Interesting Facts about Accountancy

by A Guest Author

Could there be anything more boring than accountancy?  It conjures up images of old, balding men in bad brown suits with round rimmed glasses.  These men all still live with their mothers, even though they are well into their 40s.  They have never had a girlfriend in their lives and not because they have a hidden latent gay urge.  Accountants are sad, lonely people who can only make friends with numbers.  Believe it or not, however, accountancy is actually very interesting.  Accounts have their fingers in many pies across the world right now. Sure, they work with the one thing most of us don’t really want to think about, being money, but they make some hugely important decisions.  They also work some very interesting people – even Al Capone had an accountant for instance – so they really can’t be called all that boring.  As for their looks, sure there will be some that fit the stereotype and there may even be some 40 year old virgins who still live with their mother.  However, these people exist in all walks of life and aren’t exclusive for accountants.

Famous Accountants

Just to prove that accountancy isn’t always boring and stuffy, did you know that Bob Newhart – the comedian – worked as an accountant at an accountancy firm in Chicago?  And he is really funny by the way!  Also, Kenny G, the Jazz musician, had an accountancy degree, for which he graduated from the University of Washington.  In fairness, these two do look a little bit like the stereotypical accountant, particularly Bob Newhart.  But there are some seriously hot people who are qualified accountants as well.

Take, for example, Gibby Haynes, who was a member of the Butthole Surfers.  Or Chuck Liddell (The Iceman) who is one of the ultimate fighting champions.  Then, there’s D-Lo Brown, a professional wrestler as well.  Kenny G, who we mentioned earlier, certainly doesn’t look like your average accountant with his long curly hair and rock star attitude.  John Grisham, the author, does look a little bit more like an accountant but who would have thought he was actually an accountant?

Fun Facts that We Know from Accountancy

There are some really interesting things around us that we wouldn’t know were it not for the fact that we accountancy.  For instance, the cost of deploying a US soldier to Iraq for a year costs $390,000.  That’s about £250,000 and you can bet your bottom dollar that the solider won’t see much of that money.

Fun Facts about Accountancy Itself

If you think that accountancy is complicated, you are right.  In fact, the accountancy code (the rules that accountants have to stick to) is constantly reviewed and altered. Over the past five years, over one million words have been added to it.  That’s a whole lot of words!

Historically speaking, the very first real accountant was Luca Pacioli.  He wrote his book on accounting in 1494, a very long time ago.  It wasn’t until 1896 though that the first accountancy exam was administered.  This was in New York.  However, the history actually goes back beyond that, as it is even mentioned in the Bible!  In Luke 14:28, it is stated that someone who wants to build a tower should start by working out whether he can afford the construction of this tower.  A clear accounting principle!  Accountancy being so interesting, clearly, it even has its own Hall of Fame, which can be found at the Ohio State University.

Accountancy clearly isn’t boring, but even if it is, it is an absolute necessity.  So make sure you work with a well-trained, qualified and certified contractor accountant.

This post was written by A Guest Author

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