A CASE STUDY ON THE ACCOUNTANT’S COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Faye Louise A. Ablanque1, Windelyn C. Butra2, Baeujest C. Aragon3
BUSAC-IT1,2,3
Lourdes College, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
afayelouise@gmail.com1, 19windybutra@gmail.com2, baeuaragon@gmail.com3
Abstract
An accountant's communication skills, verbal and written, need to be fully
developed for successful client relationships. This paper investigated the communication
skills of an accountant in both speaking and in writing. This study used a Qualitative
Research Method. Specifically, the Qualitative research method used in this study is a
case study. The process involved an interview with the respondent and a content analysis
on the respondent’s sample writing. Overall, the respondent still has to develop his
communication skills both in speaking and in writing. With the respondent’s speaking
skills, he was not able to follow the appropriate organization of speaking which includes
the introduction, body, and conclusion. In grammar, the respondent committed error in
the tenses of verb. In the fluency of speaking, he used filler words because he felt
awkward with the researchers. In pronunciation, there are some words that he
mispronounced. Conversely, in writing, the respondent committed error in the tenses of
verb. Based on the foregoing findings, the study points to the need of the respondent to
enhance his communication skills in both speaking and in writing. The researchers
recommend the respondent to (1) expose oneself to listening in English music and
watching English movies to improve one’s pronunciation; (2) improve vocabulary by
reading new words in daily routine on magazines, books, and other articles; (3) and lastly,
engage himself on reading English materials to learn and develop the usage of
transitional devices.
Keywords; Accountant; Communication Skills; Speaking Skills; Writing Skills; Case
Study
Introduction
Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing,
or using some other medium. Another definition of Communication is that it is a transfer
of information from one person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the
information transferred must be understandable to the receiver. Communication is
defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000).
Communication skills are an important part of human interaction. Effective
communication is important in business dealing with employees and outsiders, such as
1
vendors and clients. Because accounting is an intrinsic part of any business, good
communication skills are vital in this area.
Developing effective communication skills can help any individual from the
business world to interpersonal relationships (McLean, 2005). Having effective
communication skills allows anyone to better understand people, situations, and
situations where differences need to be resolved, or problem solving is necessary.
Communication skills can be defined as the transmission of a message that involves the
shared understanding between the contexts in which the communication takes place
(Saunders and Mills, 1999). As explicated by Johnson (2018), it’s true that as an
accountant one shall spend significant time at a desk or computer, swimming in financial
statements, receipts and other financial data. However, once the numbers are crunched
and ledgers are balanced, that morass of financial information needs to be explained to
someone, either verbally or in writing. Depending on the nature of the business or
employment, one may have a great deal of personal interaction. One’s role in a large firm
may also require many forms of communication. Furthermore, accountants need to
compose a variety of written communications, from simple instruction or thank you letters
to clients, to formal reports of their financial conclusions. According to Shanker (2018),
many accounting recruiters and employers emphasize the importance of writing skills,
while expressing dismay at how ill prepared accountants entering the work force are for
this important communication requirement. In addition, one is likely to have some client
interaction as an accountant, which could range from the initial meeting to discuss the
client’s finances, to intense networking in order to get new business. One needs to be
able to communicate verbally, both in person and over the telephone. Moreover,
interpersonal communication recognizes the human aspect of a business relationship.
An accountant's communication skills, verbal and written, need to be fully
developed for successful client relationships. However, communication skills are crucial
for young accountants and it is something that is a little bit lacking (Trowbridge, 2015)
The researchers of this study observed that some of the biggest challenges to effective
communication include the following: (1) not understanding your audience and their
communication needs, (2) confused or unclear purpose to your communication, (3) poorly
structured content, and (4) failure to evaluate communication effectiveness to gather
lessons learned.
In this study, the researchers seek to determine a Certified Public Accountant’s
communication skills to identify whether the respondent is skilled in both speaking which
assessed by the intonation, organization, grammar, pronunciation and fluency in writing
which is assessed by organization, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics. Hence, this
study is conducted to identify and understand the reasons why such problems exist.
