First Draft

5

Writing in the Accounting Field

​Every day passes by and everyday everyone communicates in different ways. Whether it’s an e-mail, text message, or essay for class, there’s always going to be communication between subjects in the world. Especially in our generation, there are so many ways to communicate with others, one especially being writing to others. Writing has created such a large impact in our society with all the technology that is available right at the tips of our fingers. It is very well known that writing in the business field plays a major role in the way a business and its’ employers function. Although the twenty first century has allowed for much faster ways of communication, there is still no doubt that it’s a necessity that employers must relay their messages to and from each other. Although the common go to method of accounting is related to math, there is still much more than just that for accountants.

Academic Writing

​As an accountant, there are many reasons that one may write academically. Many accountants write documents or reports based from their analyses or research they have done. Academic writing from accountants must be well manipulative and derived based off intellectual knowledge of their subject of writing. As their customers, employers, or potential customers could be reading their pieces of writing, it has to be well developed and statistical so they can win over their business and make it knowledgeable for others. I also interviewed Bailey Heaton, a student at the University of Iowa who had an internship with McGladery and was offered a full time job out of school. It was very interesting getting to know more about the writings and information she told me about, because she was well informed since she had an internship with one of the top accounting firms.

​Since the audience of the documents are possibly looking for an accountant, or if it’s relaying a message from one another, to make sure all the information is being read correctly, it is very important that the writing is well informative for all audience. The genre of the paper probably varies all depending on what it is written for, but mostly to inform. For this purpose, the document must have well written, knowledgeable information so it seems like it is coming from a good source and not just made up from someone. Writing a well-developed paper is very critical for accountants because it also allows for the audience to realize how the job works. 

Also, many of the writings done by accountants include memos being relayed from employer to employer. Some memos may be short, concise, and to the point, but being this way, the writer has to make sure that the point is being put across and it is understandable. In an online memo that I found about a tax research, it is longer but gets everything across that needs to be known. The style of the memo is very easy to read and follow so that if you’re quickly looking for a fast information stated in the memo, they are split into groups. Most memos will have similarly the same layout, stating the facts of the issue, analysis, and conclusion. Since most memos are sent in the same direction, many are informative to allow others to know the situation of things going on. 

Based on my interview, I asked how often Bailey had to write memos in her career, and she responded as, “It happens way more often than you may think. Most people are unaware of the fact that accountants do other things than just math. It’s biased for people to think that in my opinion” (Heaton, 2015). Relating to what she said, not only does she write memos, but lots of papers that refer to what she is learning and reports on the information she gathered. Not very often does she share her written reports with others, but she said it was much more beneficial to collaborate with others to bounce ideas off of each other. So, accountants do spend a lot of time writing academically to allow others to see the ideas they have.

Non- Academic Writing

As referred to before, accountants don’t just sit and do math all day. There are many reasons to that accountant’s write, some even being non-academic. Non-academic pieces of writings have a different structure and base of their informationrather than an academic writing. Much of the communication between employers and sometimes clients will be non-academic because the information they relay has to be informative and well developed to explain the process they are trying to get across.

​Much of the non-academic writings from accountants go to their clients when they are trying to get their information and work with them. As said in one the articles, “many people do not fully consider their audience” (Hu, 2010) which can cause a big problem. Accountants need to realize that they are talking to their clients and explain to them. Since they deal with financial reports, some parts may get confusing but it is very important that they inform others of what is going on, especially if the taxes aren’t being paid properly. During my interview, I asked if she communicates with a lot of group. Her immediate response was, “Yes, we communicate with groups and collaborate with each other all the time” (Heaton, 2015). Not always are others talking in groups, but since she was, it’s important that the ideas of an accountant are relayed to others in a well-developed way so that others can comprehend what is being involved.

Conclusion

Based off the information between different types of writings in the accounting field, it is very clear that academic and non-academic writing are similar, yet very different. Academic writing is a lot more formal and their audience may be different than the non-academic pieces of writings. Although they are similar, much of the information relayed in the writings are also different but all sorts of writings are used in the accounting field.

Works Cited

Interview. 7 September 2015. Heaton, Bailey.

Hu, S. (2010). Interviews with Accounting Professionals. University of Richmond Writing Center. Retrieved from http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/business/accountinginterviews.html

The Editorial Board. (2014). The New York Times. Holding Auditors Blameless. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/opinion/holding-auditors-blameless.html?ref=topics&_r=1

Smith, A. (2003). GSU. Example of a Tax Research Memo. Retrieved from http://www2.gsu.edu/~accerl/taxrelated/RM-EX.html

Bisman, J. (2009). Jstore. Making Accounting Historians, 36(1). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/stable/40698403?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=accounting&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Daccounting%26amp%3BSearch%3DSearch%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3BglobalSearch%3D%26amp%3BsbbBox%3D%26amp%3BsbjBox%3D%26amp%3BsbpBox%3D&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Gamble, G., Otto, G., & Hyman, L. (1995). Jatore. A Citational Analysis of the Accounting Education Literature, 22(1). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/stable/40697621?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=accounting&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Daccounting%26amp%3BSearch%3DSearch%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3BglobalSearch%3D%26amp%3BsbbBox%3D%26amp%3BsbjBox%3D%26amp%3BsbpBox%3D&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Walker, S. (2005). Jstore. Accounting in History, 32(2). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/stable/40698575?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=accounting&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Daccounting%26amp%3BSearch%3DSearch%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3BglobalSearch%3D%26amp%3BsbbBox%3D%26amp%3BsbjBox%3D%26amp%3BsbpBox%3D&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents