IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/accted/v25y2016i3p239-255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The written communication skills that matter most for accountants

Author

Listed:
  • Tracey J. Riley
  • Kathleen A. Simons

Abstract

Given the importance of effective written communication skills to the discipline of accounting, faculty must emphasize these skills in their classroom in order to adequately prepare students for successful careers in the field. Since 2000, only two studies in the accounting literature have examined which written communication skills are needed by entry-level accountants and consensus is that spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity are of utmost importance. We surveyed accounting practitioners and faculty to determine what exactly, within those categories, is most bothersome. For example, within clarity, is it wordy sentences, passive voice, or shifts in tense? By documenting the most bothersome errors, our findings can help accounting educators to focus their limited time on the appropriate skill emphasis.

Suggested Citation

  • Tracey J. Riley & Kathleen A. Simons, 2016. "The written communication skills that matter most for accountants," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 239-255, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accted:v:25:y:2016:i:3:p:239-255
    DOI: 10.1080/09639284.2016.1164066
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09639284.2016.1164066
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09639284.2016.1164066?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Breda Sweeney & Fiona Costello, 2009. "Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision-making: An Empirical Examination of Undergraduate Accounting and Business Students," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 75-97.
    2. Marie H. Kavanagh & Lyndal Drennan, 2008. "What skills and attributes does an accounting graduate need? Evidence from student perceptions and employer expectations," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(2), pages 279-300, June.
    3. Harshini P. Siriwardane & Chris H. Durden, 2014. "The Communication Skills of Accountants: What we Know and the Gaps in our Knowledge," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 119-134, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Apostolou, Barbara & Dorminey, Jack W. & Hassell, John M. & Rebele, James E., 2017. "Accounting education literature review (2016)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-31.
    2. Rebele, James E. & St. Pierre, E. Kent, 2019. "A commentary on learning objectives for accounting education programs: The importance of soft skills and technical knowledge," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 71-79.
    3. Nanja Kroon & Maria do Céu Alves, 2023. "Fifteen Years of Accounting Professional’s Competencies Supply and Demand: Evidencing Actors, Competency Assessment Strategies, and ‘Top Three’ Competencies," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Huber, Marsha M. & Leach-López, Maria A. & Lee, Eunsuh & Mafi, Shirine L., 2020. "Improving accounting student writing skills using writing circles," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Komarev, Iliya & Preobragenskaya, Galina, 2022. "A framework of market-relevant accounting competencies for the Gulf Cooperation countries (GCC)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. GETAHUN, Mohammed & MERSHA, Deresse, 2020. "Skill Gap Perceived Between Employers And Accounting Graduates In Ethiopia," Studii Financiare (Financial Studies), Centre of Financial and Monetary Research "Victor Slavescu", vol. 24(2), pages 64-90, June.
    3. Nanja Kroon & Maria do Céu Alves, 2023. "Fifteen Years of Accounting Professional’s Competencies Supply and Demand: Evidencing Actors, Competency Assessment Strategies, and ‘Top Three’ Competencies," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Siriwardane, H.P. & Low, K.-Y. & Blietz, D., 2015. "Making entry-level accountants better communicators: A Singapore-based study of communication tasks, skills, and attributes," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 332-347.
    5. Susan O'Shea, 2017. "Characteristics and Skills Necessary in Accountancy," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    6. Bernadette Smith & William Maguire & Helen Haijuan Han, 2018. "Generic skills in accounting: perspectives of Chinese postgraduate students," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(2), pages 535-559, June.
    7. Necmi K. Avkiran & Direnç K. Kanol & Barry Oliver & Tom Smith, 2016. "Knowledge of campaign finance regulation reduces perceptions of corruption," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(4), pages 961-984, December.
    8. Rikhardsson, Pall & Yigitbasioglu, Ogan, 2018. "Business intelligence & analytics in management accounting research: Status and future focus," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 37-58.
    9. Ziyuan Tian & Xixiang Sun & Jianguo Wang & Weihuan Su & Gen Li, 2022. "Factors Affecting Green Purchase Intention: A Perspective of Ethical Decision Making," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Popoola, Oluwatoyin Muse Johnson & Ahmad, Ayoib B Che & Kehinde, Oyewumi Hassan, 2016. "Determinants of Internal Audit Task Performance in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions: A Conceptual Approach," MPRA Paper 75944, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Diaeldin Osman & Conor O’Leary & Mark Brimble & Dave Thompson, 2019. "Factor That Impact Attrition And Retention Rates Among Accountancy Diploma Students: Evidence From Saudi Arabia," Business Education and Accreditation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 11(1), pages 89-110.
    12. Carla Carvalho & Ana Carlos Almeida, 2022. "The Adequacy of Accounting Education in the Development of Transversal Skills Needed to Meet Market Demands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Wyness, Lynne & Dalton, Fiona, 2018. "The value of problem-based learning in learning for sustainability: Undergraduate accounting student perspectives," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-19.
    14. repec:bfv:journl:037 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Eugene D. Jaffe & Nonna Kushnirovich & Alexandr Tsimerman, 2018. "The Impact of Acculturation on Immigrants’ Business Ethics Attitudes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 821-834, February.
    16. Yusri Hazrol Yusoff & Dayang Emira Camellia Suhaimi & Nurliyana Mohd Shafei & Tasnim Khadijah Zafarin & Razinah Hassan, 2024. "The Factors Affecting Whistleblowing Intention in Combating Fraud," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(10), pages 2119-2127, October.
    17. NICOLAESCU Cristina & DAVID Delia & FARCAS Pavel, 2017. "Professional And Transversal Competencies In The Accounting Field Do Employers’ Expectations Fit Students’ Perceptions? Evidence From Western Romania," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 12(3), pages 126-140, December.
    18. Plant, Kato & Barac, Karin & Sarens, Gerrit, 2019. "Preparing work-ready graduates – skills development lessons learnt from internal audit practice," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 33-47.
    19. Antra Singh & Seema Singh, 2021. "Do Employability Skills Matter in Placement: An Exploratory Study of Private Engineering Institutions and IT Firms in Delhi NCR," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 1093-1113, December.
    20. Christelle Chaplais & Yves Mard & Sylvain Marsat, 2016. "The auditor facing ethical dilemnas: the impact of an ethical training on the compliance with deontological code [L'auditeur face aux dilemmes éthiques : L'impact d'une formation à l'éthique sur la," Post-Print hal-02156617, HAL.
    21. Phil Hancock & Bryan Howieson & Marie Kavanagh & Jenny Kent & Irene Tempone & Naomi Segal & Mark Freeman, 2009. "The Roles of Some Key Stakeholders in the Future of Accounting Education in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 19(3), pages 249-260, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:accted:v:25:y:2016:i:3:p:239-255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAED20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.