Methodology
This study used a Qualitative Research Method. Qualitative research is a holistic
approach that involves discovery. Qualitative research is also described as an unfolding
model that occurs in a natural setting that enables the researcher to develop a level of
detail from high involvement in the actual experiences (Creswell, 1994). Specifically, the
Qualitative research method used in this study is a case study. A case study, as defined
by Gerring (2018), refers to both a method of analysis and a specific research design for
examining a problem, both of which are used in most circumstances to generalize across
2
populations. In this study, the case study is used to investigate the accountant’s
communication skills in terms of speaking and writing. These skills are observed as the
researchers conduct an interview with the respondent and have a content analysis on the
respondent’s sample writing. The respondent of this study is an accountant. The
researchers chose this participant because the researchers belong in the Business,
Accountancy, and Information Technology program and they believe that by studying a
Certified Public Accountant’s communication skills, they may also develop their own
communication skills, which is vital to their future endeavors.
Results and Discussions
Every person has a problem about his or her own communication skills. May it be
a problem in speaking publicly or just writing. Most of the time, it is both. The researchers
decided to investigate the participant’s communication skills in speaking and in writing to
identify the problems in his communication skills. In terms of speaking skills, the
researchers examine the respondent’s intonation, organization, grammar, pronunciation,
and fluency. In writing skills of the participant, the researchers examine his organization,
vocabulary, grammar, and mechanics. The researchers examine these to know which of
these skills does the respondent lack or good at.
Respondent’s Profile
The respondent of this study is Mr. Dy Rhandz, not his real name, a Certified Public
Accountant and a Master of Business Administration, he is also a teacher and the Dean
of the Business, Accountancy, and Information Technology Program at ABC College. He
is 34 years old, he is residing at Zone 4, Upper Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City. He is the
eldest son in the family of 7, he is married for 9 years and he has 2 children. He graduated
at ABC College with the course Bachelor of Science in Accountancy on the year 2005.
He passed the board examination for CPA on May 2011. He finished his Masters in
Business Administration at DEF University on the year 2011 and he is currently taking
Doctorate in Business Management on the same University. On a scale of 1-10, the
respondent rated himself 7 in terms of speaking and writing. The reason for his rating is
that he admitted that he is still not an expert when it comes to interpersonal
communication. There are times that he becomes uncomfortable especially when talking
to someone who has a higher position than he does because he sometimes feel being
mental blocked, having an unorganized thoughts and he fears being judge by the words
he is uttering. He also admitted that he thinks that a person who always communicate in
English is an arrogant person that is why he always prefer to communicate using the
mother tongue language.
Respondent’s Speaking Skills
The capacity to put words together in a meaningful way to reflect thoughts,
opinions, and feelings provides the speaker with these important advantages. Speaking
skills are important for career success, but certainly not limited to one’s professional
aspirations. Speaking skills can enhance one’s personal life, thereby bringing about the
well-rounded growth we should all seek. (Gillis, 2013) One is likely to have some client
interaction as an accountant, which could range from the initial meeting to discuss the
client’s finances, to intense networking in order to get new business. One needs to be
3
able to communicate verbally, both in person and over the telephone. Moreover,
interpersonal communication recognizes the human aspect of a business relationship.
Intonation
Intonation refers to a combination of acoustic parameters, including duration,
intensity, and pitch used to communicate discourse meaning (Lewis, 2002). Moreover,
Nordquist on 2018, explicated that intonation is the use of changing (rising and falling)
vocal pitch to convey grammatical information or personal attitude. Intonation is
particularly important in expressing questions in spoken English. The respondent, while
speaking, lowers his intonation when he responds to questions he is very confident and
comfortable about such as his profession and his personal goals, this may be due to the
fact that lowering the intonation of one’s voice in a sentence broadcasts power. While he
rises his voice on questions the excites him such as the challenges he went through while
he was still a student. According to Qubein (2008), one attribute of a person who speaks
with a low-pitched, well-modulated voice is his strength and confidence. When the voice
rises to a high pitch, one shows excitement, panic, and lack of control.
Organization
In composition and speech, the organization is the arrangement of ideas, incidents,
evidence, or details in a perceptible order in a paragraph, essay, or speech. It is also
known as the elements' arrangement or disposition, as in classical rhetoric (Nordquist,
2018). As the researchers observed the way the respondent responds to the questions
being asked to him, he dictates those of which that are very important to him such as his
achievements first and less prioritize those are not necessary. When the respondent was
asked to share to the researchers his personal information, he first mentioned his
educational attainment followed by his achievements and stated his family background
last. According to a study in the University of Michigan, “the first paragraph or the
introduction of your essay provides a specific and debatable statement. The second
paragraph or the body of essay contains the main idea. Lastly, the third paragraph of an
essay is the conclusion, this contains the summary and the significance of your essay.”
