If you’ve been looking for accounting facts online, then you probably will already have come across interesting facts about accounting regarding ancient accountants.
You’ll probably already know about the facts of the double letter to do with ‘bookkeeping’ too, right? And that’s before we even mention Oscar night counting.
But there are more interesting facts out there that are fun to know about accountants, any day of the year (not just international accounting day on November 10th). So when you’re next preparing your taxes for your accountant you can maybe tell them something they don’t know for a change.
So, if you’ve not quite had your fix of facts about the accounting profession just yet, then stick around, because we’ve got loads more to share with you after speaking to a group of accountants at one of our past events.
1. Accounting has routes in showbiz
Many celebrities with showbiz careers actually started out in accounting. Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Eddie Izzard, and John Cleese are all famously so.
But did you know Janet Jackson said if she didn’t have her exciting career in music, she’d have probably ended up working as an accountant?
Interesting to think that so many would-be accountants play to large venues and audiences every night now, isn’t it?
Lily from the UK North East branch of Auditox Accountancy says that the misconception of accountants being nothing but pen wielding number crunchers couldn’t be further from the truth when you see how many people taking part in arguably the most exciting career there is (stardom) actually considered accountancy as a potential career path first!
2. FBI employs accountants
You’d have already heard about how FBI accountants ultimately arrested Al Capone on tax evasion charges rather than the murders he’s famous for.
But FBI accountants have a major role to play in the accounting industry. They hire a team of over 2000 accounting specialists that are at the top of the field.
They’re responsible for monitoring the bank accounts of suspected criminals, organized crime groups, and gang bosses.
Without the FBI’s accountancy team, there would be a lot more crime (both cyber and in the real world) out there.
Sure, some accountants control the Academy Award ballots, but being hired to work as an accountant in the FBI has to be the most rewarding career possible, right?
3. Accounting has a long and storied past dating back 1000s of years
You’ll already know some of these facts from previous articles, but we bet you didn’t know that the earliest documented records of tokens being used to record goods received and traded date back 7000 years.
Or that they were found in ancient Mesopotamia – which is modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, that sort of area.
Before a standard numbering system could be implemented like it is today, people 7000 years ago would use tokens made of clay to purchase and trade goods.
Why is that important?
Because it shows that accounting isn’t just a career today, it’s basically a human need. Even 7000 years ago, we felt compelled to record what was owed, and we weren’t just trading freely without receiving something in return.
Sure, it’s not the double-entry accounting system we use today, it’s much cruder than that, but it still shows that there’s a need for it out there, and it dates back over 7000 years ago.
That’s got to be considered amongst the very best of ‘fun facts about accountants’, right?
4. There’s even a hall of fame for accountants
It’s probably to be expected, given that this hall of fame is based in America, but it’s true, there’s a hall of fame for accountants who contribute to the field.
In accounting terms, this hall of fame is basically the Oscars for accountants.
It isn’t just for people of old either, like the accountant who invented bubble gum says Billy from Dickson Middleton (yes, an accountant invented bubble gum), but it’s for any modern-day accountant too who might one day contribute significantly to the field.
If that’s not an exciting reason to consider getting involved in the industry, we don’t know what is!
The word accountant comes from the Latin word that means to count or score, and whilst the meaning of ‘count or score’ may have changed over the years, we’d still say making it onto this hall of fame would be a pretty huge score for any accountant, wouldn’t you?
5. There’s a patron saint of accountants
That’s right! Want to know how important accountancy is throughout history and how it still remains important today? Just look at the patron saint St. Matthew the Evangelist.
He’s the saint for accountants, tax collectors, stockbrokers, bankers, and bookkeepers. Sure, bookkeepers might be some of the only words to have three sets of double letters consecutively, but we still think having a saint for all professions in finance is pretty neat.
So ‘bookkeepers’ (and words derived from it) might be the only English word with that special letter arrangement, but at least St. Matthew the Evangelist doesn’t single out just that one profession – if you work in finance, then St. Matthew is your guy!
6. The first CPA exam in New York was in 1896
This is a fact we found really surprising, the word accountant and accountancy as a career predates this significantly, but it’s true.
The first certified public accountant (CPA) exam didn’t take place until 1896. So we can only assume that working in an accounting firm before this time was a pretty relaxed deal. No stress over exams, no professional standards to uphold, who knows?
What we do know, though, is that we’re happy to see that the accountancy world has moved on since then, and maybe New York holding the first CPA exam in 1896 was the start of the movement towards a more professional industry.
Take-home message
Accountancy is one of those professions that can so easily be overlooked as ‘boring’, but it’s anything but. Without it, the world wouldn’t run as it does today.
You see the need for it 7000 years ago, and that need still remains to this day. So why is that important?
Because if you’re thinking of joining the profession, then it’s good to know that the industry isn’t likely to go anywhere any time soon. If you want a stable career that’s fun and rewarding, then accounting might just be for you!
