Use headlines instead of tables

If a picture paints a thousand words, how many words does a table of data save?

However, a table is a wasted opportunity if the reader skips over it. I have a tip to make the tables in your documents have more impact?

As accountants we often want to include tables in our documents, to summarise the data we are writing about. There are lots of things we can do to help the reader to get the right message (i.e. the one we want them to get) from a table of data.

My first tip for doing this is to give every table a title. Put some thought into the title. It is natural perhaps to use a factual title. Something like: revenue analysis YTD (YTD is year-to-date, for any non-accountant readers). A factual title is, I suppose, better than no title, but not much better.

Instead, give your table a title that tells the reader what they should be looking for in it. Think of it more like a headline than a heading. So, instead of revenue analysis YTD you might use: revenue is up 10% over last year. By doing this you make it easier for the reader to interpret the table and you also reinforce the message you are (presumably) making in the text.

TL;DR

Don’t give titles to your tables; give them headlines.