Oh gawd, Accountancy....where do I start?
It's all lies...LIES! We over analyse really trivial stuff so that when a client gets investigated, the numpteys working for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs have to spend days ticking off bank statements against ledgers and computer printouts, and it doesn’t matter if they find any errors because they are almost certainly immaterial to the accounts so no action is taken. They go back to their superiors and explain how they found x-many errors which have now been corrected (well done, pat on the back) and we go back to the client and tell them no action is being taken due to our sterling work (well done, pat on the back and more chargeable hours invoiced).

But the biggie, the really big lie is estimation. Here is the official Accounting Standards Board definition:

Estimation techniques are the methods used to establish the estimated monetary amounts associated with the measurement bases selected for assets, liabilities, gains, losses and changes to shareholders' funds where there are uncertainties over the amounts.

There are ALWAYS uncertainties over the amounts. Always. Profit lower than expected? No problem, the stock and work in progress is "estimated" to be surprisingly valuable, oh look...your profit has soared, wont the shareholders be happy. What’s that? Can’t afford a big tax bill this year? Nevermind, the stock is "estimated" to have no net realisable value and now you've made a loss and get a nice fat tax refund from last year.

None of this is ever mentioned. When I was a junior I asked my manager why we bothered producing sets of accounts when all that happens is that the reviewing partner changes the estimated figures to get the bottom line the client desires. I was informed that accounting is not an exact science.

What a complete waste of time. I do this every day.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 27 Sep 2007, 12:38, Reply)