The Internet has a way of creating occasions and celebrating a particular group of people. The dates could sometimes vary across different countries, and organizations who designate such occasions are not usually named – if they were ever official, at all. Thus far, however, there has been no harm done. At most, people have simply come up with reasons to take a second look at whoever it is that is being celebrated.
The commemoration of International Accountants Day on Sunday, November 10, is one such example.
The usual—and unfair—depiction of accountants is that they are drab and boring, and that they spend long hours on their desks making sure that their numbers add up. They deal with pressure when deadlines and submissions loom. They have little time to enjoy life and conduct themselves in the same way their figures have to make sense: by the book.
This is why it is called a stereotype.
Accountants possess skills that enable them to get a fair sense of how a business or an agency is truly performing, without the spin or the fancy words that top management prefers. They are able to identify the operational areas in which the organization needs to improve, and in which they excel. In some instances, they safeguard the agency’s secrets, and they know whether appearances match what is really happening at the core. Their potential power: they could turn accounting into an art, changing the face and fate of an organization by changing labels.
As a result, they are often the targets of those who want to make them look the other way to evade accountability. Accountants take comfort in numbers, knowing that figures never lie even when people do.
We specifically cite those who face difficult demands from their superiors who want to make it appear they are doing an upright job when there is little to no evidence to support it. At the risk of losing their own jobs, they face these dilemmas.
Those who look into the numbers of external bodies also face a difficult challenge, especially when calling out offices or officials who act as though the organization’s funds are their own.
Indeed, appreciation for accountants is in order. With their unique perspective, their meticulousness, and their high standards, accountants exact accountability from those whose activities and decisions they look into.
