by Michael Greaney

Created on: April 15, 2009

My usual response when someone asks me why I became an accountant is, "Because I didn't have enough personality to become an actuary." If I get the expected laugh, I continue with a more in-depth explanation. (If I get blank looks, I quickly change the subject.)

Accountants have the reputation of being in- or semi-human "bean counters," obsessing over meaningless trivia and creating artificial obstacles that inhibit or prevent a business entity from carrying out its mission. Like most such characterizations, there is a small element of truth buried under many layers of myth and rationalizations by people who don't understand the profession. Consequently, the first requirement in becoming an accountant is to develop a thick skin. You're going to be dealing with people who, by and large, probably don't understand what you do. As a result, they unjustly tend to feel inferior, and understandably resent you.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that most accountants don't communicate in human language very well. Yes, accounting is the "language of business," and business is a human activity, but it does involve a number of specialized terms and concepts. A lazy accountant will not bother to try and explain what these mean in ways that the people who have to use the financial statements and reports he or she generates can understand, leaving the rest of the profession to try and repair the damage.

Not that other professions are immune to this tendency. Some physicians, for example, give a bad name to the entire profession by a lack of bedside manner, or an arrogant attitude towards anyone who hasn't gone through four years of medical school or doesn't play golf.

The second requirement in becoming a good accountant, then, is to develop good communications skills. Your profession requires you to do many things in specific ways, and use specific terminology that may be baffling to your client or co-worker. It is therefore up to you to make certain others understand you. After these two important requirements, a thick skin and good communication skills, you can start to work on the more mundane aspects of the profession.

Of the more usual requirements to becoming an accountant, the ability to understand business itself is paramount. As an accountant, you are (in a very real sense) the "interpreter" for what is going on for everyone in the business, the shareholders, the government, and the public at large. You cannot, however, interpret for others what you don't understand

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