#9 Throwing People Under the Bus
Jan 26th, 2009 by pfi
For accountants, getting thrown under the bus ranks somewhere on the scale between daily and weekly. If an accountant is not currently being thrown under the bus, you can rest assured that: 1.) they will soon be under the bus or 2.) they are actively throwing other people under a bus. This is easy for you to remember since there are no exceptions.
Throwing someone under the bus means to blame somebody else and have them take the fall. It is important to note that this does not mean the person being blamed actually did anything wrong. Also, people generally throw the people working for them under the bus, and not the other way around (though it does happen).
Many problems that accountants have (work is incomplete, budget is catastrophically blown, hatred towards fellow officemates, etc.) are addressed by throwing people under the bus. It is important to note here that this doesn’t mean the problem is solved. Some managers have a reputation for throwing people under the bus, which they’ve earned for good reason.
What can you take away form this lesson about accountants? When working with accountants, you will get thrown under the bus for no good reason and probably often. So if you can’t avoid working with accountants, you should make sure that you are the person in-charge, and that way you can opt to throw or not throw your team under the bus.
Isn’t this the truth! You rarely see either Attorneys or Doctors do this. They have a tendency to protect their own. Even if they think their predecessor was an idiot, they just keep their mouths shut. But not Accountants! We’re first in line to blame the prior CPA and make sure the client knows it. I believe this trait makes us lower on the food chain than the Attorneys.
These jokes are so funny, i have never heard of them before. You are too creative to be an accountant.
PS J/K IT Totally SUCKS
I haven’t laughed this hard since episode #234 of Star Trek.
Ain’t it the truth, when I first heard the phrase, I thought it was special to the firm.
There are many many of accountants who could win a gold medal in bus tossing. This amazing physical feat is accomplished best when someone leaves the firm and isn’t there to defend themselves. Blame the guy who left! Considering how out of shape most accountants are this may be the only exercise some of them get.
Lord Elk,
While episode 234, “A Fistful of Datas”, (I am assuming we are speaking of the New Generation as technically the original Star Trek series was not numerically titled) was a bit eclectic in that it featured the crew, specifically Worf and Troi, in an old western setting with outlaws and shoot-outs, I would by no means deem it to be comical in nature. While you might think that as the old west setting was simply recreated in the holodeck, it would be safe for all involved parties, this was not the case as Data’s computer ended up over-riding the normally present safety settings inside of the holodeck. While it might have been comical to see the normal crew dressed in western attire, I think the danger the crew faced on this mission and in many other missions was anything but laughable.
i know right. someone sent this link to me on a wednesday, and i had already been thrown under the bus twice that week!
The only thing better than making fun of a Trekkie is a sarcastic Trekkie making fun of themselves.
In addition to the ‘thowing people under the bus’ I would like to add the general automotive terms used in public accounting (however this could be outstide of accounting firms too I guess). “Let’s shift gears for a moment.” “Put it in neutral and think about it.” “Now we can just cruise to sign-off.” “Hit the brakes, you’re way off course.” “You’re just rolling down the hill with no brakes.” “Pull the parking brake, it’s time to go home.” There are too many to list them all.
One of my favorites: “Let’s circle-back to that one”
Guys, I feel like y’all are really picking some low hanging fruit with those sayings. Lets do a deep dive to really come up with some commonly used phrases in the accounting world.
You may use Google for this topic, it may be interesting.
Any accountant worth his salt keeps extra buses around for this very reason.
This might be my favorite post of all. Well-played.
[…] way if things work out, an accountant can take the credit. If things blow up, it’s time to throw people under the bus. Rinse and […]
One week from sign off, and I see the bus approaching quickly…..
The bus has hit me twice today
Deep dives are the BEST!
[…] humorous look at the little things that are popular in a CPA firm. Number nine on this list is “Throwing People Under the Bus.” It reads like […]
threw my coworker under the bus with this article:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/jobs/the_worst_generation_ZHtISjvJY3GglWGTlWa0gO
There was one time where I got so tired of getting thrown under the bus, right when I saw the bus coming out of the corner of my eye, I dove and did a little acrobatic 360 straight in the bus. Wasn’t so bad as getting pushed by behind in it.
[…] 9 on the Stuff Accountants Like website is “Throwing people under the […]
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