Burleigh Accountants Style Guide

Purpose
The purpose of this document is to help individuals and departments to develop and file company
documentation and that is consistent with Burleigh Accountants corporate style.
This document explains the style to be applied to company documentation together with information on
typography, and advice for writing and producing documents, as well as filing documents.
It is recognised that there will be documentation which is outside these guidelines, but the general format
should be followed wherever possible.
Writing Style
Composition should be concise, friendly, and professional in keeping with the mission statement of Burleigh
Accountants. Documents should be visually appealing and use unambiguous language.
Standard Operating Environment
Burleigh Accountants standard operating environment (SOE) is Microsoft Windows.
Documentation should be produced using Microsoft Word 2007 or higher. This will ensure portability of files
and consistency of operation.
Company logo
Burleigh Accountants logo must appear on all documentation. The logo is included in the header of this
document and should be copied and pasted into all documents.
As a registered trademark and symbolic of Burleigh Accountants, neither the company name nor logo may be
varied in any aspect (for example: ratio, typeface or colour).
Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks may be either:

Internet hyperlinks which take the reader to a web site if a modem is in use. Internet hyperlinks must begin
with https://

Word hyperlinks appear as normal text in a printed document, but in an electronic document are distinguished
by the mouse cursor turning into the pointing hand shape.
Templates
There is no one standard templates for documents at Burleigh Accountants and writers may use their own
formats for documents as long as the following style guide is followed.
Note that all letters sent to external parties must be signed by the senior accountant at Burleigh Accountants
Page Layout
Only A4 paper is to be used for Burleigh Accounts documents. The page margins must be as follows:
Burleigh Accountants Style Guide V1.1 15-06-2016 for use with unit BSBITU303 and BSBITU306 j+s learning work 2016

 All margins (left, right, top and bottom) 2.54 com

Header or footer 1.27 com from margin line.

Headers and footers

Headers

Headers are used for all documents of more

than one page. They contain the Burleigh
Accountants logo, the title of the document and the
title of the current section (if applicable).

Appearance

Styles

The standard font for all Burleigh Accountants

documents is Arial 12. Headings should be
bolded with Heading 1 in 14 pt and Heading 2 in
12 pt.

Printing

Printing must be double-sided where possible.

Filing

All documents must be filed in the

appropriate folder on Burleigh Accountantss
computer system.

Current folders are:

Administration

Invoicing
Correspondence
Purchase orders

Automatic heading styles should be created

and used to ensure consistency in heading.
See variations in guidelines for newsletter.

Files must be named according to the

file type e.g. Invoice 123.

The version and the date must also be

included.

Marketing

Flyers
Special offers
Customer correspondence

Footers

Footers are used for all documents (except

for letters and emails) and must contain the
filename, the version of the document, the date and
the page number.

Staff files
Human resources policies and procedures
Newsletters (file by month)

Staffing

General Policies and procedures

Record keeping policies and procedure

Complaints handling policy and procedure
Supporting forms and templates

If there is no relevant folder, staff should create a new folder.

Privacy

Burleigh Accountants complies with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Burleigh Accountants Style Guide V1.1 15-06-2016 for use with unit BSBITU303 and BSBITU306 j+s learning work 2016


When providing services, Burleigh Accountants will usually collect personal information
including the clients name, address and contact details and information specific to the service being delivered.

Burleigh Accountants will treat all client personal information confidentially and will not disclose
any details to another person or organization.

Access to information is restricted to the relevant authorized staff.

Information deemed inaccurate, irrelevant or out of date is destroyed.

Newsletter Style Guide

The following style points should be followed in designing and producing newsletters.

Format

Use business newsletter template

from Microsoft Word.

Use the fonts contained in the

newsletter template.

Keep it short.
No more than 3 pages per newsletter publication.

Keep it bright and clear.

Break up blocks of text with photos,

graphics or cartoons.
Break up your pages with white space.
Print in columns.

Use sub-headings.
Put text in boxes, or shaded
paragraphs.

Burleigh Accountants Style Guide V1.1 15-06-2016 for use with unit BSBITU303 and BSBITU306 j+s learning work 2016

Copyright

Copyright must be taken into account. If a report or article is to be included, make sure you acknowledge the
author and/or source of the publication.

Email Style Guide

All emails should be written as follows:

Write a clear subject line.

Use greeting and closing as you would in a letter.

For clients use their first name or Mr or Mrs if preferred. End the email with Yours Sincerely.

For staff, use first names and use Kind Regards in closing. Where the email is to all staff use Dear All.

Make the email easy to read.

Use short paragraphs and insert blank lines between each paragraphs. Use bullet points if applicable.

Keep the email brief.

Proof read the email run the spell check and check the document yourself too for spelling and grammar.