Deck 1: Accountants As Communicators

Question 1

Journal of Accountancy (published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) and The CPA Journal (published by the New York State Society of CPAs) publish articles on many topics of interest to practicing accountants. Search these publications to find an article on tax that may interest you. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not?

Answer 1

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Question 2

The International Journal of Accounting , published by the University of Illinois, contains articles explaining international accounting practices. Search this publication to find an article on international accounting that may interest you. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not?

Answer 2

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Question 3

The chair of the accounting department at your school has asked you to address beginning accounting students at an orientation session. The topic of your presentation is to be "A Competitive Edge: The Importance of Writing Skills for Accountants." Your purpose is to convince the students to take the need for good writing skills seriously. Write an outline you can use as a basis for your presentation. As steps in preparing your outline, follow these guidelines:
• Analyze your audience for this presentation. How will you present your topic so that they find it meaningful and interesting?
• Think critically about the objections your audience might raise to your arguments. How will you respond to their objections?
• What material will you include in your presentation? Remember to anticipate your audience's objections, and the way you will respond. Also remember to arrange your ideas in a logical order.
• Using the guidelines found in Chapter 16 -Oral Communication: Listening and Speaking, practice and present your talk. Your instructor may ask you to make your presentation in class. As an alternative, you may ask a few friends to listen to your presentation.

Answer 3

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Question 4

Assume that the talk you presented for Exercise 1-11 was very successful. In fact, the chair of your accounting department has asked you to write an article based on your talk for the departmental website, which is available to all accounting majors.
Using the guidelines given in Chapter 15 -Writing for Publication, write the article.

Question 5

The AICPA has listed fraud control as an emerging professional issue. Read what the institute has to say about "Managing the Business Risk of Fraud" at http://www.acfe.com/uploadedFiles/ACFE_Website/Content/documents/managing-business-risk.pdf. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not?

Question 6

Consider the writing you find in one or two articles in The Wall Street Journal or the business section of another major newspaper or magazine. How effective, or ineffective, do you find the writing? If you have trouble reading or understanding what you read, is the problem due to ineffective writing? If you find the material understandable and interesting to read, what qualities of the writing contribute to this effectiveness? You might consider the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2 as the basis of your evaluation.

Question 7

Look at some published corporate SEC Forms 10-K or annual reports for the most recent year and evaluate the financial statement disclosures they contain. Find examples of disclosures that are not written as clearly or concisely as they could be and rewrite them to be more clear and concise. Share your results with the class and discuss them. (Hint: You can access many 10-Ks and annual reports on the Internet by following the links to listed companies at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Web site at https://nyse.nyx.com.)

Question 8

Prepare a written report on why the SEC is so concerned that corporations use "plain English" in their filings and what it is doing about the issue. Among the materials you consult, be sure to look at the following SEC publications, but do not limit your sources to just these:
• A Plain English Handbook: How to Create Clear SEC Disclosure Documents at www.sec.gov/news/extra/handbook.htm
• Updated Staff Legal Bulletin No. 7 at www.sec.gov/interps/legal/ cfslb7a.htm
• Plain English Disclosure Final Rules at www.sec.gov/rules/ final/33-7497.txt

Question 9

Research the topic of "soft skills" and prepare an article for your school's newspaper on their definition and importance in the accounting and business world.

Question 10

Do you believe ethical considerations are an important part of an accountant's professional responsibilities? Why or why not? Think about this question, and then write notes according to the following outline. Use only the sections of the outline that are relevant to your position on this issue.
1. Ethical considerations are important to accountants because: (list your reasons)
2. Ethical considerations are not very important to accountants because: (list your reasons)
3. Accountants find guidance in making ethical decisions from the following sources: (list the sources you find)

Question 11

Management Accounting Quarterly (MAQ) contains articles related to managerial accounting. Search a few recent editions to find an article that may interest you. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not? (You can access MAQ on line at http://www.imanet.org/resources_and_publications/management_ accounting_quarterly.aspx. Access is on a subscription basis, so you may have to gain access through your school's library.)

Question 12

AccountingWEB ( www.accountingweb.com ) contains articles related to many areas in accounting including auditing. Search AccountingWEB to find an auditing article that may interest you. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not?

Question 13

Smart Brief ( www.smartbrief.com/industry/accounting ) is a source for newsletters that publish articles on various topics. One of these newsletters is InfoTech Update , which addresses topics relating to information technology in accounting. Search InfoTech Update on Smart Brief to find an information technology article that may interest you. Critique the writing using each of the Tips for Effective Writing in Figure 1-2. How effective or ineffective do you find the writing? Does the writing style contribute to your understanding of the article? Why or why not?