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Writing letters to clients: Connecting textbook problems and the real world
Journal
ofAccounring
Education
Vol. 3, No. 1 Spring 1985
WRITING LETTERS TO CLIENTS: CONNECTING TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS AND THE REAL WORLD Doris deLespinasse ADRIAN
COLLEGE
Absrracr: Adrian College’s letter-writing assignments simulate CPA firm client correspondence and develop clear writing skills. The exercises use problems previously assigned in upper-level courses. Letters must answer client questions about problem situations in plain, simple English.
Most entry-level accountants experience the difficulties of explaining, in person or by letter, a complex adjusting entry or tax matter to a client with little or no accounting background. Such tasks often strain the writing skills of staff members even more than the composition of technical memoranda and other communications to fellow accountants. But the clarity of such explanations to clients can have an important effect both on that client’s accounting system and on the firm’s public image. Adrian College is a small Michigan liberal arts schools with a B.B.A. program which puts a strong emphasis on oral and written communication. Accounting faculty members have developed a writing program with some similarities to that used at the University of Georgia’s J.M. Tull School of Accounting [May and Arevalo, 1983, pp. 119-1261. Adrian’s program, like Tull’s, emphasizes assignments similar to on-the-job writing tasks, and also includes writing letters to explain complex accounting problems to clients. The letter-writing assignments came about in reaction to a panel of CPAfirm personnel officers at a conference of Michigan accounting professors in 1979. The panel members, selected to represent a variety of firm sizes, all placed communications skills first on their lists of characteristics sought in potential employees. And each mentioned communication of technical matters to clients as an area of particular difficulty. The Adrian faculty’s conviction that this is an important area is supported by the American Accounting Association-sponsored study of the problem of developing accounting communications skills conducted by Robert W. Ingram and Charles R. Frazier. This team placed correspondence writing high on their list of skills in which entry-level staff members were weak [Ingram and Frazier, 1980, pp. 15-181. The Adrian letter-writing assignments are based on “client” questions asked about problems previously assigned in class. These are integrated into a program which also includes a Business Communications course required of
198
all business majors, research papers, and a number of other “on-the-job” type writing assignments: technical memos, financial statement footnotes, audit workpapers, etc. A typical letter-writing assignment, used in the second semester of Intermediate Accounting in early 1983, was based on a lease problem, number 22-4 in the third edition of Keiso and Weygandt. Intermediate Accounting. The problem had been assigned and discussed in class about a week before the letter was due. Instructions to students were as follows: Rainbow Company of P22-4 is your audit client. President K. T. Frog does not understand the adjustment you recommend to capitalize the equipment; to her renting is renting. Write a letter which explains why accountants treat some leases as sales, why this one must be treated that way, and what effect that will have on Rainbow’s financial statements. Students were instructed to use proper business-letter format, making up a name for their own firm and other details as needed. They were told that these letters should show the instructor what the student would do if, for example, the instructor recommended the student for an internship and this situation were then met on the job. The greatest challenge of the assignment occurred because students were told that, since the client had little or no training in accounting, technical jargon must be avoided: the letter must be in plain, every-day English. Letters were graded on a point scale which demonstrated professor’s intent that both technical correctness of accounting details and writing be weighted heavily. Grading included extensive comments, particularly on the first letter written by each student. Comments at times included a sample of one or two rewritten sentences; several students noted that this was a particularly valuable kind of assistance. Ingram and Frazier observe that “assignments should be designed to encourage students to imagine themselves as employed accountants faced with ‘real-life’ communications problems rather than an artificial, classroom task” [Ingram and Frazier, p. 501. The realistic nature of the assignment is probably the major advantage both of Tull’s technical memos and of Adrian’s letters. The letter assignments also