Here is a list of myths Rick and Pete debunked;

Myth 1: Accountants Aren’t Creative

False… to a certain extent, this completely depends on the person, not the profession. Rick really enjoys baking and is known as an all-star baker in the Manchester centre, he also loves to boogie. However, Pete on the odd day loves a quiz but admits he can’t cook, which does slightly reinforce the stereotype.

Don’t worry if you’re creative, you can still be an accountant!

Myth 2: Accountants Melt Under Pressure

This is completely untrue, in-fact our co-hosts think quite the opposite. Pete frequently faces situations requiring quick thinking and decisions, often dealing with justifying decisions later on. Rick points out that the profession is deadline-driven and asserts that working well under pressure is a necessity.

Myth 3: A Nerdy Person Who Counts Things And Is Often The Hero In Foolish Action Movies

“Anyone can count, not just accountants” ~ Pete and Rick 2024.

References to popular culture often exaggerate or misinterpret the role of an accountant, according to Pete, he uses a great example of ‘The Accountant’ with Ben Affleck. Rick says a significant part of accounting involves explaining and presenting findings in understandable ways, using examples from his own career to illustrate this point.

Myth 4: Accountants Solve Problems You Didn’t Know You Had in Complex Ways

Pete agrees that accountants often find and solve problems, moreover, he emphasises the importance of presenting solutions clearly. Rick can’t stress enough the need for clear communication and avoiding jargon, he highlights the value of cognitive and character skills in accounting.

Myth 5: You Need to Be Good at Maths to Be an Accountant

Pete automatically debunks this myth, stating that advanced maths skills are not essential, only basic arithmetic and understanding percentages is sufficient. Many successful accountants have backgrounds in non-math fields, Rick adds. Luckily, most software handles much of the complex math these days.

Myth 6: Accountants Are Human Calculators

Although Pete is a math graduate, he mentions his mental arithmetic isn’t great, however, luckily in modern accounting, there is a lot of support from applications and software. On the other hand,  it is advised that you still need to understand basics such as percentages and margins.

Myth 7: Accountants Love Spreadsheets

We know what you’re all thinking, are you sure this can be debunked?

Pete predicts that the use of spreadsheets will start to decrease in the future, due to better accounting packages becoming available however, he can’t help but mention the functional versatility of spreadsheets. Rick doesn’t’t help the case, admitting he uses spreadsheets daily although, he didn’t originally love them. Agreeing with Pete’s point, Rick highlights their necessity and usefulness in various tasks.

Perhaps this myth is considered half-debunked!

Myth 8: Don’t Talk to an Accountant During Year-End

In any industry, there’s always a natural peak, that demonstrates the busiest time, in the case of accountancy, year-end is the busiest time for finalising financial accounts. Rick emphasises the pressure accountants feel to meet deadlines during this time. Agreeing with this, Pete mentions that year-end is definitely a high-pressure period. However, they both state that you can still speak to them but they may be a little less patient or approachable during this time.

Myth 9: Accounting is a Male-Dominated Field

Historically this would be true however, over Pete’s last 11 years of teaching, he’s happy to say he’s seen more diversity across both students and staff whether that’s gender, ethnicity, or religion but he still thinks there are improvements to be made. He specifically mentions that First Intuition as a business is diverse and that’s one of the reasons he’s been so happy here. Rick massively agrees with this, sharing his own personal experiences with female bosses and colleagues and highlighting the diverse and inclusive nature of current accounting environments.

So, there we have it, nine accountancy myths have been successfully debunked!

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