S c h o o l of Ac c ount a nc y

Faculty of

Business

Writing
F O R A C C O U N TA N T S

Edited by Di Lewis

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This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. © School of Accountancy, QUT 2003 Produced by QUT Publications 232975 8437 ISBN: 1 74107 014 7

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Contents

Preface Accountancy writing and preparation of documents Writing and accountants Determining the Purpose (aim) Investigating Planning the document Writing the document Revising the document Style of professional documents Good and poor writing Audience Tone Language Overwriting (padding) Overgeneralisation Spelling, punctuation and grammar Abbreviations Expressing numbers Paragraphing Headings and sub-headings Quantitative information Recommendations Letter writing for accountants Claim letter Letter of advice Letter of engagement Letter of enquiry Letter of refusal Management letter Memos E-mails Research Essays, Reports and Resumés Research essays Reports Resumés References and Bibliographies iii

v 1 1 2 2 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 13 14 16 17 19 21 22 23 24 26 27 27 31 40 41

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Preface

Writing for Accountants is a brief guide to the types of writing that accountancy students and practising accountants are most often called on to do. It is not intended as a definitive text, but rather as a general guide for students at the Queensland University of Technology. It is intended that the booklet be used in conjunction with the lectures and tutorials presented to students, and as a guide in the writing of their assignments. Topics cover:
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the types of writing that accountants and accountancy students are expected to undertake; steps in the preparation of