promote a flexibility in writing style: students should be able to make proper use of technical language, as in technical memos, but it is perhaps even more vital that they be able to present concepts to clients who are unfamiliar with the special terminology. This use of plain English in letters should help to prepare students to explain concepts orally as well as in writing. Like any good writing assignment, the letters help students to consolidate and evaluate their knowledge of course materials. Students who thought they understood a problem thoroughly have found holes in their knowledge when they had to write about it. In a student survey following the first use of the letter-writing assignments, student response was overwhelmingly positive. Of the twenty respondents, 75% gave positive answers to a question about whether the letter writing had
199
helped them. Ten percent answered negatively; 15% did not answer this question. Several factors have made it possible to integrate a heavy communications emphasis into Adrian’s accounting program: 1. Class size. Accounting classes beyond the first year have averaged 19 students over the past 3 years. This appears to be at the upper end of the range at which faculty could incorporate significant amounts of writing into accounting classes without specialized assistance like that given at Tull [May and Arvelo, 1983, pp. 122-1251. 2. Student assistants. A few excellent upper-level accounting majors are hired by the department to handle routine grading and other tasks for instructors. This frees professors to some extent for non-routine grading and individual student consultation. 3. Staff selection. An interest in teaching communication of accounting information is among the criteria considered in hiring. Although most staff members in recent years have been CPA’s or CMA’s with MBA’s or other business degrees, one is a CPA who has a master’s degee plus all the course work for a Ph.D. in English. She also has background in textbook and other professional writing. 4. Class time. Although finding class time for study both of technical accounting matters and of their communication is difficult at Adrian, the problem is not as acute as at some liberal arts schools. Accounting majors take 21 to 30 semester credits in accounting, in addition to nonaccounting B.B. A. core courses. 5. Assignment structure. The letter writing uses very little in-class time. In part, this is because most students have had the required business communications course prior to their upper-level accounting classes. This intensive writing-oriented course, which is definitely not of the “secretarial skills” variety mentioned by Ingram and Frazier [Ingram and Frazier, 1980, p. 481, prepares students so that the accounting instructor does not have to spend class time on business letter writing or stylistic basics. Other factors also restrict the time devoted to the assignment. Since the problem written about in the letters is a part of the regular class assignments and has already been discussed thoroughly, no class time need be spent on the subject matter. A thorough written description of the assignment is included in the course syllabus, so class time is limited to approximately one quarter of a class period for advance discussion of assignment and an approximately equal time when letters are returned. Results of such an assignment are difficult to quantify, since writing grades are always subjective. However, the letter-writing assignments and other kinds of “on-the-job” writing for accounting majors appear to have had the following positive results: 1. Actual writing quality appears to have improved. Most senior accounting majors take an intensive C.P.A. Review class in their last semester; grades are better on the large number of essays required in this class. This is a
200
subjective measure, however, and if real improvement does exist, it could be a result of instruction in the CPA Review class. 2. Students have an improved perception of the importance of writing skills. Some have responded by taking advanced composition courses in the English department. Many now ask questions about writing style; they are more observant of textbook style. 3. On-the-job confidence appears to have improved. Some graduates have reported feeling better about oral and written communication assignments on the job because of realistic in-class writing assignments. Robert Gunning, the “fog index” man, notes that “an accountant who is asked for figures usually feels obliged to send along some jargon as a stamp of his professionalism” [Gunning, 1952, p. 1991. Accounting students should understand the jargon. They should be able to use it when necessary. But they also should be able to accompany their figures with the simple, direct English of a good business letter. Adrian’s letter-writing assignment helps students learn this important stylistic lesson.
