Accountants have a sense of humor?
April 8, 2009 6:56 AM Subscribe
Stuff Accountants Like -- As the US tax return deadline approaches, take an inside and humorous look at the professionals who you either love, hate, or whose revenue recognition principles you may blame for the mortgage crisis. Or maybe, perhaps, pity?
There may be kids reading this, so here goes:
Accountancy is regarded as an immensely nerdy, sad, pathetic profession. However, if you've got an eye for detail, you're smart, and have a professional and hardworking attitude, it's a great career. It gives you the opportunity to move cities or countries, support a family and expensive outside interests, give money to charities, and opens the career doors to many areas of commerce and business. Hip people will think you're uncool, but football jocks* think already think you're uncool just because you read so you're used to people being small-minded and intolerant, right?
Disclaimer: I'm a computer programmer, so I'm also very uncool. But my wife is a corporate accountant and it's a really, really good job if you can hack it. Lower-level book-keeping less so, maybe, but the Big Four are a great career path.
Just come up with a good line to use at parties...
* I'm being unfair to football jocks, of course, for dramatic effect. Forgive me trying to write in your foreign idiom...
posted by alasdair at 7:16 AM on April 8, 2009
Accountancy is regarded as an immensely nerdy, sad, pathetic profession. However, if you've got an eye for detail, you're smart, and have a professional and hardworking attitude, it's a great career. It gives you the opportunity to move cities or countries, support a family and expensive outside interests, give money to charities, and opens the career doors to many areas of commerce and business. Hip people will think you're uncool, but football jocks* think already think you're uncool just because you read so you're used to people being small-minded and intolerant, right?
Disclaimer: I'm a computer programmer, so I'm also very uncool. But my wife is a corporate accountant and it's a really, really good job if you can hack it. Lower-level book-keeping less so, maybe, but the Big Four are a great career path.
Just come up with a good line to use at parties...
* I'm being unfair to football jocks, of course, for dramatic effect. Forgive me trying to write in your foreign idiom...
posted by alasdair at 7:16 AM on April 8, 2009
As a Big-Four employee, I can say that the culture is stifling, and it encourages obsequious subservience. It also requires massive personal sacrifice and a healthy dose of "it'll be worth it some day". And I've got it easy compared to some of those suckers.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 7:43 AM on April 8, 2009
posted by TheNewWazoo at 7:43 AM on April 8, 2009
On an unrelated note, the other day I was searching for something arcane about differences between UK GAAP and IFRS, and against my better judgment I clicked the Yahoo! Answers link and found something like this. My head exploded.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:54 AM on April 8, 2009
posted by Kwantsar at 7:54 AM on April 8, 2009
Accountants are notorious alcoholics
I don't believe this one. Every accountant I've ever met was too cheap to pay for a round.
posted by digsrus at 9:23 AM on April 8, 2009
I don't believe this one. Every accountant I've ever met was too cheap to pay for a round.
posted by digsrus at 9:23 AM on April 8, 2009
digsrus: "Accountants are notorious alcoholics
I don't believe this one. Every accountant I've ever met was too cheap to pay for a round."
Yeah, but when you get them ordering drinks that they can't expense, closing the bill is quite a spectacle. I've seen bar bills ticked-and-tied like you wouldn't believe, with itemized totals on the back for each person and a legend.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:18 AM on April 8, 2009
I don't believe this one. Every accountant I've ever met was too cheap to pay for a round."
Yeah, but when you get them ordering drinks that they can't expense, closing the bill is quite a spectacle. I've seen bar bills ticked-and-tied like you wouldn't believe, with itemized totals on the back for each person and a legend.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:18 AM on April 8, 2009
Accountants are anal retentive, because if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be accountants.
For an accountant, hole punching is serious business. Holes must be punched in the same location - the EXACT same location - for each page in the binder.
Hole punching is so serious that accountants have even staged hole punching competitions. The winner of said competition can get a lame gift bearing their company’s logo.
If you see an accountant planning out their hole punching strategy, don’t laugh. This is considered extremely rude.
Oh, that blog is hilarious. Cracked me up! 'Tis a refreshing change from reading news stories about the FAS 157 controversies.
While we're at it, don't miss my favorites: Accountants Gone Crazy. And watch out for those lurking Street Accountants, too.
posted by velvet winter at 1:14 PM on April 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
For an accountant, hole punching is serious business. Holes must be punched in the same location - the EXACT same location - for each page in the binder.
Hole punching is so serious that accountants have even staged hole punching competitions. The winner of said competition can get a lame gift bearing their company’s logo.
If you see an accountant planning out their hole punching strategy, don’t laugh. This is considered extremely rude.
Oh, that blog is hilarious. Cracked me up! 'Tis a refreshing change from reading news stories about the FAS 157 controversies.
While we're at it, don't miss my favorites: Accountants Gone Crazy. And watch out for those lurking Street Accountants, too.
posted by velvet winter at 1:14 PM on April 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
TheNewWazoo wrote: As a Big-Four employee, I can say that the culture is stifling, and it encourages obsequious subservience.
That depends entirely on the firm, and more importantly, the particular office. Some are paragons of utter stupidity. Others less so.
And oddly enough, I've had more than one accountant buy me a shit ton of drinks they couldn't expense. And only one of them is my SO.
posted by wierdo at 7:53 PM on April 8, 2009
That depends entirely on the firm, and more importantly, the particular office. Some are paragons of utter stupidity. Others less so.
And oddly enough, I've had more than one accountant buy me a shit ton of drinks they couldn't expense. And only one of them is my SO.
posted by wierdo at 7:53 PM on April 8, 2009
The only accountant I know personally is a huge alcoholic, parties hard, is an out-of-this-world hottie, works 10 hour days (but only 8 months a year; she spend the other months traveling to ski), and is engaged to a total troglodyte-looking tubby tool.
The only downside to being an accountant, for me, is that it makes you lower your standards more than five standard deviations below your apparent (aggragate) attractiveness.
posted by porpoise at 10:07 PM on April 8, 2009
The only downside to being an accountant, for me, is that it makes you lower your standards more than five standard deviations below your apparent (aggragate) attractiveness.
posted by porpoise at 10:07 PM on April 8, 2009
Stuff accountants like was definitely a favorite around the office (I work in audit for a Big 4) this busy season.
Another personal favorite is the Math Bus: Tax Season.
No one does this like this
posted by myohmy at 7:37 PM on April 9, 2009
Another personal favorite is the Math Bus: Tax Season.
No one does this like this
posted by myohmy at 7:37 PM on April 9, 2009
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posted by smackfu at 6:59 AM on April 8, 2009