All the Reasons to Love What You Do

As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches, here is a reminder of what our accounting members should be thankful for this year.

Written by: Katie Paolino, CHAE

When our mind starts to spiral, why is it always into a black hole of negativity? Why is it so easy and natural to lament our circumstances and notice everything we don’t enjoy about our work?

And what if we could try something else? What if a positive thought spiral was in reach for us? What if we sat and let our mind wander over how fortunate we are to do what we do?

What if we decided to write down why accounting is the best profession in the world and let that wash over us?

I decided to give it a try.

Why is accounting the best profession in the world?

• Every business relies on accounting and is based on financial statements.
• It provides a great foundation for a skill stack because anything you want to learn or try in business is going to have to be paired with accounting.
• Once your mind learns how to think through accounting problems, you will have the neuroplasticity to think through other challenging problems, as well. Keeping your mind sharp is incredibly important for longevity, and analytical thinking is a great skill for brain health.
• It’s a low impact job — it isn’t hard on your body breaking down your joints like physical labor. If you break down your body with physical labor, it is harder to restore it. Accountants can easily add in stretching and movement.
• Accountants get a great mix of routine tasks, so you know what to expect — and one-time projects, so you don’t get bored.
• There is consistent pay, so you don’t have the uncertainty of commissions.
• In most accounting jobs, you’re able to observe holidays, weekends and evenings at home.
• In many accounting jobs, you get paid time off and other employee benefits.
• If you’re an employee, you don’t usually have to worry about every aspect of the business and keeping the lights on. You aren’t up all night stressing about how to make payroll and how to increase revenue.
• You often have something to teach/share with everyone, no matter their role or experience. There are many high-level business owners that still don’t understand the fundamentals of accounting and would love to be helped.
• Some people don’t understand accounting and feel insecure about it. As an accountant, you are in a unique position to learn how to communicate about the numbers in a way that isn’t intimidating, which develops you as a great communicator, just as a byproduct. 
• You add amazing value to your organization and can often move up the ladder into leadership if you want.
• Accounting challenges have a closed loop. There is a way to fit all of the pieces together and have a full puzzle. You often don’t have to deal with the stress of loose ends or not being able to solve a problem. It is very gratifying to solve problems and close loops. 
• You get to constantly learn, grow and develop. 
• You get to see the full business cycle and how every action of everyone on the team impacts the financial statements.
• You learn skills that directly impact your personal life and personal finances. When skills like balancing a checkbook, saving money and investing aren’t taught in school, other people often don’t learn that at all, and their personal life suffers. But accountants get to take the skills they are being paid for and apply them to make their home life better, as well!

I could go on, but my word count is done. I feel better, though — don’t you?

Katie Paolino, CHAE is co-founder of Hotel Solutions, LLC and received HFTP’s 2020 Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive (CHAE®) of the Year. She presented at the HFTP 2022 Annual Convention in Austin, Texas USA.