Grammar
Grammar studies the way in which words/morphemes join to form meaningful
sentences. Grammar is a set of constraints on the possible sequences of symbols
expressed as rules or principles. Syntax is the basic ingredient of grammar. Grammar
tells us the difference between sets of sentences (Robin, 2010). When questioned about
his teaching techniques, the respondent answered, “I just imitate what my teachers in
college use to do when they handle our classes”, which the researchers found wrong
because he should have used the past tense of the verbs “imitate”, “use”, and “handle”.
Another citation of a wrong grammar from the respondent was when he stated how he
felt when he passed the CPA board examination, “I can't hardly believe I made it.” In this
sentence, he mentioned double negatives, “can't” and “hardly” are both negative
constructions which, depicts an error in the sentence because using two negatives turns
the thought into a positive one. Most likely, the majority of the language mistakes are
because even though English is taught throughout the years of education, one continues
to speak their original language and dialects in the home (Call, 2018).
4
Fluency
Fluency refers to how well a learner communicates meaning rather than how many
mistakes they make in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. Fluency is often
compared with accuracy, which is concerned with the type, amount and seriousness of
mistakes made. The respondent, on the interview with the researchers made use of word
fillers such as “um”, “you know”, pauses, etc. because he admitted that he felt awkward
with the researchers. When asked if he had regrets on deciding to take BSA in his college
years, he answered “Um, you know, I am, I'm fine with it, but… there are also times that
I try to imagine what if I took different course, what would I be today." When one uses
filler words such as “uhm” it may be implied that one is thinking verbally and is conscious
of his audience. Dodgson (2017) have said that those who use more of these so called
"filler words" are probably more conscious of who they are talking to and what they are
saying.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is one of the most important skill that people have to master in order
to communicate appropriately and fluently. According to Gilbert on 2004, it is important to
pay attention to pronunciation since it results in whether or not someone’s message can
be passed or not by other people. Moreover, Gilbert stated that if someone cannot hear
English well, she or he is cut off from the language, and if someone cannot be understood
easily, he or she is cut off from conversation with native speakers. It can be concluded
from the statements above that pronunciation gives a significant effect to the meaning of
what someone says. As the researchers observed the way the respondent speaks, there
is a word which he mispronounced, he stated on the interview that “It was a breath of
fresh air to finally give back the favor that has been given to you”, on this sentence, he
mispronounced “breath” as “breathe”. As affirmed by an anonymous blogger from Words
Worth on 2016, the most common reason for mispronunciation is the interference from
the mother tongue. Generally, errors made in pronunciation are due to difference in the
sound system and spelling symbols between the mother tongue and English.
Respondent’s Writing Skills
Writing skills are specific abilities which help writers put their thoughts into words
in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the message. Accountants need to
compose a variety of written communications, from simple instruction or thank you letters
to clients, to formal reports of their financial conclusions. According to Shanker (2018),
many accounting recruiters and employers emphasize the importance of writing skills,
while expressing dismay at how ill prepared accountants entering the work force are for
this important communication requirement.
Organization
According to a study conducted in Colorado State University, organization in
writing is how ideas are presented. Typically, organization refers to the larger parts of a
piece of writing, although it also refers to how paragraphs and sentences are written. The
participant used the basic elements of writing, which are the Introduction, Body, and
Conclusion. The respondent started his essay about his profession with a brief
introduction about his self which consist of the course he took up on college and when he
5
passed the CPA board examination. On the next paragraph, he stated the reason as to
why he became who he is today, a CPA and a teacher including how he feels when he is
teaching. On the last paragraph, he stated how he feels about his current profession and
his inspiration to continue his work. According to a study in the University of Michigan,
“the first paragraph or the introduction of your essay gets the reader’s attention, it provides
a specific and debatable statement. The second paragraph or the body of essay contains
the main idea. Lastly, the third paragraph of an essay is the conclusion, this contains the
summary and the significance of your essay.”
Vocabulary
Vocabulary can be defined as a word within a particular language, which is known
to the person. Vocabulary refers to all the words of a language, or to the words used by
a particular person or group. Also called word-stock, lexicon, and lexis (Nordquist, 2018).
“I am a teacher by accident. When I was in college I never imagined myself becoming a
teacher.” From this answer, it is apparent that the respondent of the study uses simple
terms in writing. The respondent, in his essay is direct to the point, he also did not make
use of redundant ideas, words and phrases, and jargon words. A good vocabulary does
not mean you know many long or difficult words. Instead, it means that you know how to
express yourself so that the reader will understand your material (Kurtus, 2012).
