Creative Accountants Are No Longer Banned

If I say the words “Creative Accounting” most people within the finance profession immediately think of Enron and it’s most certainly associated with something negative. According to Wikipedia, it’s defined as follows.

“ Creative accounting is a euphemism referring to accounting practices that may follow the letter of the rules of standard accounting practices, but deviate from the spirit of those rules”

So it’s accountants using loopholes in the rules to gain a financial advantage or even worse than this definition simply fraudulent behaviour. If instead, I say the words “Creative Accountant” do you then also associate that with something negative? My guess is that you do but I say it’s time to think differently about this. Accountants need to get creative to keep adding value to the company they work in. This is part of what they must do to stay alive.

Insights and recommendations need a bit of creativity

Accountants are being asked to do more than merely produce the numbers. They are asked to look at the numbers and derive insights for the business in terms of recommendations on actions for how to improve the business. That typically involves looking at a large dataset, structuring the data, identifying main trends and patterns and then finding a way to communicate this to business leaders. And not only that but certainly also to say…

1.      …this is what happened…

2.      …here’s why it happened…

3.       …and this is what I think you should do about it.

To do this well you have to have some creativity as you’re combining numbers with business outcomes where you think through various what-if scenarios and try to predict their outcomes before you make your recommendations. It also requires creativity to communicate what’s in the numbers. Speaking Finance to non-finance people can be quite challenging as you need to speak in pictures and stories rather than tables or even graphs.

“Creative” should no longer be banned in accounting

So the word creative in relation to accountants need a new meaning as accountants becoming creative is crucial to their survival in the profession. If all you can do is produce numbers, reconciliations and static statements then you’re not adding much value and will most likely be automated, offshored or outsourced. The business want’s more from you as it needs all the help it can get in creating more value. Part of that will come via insights derived from the numbers and the accountant is ideally placed for doing that if (s)he can make the important combination of business and finance.

Now we’ve moved away from the doom and gloom of the accounting profession and started to talk about what accountants can do to improve their career and not only stay alive. Anyone who can help a business create more value and become more valuable will always have a job. After all, that’s what most businesses are for right? As usual let me know what you think of the article by liking, commenting or sharing as I always appreciate a good discussion.

For previous and future posts in my new series on How Finance People Can Be More Successful please see below.

Bad Numbers Are Killing Good Finance People

What Accountants Must Do To Stay Alive

Don’t Measure Finance's Direct Value Creation

Finance Needs To Clean Up Its Menu

Finance Needs More Storytelling

We Need More BUSINESS In Business Partnering

I also encourage you to take a tour of my old posts on finance transformation and finance business partnering and not least “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” which is really that starting point for the transformation. Last but not least, you should join my Finance Business Partner Forum where we will continue to discuss this topic.

Don’t Explain Yesterday, Predict Tomorrow

Variance Is Finance’s Best Friend

Why Accountants Are An Endangered Species

Financial Analyst vs. Finance Business Partner

You’re A Finance Business Partner, Now What?

Case Study: Becoming A Finance Business Partner

How Finance Business Partners Improve Company Performance

5 Ways For Finance To Seize The Day In 2016

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the Senior Finance Business Partner for Maersk Line North Europe and is working with the transformation of Finance and business on a daily basis. I have participated in several transformation processes among others helping Maersk Drilling to go Beyond Budgeting and transformed a finance team from Bean-counters to Business Partners. I would love the chance to collaborate with you on your own transformation processes to help you stay out of disruption. If you are looking for more advice on how to get the most of LinkedIn I also have a few tips to share as well as if you want help in your job search. Don’t be shy! Let’s get in touch and start helping each other.