Taking account

[dawezl]

Last night was my first accounting class.  I really like the teacher already, but I can tell it's going to be a challenging class.  Part of the problem is that there are at least 5-6 accountants in the class (from undergrad studies).  We are going back to the beginning and starting from scratch, which must be really irritating to people who are

Comments

Me and Accounting

[anonymous]

Back when the Favorite Husband was in business I kept the books, and bought a couple of those stupid "Accounting for Numbskulls and Feebs" books to "learn" accounting. This was pre-computer, so I got the green paper with the funny lines and the special binder and all that stuff.

I never ONCE understood what I was doing, but I kept all these separate pages for assets and liabilities and made sure everything balanced out to zero. Which for some reason was the point, though I never understood why.

When tax time came along I dutifully handed the book over to a real accountant with all sorts of caveats about how I didn't know what I was doing and just blindly followed the directions in the book. I was told I had done a good job and everything was "perfect".

To this day I have NO IDEA what I was doing, nor do I remember one tiny bit about the entire process. Except it was gruelingly painful to go through, and I have no desire to ever do it again.

Mojo

Re: Me and Accounting

[krisstudly]

And for me, it's a fun puzzle! :) Even my accounting exams are interesting challenges to me, though they frustrate me too. But I really do enjoy accounting. (And auditing is even more fun! Making sure everyone has done the accounting properly! Woo!)

But I digress. One thing to tell yourself is that even though the people in your class may be professional accountants, they use computers to do MOST of what you're doing by hand (and most people in the accounting world in my classes admit that they don't know how a lot of it works, because it's so automated now). They're also (most likely) not nearly as smart as you are. So even though it may seem intimidating, you've got some big guns on your side. :)

Re: Me and Accounting

[anonymous]

One time years back I was sitting with our accountant doing our taxes and he got all excited about something and had to stop and look something up. I just stared at him for a few seconds with my mouth open as it dawned on me, and then I asked him: "You really LIKE to do this stuff, don't you?" I was then treated to a fifteen minute gush about how much he loved it and it's what he always wanted to do.

Which really made me happy. He is a nice man, and it's just great when nice people get to do what they love. But coming from another mindset, I also found it somewhat bewildering. Different strokes! :-)

Mojo

Re: Me and Accounting

[dawezl]

Probably the hardest part of the MBA process is having to take some classes in subjects that I normally wouldn't be interested in. Although, as much as it is ballyhooed by the program, I don't plan on taking the class in negotiating. I already know that I *suck* as a negotiator bc I have to believe in what I'm arguing for 100% or else I'll just back down. There is no sense signing up for a class that will force me to be graded in terms of my suckiness, lol.

[jlh1026]

Ahhh interesting - my experience with Accounting during my MBA classes was a little different. Accounting and I have never really gotten along. Which is odd because of how much I love math and how numbers come easy for me. I think during under grad is was all the bizarre rules and crazy formulas that you'd never have to know my heart in a real job (even back then computers could help). Plus at the time I had to take accounting with 3 other courses that were required to take all at once. A Core Hell it was commonly known as through all the years prior (and after) me. All were very tough and having them all at once was just a killer. So I survived it but accounting left a bad taste in my mouth