Grammar
Grammar refers to the way words are put together to make units of meaning.
Grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases,
and words in any given natural language (Wikoff, 2012). When questioned about his
teaching techniques, the respondent answered, “I just imitate what my teachers in college
use to do when they handle our classes”, which the respondent found wrong because he
should have used the past tense of the verbs “imitate”, “use”, and “handle”. On one part
of the essay, he said “I stay in this institution for quite some time because I enjoy
teaching.” Clearly, this depicts a verb tense error. Verb tense errors occur when one uses
the wrong verb tense and are a common grammar mistake. Most likely, the majority of
the language mistakes are because even though English is taught throughout the school
years, one continues to speak their original language and dialects in the home (Call,
2018).
Mechanics
Mechanics refers to the arbitrary “technical” stuff in writing: spelling, capitalization,
use of numerals and other symbols, etc. (Wikoff, 2012). On the second paragraph of the
respondent’s essay, he stated “Semesters passed and school years went by, I learned
many things. I learned how to love teaching.” On the essay made by the respondent, the
researchers observed correct spelling, correct usage of capitalizations, numerals, and
other symbols. Overall, the respondent’s mechanics in writing is well used. According to
the Dreamer’s Sanctuary, a blog site, if one’s writing is not mechanically well-written,
many readers will not even bother to read it, either because it’s too hard for them to figure
out what one is trying to say, or others just assume the story won’t be good because it
doesn’t appear to be well-written.
6
Conclusion and Recommendation
Communicating clearly is one of the most effective skills one can cultivate as a
professional. Overall, the respondent still has to develop his communication skills both in
speaking and in writing. As regards, with the respondent’s speaking skills, he was not
able to follow the appropriate organization of speaking which includes the introduction,
body, and conclusion. In grammar, the respondent committed error in the tenses of verb.
In the fluency in speaking, he used filler words because according to him, he felt awkward
with the researchers, the respondent should avoid using filler words so that he could
appear more confident and credible. In pronunciation, there are some words that he
mispronounced. On the other hand, in writing, the respondent committed error in the
tenses of verb. Based on the foregoing findings, the study points to the need of the
respondent to enhance his communication skills both in speaking and in writing. The
researchers recommend the respondent to (1) Expose oneself to listening in English
music and watching English movies to improve one’s pronunciation; (2) improve
vocabulary by reading new words in daily routine on magazines, books, and other articles.
(3) and lastly, engage himself on reading English materials to learn and develop the usage
of transitional devices.
References
Call, D. (2018). Why do Filipinos still commit grammatical errors in speaking English when
it is taught from elementary to college. Retrieved on September 20, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2ODCQgZ
“Fluency” (2006). Retrieved on September 20, 2018 from https:// bit.ly/2xgCi7l
Gerring, J. (2018). Organizing your social sciences research paper. Retrieved on
September 13, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2NG9otE
Gilbert (2004). The portrait of ed students pronunciation education essay. Retrieved on
September 20, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2O2H5Xp
Gillis, G. (2013). The importance of speaking skills. Retrieved on September 20, 2018
from https://bit.ly/2ODiWmo
Hampton (1989). Writing skills. Retrieved on September 24, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2N2AbZl
Hood, S. (2018). Grammatical factor. Retrieved on September 20, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2DqlQtw
Kiefer, K. (2018). Definition of organization. Retrieved on September 24, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2QPGqmo
Kurtus, R. (2012). Importance of a good vocabulary writing. Retrieved on September 24,
2018 from https://bit.ly/2DpBlbo
Larabee, R. (2018). Communication studies: literature review. Retrieved on September
9, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2M15o1P
Lewis, J., (2002). Intonation. Retrieved on September 19, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2NRDnip
Nordquist, R., (2018). Definition and examples of English pronunciation. Retrieved on
September 19, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2Oze2GT
Nordquist, R., (2018). Understanding organization in composition and speech. Retrieved
on September 19, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2Ddi7iM
7
Nordquist, R. (2018). Vocabulary- definition and examples. Retrieved on September 19,
2018 from https://bit.ly/2piPlnb
Qubein, N. (2008). Voice tips for effective speaking. Retrieved on September 20, 2018
from https://bit.ly /2xDurTo
Richardson, M. (2017). Problems in effective communication. Retrieved on September 9,
2018 from https://bit.ly/2MUaSB3
Robin 2010. What is grammar. Retrieved on September 19, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2OC2Fhy
Shanker, S (2018). Importance of effective communication in accounting. Retrieved on
September 9, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2oOXPSS
Trowbridge, J. (2015). For young accountants, communication is key to developing
successful client relationships. Retrieved on September 13, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2x53AQQ
Wikoff, K. (2012). What’s the difference between grammar, punctuation and mechanics?
