The US State Department just switched from Calibri back to Times New Roman. Neither font is particularly good for reading on a screen. (Times is good for a newspaper, though.) But the bigger issue is this: font choice is only one small part of making documents readable. I see finance
I've been writing finance reports for over 30 years. Most people do it wrong. They start with background. Build up slowly. Save the conclusion for page 47. There's a better approach. It's called the Minto Pyramid. It flips everything upside down: 1. Answer first.
Every reader of your reports has the same three questions. * What's your point? * How do you know? * Why should I care? If your introduction doesn't signal you've got answers to all three questions, you've already lost your reader. Here's what
Accountants who can't write clearly won't survive the AI revolution. That's not hyperbole. It's what the data shows. MIT research found that AI tools improved writing speed by 40% for routine tasks. AI handles the mechanical stuff brilliantly. It drafts reports, summarises
At first I thought AI would revolutionise report writing in the public sector. Then I saw what it produces. The problem is AI is trained on existing content. If your organisation (and every other one) has spent years producing reports that are too long, unclear and unread, AI will learn
You may have seen on social media the David Ogilvy memo from 1982 about "How To Write" . I've taken the liberty of translating it for a 2025 finance professionals. The better you write, the higher you'll go in finance. People who think clearly, write
When should you write numbers as words and when as figures? Most people guess. But guessing leads to inconsistency, and inconsistency makes your writing look unprofessional. BBC News has a simple rule in its style guide: * Spell out numbers one to nine * Use figures for 10 and above * Always spell
Cory Doctorow nailed it: AI cannot do your job, but an AI salesman can 100 per cent convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job. Here's the thing about accounting. AI can crunch numbers faster than you.
The best financial communicators don't hide behind complexity. They cut through it. They replace "utilize" with "use." They break up walls of text. They explain concepts like they're talking to a smart colleague, not performing for an academic journal.
Your boss hands back your draft report with red ink everywhere. "Can we add a section on market trends?" "Let's include more data." "We need another chart showing the quarterly breakdown." Sound familiar? Here's what almost never happens: "Can
Most people don’t realise how unclear their writing is. Clear writing isn’t just about grammar or big words. It’s about stripping away the clutter so your message gets through. If your writing is cloudy, your meaning gets lost. Take a fresh look at your last email or
Matthew Butterick has a great website and book called Typography for Lawyers. Inspired by that, here is lesson 1 of typography for accountants. You can make your documents clearer and easier to read with some simple changes that will take you less than 5 minutes. The secret lies in making