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e-mail or telephone call seems to add yet further complexity; it requires a lot of research,
a lot of patience, clear thinking and clear writing to unravel it all and clear writing is
absolutely crucial. Make quite sure that there is no ambiguity or vagueness in your letter
(and in this situation you should definitely write, not try to resolve the issue over the tele-
phone), because there must be no further misunderstanding to muddy the waters.
The most common situation in which such problems arise is in reconciling accounts,
where a plethora of invoices, counter-invoices, credit notes and queries seem to fly back
and forth, adding layer upon layer of complexity. But they can also occur when there are
disagreements over deliveries, over who is responsible for which aspects of a contract,
or over the extent of a company s liability for unsatisfactory service. The letter from
Martin Davies above, in which he rejected Mr Stephenson s complaint, is a simple exam-
ple of this kind of letter.
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There are four stages to this task.
1. Assemble all the information that is remotely relevant to the situation. This means every
invoice, every credit note, every statement, every delivery note, every letter or e-mail
received or written, by you or anyone else, any notes of telephone conversations.
2. Go through it all, preferably in chronological order. Make sure that you have a copy of
every document referred to in the correspondence (and if it is an accounting query,
every invoice or credit note referred to in any statements). If there are any items you do
not have, and they cannot be found, make a note. Read everything, several times if
necessary, until you fully understand the situation. It can sometimes help to make notes
as you go along, but however you do it, make sure that it is all quite clear in your mind.
3. Write your letter, setting out the situation as you now understand it, in a clear and
logical sequence. The clearest sequence may be chronological order, but with certain
accounting queries it could be numerical order by invoice or the order in which items
appear on a statement. Explain how each document mentioned fits (or does not fit)
into the picture and give a summary of the situation (in an accounting query, this will
be who owes what, but in other circumstances it will be different for example, with a
contractual problem it might be who needs to take action). If your correspondent
refers to documents you do not have, ask for copies. If you mention documents
(particularly invoices, delivery notes or credit notes) which he or she does not appear
to have, enclose copies.
4. Do not give your correspondent a chance to introduce any confusion into the situation.
Insist that, if they agree with your analysis, they should take any action you propose,
and if they disagree they should indicate precisely what they disagree with and provide
documentation to support their case. In other words, ensure that any further
correspondence relates to your analysis. And insist that they respond in writing; a
telephone call will only provide another opportunity for misunderstanding to arise.
If you follow these four steps, your letter should produce the desired result. But the most
important steps are probably the first two. If you do not have all the information in front
of you, and if you do not fully understand the situation yourself, then your letter will
probably just cloud the issue still further.
Below is a letter showing how this four-stage approach works in practice. It is clear, each
document is presented and explained, there is a summary of what Brian Wagstaff
believes his company owes, and there is a clear statement of what he expects Wendy
Cartwright to do next.
FRANCIS MONK & CO
6 High Street, Midchester, MC1 4GF
Tel. 01324 123456
Wendy Cartwright
Financial Director
Canter Distribution Ltd
5 Jarvis Way
Branston
BT3 7YH
9 March 20XX
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Techniques for different occasions
Dear Ms Cartwright
Thank you for your letter of 2 March, sent with your February statement. Perhaps if I explain,
item by item, what our understanding is of the situation between our two companies, we can
resolve this dispute once and for all.
Invoice 14235. This was paid on 25 October with our cheque No. 015943, which was cleared
on 10 November. My colleague Henry Thompson asked for the item to be cleared from our
statement in his letter of 6 January, but it has not yet been done.
Invoice 14425. This invoice was charged at the wrong discount. On 22 January, Henry
Thompson wrote and asked for a credit note to amend the discount. Your colleague Lawrence
Davies wrote to him on 5 February to say that instead of issuing a credit note you would
cancel the invoice and issue a new one.
Invoice 14457. This is for exactly the same goods as invoice 14425. Since we did not order two
consignments, I assume that it was intended to cancel invoice 14425, although nothing to that
effect appears on the invoice itself. On 3 February, I e-mailed asking whether this was the
case. The only reply I received was an unsigned e-mail on 10 February, saying that the invoice
was correct, but with no further explanation.
Invoice 14534. I agree this invoice.
Credit note 10987. This relates to faulty goods received on invoice 14534, and is correct.
Invoice 14768. I agree this invoice.
Invoice 14784. I agree this invoice.
Credit note 11259. There is no mention on this credit note of what it relates to. From the
amount, I assume that it is to correct invoice 14425, on which we were given the wrong
discount (see above).
Missing from your statement is any reference to our invoice 08976 of 6 February (copy
attached), relating to the return of goods. I can confirm that the goods were delivered our
delivery note is signed by Ted Victor.
The correct position, as I see it, is therefore as follows:
Amount due, as per your statement: £1,862.79
Less invoice 14235, already paid: (£234.63)
Less invoice 14425, which should have been cancelled: (£526.46)
Add credit note 11259, which should not have been raised: £96.23
Less our invoice 08976: (£186.54)
Actual amount due: £1,011.39
If you agree with my analysis, I would be grateful if you would send me an amended
statement. As soon as I receive it, I shall send you a cheque for the full amount. If you do
not agree with my understanding of the position, perhaps you could let me know, in writing, what
in particular you disagree with, and let me have details of how your view differs from mine.
Yours sincerely
Brian Wagstaff
Chief Accountant
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A Guide to Good Business Communication
Writing Reports
A good report is a joy to read clear, concise, well argued and to the point. It leaves no
sign of the effort that has gone into making it like that! Good reports take time and care,
however, and require particular skills to compile. We discussed the layout of reports in
Chapter 3; here we will be looking at the techniques involved in writing them.
Assembling the facts
Whatever kind of report you are writing, you will be gathering facts. Facts are the basis
of any report, and before you even begin to plan one, you should make sure that you
have all the relevant facts. And that means all the facts. Do not just gather those facts
that fit some preconceived idea you may have and ignore everything else. That is dis-
honest, it invalidates the whole report (which is of no use if it is not objective), and there
is a strong chance that someone reading it will know something you have left out.
And do not just select information that seems to be especially relevant and ignore any-
thing that looks less important. Until you start to sift and analyse your facts, you will not
know how important each piece of information is.
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