The anecdotal evidence from lecturers and tutors at this University is that accounting students are not able to write clearly to express their understanding of accounting theory. Various strategies and resources aimed at improving the written communication skills of first year accounting students were developed by the School of Accounting and Finance including an accounting forum. The forum was related to an essay that the students were to complete as part of the assessment for an accounting subject. The accounting forum comprised three/four senior lecturers from the School who took the students through the relevant accounting concepts and theory and the way in which the theory could be applied to a transaction. The forum design and content was linked to a tutorial programme aimed at providing the skills needed to complete the assigned essay task. The evaluation suggests that whilst the students responded well to the idea of a forum there was not the improvement in the students' essays that was expected when designing the forum.