Читать книгу Accounting For Dummies - John A. Tracy - Страница 15

We recently saw a cartoon in which the young son of clowns is standing in a circus tent and is dressed as a clown, but he’s holding a briefcase. He’s telling his clown parents that he’s running away to join a CPA firm. This cartoon plays off the stereotype of a CPA (certified public accountant) as a boring “bean counter” who wears a green eyeshade, has no sense of humor, and possesses the personality of an undertaker (no offense to morticians). Maybe you’ve heard the joke that an accountant with a personality is one who looks at your shoes when he’s talking to you instead his own shoes.

Like most stereotypes, there’s an element of truth in this image of accountants. As a CPA and accounting professor for more than 40 years (coauthor John) and a financial and accounting consultant for more than 36 years (coauthor Tage), we’ve met and known a large number of accountants. Most accountants are not as gregarious as used-car salespeople (though some are). Accountants certainly are more detail-oriented than your average person, and they’re a little more comfortable with complex calculations. Accountants are very good at one thing: Examining both sides of financial transactions — the give and the take, what was gotten and what was given. Accountants know better than anyone that, as economists are fond of saying, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Because accountants work with numbers and details, you hear references to accountants as bean counters, digit heads, number nerds, and other names we don’t dare mention here. Accountants take these snide references in stride and with good humor. Actually, accountants rank among the most respected professionals in many polls. Many people and businesses rely on their accountants for business, financial, and even investment advice. Accountants are much more than preparers of your tax returns.

If you walked down a busy street in Chicago, Denver, New York, or Los Angeles, we doubt that you could pick out the accountants. We have no idea whether accountants have higher or lower divorce rates, whether they go to church more frequently, whether most are Republicans or Democrats, or whether they generally sleep well at night. We do think overall that accountants are more honest in paying their income taxes, although we have no proof of this. (And yes, we know of a couple of accountants who tried to cheat on their federal income tax returns.)