GENERAL WRITING INFORMATION

1.         Business writing is technical and impersonal. You are doing a report to management or a professor and want to impress them with your knowledge; therefore good grammar is necessary to convey your intelligence.

A.         Do not use personal pronouns.   Even if you own the company or work for the company, refer to it as an entity of its own. This may require rephrasing the sentence.

BAD:  Our Company was founded in 1984.

GOOD:  The Company was founded in 1984.

BAD:  The Accounts Payable Clerk gets the Check Register and she files the reports in the closed file by date.

GOOD:   The Accounts Payable Clerk files the Check Register in the closed file by date.

B.         Business reports do not use personal names to describe who performs a task.  Position titles are used to describe who performs the process.

When doing a report about an individual(s), you may use his or her full name, last name, or business title.  Never refer to the individual by their first name even if you know them personally.

BAD:   George beat the English.

GOOD:  General Washington beat the English.

BETTER:  The General of the American Army beat the English.

C.         Business reports do not contain jokes or facetious (look it up!) remarks.

D.         Do not use colloquial or slang expressions in technical writing.  These are often known as clichés or trite expressions.

BAD:    Mr. Hyde was mad as a hatter and yelled a lot.

GOOD:  Mr. Hyde was judged to be insane and shouted quite often.

E.         Do not use "fine writing" or "poetic" expressions in technical writing.  The use of ornate words or expressions is inappropriate for this type of report and often changes the meaning of your message.  Do not add useless prose to the report.

F.         Technical reports do not contain the writer's opinion, only facts supported by research.  DO NOT use the word "I" in a scholarly research paper.

2.         You are reporting to management, who hired you for your expertise.  Assume they are ignorant of technical terms or the jargon of your profession, and will need an explanation of what you are saying.  When in doubt, write more not less.

BAD:    The Company is vulnerable to hackers and should use encryption.

GOOD:  The Company is vulnerable to hackers, outsiders who gain unauthorized access to the accounting system.  To prevent these individuals from accessing confidential information the Company should employ encryption.  Encryption is the coding of data so it cannot be read without possession of the decoding key.

3.         Your boss or the agency funding the report will expect your original work.  Do not give photocopies to these people.  Keep them for your self.

4.         All word processing software offers three very important items to use in writing. 

The first is a spell checker.  Notice that newer versions of word processing software often underline misspelled words in a color (Word uses red).

The second is a thesaurus so you do not use the same word over and over again.  However, please be aware that there are nuances in word meanings that can dramatically change the meaning of your sentence so go to the dictionary and read the exact meaning of a word you might wish to use. 

The final software option for weak writers is a grammar check program.  This program points out grammar errors and makes suggestions for improvement.  Again, newer versions of word processing software underline poor grammar and typing (Word uses green).

If you need extra help with a word's exact definition, there are many online resources to help you.  One of the easy websites to use is Merriam-Webster's dictionary and thesaurus at http://www.merriam-webster.com/. 

GENERAL FORMAT

5.         Business and academic papers are double spaced so that the reviewer or faculty member can make comments at the immediate point of concern. A twelve (12) point type font is the most appropriate size. The font should not be fancy (script).  Fonts such as Ariel, Times Roman, and Courier are easily read by anyone.

DO NOT use bold text, italics, all capitals or underlining to highlight a point or exclamation.

It is permissible to single space the lines in each step in the Table of Entities and Activities, but double space between the entities.

6.         The first word of a paragraph is indented five spaces.  DO NOT add extra spaces between paragraphs.

7.         Number pages in the report.  Further, be consistent in your numbering.  If you start numbering at the bottom center, continue at the bottom center for all pages.

8.         At the end of a sentence, leave two spaces after the period.  Leave one space after all other punctuation marks within a sentence.  The only exception to the latter rule is the colon (:).  It should be followed by two spaces.

9.         Do not bind documents that are printed in landscape with the totals or figure numbers facing toward the left margin.  Orient the page so the totals or figure numbers face to the right edge of the paper.

A.         DO NOT print on the back of a page in a professional paper.

B.         The project should be bound or put in a folder or binder of some type as this is a professional presentation.

10.        Diagrams should be computer generated or drawn with a template.  Free hand drawings are not sufficiently neat for a technical report.

A.         Legends for diagrams should be on the first page of the diagrams, or on a page before the diagrams.

11.        Use a title that is descriptive of the content of the paper.  The reader should be immediately able to identify what the paper is about.

                        BAD:   The Cookie Company

                        GOOD:   The Revenue System for The Cookie Company

A.         The title should be repeated on the first page of the paper.

B.         The title should be in a regular font using capitals and small letters, but not bold text.

12.        The cover page should identify the names of who wrote the paper so the reader does not have to search to find the author's name(s).

                        BAD:  By Group 5

                        GOOD:  Ann Smith, John Jones, Suzy Thomas, and Tom Turner

13.        Put your discussion, as well as your paper in a logical order.  Do not confuse the reader by discussing processes or documents before you have explained them.  For example, do not describe the depositing of revenue before you discuss how you earned it specifically.

A.         If you are writing a system's group project, start with a description of the Company, its organization, and its products.  This should be followed by the narrative of the steps in the system you are describing as they occur.  Use headings and subheading to divide the paper into easily understood sections (see number 14). 

DO NOT use the heading Narrative, as it means nothing to the reader.  For example, a Revenue System might have Sales Order Entry, Shipping, Accounts Receivable and Billing, and Cash Disbursements.  The Sales Order Entry section may be further subdivided into Walk-in Customers, Telephone Customers, and Internet Customers.  Dividing the narrative into logical groupings makes it easier on the reader.

That does not mean describe each person's duties in a separate narrative that resembles the Table of Entities and Activities.  If you look at the Payroll Example in your course pack and your homework Documentation problem, the narrative moves along by the steps of the process.

After describing the process in a narrative, immediately describe the internal controls in a narrative.  Do not use the Ernst Control Matrix in the final project.   Do not simply make a list of controls.  Try to present the controls in an organized manner.

Always present the normal process before you describe the exceptions to the process.  Otherwise your reader will not be able to follow the flow.

1)         The organizational chart, examples of the documents, and computer screens used in the process should be referenced in the narrative and should be placed as close to their discussion in the narrative as possible.  Do not put the figures in a section at the end of the paper.

GOOD:  The Sales Clerk completes the three-part Sales Order (see Figure 1) on the computer.

GOOD:  Figure 1 shows the three-part Sales Order the Sales Clerk completes on the computer.

2)         Figures and tables are either included within the body of the text, or put on a separate page without any text from the paper.  When figures and tables are on separate pages they are labeled "Figure 1" or "Table 1" and referenced in the text.

3)         Flowcharts should follow internal controls.

B.         If you are writing a research paper, start with an introduction that contains your hypothesis. Do not write "My hypothesis is…"  The reader should be able to tell from your introduction what you are expecting to prove with your research. This should be followed by a narrative that includes facts supporting your hypothesis and facts against your hypothesis. The final section of the paper should be a conclusion as to whether your hypothesis is valid which means it is supported by the majority of facts, or invalid which means the facts against your hypothesis outweigh those supporting your hypothesis.  Use headings and subheadings to divide the paper into easily understood sections (see number 14). 

1)         If you include diagrams or graphs in your paper, reference them in the narrative and place them as close to their discussion in the narrative as possible.     

GOOD:  The City of Norfolk budget for 2004 shows a decrease in State funding (see Figure 1).

BETTER:  Figure 1 shows a decrease in State funding in the City of Norfolk budget for 2004.

2)         See Research Paper Writing in Blackboard for more details.

14.        Use headings and subheadings to divide the paper into easily understood

            sections.  Make the headings descriptive.

A.         The paper title is repeated on the first page of the paper.  The title should be centered, in a regular font using capitals and small letters, but not bold text.

B.         Major first level headings should be in all capital letters in bold, centered.          

                        The narrative begins on the next line.

C.         Second level headings should be in capital and small letters, in bold, left aligned.  The narrative begins on the next line.

D.         Third level headings should be in capital and small letters, end with a period, be underlined (not in bold), left aligned.  The narrative begins immediately following the heading with no line spacing.

            EXAMPLE:

The Accounting Books of John Myers (Title)

JOHN MYERS ACCOUNTANT (First level)

            John Myers accounting career began when he was twelve years old.  He was brought into his father's (Narrative)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Accounting Training  (Second Level)

            John Myers was trained at the Pennock and Myers Counting House. (Narrative) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Counting House.  The Pennock and Myers Counting xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx          (Third Level)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GRAMMAR

Paragraphs

15.        A paragraph should be a distinct unit of thought.  It should provide a logical break in the reader's thought process.  All sentences in the paragraph should contribute to one central thought. 

A.         Continual use of the same word in a sentence or paragraph is poor writing.  Alternate other words with a similar meaning.

BAD:   The cat attacked the bird.  The cat attacked the dog.  The Owner was attacked by the cat.

GOOD:   The cat attacked the bird.  The cat clawed the dog.  The Owner was assaulted by the cat.

Sentence Construction and Tense

16.        Short sentences are generally better than long, run on sentences for conveying information clearly, and for not confusing the reader, and usually your grammar is better if the sentence is not too long and complicated.  Get my point!

17.        Write in complete sentences, not phrases.

BAD:  Prints a copy of the report.

GOOD:  The Salesman prints a copy of the report.

18.        Write in the present or past tense when describing something that exists.  Do not write in the future or passive tense.

BAD:   The Clerk will write a check.

GOOD:  The Clerk writes a check.

If you are talking about a proposed change in accounting standards, use expressions such as "would require the Accountant to ..."

19.        Pay attention to the agreement between nouns and verbs as to singular or plural possession.

BAD:   The three forms is sent to the Manager.

GOOD:  The three forms are sent to the Manager.

BAD:   The Manager and Clerk files the Invoice and Voucher.

GOOD:  The Manager and Clerk file the Invoice and Voucher.

20.        Be sure to use articles (a, an, the) in writing.  When you speak they are often omitted so be attentive to this problem.  An is used before a word starting with a vowel or a silent h.  Further, "a" is generic while "the" is specific

BAD:    Manager approves Time Card.

                                    GOOD:   The Manager approves the Time Card.  (A specific card)

                        GOOD:    The Manager approves a Time Card.  (Any time card)

21.        Be sure to use conjunctions such as "and" when listing multiple items.  The conjunctions "and, but, or" are preceded by a comma. When "as well as" is used in a sentence, it is considered to be a conjunction and needs to be preceded by a comma.  Limit the use of "as well as."

                        GOOD:   ...pigs, chickens, and ducks.

                        GOOD:   The clock was reset, but the computer was not.

                        GOOD:    The Clerk filed the Purchase Order, as well as the Purchase Requisition.

            A.         The word "however" should never start a sentence.   It is placed within the sentence and treated as a conjunction.

                        BAD:    The project was well designed.  However the grammar was atrocious.

                        GOOD:   The project was well designed, however the grammar was atrocious.

22.        Subordinate clauses that fall at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence should be set off with a comma from the rest of the sentence.

GOOD:     When the form is completed, the Clerk takes it to the Supervisor.

GOOD:     The Supervisor, after signing the cards, takes the cards to the Clerk.

23.        Items that should be used sparingly or not at all in technical writing are:

A.         Dashes ( -- ).  They indicate a break in thought and disrupt sentence flow. 

B.         Parentheses ( ). They indicate a break in thought.  Try to use them only for referencing figures.

C.         Slashes (/).  Use the job title rather than he/she, him/her, or his/her.  This way your narrative reads more smoothly and is not sexist in any way.

D.            Semicolons (;).  A semicolon is considered as strong as a period so use shorter sentences and the period instead of the semicolon (see number 16).

24.        Hyphens are used to connect two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun, and with compound numbers.  If you start using a hyphen in a word, you must be consistent throughout the paper.

                        GOOD:  Year-to-Date Sales Report

                        GOOD:   forty-five

            The word e-mail is from electronic mail so it is hyphenated.

25.        Possession requires an apostrophe either before the "s" or after it.  If you have a singular noun, the apostrophe comes before the "s."  If you have a plural noun, the apostrophe comes after the "s." 

GOOD:  The Teacher's pen was red.

GOOD:   The Teachers' offices were locked.

B.            "Its" is the possessive.  If you put an apostrophe in the word, it's, you now have the contraction of it is.

Abbreviations

26.        Do not begin abbreviating until you establish what the abbreviation means.  The first time you use the word(s) or organization name write it completely and put the abbreviation you plan to use in parentheses behind it.  The only exception is a company name that is not an abbreviation such as AAAA Storage Company.

GOOD:  Accounts Receivable Clerk (A/R Clerk)

GOOD:  Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

GOOD:  American Automobile Association (AAA)

27.        Only abbreviate words that are used in abundance throughout the report.  Do not abbreviate words for the convenience of your typing. 

