problem statement. You might need to include some background information. Then you tell the reader as to why the document was written. Then in the second part, you put your main ideas forward and show the reader as to how you are addressing the problem. After that, you explain your main ideas and support your argument with data and examples. The last part is to conclude the paper. It should include your main findings, suggestions, and recommendations.
When you are writing a draft, do not edit the document in the process. Just organize the ideas according to the basic structure. Editing and proofreading can be done later. When you have prepared the first draft the second step is to revise the draft. Now you can edit the draft for grammar, punctuations and sentence structure. You can even show your draft your colleague and ask his help in analyzing any mistakes. When you are revising the draft, read it from the reader’s point of view. This will help in understanding any shortcoming of your document. Once the revision is done and you have finalized your document, you can get a critical evaluation of your work from your colleagues. If the point out some mistakes, take it as a constructive criticism and try to avoid those mistakes in future.
Chapter 2 deals with the writing process as a whole. It develops a framework for writing a good document. It guides the readers through the essential steps of writing a good document. I found the chapter to be very informative and helpful. Understanding the importance of planning step was a big step forward in the right direction. If one follows the planning step, he will never suffer from writer’s block. Planning is the key to a good writing. The second thing which I found most useful was understanding the purpose of the document. If one understands the basic purpose of the document, he will get a clear understanding of the things that should be included in the document. Reading the document from a reader’s point of view is also an essential part of the process. Understanding the reader’s mindset will help in putting in only the relevant information and cutting out the garbage. It will also help in deciding the tone and style of the language that should be used. All in all, I find the second chapter to be very informative and helpful.
Chapter 3 deals with coherence or the flow of thought. The chapter gets into the specifics of writing coherently. Coherence, as discussed in chapter one, is a major step to getting a good writing. If your ideas are not coherent, that means the writing is not flowing from one sentence to other. In that case, the reader will find it very difficult to understand and might even leave you writing unread. Some of the key concepts discussed in the chapter are how to write with unity, using summary sentences and transitions, and structuring effective paragraphs and essays.
Writing with unity basically means establishing the main idea of the document. The main idea is the key which can explain the entire document. Your whole writing revolves around this main idea. You should be able to summarize your main idea in one sentence. Whenever you are writing any document you should make sure that anything you write is relevant to that main idea. You should never include any irrelevant materials in your writing. When you remove irrelevant materials from your writing, it automatically becomes more coherent.
You should emphasize more on the main idea of the document. That is why it is best to place the main idea in the introduction of the document, as it will help the reader to notice the main idea and understand what you are going to talk about in the document. You can put more emphasis on the main idea by using summary sentences. Write short and concise sentences specific to the main idea.
Once you have maintained your main idea, the next step is to transition from the idea to explanation part. Every sentence you write should feel in continuum with the last one. Special attention has to be given when you are changing a paragraph or transitioning from one point to another. You can use various phrases and transitional words which will help the writing to smoothly flow from one paragraph to another. Apart from using transitions words you can also use repetition of keywords and phrases to achieve the same coherence. They are most useful when transitioning from one paragraph to another. Transitioning from one paragraph to another works only when you have structured your paragraphs perfectly. The first question which comes to mind when structuring a paragraph is its length. According to the author, the length of a paragraph is limited to development of one’s idea. That means it can have a length of one line to one page. However, long paragraphs tend to look more intimidating, hence, they should be divided into small paragraphs using the transitioning techniques mentioned above.
The second step is to structure a sentence properly. The author provides with two techniques to structure the paragraphs; Simple deductive arrangement and Complex deductive arrangement. In the simple deductive arrangement, you start with your main idea and then develop that idea in the following sentences by adding details. In a complex deductive arrangement, the main idea is supported by directly supporting it, or indirectly supporting it. The indirect support is achieved by supporting the successive arguments with other arguments.
The development of paragraph is as important as its structure. When you are developing your paragraph by supporting the main idea, do not use generalized terms or argument. Always, try to support your main idea with descriptive and factual details. They tend to give more credibility to your main idea. Another technique is to use examples. Examples help the reader’s in understanding the point you are making in your argument. To further strengthen your paragraph you can use quotations, illustrations or ideas from reputable sources.
We can use the above-mentioned paragraph structuring and developing techniques to write excellent essays, albeit with some modifications. An essay is a combination of four or more paragraphs. You should follow the techniques used for paragraphs in each and every paragraph. Also, the same technique should be used in the entire essay. An Essay is basically a complex deductive structure. You put your main point in the first paragraph and then directly and indirectly support that with following paragraphs.
In chapter 3 the author has explained coherence. Coherence is very important to writing as it keeps the writing flowing and ideas organized. I liked the part where the author teaches how to structure your paragraphs. It is in long paragraphs where one loses track of his writing and makes mistakes. Structuring one's writing according to simple or complex deductive structure helps one to keep the main idea in mind and stops him from including digressions in his work. Using transitional and repetitive keywords also helps to fracture a long paragraph into small ones and help maintain the flow of the ideas.
