No, we don’t split your dinner bills: Finance professionals debunk myths about accountants

Although both Beverly Lim’s parents had studied accounting, she did not expect herself to follow in their footsteps.

“It was never my dream. However, I later realised the value of an accounting education,” said Lim, who’s in her 20s and works at a leading international bank.

Lim was also inspired by the words of billionaire and investment guru, Warren Buffett, when she embarked on her undergraduate degree in accountancy.

“As Buffett said, ‘accounting is the language of business’, hence it is important to understand it.”

The quote certainly rings true as well for Dominic Tan, especially in his current role as a financial controller in Wearnes Automotive.

His reasons for wanting to be an accountant, however, were completely practical.

Said Tan, who is in his early 30s:

“My journey to becoming an accountant was primarily influenced by the stability and clear career path which the profession offered.

An accountant has the flexibility to work in almost any industry and this provides a good exposure for my overall career development.

The wide spectrum of finance-related matters sharpens my business acumen and provides opportunities for me to gain valuable knowledge about how a business or industry operates.”

Both Lim and Tan have had 10 years of experience in accountancy and audit, with the former obtaining a scholarship from professional accounting body CPA Australia, after graduating with an accounting degree.

Tan’s education pathway was slightly more unique.

He left Singapore when he was 15 to continue his tertiary education in Australia and got his professional designation from CPA Australia at 24.

Tan’s first job was at Deloitte, which he left in 2021 after nine years.

For Julian Wong however, becoming an accountant was a dream he’d nurtured since he was a teenager.

He explained that the mindset that accountants have was what drew him to the field.

“Rather than thinking of it as a profession, what resonates with me is the accounting mentality, a way of seeing things and advising improvements from a certain perspective.

Accounting is the first step in shaping the foundation of most things ‘business’. Coupled with practical exposure, it is the crux of running any business, whether as an employer or an employee.

It also provides the benefit of diversifying into other fields such as compliance and automation.”

Wong, who’s in his early 30s, studied financial accounting and corporate finance in university before obtaining his CPA Australia professional designation in 2021.

He was in the accounting industry for almost four years before moving on to finance roles in the public sector.

He is currently a finance manager with the Institute of Banking and Finance.

As with every profession, it’s not unusual for people to have certain stereotypes of accountants.

With today designated as International Accountants Day, all three of them are quick to debunk the myth that accountants are boring, number-crunching individuals who have no work-life balance, clearing up the misconceptions of the profession.

All accountants love math

One typical misconception of accountants is that they have to love, and be great in math.

While all three concur that accountants do not have to be math whizzes, Wong shared that one perhaps has to be comfortable with numbers at the very least.

He noted: “Accountants are not expected to know complicated formulas that are outside their scope, but they do need to know some amount of math to allocate numbers that we see.”

All accountants work long hours

And if you’ve heard stories about accountants having to pull long hours at their jobs and how one can pretty much forget about work-life balance?

It all depends on the company you’re working for and the clients that they have, stated Wong.

“Whether you have to work long hours and on weekends also depends on the culture of the country that the accountant is working in, rather than it being a mandatory function of accounting,” he opined.

All accountants are tax experts

And no, not all accountants are good at dispensing tax advice.

Lim and Wong admit that friends and family often turn to them for advice or clarification on certain tax related categories in their forms.

Shared Lim: “Yes, my family and friends have asked for tax advice. There is a misconception that all accountants are knowledgeable on the topic. As a matter of fact, tax is only one of the subjects that accounting students study.”

“Depending on where they have completed their studies, they may or may not have studied Singapore’s tax laws and regulations. Also, local tax incentives change frequently and not all accountants are well-versed with the latest tax developments.”

Both Tan and Wong agreed that the next time tax season rolls around, the IRAS website would be a much better source of information than turning to your random accountant friend.

Accountants are the ones to help split the dinner bill

One might also think that accountants at the table are typically the ones arrowed to split the bill whenever they’re out with friends.

Not true, they shared.

Joked Tan: “I am rarely the one assigned to split the bill as I usually dine with other accountants who are better at tabulating it.”

Added Wong, somewhat pragmatically: “It really depends on the group dynamics. Some groups rotate paying bills while others prefer to split. Being arrowed to calculate is a fallacy, in my opinion. Usually, the person who offers to pay first, also calculates how much each person pays.”

And all three will let you know as well that accountants are not ‘boring’ or ‘square’, as people may perceive them to be.

“Accountants are definitely not boring. I recall my days as a junior auditor where I travelled around various offices to perform statutory audits. It was an enjoyable experience meeting new people, learning about their businesses and completing the assigned audit tasks with my colleagues,” shared Lim.

Quipped Wong: “Only a person who decides to be boring will end up becoming one.”

Look for mentors who are interested in your career development

Even though all three professionals have since left the accounting industry while still remaining in finance related roles, it is a foundation upon which their careers have been built.

It also provides a glimpse as to the doors that are open to those in the profession.

Shared Tan: “Accountants are more than just bookkeepers. Modern day accountants analyse financial statements and business data to provide valuable insights and recommendations to stakeholders in an organisation.”

For Tan personally, this has been invaluable in his venture into the business world.

“The ability to understand a profit and loss statement better than anyone else in the organisation is an advantage.”

Lim shared that while she did not enjoy an easy start in learning the subject as an undergraduate, she soon grew to appreciate it.

“The initial study of accounting was difficult, as the terms debit and credit used to throw me off course. However, with more practice and understanding, I grew to love the subject as it was logical and behind every piece of data is a story to be unravelled.”

One advice that Tan and Wong have to give to young accountants, however, is the importance of seeking out mentors interested in their career development.

“True mentors will guide you to strengthen both your interpersonal skills and knowledge to propel you to your fullest potential,” said Tan.

Another piece of career advice from Wong, is to “choose something that motivates and inspires you to be a better version of yourself, and you will never find a reason to stop doing the things you love.”

This is a sponsored article by CPA Australia.

Top images via Dominic Tan, Beverly Lim and Julian Wong