REFERENCES Gunning, Robert (1952), The Technique of Clear Writing, (McGraw-Hill, 1952). Ingram, Robert W., and Charles R. Frazier (1980). Deve[opj~g Co?n~u~~~ario~s Skills for rhe Accounting Profession, (American Accounting Association, 1980). May, Gordon S., and Claire Arevalo (1983);‘Integrating Effective Writing Skills in the Accounting Curriculum,” Journal of Accounting Edurarion, V. 1 (Spring, 1983): 119-126.
ofAccounring
Education
Vol. 3, No. 1 Spring 1985
WRITING LETTERS TO CLIENTS: CONNECTING TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS AND THE REAL WORLD Doris deLespinasse ADRIAN
COLLEGE
Absrracr: Adrian College’s letter-writing assignments simulate CPA firm client correspondence and develop clear writing skills. The exercises use problems previously assigned in upper-level courses. Letters must answer client questions about problem situations in plain, simple English.
Most entry-level accountants experience the difficulties of explaining, in person or by letter, a complex adjusting entry or tax matter to a client with little or no accounting background. Such tasks often strain the writing skills of staff members even more than the composition of technical memoranda and other communications to fellow accountants. But the clarity of such explanations to clients can have an important effect both on that client’s accounting system and on the firm’s public image. Adrian College is a small Michigan liberal arts schools with a B.B.A. program which puts a strong emphasis on oral and written communication. Accounting faculty members have developed a writing program with some similarities to that used at the University of Georgia’s J.M. Tull School of Accounting [May and Arevalo, 1983, pp. 119-1261. Adrian’s program, like Tull’s, emphasizes assignments similar to on-the-job writing tasks, and also includes writing letters to explain complex accounting problems to clients. The letter-writing assignments came about in reaction to a panel of CPAfirm personnel officers at a conference of Michigan accounting professors in 1979. The panel members, selected to represent a variety of firm sizes, all placed communications skills first on their lists of characteristics sought in potential employees. And each mentioned communication of technical matters to clients as an area of particular difficulty. The Adrian faculty’s conviction that this is an important area is supported by the American Accounting Association-sponsored study of the problem of developing accounting communications skills conducted by Robert W. Ingram and Charles R. Frazier. This team placed correspondence writing high on their list of skills in which entry-level staff members were weak [Ingram and Frazier, 1980, pp. 15-181. The Adrian letter-writing assignments are based on “client” questions asked about problems previously assigned in class. These are integrated into a program which also includes a Business Communications course required of
198
all business majors, research papers, and a number of other “on-the-job” type writing assignments: technical memos, financial statement footnotes, audit workpapers, etc. A typical letter-writing assignment, used in the second semester of Intermediate Accounting in early 1983, was based on a lease problem, number 22-4 in the third edition of Keiso and Weygandt. Intermediate Accounting. The problem had been assigned and discussed in class about a week before the letter was due. Instructions to students were as follows: Rainbow Company of P22-4 is your audit client. President K. T. Frog does not understand the adjustment you recommend to capitalize the equipment; to her renting is renting. Write a letter which explains why accountants treat some leases as sales, why this one must be treated that way, and what effect that will have on Rainbow’s financial statements. Students were instructed to use proper business-letter format, making up a name for their own firm and other details as needed. They were told that these letters should show the instructor what the student would do if, for example, the instructor recommended the student for an internship and this situation were then met on the job. The greatest challenge of the assignment occurred because students were told that, since the client had little or no training in accounting, technical jargon must be avoided: the letter must be in plain, every-day English. Letters were graded on a point scale which demonstrated professor’s intent that both technical correctness of accounting details and writing be weighted heavily. Grading included extensive comments, particularly on the first letter written by each student. Comments at times included a sample of one or two rewritten sentences; several students noted that this was a particularly valuable kind of assistance. Ingram and Frazier observe that “assignments should be designed to encourage students to imagine themselves as employed accountants faced with ‘real-life’ communications problems rather than an artificial, classroom task” [Ingram and Frazier, p. 501. The realistic nature of the assignment is probably the major advantage both of Tull’s technical memos and of Adrian’s letters. The letter assignments also promote a flexibility in writing style: students should be able to make proper use of technical language, as in technical memos, but it is perhaps even more vital that they be able to present concepts to clients who are unfamiliar with the special terminology. This use of plain English in letters should help to prepare students to explain concepts orally as well as in writing. Like any good writing assignment, the letters help students to consolidate and evaluate their knowledge of course materials. Students who thought they understood a problem thoroughly have found holes in their knowledge when they had to write about it. In a student survey following the first use of the letter-writing assignments, student response was overwhelmingly positive. Of the twenty respondents, 75% gave positive answers to a question about whether the letter writing had
