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#2 White Out Tape »

#1 Not Sleeping

Jan 14th, 2009 by pfi

night timeAccountants don’t sleep. While they don’t know what ‘work / life balance’ is, it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t really exist anyways.

During busy season, lots of red bull, coffee, soda, snacks, candy, and anything are consumed at all times in order to stay productive. From waking up early, commuting, and taking 1/2 hour to start up the laptop, accountants don’t get to rest until they get home after midnight. Even then, accountants have been known to study for the CPA exam or catch up on Tivo.

Why would someone sacrifice much needed sleep in order to watch the latest reality show and dramas from Hollywood? Answer: they need to stay on top of Lost and Heroes so that they have something to talk about during the awkward silences known as lunch.

A typical conversation getting in to work is asking how late the other person stayed to work last night. Being able to say that you worked until 1 AM on the purchasing process and going home to catch up on some episodes of Lost is met with much respect. That is until their superior shows up and mentions how revenue contracts took until 2 AM and they finally saw the latest episode of the Office.

Tags: #1, Not Sleeping

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2 Responses to “#1 Not Sleeping”

  1. on 16 Jan 2009 at 4:37 pm1C. Weaver

    TickMarks

    Accountants take tickmarks more seriously than bees take honey.
    If you google “tickmark training” you’ll get thousands of hits.
    On-line tickmark best practice forums have become the new wave of hot meeting spots for single accountants.
    Before computers were invented, single accountants would secretly rendezvous in office supply closets under the guise of looking for that ever elusive box full of tickmarks.
    (A word of advice for all of you non-accountant types that have just spent so much precious time reading this blurb — when you turn to your number-crunching pals and earnestly ask “so, what’s a tickmark”… be sure to grab only the newest and cleanest box of tickmarks off the office supply room shelf. Ok?)

    When any accountant begins that magical journey from college student to financial professional, the most highly anticipated and important topic on the very first day of new-hire training is proper tick-mark etiquette.
    Tickmarking is a true art form.
    Any respectable accountant would agree that tickmark etiquette is truly what sets the up-and-comers apart from the ho-hummers.
    Tickmarks give the reviewer of the working papers confidence that some action related to that tickmark was actually done.
    Right?

  2. on 22 Jan 2009 at 12:47 pm2Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #8 Eating Hours

    […] accountants are known workaholics, the time charged for work doesn’t reflect this if they are in public accounting. While an […]

  3. on 28 Jan 2009 at 2:41 pm3Tickmarking is awesome...but better still,

    We also like to show up after a big battle and bayonette the wounded. Thats probobly #1.

  4. on 28 Jan 2009 at 3:47 pm4Mike S.

    I think this list is missing the 10-key. I am an accountant, and I must admit, I take my 10 key everywhere (this includes the shower). Not a big white-out fan, I think that’s gone the way of the landline telephone.

    A very impressive list nonetheless.

  5. on 29 Jan 2009 at 3:20 pm5Benjie

    I have been an intern for an accounting firm for a mere 2 weeks and every single one of these points hits home. It’s so true.

  6. on 30 Jan 2009 at 5:49 am6Pam

    Alas, I am an accountant and these are all true. So, soo true.
    I say add comment boxes in excel.
    And we have a severe aversion to the new excel (2007). It might be more user friendly for people who haven’t used excel before, but we all knew and dearly loved excel 2003… sadly, I’m not kidding.

  7. on 30 Jan 2009 at 12:22 pm7Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #12 Training

    […] are the perfect time to see coworkers, go out, and not sleep. People go to restaurants, bars, clubs, shopping centers, and do whatever as long as it […]

  8. on 02 Feb 2009 at 4:13 pm8k thizz

    accountants like/enjoy/need/require solid happy hours (paid for by their respective firm).

  9. on 04 Feb 2009 at 2:52 am9Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #14 The Office

    […] on an accountant’s Tivo (or DVR). This is so that after working a long day, accountants can come home and watch TV at odd hours of the night. If you’ve ever been around accountants during Halloween, you already know that The Office is […]

  10. on 05 Feb 2009 at 11:41 am10Lily

    Akward silences at lunch…that’s just fantastic.

  11. on 06 Feb 2009 at 9:58 pm11Proud Auditor

    oh my god, this blog looks like it was based on my life during busy season…haha…all of its true, it seems like someone was documenting me while I worked…

    awkward silences at lunch = thats just classc and again very true.

  12. on 01 Mar 2009 at 2:54 pm12Old school or no school

    I personally think Redbull should be its own line item. Redbulls are the only reason I got to 200% utilization rate this month! Yay to chargeable hours!!!

  13. on 12 Mar 2009 at 7:34 pm13I "heart" Becker Instructors

    I think this site should also include lame questions accountants get asked – i.e.
    Lay Person: What do you do for a living?
    Accountant: I am an accountant
    Lay Person: Oh you’re an accountant, so you must be very good with numbers?
    Accountant thinks: yeah….like I have never heard that before!

    Lay Person: What do you do for a living?
    Accountant: I am an accountant
    Lay Person: You are an accountant….can you do my taxes?
    Accountant thinks: “Seriously!”

    Lay Person: What do you do living?
    Accountant: I am an auditor
    Lay Person: Oh, you work for the IRS?
    Accountant thinks: “you’ve got to be kidding me”

  14. on 24 Jun 2009 at 11:22 pm14Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #41 Sending out E-mails at Odd Hours

    […] work a lot. This much is known. Since accountants don’t sleep much, this entails a lot of irregular rituals – getting coffee 3 times a day, never working out, […]

  15. on 22 Jul 2009 at 1:46 pm15PINK SLIP

    PwC used and abused it’s employees this past busy season by working them into to the ground and then serving them with a PINK SLIP at the end of their busy season service.

    STAMM LIED

  16. on 09 Sep 2009 at 12:56 am16Stuff Accountants Like » Blog Archive » #49 Taking Airborne

    […] also doesn’t address the actual cause of illness during busy season: a lack of sleep in cubicles (read: close proximity) with other accountants who are also highly susceptible to […]

  17. on 17 Nov 2010 at 12:43 pm17Pore Cleanser

    some office supplies are low quality that is why you should always check your store if they offer high quality products ;;’

  18. on 31 Mar 2011 at 2:03 pm18Went government

    I sleep 8 solid hours a night you fools. Leave while you’re young. There is so much more to life!!!!

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