As seen on The Office, office pranks are a daily reality that make the work environment tolerable. It can be argued that more energy goes into planning pranks than getting workpapers done.

Office pranks are especially fitting as everybody can make a great target. Accountants tend to be especially mean to new hires who are eager to help out and make a good first impression. You can tell an accountant has a good working relationship when they pull pranks on their own boss (and vice-versa).

Pranks range from harmless to malicious. An example of a harmless prank would be getting someone to fax you over a whole ream of paper because you “ran out.”

Accountants can turn everyday busy work into great pranks. Having someone foot a schedule that can’t be footed is a great one. This is an especially good prank when the work returns w/o/e and accountants discover they have a ghost ticker on their hands.

The general rule is that the more people involved in a prank, the better the prank. This is due to the strong negative correlation between productivity and enjoyment (i.e. as less work is done, the better time everyone has).

If you’re working with accountants for the first time, you need to be wary. Another tip, if the accountants you work with consistently pull great pranks, you know you’re working with top tier people.

Post your favorite pranks in the comments.

You will find The Office among the most recorded programs 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 a popular costume choice.

The Office not only sets an excellent example for office behavior; it is easily relatable for accountants. Awkward situations, coworker pranks, and inappropriate conversations all remind them of what it feels like everyday to show up to work.

If you ever need to engage an accountant in some small talk, you should talk about The Office. This cannot go wrong since this will allow them to either 1.) incessantly quote their favorite scenes or 2.) confess a desire to watch the latest episode. In either situation, your accountant friend will see that you have amazing taste and respect you.

A popular show gag of The Office is to shout “That’s what she said!” after something vaguely inappropriate has been said. Although SAL tried to sneak this joke into this post, it just would not fit anywhere even though we tried so many different positions.