Accounting is a profession built on trust. Clients, boards, regulators and colleagues rely on CPAs to interpret complex information accurately, ethically and clearly. Yet many accounting professionals are asked to communicate high-stakes ideas — financial risk, forecasts, compliance issues and strategic trade-offs — without ever being taught how to communicate them effectively.

That’s where the six threshold concepts become especially relevant. These concepts don’t teach presentation tricks. Instead, they change how professionals think about communication — making clarity, concision and credibility repeatable rather than accidental. I believe that without them, you may struggle to improve and become a more impactful communicator.

1. Speaking Is Habitual (Not Natural)

In accounting, clarity is not optional — it’s a professional obligation. Yet, many CPAs assume that if they “know the numbers,” clear communication will naturally follow. It doesn’t.

Speaking is a habit. The way you explain variance, frame risk or respond to a client question has been learned over time. Once CPAs recognize that communication effectiveness is built through habits — preparation, rehearsal, reflection — they can stop relying on instinct and start building trust intentionally. Clear speakers aren’t born; they are practiced.

2. Speaking Is Messy

Accountants are trained to value precision and correctness, which can make the messy process of developing a message feel uncomfortable. But working through the mess is how clarity emerges.

Turning spreadsheets, standards and analyses into a concise explanation takes iteration. The first version is rarely the best version. This threshold helps CPAs accept that organizing a message —deciding what matters most, what to leave out and how to say it simply — is not inefficiency. It’s professional rigor applied to communication.

3. Speaking Is Social

Even the most technically accurate message fails if the audience can’t understand or use it. Speaking is not just about transmitting information; it’s about influencing understanding and action.

CPAs routinely speak to audiences with varying levels of financial literacy — clients, executives, nonprofit boards, regulators or cross-functional teams. This concept reminds speakers to focus less on what they want to say and more on what the audience needs to hear. Clear, concise communication builds credibility — and credibility is currency in the accounting profession.

4. Speaking Contains Multiple Genres

A client update, an audit committee briefing, a partner meeting and a conference presentation are all different genres of speaking. Each carries different expectations around depth, tone, structure and length.

Problems arise when CPAs treat all communication the same — using overly technical language where summary is needed, or excessive detail when a decision is required. Recognizing genre helps speakers adjust appropriately, ensuring they are concise without oversimplifying and thorough without overwhelming.

5. Speaking Is Embodied

Clear communication doesn’t live only in spreadsheets or memos — it lives in delivery. How you use your voice, pace, pauses and presence affects how credible and confident you appear.

This is particularly important for CPAs delivering sensitive information: a financial shortfall, a compliance concern or a strategic risk. Practicing aloud — not just reviewing notes — allows speakers to discover where explanations break down, where clarity is lost and where emphasis is needed. The body often reveals what the brain has missed.

6. Successful Speaking Requires Feedback

In accounting, feedback is foundational— we review work, audit processes and check assumptions. Communication should be no different.

Feedback helps CPAs refine clarity, tighten explanations and align intent with impact. It also builds self-awareness: what landed, what confused and what created trust. Speakers who seek feedback — both from others and through self-reflection — improve faster and communicate with greater precision over time.

For CPAs, effective communication isn’t about becoming charismatic or theatrical. It’s about being clear, concise, and credible — especially when the stakes are high and the details matter. These six threshold concepts offer a framework for developing those skills intentionally.

Once crossed, they change how professionals prepare, speak and learn. And in a profession where trust is everything, that shift makes all the difference.