An oral report is defined as "a report presented in verbal form with
no written documentation." (Rufus et al., 2014) An example of a
situation where an oral report may be requested is when providing
testimony in court. There are some cons to giving an oral report over
a written report. One con is that the recipient of the information may
misunderstand what the accountant is saying. This can lead to people
relaying information that is false due to the misunderstanding of
what was being said. When giving oral reports, it is important to have
a pre-report outline and a memo to file, which contains the context
of the oral report. Before giving an oral report, it is important to
understand why the oral report is being requested so that the
accountant isn’t put in a risky situation. If the accountant doesn’t feel
comfortable giving an oral report or believes the reasons for the
request are for suspicious reasons, it’s best for the accountant to find
an alternative option.
According to the textbook, some important notes about oral reports
are:
• b "The presenter must understand that speech differs from writing
in both function and style.
• b The length of an oral report is generally short (15–30 min.).
• b The focus of an oral report is usually the results (findings), which
are presented concurrently with analysis and discussion.
• b The presenter is responsible for selecting the necessary
information to be communicated and ensuring that it is relayed
successfully." (Rufus et al., 2014)
References:
Rufus, R., Miller, L., & Hahn, W. (2014). Forensic accounting. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