199
helped them. Ten percent answered negatively; 15% did not answer this question. Several factors have made it possible to integrate a heavy communications emphasis into Adrian’s accounting program: 1. Class size. Accounting classes beyond the first year have averaged 19 students over the past 3 years. This appears to be at the upper end of the range at which faculty could incorporate significant amounts of writing into accounting classes without specialized assistance like that given at Tull [May and Arvelo, 1983, pp. 122-1251. 2. Student assistants. A few excellent upper-level accounting majors are hired by the department to handle routine grading and other tasks for instructors. This frees professors to some extent for non-routine grading and individual student consultation. 3. Staff selection. An interest in teaching communication of accounting information is among the criteria considered in hiring. Although most staff members in recent years have been CPA’s or CMA’s with MBA’s or other business degrees, one is a CPA who has a master’s degee plus all the course work for a Ph.D. in English. She also has background in textbook and other professional writing. 4. Class time. Although finding class time for study both of technical accounting matters and of their communication is difficult at Adrian, the problem is not as acute as at some liberal arts schools. Accounting majors take 21 to 30 semester credits in accounting, in addition to nonaccounting B.B. A. core courses. 5. Assignment structure. The letter writing uses very little in-class time. In part, this is because most students have had the required business communications course prior to their upper-level accounting classes. This intensive writing-oriented course, which is definitely not of the “secretarial skills” variety mentioned by Ingram and Frazier [Ingram and Frazier, 1980, p. 481, prepares students so that the accounting instructor does not have to spend class time on business letter writing or stylistic basics. Other factors also restrict the time devoted to the assignment. Since the problem written about in the letters is a part of the regular class assignments and has already been discussed thoroughly, no class time need be spent on the subject matter. A thorough written description of the assignment is included in the course syllabus, so class time is limited to approximately one quarter of a class period for advance discussion of assignment and an approximately equal time when letters are returned. Results of such an assignment are difficult to quantify, since writing grades are always subjective. However, the letter-writing assignments and other kinds of “on-the-job” writing for accounting majors appear to have had the following positive results: 1. Actual writing quality appears to have improved. Most senior accounting majors take an intensive C.P.A. Review class in their last semester; grades are better on the large number of essays required in this class. This is a
200
subjective measure, however, and if real improvement does exist, it could be a result of instruction in the CPA Review class. 2. Students have an improved perception of the importance of writing skills. Some have responded by taking advanced composition courses in the English department. Many now ask questions about writing style; they are more observant of textbook style. 3. On-the-job confidence appears to have improved. Some graduates have reported feeling better about oral and written communication assignments on the job because of realistic in-class writing assignments. Robert Gunning, the “fog index” man, notes that “an accountant who is asked for figures usually feels obliged to send along some jargon as a stamp of his professionalism” [Gunning, 1952, p. 1991. Accounting students should understand the jargon. They should be able to use it when necessary. But they also should be able to accompany their figures with the simple, direct English of a good business letter. Adrian’s letter-writing assignment helps students learn this important stylistic lesson.
REFERENCES Gunning, Robert (1952), The Technique of Clear Writing, (McGraw-Hill, 1952). Ingram, Robert W., and Charles R. Frazier (1980). Deve[opj~g Co?n~u~~~ario~s Skills for rhe Accounting Profession, (American Accounting Association, 1980). May, Gordon S., and Claire Arevalo (1983);‘Integrating Effective Writing Skills in the Accounting Curriculum,” Journal of Accounting Edurarion, V. 1 (Spring, 1983): 119-126.