Course Description

This program covers important concepts relating to email communication for CPAs. By mastering email best practices, you will establish a reputation for sending user-friendly correspondence, which will cause your readers to open your messages quickly rather than put them off. 

The overarching theme of this program is “drafting emails that are easy for your readers to respond to”. Concurrently, this program specifically addresses ten email topics:

  1.  Email length

  2.  Tailoring to your reader

  3.  Response time

  4.  Subject lines

  5.  Pleasantries, e.g., “I hope all is well”.

  6.  Copying – Reply or Reply All?

  7.  Following up 

  8.  Email vs. oral communication

  9.  Formality

  10.  Tone


Learning Objectives 

After viewing this program, you will be able to achieve the following:

  • Write in a style that is both professional and courteous.

  • Obey the etiquette of email communication.

  • Adapt your level of formality depending on the audience, and

  • Elicit faster responses from clients and team members.


Specific Examples:

The following are examples of three specific questions that you will explore during this program:

  • In modern accounting and finance practices, is “24 hours” still the standard response time?

  • Are there better pleasantries than the generic “I hope this email finds you well"?

  • What are tactful approaches for following up with an email correspondent who has not replied to your previous message?

Ryan Standil

Ryan Standil leads CPD programs about effective written communication. The goal of the programs is to teach participants how to view their own writing from the perspective of their readers. Before he became a writing instructor, Ryan worked at a law firm in Toronto. Ryan attended Western University, in London, Ontario, where he graduated from the HBA program at the Ivey Business School and the JD program at the Faculty of Law. Today, Ryan delivers presentations at CPA Ontario, the Law Society of Ontario, and individual firms.