In Chapter 4 the author discusses the style of writing. In the previous chapters having discussed the structure and framework of writing, the author now focuses on small details such as word usage and sentence structure, to make one's writing more readable and easy to understand. Using the frameworks describe in previous chapters one can plan and organize the structure of his writing but that might not result in a good reading experience for a reader. To provide the readers with a good and smooth experience, one should write concisely and clearly. Chapter 4 focuses on these aspects of writing.
The first step is that you should keep your writing to the minimum. The previous chapters heavily discuss on the topic of elimination of digressional and irrelevant details. In this chapter one learns how to effectively use words to make a concise and clear statement. The easiest way is to make every word count. Be as thrifty with your word usage as possible. With a simple revision, you can cross most of the unnecessary words and reformat your sentence concisely. Another method is to use simple and short sentences. Complex and long sentences often tend to deemphasize the point you are making and are prone to more grammatical errors. Shorter and easy sentences are more understandable and make your writing more forceful. To make your sentence short and concise, use active verbs and nouns rather than adverbs and adjectives.
Clarity is as important as brevity. Although brevity itself helps in maintain the clarity of the text. Overusing of words buries your main idea. Simple and concise statements will emphasize it. Some of the techniques taught in this chapter to enhance clarity of your writing include careful use of Jargon and precise and concrete word choices.
Whenever you are going to use a Jargon, keep in mind the readers need to understand it. If the Jargon is an acronym, write the full form with the acronym in parentheses first and then use only the acronym in the rest of the text. If you are going to use a technical terminology, be sure to define it concisely to help the reader to understand. The next thing to keep in mind is precision. Your word choices must be accurate and sentences should be constructed in a way that they have a clear meaning. Precision is important for accountants because often their writing has legal implications. Avoid using ambiguous words.
While you are being concise and precise make sure you are using concrete words. Concrete writing is the opposite of abstract writing. While the abstract writing is vague, generalized and unclear, concrete writing is to the point, factual and specific. Concrete writing enables a reader to create a clear picture of the main idea in the reader’s mind. You can achieve that by being specific and supporting your arguments with details, facts, and examples.
The last thing to do is making your writing reader-friendly i.e. something a reader will be interested in reading. The author has given several tips to make the writing readable. The first is to use active voice over passive voice in most of the cases. Using active voice automatically makes a sentence more for concise and readable. Other tips include using variety in your language so that the document does not become monotonous and using an appropriate tone according to your audience.
In chapter 5 the author zooms in even more inside the writing process and talks about grammar, punctuation, and spelling. The author emphasizes on using the Standard English for your work. He defines Standard English as a language that is “well established by usage in formal and informal speech and writing of the educated and is recognized as acceptable”. The chapter focuses on most of the common grammatical errors and how to avoid them.
If your document is grammatically correct and free from any kind of typographical errors it shows that you have taken time and interest in creating this document and improve on the overall credibility of the work. The major sentence errors include fragments, comma
A sentence fragment as its name suggest is the part of a sentence. A complete sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object. If any of these elements is missing, it results in the formation of fragments. A sentence might also be considered to be a fragment if it does not express an idea completely. The second mistake is to use comma splices to join two independent clauses. An independent clause is a sentence which has all the aspects of becoming a sentence. Fused sentences are those sentences in which two independent clauses are joined without any punctuation. Using any of the above mistakes makes writing incoherent and hard to follow.
One of the major grammatical error one makes while writing is an inappropriate use of verbs. When you use a verb it should reflect the tense and mood of your writing. Also, the verb used should always be in concurrence with the subject of the sentence. If a subject is singular, the verb used should be singular. Same goes for the plural subjects.
After the verbs, inappropriate use of pronouns makes the cut for common errors. The common problems with pronoun usage are agreement and references. A pronoun used must be in agreement with its antecedent word (the word it represents). Same as verbs singular antecedent takes singular pronoun and plural antecedents take plural pronouns. Also, steps should be taken to avoid using pronouns to make vague, ambiguous or broad references.
Another error which creeps into writing is confusion between usage of apostrophes and plurals. Apostrophes should be used denote possession. Usage of plurals is self-explanatory. One error which haunts most of the accountant while writing a document is the use of commas. For appropriate usage of commas always refer to the guide book in the book if you are confused.
The next topic in the chapter deals the punctuation rules for direct quotations. For direct quotations, the punctuation depends upon the length of the quotation. If a quotation is smaller than five typed lines, it usually runs in the text with and is enclosed in quotation marks. If a quotation is longer than five lines, it is set off in a new paragraph without quotation marks and is indented 1 inch from the left margin. Also, you should always cite any quotation you use properly.
Chapter 5 focuses on minute details of writing. I found this chapter to be informative. I learned a lot from the section on how to use commas. Using commas was one of the biggest hindrances to my writing. This chapter helped me a lot to get over it. I also learned a lot from the other sections of the chapter such as verb and pronoun usage and apostrophe’s usage.
