Plain Finance

I once spent a full day fixing the formatting on a 100-page policy document.

The cost of unclear writing is real and it is large, but it never appears on an invoice and nobody is asked to account for it.

I keep a note of sentences that are harder to read than they need to be.

Busy readers skim headings and reads little else.

Look at a typical business report.

Open almost any board report pack and you will find one.

A hyperlink is a decluttering tool.

The monthly accounts land in a manager's inbox.

Every accountancy qualification tests technical knowledge: bookkeeping, IFRS, audit standards, tax, treasury.

Most accountants don’t think they have a writing problem.

In a 2024 survey, Deloitte asked 200 CFOs what quality they valued most when choosing their successor. 39% said communication skills — the ability to explain results clearly and simply.

Tax Policy Associates has mapped 81 of the UK's 90 taxes onto a single interactive chart, ranked by revenue raised in 2024/25.

Most public finance reports are written for the writer, not the reader.

Most accountants and auditors don't trust their readers.

I signed a contract today for the 4th edition of Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector.