The Importance of Writing in Plain English

MEMORANDUM

TO: Accounting Department Staff

FROM: CFO

DATE: Feb 10, 2017

SUBJECT: The Importance of Writing in Plain English

This memo’s purpose is to explain the importance of writing financial statement disclosure in plain English. Our investors have various degree of financial education, so it is vital that our conveyed information is clear and readable. “A Plain English Handbook”, written by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is a guideline of writing documents in plain English. These are some recommendations:

Use strong verbs and active voice to make your sentences short and clear. Compared with passive voice and hidden verbs, active voice is easy for readers to understand the sentences without doubt. For instance, “I ate a cake” is more clear for readers than “A cake was eaten”.

Use first- and second-pronouns to catch readers’ attention. These personal pronouns are everyday words and are not gender-specific. For instance, the sentence “You need to submit a report when you find an error” is shorter and more instructional than the sentence” The person needs to submit a report when he or she finds an error.”.

Try to avoid abstractions. You can explain an abstraction in detail. An example can give readers the images to understand the abstract terms.

Use a single word instead of a redundant phrase. A simpler word can keep your sentences more concise. For example, you can use “because” to replace “because of the fact that”.

Use common words instead of jargon or acronyms. The acronyms would confuse the readers and take them more time to understand the information you expressed. For example, the abbreviation “AAA” can represent either “American