Finally got around to creating a Gumroad shop for the various digital products I create.

If you want your reader to get your message you need to make your message clear. Don’t just copy and paste a chart from Excel into a Word document or presentation. You need to format it first. Here’s how. read more

Set your margins and font-size so that the length of each line is around 65 characters. That’s two and a half alphabets. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm A line length of about 65 characters is optimal for reading. Lines that are much longer than this are harder to … read more

The UK government does its financial planning and prepares financial statements using 1 April to 31 March as its financial year. The UK tax year ends, however, not on 31 March but on 5 April. Here’s why. Historically, in Britain taxes were due on the first day of the year, which was not 1 January … read more

In my first job as a qualified accountant I learned most of what I had to do from the files left by my predecessor. This included numerous reports and standard letters that I copied in terms of style and content. It meant that I would write sentences like: “I would be grateful to receive your … read more

Thanks to everyone who entered the draw to win a signed copy of Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector. The winner is a student at Georgia State University. You can still read my diary about writing the book over at the PFM Board.

Once you have written your first draft you should not click Save and send it off to the audience. This is as true for a two paragraph email as for a 20 page report. Always revise and edit your work. Make it as good as you reasonably can before you declare it finished. Don’t take it from me. Take it … read more

I asked ChatGPT for 25 ideas for posts about writing and presentation skills for accountants. This is what I got: The importance of clear and concise writing in accounting reports Tips for improving your writing skills as an accountant How to write effective emails in the accounting industry Best … read more

Three mistakes to avoid when presenting financial data. Don’t overwhelm with details: While it’s important to provide context, avoid overwhelming your clients with too much information. Stick to the most important points and keep the presentation concise. Don’t make assumptions: Avoid making … read more

A picture paints a thousand words. A table of data could save you (and your reader) hundreds of words. But your table is a wasted opportunity if the reader doesn’t get your message from it. Or worse, skips over it. Here’s a tip to make the tables in your documents have more impact. Give every table … read more