Ah, to be an accounting major: the route to both public accounting, private accounting and copious amounts of cash flows. It’s not easy. In fact, you’ll often find us late at night, hard at work in the business school working to achieve success. From debits to credits and expenses to revenues, we learn everything there is to know about the financial statements, while simultaneously avoiding all fun on the weekends. Just hand us a green visor and a cup of coffee and you completely understand us, right? Maybe not. We’re more logical than that. Here are 11 ways you know you’re an accounting student:
1. Introductory accounting courses just come naturally to you.
"How do you understand this? It’s so hard.” To be honest, we’re not sure how we “just get it.” We wish we could give you a better explanation.
2. You laugh when someone says, "Oh, you're a business major because you like to party."
You nod and sip your second iced coffee of the day, reminiscing over the fact that you haven’t even left your apartment in a month due to endless assignments, projects and group work. But yes, that’s exactly why I chose this major.
3. You seem to always be placed in a group project with students who can’t get their debits and credits straight.
But we’re always going to help out. It’s the type of student we are. Do assets go up or down with a debit? Up, my friend, they go up.
4. You've been asked, "How is that fun?" while doing an assignment before.
Most likely we're in this major because we enjoy it. Can it be challenging? Sure. But, let's be honest, what isn't challenging now-a-days?
5. It’s assumed that because you want to be an accountant, you don’t like people.
Most accountants love people. Part of our job is to engage with our clients. And guess who our clients are? People. We’re often some of the most upbeat, extroverts you’ll ever meet.
6. The most common response to your major is “You can do my taxes!”
I could, actually. But there’s more to being an accountant than just taxes. For example, we provide reasonable assurance that the company you’re investing in is free of material misstatements. We’re pretty important.
7. Don’t even get us started on the dreaded “Oh, you must be so good with numbers!”
Actually, the math in accounting is fairly simple. Auditing? Professional judgement and projections. Financial Accounting? Logic. My math skills are practically at a third grade level.
8. You constantly need your professors to remind you that public accountants make a median $73,800 salary.
This is worth it. I can do this. There are five components of pension expense: service cost, interest cost, return on plan assets, amortization of prior service cost, and amortization of deferred net loss or gain. Next question.
9. You’ve spent all night working on a Trial Balance only to have it not balance.
Fraud: It must be fraud. Pass the tissues and do not ask any questions.
10. And you’ve cried over having to go to graduate school to obtain your 150 credit hours.
The cost of this higher education does not fit into my life budget.
11. But you've found life-long accounting friends to help get you through it all.
To all my fellow accounting peers, keep posting to the general ledger of life. It's accrual world out there, but I'll see you at the finish line: the CPA exam.
