1. A Nerd Discovered Accounting
The actual discovery of accounting is from a monk in Italy named Luca Pacioli. A lot of people say he’s the ‘Father of Accounting’. Back in 1494 he founded what’s called double-entry accounting. The first accounts detailed early systems that were used by Venetian Merchants inventories and accounts receivables using ledgers and journals. He also uncovered methods and principles that are still being used today.
2. An Accountant is Good at Performing Math
This is a huge fallacy that people believe. Accountants aren’t mathematicians, computer programmers, or engineers. An accountant has to work in regulatory guidance and act as a lawyer more than doing math. An accountant is basically a lawyer who uses numbers. Even though they have to be good at subtraction, addition, and some algebra, there are accountants who aren’t good at performing math.
3. All Accountants can do Taxes
There isn’t an accountant alive who hasn’t been asked to do someone’s taxes, but an accountant and an auditor are two different people. Most accountants aren’t qualified to do taxes or to give you tax advice.
4. Technology’s Making Accountants Obsolete
Even though technology makes accountant’s life more complex, it’s going to be years before it actually takes over their jobs. It’s still a career that is very much in demand.
5. It’s Male Dominated
Of the auditors and accountants in the United States, 60% of them are female and the number in Canada is 50%. However, when you’re discussing accounting firm partners, the percentage of women who are partners is only 18% in the United States.
6. Auditors, Tax Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Corporate Accountants are the Same
We mentioned before that a lot of people think that an accountant can do taxes, but this isn’t true. Auditors have the jobs of regulatory guidance and statistical sampling. They don’t account at all. Tax accountants are the ones who will help with doing your returns at the end of the year and knowing what deductions you can take. They won’t file 10-Ks, though. A bookkeeper will usually track financial transactions for a small business and a corporate accountant will do that work on a much grander scale. But they’re all different.
7. An Accountant isn’t Necessary for Your Business
This is true if you want your business to fail. But if you want to be a success, you want to get a full-time external or internal accountant. They will help you with organizing the finances of your business in a way that’s timely so that you can take advantage of any opportunities that come up for growth and make financial decisions that are good for your business. They’re going to be really helpful when it comes to your taxes.
The next time you meet an accountant, make sure that you remember how hard they work and what’s expected of them. Then give them a bit of respect.
