Dangerosa, I think I have to change my mind about this. What you say makes sense. Incredibly, I’ve been paying accountants to do my taxes for years, and it didn’t dawn on me that my ideas about accounting contradicted my actions. But whenever I try to do them myself, I hit several questions that I am not sure how to answer. What really swayed me years ago was when the IRS corrected my return and said they owed me an additional $350.
So, I appologize if my ignorance offended anybody.
Not offended, a little amused. Its sort of like if I were to become a subsitute high school teacher and say “physics isn’t hard - a few common sense concepts and a couple algebra equations.” I’m absolutely certain that a real PhD physicist does more than work the equations for how fast something drops or how fast light travels or confirm the equation for friction through experiments (about all I remember from my own high school physics class).
I am a little offended by your friend, who I think my be doing her students a disservice. They may be choosing accounting as a profession - and if she leads them to believe that its a little ciphering and a few conventions and they will be successful accountants - they may end up in the wrong profession. Plus, its unfortunately true that some of those “easy conventions and simple ciphers” are difficult for community college freshman - a lot don’t make it through an accounting program. It amazes me how many of my classmates squeeked through college algebra - and now when presented with the equation for time value of money, can’t remember what the natural log function does. (Fortunately, if they can figure out their financial calculator, they don’t need to).
Bringing this thread back to the theme of accountants in movies, etc
Oscar Wallace helped Eliot Ness bring down Capone’s empire. He was an accountant, and as tough as any of The Untouchables
It’s all true. Accounting is dull as ditchwater.
(having said that, provided that an accountant can keep their work in the office where it belongs, there’s no reason an accountant can’t be an interesting happy fun person)
Also, I like Shagnasty’s idea of treating it all as some kind of abstract game… I think that’s how I’m going to save myself from insanity. But then, given that my idea of fun is studying degree-level maths and physics, some might say it’s too late to save myself.
As for why I do it… because I have no better ideas 
. Though I consider myself a fairly balanced and interesting person, I wouldn’t say that I’m creative. Accounts is just something I can do with most of my brain switched off and get a payslip each month for… that’s all I really need from a job.
That’s one of the reason’s that I’m getting a degree in it at 40. I’ve spent most of my life in IT - IT is constantly chasing your tail - every day is something new - while still being the same old same old. How many hype cycles have I lived through that went nowhere? Now I’m doing project management - trying to apply science to complete guessing. Accounting IS. There is judgement, but little guessing. There are changes, but they are pretty incremental.
Same here. The project I’m on right now has aspects of politics and change management in it, though, which makes the touchy-feely side more important. That’s been an interesting departure.