Job Description (Draft): No Spoilers in the Title!
Accounting :(
I absolutely hate telling people what I do. This is because most of the time, I don’t even know what I do. I’m sure if you Googled “what do accountants do?” you’d find “boring, tedious stuff” right under it. However, today I hope to challenge myself by offer a somewhat unique perspective. Accounting can be exciting if you describe it right; so be prepared to join me on this journey to glamorize the world I live in every day after class.
Accountants track income and expenses, manage financial records, and review documents to ensure accuracy. However, this does not mean we spend our day finding $2.00 discrepancies on receipts. Our main duty is to avoid investor confrontation. At all costs. We are deathly afraid of confrontation. Investors having too many questions means we’re not doing our job properly; we’re not making sound financial decisions; we’re not proving accurate documents that they don’t have to question.
With this in mind, while the typical words used to describe accountants include:
• Auditor
• Record Keeper
• Bookkeeper
I would better describe accountants to be:
• Private investigators
• Sales representatives
• Daring explorers
Private Investigator
An accountant assumes the role of a private investigator by:
• Gathering evidence
• Examining clues
• Communicating findings
Accountants investigate the financial wellbeing of their own company for investors. For example, I gather evidence of a stable company when I assemble monthly financial statements for investors. Then, I inspect the document to find clues to support this. Lastly, I communicate these findings to investors for each “case” I handle.
Sales Representatives
Accountants, like sales representatives, should never dishonestly misrepresent or manipulate information. This is unethical. However, they can cleverly use communication tactics to persuade investors to not worry. In this role, accountants:
• Build relationships with investors
• Carefully articulate financial changes or value in the company
• Act with integrity to build relationships based on trust
Imagine this: favorite company is manipulating documents to look better. You’d never trust them again, right? Every month my supervisor reassures clients by authentically addressing concerns if documents don’t look amazing. Or, if the financial statements are great that month, he highlights the company’s value. “Selling” our company to existing investors is a never-ending process.
Daring Explorer
At first glance, accountants don’t do anything adventurous. How bold can you get when your entire job description is looking at numbers and making sure documents are accurate? Wrong. Though I admit, accountants are not explorers in a traditional sense. However, both share similar characteristics in their approaches to work when they:
• Navigate unfamiliar terrain
• Uncover discovery and insights
• Chart pathways
Businesses constantly change, as does the financial world. Accountants navigate through these ever-changing landscapes while uncovering trends and patterns in financial statements. Then, similar to an explorer mapping new routes, we create budgets and forecasts to map future business endeavors!
Flesch Reading Ease: 63.4
Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level: 9.5
Passive Sentences: 0%
Hi Tina, I appreciate your efforts to breakdown what working in an accounting role actually entails. I've had a few friends who have worked in accounting and I've never gotten a full understanding of what their job requires of them. I also appreciate you showing how accounting jobs are commonly described versus how would you would more accurately described it.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
ReplyDeleteAs an accounting and finance major I can agree that accounting is not the most interesting thing in the world to study or do as a job because of the stereotype of being "boring". I loved reading your post and how it went into detail of what typical words are used when describing an accountant and words that better describe accountants. Accounting is an important skill to know because not being detailed oriented when doing financials will ultimately hurt a business and its future decisions down the line. How you described accountants being a private investigator, sales representative, and daring explorer really gives a better representation of how important accountants are and makes me not look at accounting as boring.
Hi Tina! I totally get how explaining your role as an accounting intern might not always sound exciting, but honestly, the way you describe it makes it sound a lot more intriguing than just number crunching. It's pretty cool how you looked beyond the stereotype of the "boring accountant" and finding the more dynamic aspects of your job. I love how you are actively analyzing and forecasting financial trends, building trust with investors, and navigating the complexities of financial landscapes. This perspective of accounting as an adventure in numbers and strategy really brings to life a field that's often misunderstood!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! It was so interesting to hear a more in depth description of what accountants do on a daily basis. You always hear that accountants just work with numbers and help people file taxes but thats about it. I never though of accountants to be like sales representatives until now but it sounds like one of the main aspects and priorities of being an accountant is to build relationships.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear about your experience working in Accounting. I personally struggled with Accounting courses I've taken, and commend you for handling this impressive subject incredibly well. While Accounting is not my strong suit, I really like the way you describe it in a creative way. Gathering evidence and presenting findings are very valuable skills which you can apply in other aspects of your life as well. Overall, great post!
-P.R.
Hi Tina, I love how you are very straightforward about accounting but also nicely challenge your audience's preconceived ideas of what accountants really do. I give props to you for doing this job because I struggled tremendously in my accounting class last semester... I think your perspective of accounting has definitely made me respect this job more.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! I love how you led into your job description! It felt super natural while reading it and overall flowed nicely with the narrative you were telling. I also really liked how colloquial your tone was throughout the piece and the additional details you added with the italicized words you sprinkled in. Your descriptions of the work you did was also super interesting and helped rethink some of my assumptions about accounting.
ReplyDeleteHey Tina! I really liked reading this piece just because of authentic and direct you were when explaining the accounting job you undertook. You were able to connect with the reader pretty well in the beginning because of how you described the profession and then also challenged preconceptions by showcasing how multi-faceted the role can actually be. Overall super engaging read!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina, I’m really glad you chose accountant as your job description! I enjoyed your intro because it was catchy and humorous, which made me want to read into it more to see how you plan to make accounting interesting. I think you did a great job categorizing the list of tasks performed by an accountant, and I believe that being an accountant is an undervalued job nowadays because of its “boring” stereotype. I actually find accounting to be quite interesting during my time at USC!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to read about what goes into being an accountant. Through your storytelling ability, you were able to transform a typical job like an accountant and made it sound like a very fun job. Great job and thank you for sharing.
Hello Tina, like your title so much since it would such an eye catching title to attract readers to continue reading! Also I can't agree more about the first few sentences you mentioned I absolutely hate telling people what I do. This is because most of the time, I don’t even know what I do." This is such a burden when people asking something really abstract and I just don't have an idea about how to answer.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! I love the three descriptive roles you came up with for your accountant position. Being a private investigator and and sales representative at the same time seems to be a tough role, but I am glad you were able to gain a lot out of the experience and that you are able to find the fun in your job!
ReplyDelete