                        BAD:   St., Dept., Acct.

A.         The words Mr., Mrs. And Dr. are abbreviated if followed by a proper name.

B.         College degrees following a proper name are abbreviated.

C.         Do not use "i.e." in a technical report.  Write "that is."

28.        States are written completely.  Do not use the postal designation.

BAD:  Norfolk, VA

                        GOOD:  Norfolk, Virginia

29.        Write the days of the week and months.  Do not abbreviate them.

Capitalizations

30.        Capitalize proper names, organizations, ethnic races, days-of-the-week, months, historical events, historical periods, and historical documents.

31.        Capitalize titles associated with a name or company.  Capitalize job titles, and the names of forms or documents, and computer screens or menus.  Be consistent with the capitalization. Capitalize the word Company when you are using it to stand for the name of the company.

                        BAD:   president of ABC Company

            GOOD:  President of ABC Company

            GOOD:  Accounts Receivable Clerk of ABC Company

            GOOD:  The Company orders inventory once a week.

32.        Be consistent with titles as you write.  If you started with Sales Order Clerk maintain that title throughout the paper.  Titles should match the titles in the organizational chart. Further, if your first reference to a title uses capitals, you must consistently capitalize the title.

Numbers

33.        Note the number of parts to a form.  Such as a three-part form for the same form.  If you are putting three different forms in a batch, this is NOT three-part, but three forms.  Three page does not mean three-part, it means three pages need to be completed which is a long form.

                        BAD:  The Clerk hand writes the Deposit Slip.

                        GOOD:  The Clerk hand writes the three-part Deposit Slip.

34.        Write numbers from zero to one hundred.  Numbers larger than one hundred appear  as figures.

GOOD:  The Secretary makes 150 copies of the document and gives  fifteen photocopies to each Clerk.

A.         Dates are written as numbers. 

            GOOD:  May 1, 2002

B.         Do not add st, nd, rd, or th to a number.

            BAD:  May 1st

            GOOD:  May 1 or May first

C.         Street numbers are written as figures.

GOOD:  26 Main Street

D.         Write the word "number."  Do not use the symbol #.

35.        Numbers in the thousands and higher should have a comma.

BAD:   5000  or 100000

GOOD:  5,000  or 100,000

36.        Do not begin a sentence with a figure. Write the number if it starts a sentence.

BAD:    100 cats chased the dog.

GOOD:  One hundred cats chased the dog.

BAD:    1976 was a very good year.

GOOD:  Nineteen hundred seventy-six was a very good year.

37.        Stand alone fractions are written and hyphenated.  Fractions in a series are represented by figures.

GOOD:    one-half of the work is done by the Clerk

GOOD:    The Clerk used 8 ½ by 11 ¾ inch paper

38.        Write the words inches and feet.  Do not use the quotation or apostrophe symbols (" or ').

BAD:  The board was 4'8" in length.

GOOD:  The board was four feet and eight inches in length.

39.        Time is written with a colon and with the indication of the part of the day.  Be consistent throughout the paper with whichever format you choose.

BAD:    9 am, 11 pm

GOOD:  9:00 am, 11:00 pm,   or 9:00 AM, 11:00 PM

40.        Be consistent in the writing of money.  If you start with $20.00, you must continue to use the format including the cents.  If you start with "twenty dollars," than you cannot next write $30; you must write "thirty dollars."

41.        Write the words add, subtract, multiply and divide unless you are using a complex formula in the narrative.  Do not use the plus symbol (+) for the word plus

BAD:    The Clerk figures the total by taking the unit price x number of units.

GOOD:  The Clerk figures the total by multiplying the unit price by the number of units.

                        BAD:  The Clerk completed 150+ documents.

                        GOOD:  The Clerk completed 150 plus documents.

                        BETTER:  The Clerk completed more than 150 documents.

42.        Write the word percent; do not use the symbol %.  Do write the numbers associated with a percent as numbers.  Example:  49.2 percent

Miscellaneous Grammar and Formatting Points

43.        Do not use contractions in business writing.  You may say can't, but write cannot.

44.        Do not use "etc."  It is considered inappropriate in business writing. 

BAD:   ...the Deposit Slips, Checks, etc.

GOOD:  ...the Deposit Slips, Checks, and related documents.