Do you have a writing problem?

Most accountants don’t think they have a writing problem. There’s a good reason for that, and it’s not complacency.

The professional training system never showed them they did.

To pass accountancy exams, you need technical accuracy. Marks go to correct calculations, sound judgements, appropriate recommendations. A few marks go to presentation, but not many. The system rewards getting the right answer, not explaining it well.

So you pass your exams, get a good job, get promoted. At no point does anyone measure how clearly you write. At no point does the feedback say: your analysis is strong but your reports are hard to follow.

Then you reach a level where your job is no longer doing the technical work. It’s explaining it, whether to a committee or board, a senior manager or politician, the general public. And nobody prepared you for that.

The Association for Financial Professionals put it plainly: just look at the body of knowledge required for professional certifications to see how little priority the profession places on communication skills.

The problem isn’t that accountants can’t write. It’s that the system spent years telling them it didn’t matter.