Accounting Myths - 5 common myths about the world of accounting

There’s always a lot of myths circulating about accounting. For the first official post from Finnies, we thought it’d be a good idea to debug some of these myths and alleviate any ideas you might have because of these.

1) Accounting was discovered by a nerd with a pocket calculator.

Wrong. Accounting was actually discovered in the late 1400s by an Italian Monk named Luca Pacioli. In 1491, he founded what’s now referred to as ‘double-entry accounting’ and his first account detailed the early systems used by Ventian Merchants for ‘accounts receivables’ and ‘inventories’. Today, we still use principles and methods uncovered by Pacioli on a daily basis, which is why he’s commonly known as the “Father of Accounting”.

2) Accountants are boring.

Believe it or not, there have been some surprising names who have studied accounting, including comedian Eddie Izzard and musicians Mick Jagger and Robert Plant. If that’s not enough, check out this guy – he’s an accountant but wants to be a lion tamer.

3) Auditors = Tax Accountants = Bookkeepers = Corporate Accountants

When people think about what accountants do they automatically assume it must be tax-oriented, which couldn’t be more wrong. Different accountants have different roles. For example, the job of an auditor largely revolves around statistical sampling and regulatory advice; they don’t really “account” for anything. Tax accountants help with deductions and perform your yearend returns, and bookkeepers typically account or keep track of financial transactions for smaller businesses. Corporate accountants do the same on a much larger and complex scale. So as you can see, everyone’s different.

4) Your Business doesn’t need an accountant

Said no one. Ever. In reality, having a full-time internal or external accountant can save you much future trouble. An accountant will help you organise all your finances, allowing you to take advantage of opportunities for growth. Not to mention, they’ll make your life a lot easier around tax time.

5) Accounting is a male dominated field

In 2011, females held 43% of the chartered accountant positions, and this has steadily been climbing since. Additionally, in the US, 60% of all accountants and auditors in the US are female, and 50% in Canada.

There you have it, 5 myths about accounting debugged. This goes to show that it’s always worth investing in an accountant; they can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.