Are accountants nerd?

In between having mental block whilst preparing slides for an investors' roadshow and procrastinating in doing my income tax return, had a sudden thought to blog about this. Ok, probably not a at-the-spur-of-the-moment kind but something that bites at me once in a while.

Ok, a lot of of you out there who are not accountants or specifically, non-accounting grads, tend to think that accountants are all a bunch of nerds and boring people who finds great joy and ecstasy in getting the balanced sheet balanced (pun intended). That the whole lot of us are condemned to lives of pushing the calculator, wear geeky big framed glasses, conservative clothings (boring shirts, skirts and flat clunky pumps for the ladies) and there's not much choice in career except being, well, accountants.

Well, my friend, times have changed. Great changes. Accountants are now in demand around the globe. And we are well-paid to look at and make sense of numbers. And balance that damn balanced sheet. With the tide of IT which swept the world and changed our lives, many opted to study that field. And related fields like engineering are hotpicks. So is medicine especially in Malaysia. Accountants become a rare breed.

For those who are still undecided on what to study, accountancy is a good bet. And you don't have to push calculators for your whole life. Many CEOs and obviously CFOs are qualified accountants. They made it there because they have business acumens and understanding of numbers. And the discipline and patience from all those balancing of balance sheets (haha!). I used to be in external audit for a couple of years (got my ACCA membership as well!), got rather bored and moved out. And guess what? I'm now doing strategic planning work in a local bank and have not seen any balance sheets for the past 1 yr and 4 mths. And my boss appreciated the fact that I can translate numbers into business snapshots and strategic views for her. I have some friends who are doing their own business, doing investment banking and some became succesful insurance agents. And all of these are accountants.

It has also been said that accountants in general (more so those who are in Big 4 accounting firms) have no life to speak of. Well, friends, you are wrong. Yes, the deadlines are tight. But we also know how to have fun. Next time you are in Zouk or at the Asian Heritage Row, ask the fella next to you and you may be well surprised that guy/girl might be an accountant. I've heard so many wild stories and seen so many things from my Big 4 days that I would say accountants are anything but boring.

I'm proud of being an accountant. yes, it may not sound glamorous, say, compared to marketing or fashion designers etc, but we make money and we can have fun. In fact, I find being an accountant is flexible. There are many career opportunities out there. And looking back, I'm glad for all the experiences and skills gained whilst in a Big 4. I mean, those experiences can never be gained elsewhere. How many people get the experience of seeing how Baby G watches are made, how banks and insurance companies work, visit an oil refinery etc? I appreciated all that and more. The discipline and steep learning curve has shaped me to be a go-getter and not afraid of taking on challenges.

Well, would you give accountancy a try?

2008 resolution broken

It's the Queen of procrastinator talking again ... I'm a confirmed lazy piggy.

Yes, I broke my 2008 resolution of updating my blog. Yes, having chicken pox in between is not a good excuse (damn ... just before CNY).

Yes, being busy at work is not an excuse.

This blog is meant to record my thoughts and happenings in my life. From now on, instead of bottling up emotions and out-of-this world thoughts, I shall write them down. At least 20 years from now (ok, maybe 6 months or 1 year from now), if I wanna recall something, I have them recorded. Hehehe. I don't care whether anyone visits this blog or not ... it's more to serve as a diary of sorts. It will be a real treat if someone actually takes interest in my life .. hehehe!

All you friends of mine who visit this blog once in while (especially you, Vincent!), do remind me if I slack in updating my blog. Please do not give up on me :)

Ok .. here goes. The first entry for 2008.