Retrieved on September 24, 2018 from https://bit.ly/2xzclny
Williams, C. (2007). Research methods. Retrieved on September 10, 2018 from
https://bit.ly/2wXP7VR
“Words Worth Blog” (2016) retrieved on September 20, 2018 from https://bit.ly/ 2xAYzig
8
Appendix A
Transcript of the Interview
Researchers: Tell us something about yourself.
Respondent. I graduated at Lourdes College with the course Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy on the year 2005. I passed the board examination for CPA on May 2011. I
finished Masters in Business Administration at Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan on
the year 2011 and I am currently taking Doctorate in Business Management on the same
University. I am a teacher, and is currently the Dean of the Business, Accountancy, and
Information Technology program of Lourdes College… I am 34 years old, a husband and
a father of two. I live in Zone 4, Upper Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City. My personal goal is
that… I don’t have to work for 8 hours a day and to be able to manage and spend my time
according to my own will.
Researchers: Have you experienced any challenges and hard times while you were still
a student? What are those?
Respondent: Uhm, the main problem I had faced while I was still a student is financial
problem… I only relied on the scholarship granted to me, I don’t have any allowances for
my personal needs including food, the only allowances I have is spent for transportation
fares.
Researchers: What are your teaching techniques?
Respondent: I just imitate what my teachers in college use to do when they handle our
classes, uhm light approach because I don’t want terrorize my students. I let the students
discover for themselves the concepts and principles. I don’t like spoon-feeding. I want to
inspire rather than to discourage them.
Researchers: How did you feel when you passed the CPA board examination?
Respondent: I can't hardly believe I made it. I felt… ecstatic that I have reached my
dreams and that I know I have made my parents proud.
Researchers: Do you have regrets on deciding to take BSA in college?
Respondent: Uhm, you know, I am, I'm fine with it, but… there are also times that I try to
imagine what if I took different course, what would I be today. I still want to take law,
though.
Researchers: You have mentioned in the essay you wrote that "The “utang na loob” thing
got me to where I am today." how did you feel about returning the favor that has been
given to you?
Respondent: It was a breath of fresh air to finally give back the favor that has been given
to you. It also feels good to be sharing my knowledge to the students.
9
Appendix B
Transcript of the Respondent’s Essay
I am a teacher by accident. When I was in college I never imagined myself
becoming a teacher. I took up BSA and dreamed of becoming an accountant of one of
the best companies here in the city. After I passed the CPA board exam last May 2008, I
got confused as to what career to take. I tried to work in an accounting firm. I got to enjoy
travelling to places I’ve never been to. I found it fun but the nature of the job did not suit
me well.
The former Dean of the Business and Accountancy Program invited me to teach
on a part-time basis. I was not able to refuse her offer because I felt that I should be
rendering service to the school as a gesture of thanking LC for sponsoring my review at
CPAR, Manila. The school spent for my 6 months review, including my allowance.
Honestly it wasn’t part of my plan. The “utang na loob” thing got me to where I am today.
I did not know how to teach. I have no background about teaching strategies, art of
questioning, assessment, and classroom management. I just imitated what my teachers
in college used to do when they handled our classes. Semesters passed and school years
went by, I learned many things. I learned how to love teaching. I found it very satisfying
when I see the spark in the eyes of my students when they learn new things. I also found
joy imparting my knowledge to my students. Most of all, I felt so proud when I see my
former students reach their goals and become successful in their lives.
This semester is very challenging. I feel tired and weary. I stay in this institution for
quite some time because I enjoyed teaching. My teaching load is limited to just two
subjects. Most of my times are spent on administrative and paper works which I find
unpleasant. I feel happier when I am inside the classroom than when I am in my office.
Sometimes I have to pretend that I am not tired when facing my students. My students
serve as my inspiration. I get the strength and encouragement from them. All those
sacrifices I made will be worth it when I see them graduate and become CPAs. I also get
the support of my mentors in the school. Hopefully, I will be able to surpass the challenges
that I am facing this school year.
10