As an accountant, it's your job and responsibility to communicate your numbers effectively so the other person can understand them.
You deal with a lot of numbers, and you have a financial language that makes sense for you. You understand your numbers because you have spent a lot of time putting everything together but not everyone has the same level of financial knowledge as you do!
So here are 3 tips to communicate better your numbers with people in your company:
Number 1. Understand who is in front of you.
Are you talking to an accountant? To the marketing department? To a client? To the CEO?
How you talk to each person will depend on various factors such as their finance level, their goals, their motivation, their role and so on.
You want to break down complex topics into easily understood language so that people with different background can understand you effectively.
So the first question you should ask yourself is:
- Who is in front of me?
- What’s their level of financial knowledge?
- Do they understand financial terms?
- What is the necessary information I should tell them?
- What’s unnecessary?
You then adapt your communication depending on who you have in front of you.
Be careful using acronyms, technical terms or accountant language with people who don’t have the same financial background as you.
Number 2: Show visuals
How can you communicate your numbers in visual terms?
When your audience can hear you and see what you are talking about, they’ll understand you better.
Maybe instead of just telling them about your numbers, you could show them a graph? Or maybe you can illustrate your projections?
A key question in your work should be:
How can you illustrate your numbers?
Think in terms of graphs, illustrations, and so on.
Number 3: Provide context
When you explain your numbers, explain clearly what it means for the person you are talking to. If you say you have a negative ROI, what does it mean for the person in front of you? What should they do with that information and how will it affect their work?
Always ask yourself these questions here:
- What do these numbers mean?
- How can I provide more context to the person in front of me?
- How do you suggest they solve the problem?
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