"You must be good at numbers" Nope, Accountants are NOT bookkeepers

When people find out that I have a graduate degree in accounting I hear either "oh you must like numbers" or "can you do my taxes?" Really neither is the case. I will probably never do taxes, in fact my wife and I pay someone else to do our taxes. And numbers? I understand numbers and I can use numbers with skill but I like using them to communicate and I really enjoy being able to help break down the fear barrier many people have with numbers. Those questions really speak more to a misunderstanding of what an accountant is and does. (That is a transition sentence for those paying attention)



I love the pop culture view of accountants. Particularly in movies like Ghostbusters. Accountants are the nerdy, awkward neighbors down the hall that lock themselves out of their apartments. I just don't really know many, if any, accountants like that. The perception of people in general is that accountants do taxes or sit around and crunch numbers but nothing could be further from the truth.

I had lunch with an accountant today. I wore business casual (dress shirt, slack, no tie) he came from work so he wore shorts and a t-shirt, which he could do since he worked from home as a forensic accountant. Whaaaaat??? Accountants can work from home AND do forensics?

Lets get rid of some misconceptions. Accountants do NOT just sit in a cube pouring over spreadsheets. A good part of the job is out of the office and there is literally a dictionary full of positions made for accountants. Generally there are four career paths for accountants, industry, audit, tax and advisory.

Lets pause and define some terms.
1. Accountants are not bookkeepers. An accountant does not process routine transactions or focus on data entry. Accountants are paid to understand the underlying meaning of both financial and non-financial business information. Accountants generally have at minimum a B. S. in Accountancy. Many fields in accounting now require a CPA certification and would see predominantly professionals with a Master of Accountancy or, less commonly, an MBA.
2. Forensic: literally means "make ready for court" or "used in court." Forensic accountants prepare accounting/financial information for use in a court of law for both criminal and civil purposes.

I am going to break down each service line/career path in a future post. Briefly,

• Industry: works for a company in the accounting department
• Audit: works for a firm performing financial statement audits of other companies
• Tax: Either for a company or a firm working on tax issues such as research and filling
• Advisory: everything else, forensic accounting, consulting, M&A support etc. ("sexy" accounting)

That should give most of you some things to think about. Accounting is very different than popular perception. It is a challenging and rewarding education and career. Good luck!