I am a native English speaker and have been writing business English for 40 years. Over that time, I have learned that it is important to write clearly and concisely in order to convey my message as efficiently as possible.
I am an accountant and I write often to clients and to the Canadian tax authority (“CRA”) regarding various accounting and tax matters. It is important that my clients understand what I am saying and more importantly, it is important the CRA quickly understands the message that I wish to convey on behalf of my clients. I have been told that my writing is very easy to understand and I feel that I am successful in expressing my ideas, concerns and comments to clients and CRA.
I am not an author and I do not write for pleasure or for personal gratification. I write to accomplish a specific task. Business English is very different from English literature or prose. Business English is not meant to entertain, is not eloquent and is not “flowery”.
Sometimes inexperienced or insecure writers use long, convoluted sentences to try to impress the reader. They wish to try to show that they studied English literature and are “good” writers. But such convoluted writing actually shows that the writer does not understand good Business English.
In order to minimize misunderstandings and confusion and avoid wasting time, I have the following philosophies:

1. Sentences should be short and clear.
2. Use as few words as possible to convey the important idea(s). Readers lose interest and focus if the article or memo or letter is too long.
3. Use the simple “Subject / Verb / Object” format.
4. Avoid “run-on” sentences. It is easier to understand if sentences are broken up into separate thoughts and ideas.
5. Whenever possible, use point form. It is much easier for the eye to catch important issues in point form than in sentence form.
6. Ideas should be stated once and not repeated. Every sentence is important. Repeating sentences diminishes the importance of all other sentences.
7. If a sentence is not important, it should not be included.
8. Clearly identify the parties by using the person’s name or company name, rather than “he”, “she”, or “they”. Examples of bad and good:
   – Bad – He asked Hiro to give his book to Taro as soon as he finished reading it.
   – Good – John asked Hiro to give John’s book to Taro as soon as Hiro finished reading it.
9. Read and re-read your draft two or three times, trying to improve the wording each time.
10. If the topic is sensitive or controversial, wait a day, and re-read before you send it.
11. Always use “spellcheck” and “grammar check” in your word processing software.
12. Whenever possible, have someone else read your draft before you send it.

As two examples of bad and good writing, please refer to the following:

※英語の文章では、両端揃えにすると見栄え良く見えますが、単語と単語の間隔が異なるために読みにくくなります。読みやすさを重視するのであれば、左揃えを心がけましょう。