I suppose it pays to be an accountant in these times.

In order to stop government control, all one needs to do is do nothing. If businesses started to simply ignore government edicts, the edicts would soon be merely pieces of paper with official looking symbols on them.

“As usual, government decree has caused the diversion of resources from that which was desired and necessary to that which was forced upon us.”

Well, since Sarbanes-Oxley only (to my knowledge) applies to the public corporations that exist thanks to special government-endowed rights and privileges, I can’t say that I feel too sorry for them. Not to mention all the corruption that goes on in giving these same US corporations an advantage over foreign companies.

In so many ways is this thinking wrongheaded. Firstly, it must be noted that not all accountants are tax accountants. This is *such* an important point it’s worth repeating – NOT ALL ACCOUNTANTS ARE TAX ACCOUNTANTS. Accounting, being a concentration of business major, entails performing many other perfectly legitimate business functions, predominantly in the auditing arena. Indeed, there is a sort of dichotomy in accounting between taxation and auditing.

Unfortunately, many outside the accounting world attach equally negative connotations to auditing. Auditors are seen as snakes, who delight in scrutinizing over the smallest details of our 1040s and accompanying forms. However, just as not all accountants specialize in tax, not all, or even most, auditors audit individual tax forms. Auditing, in its purest definition, means providing assurance (in fact, accountants often use the terms “audit” and “assurance” interchangeably). The vast majority of this assurance is in regard to business (rather than individual taxpayer) assertions. This means auditors are often called on to analyze business financial statements (prepared by other accountants, incidentally) and then perform analytical (and other) procedures in order to verify the information contained in these statements. This is such a basic necessity of any market economy because it provides assurance as to the accuracy of the data provided to the general public by private businesses. This is because individuals such as company shareholders and others interested in investing in a particular business are the principal parties for whom financial statements are constructed. Just like the magazine “Consumer Reports” tells the general public what, say, refrigerators are the crème de la crème of refrigerators, so do auditors allow consumers confidence in the content of financial statements. Without auditors, perhaps there would be a whole parade of Enrons and Worldcoms, only with no one to expose them.

Ok, you might be saying, even if auditors are good, then at least half the accounting profession, the tax half, are a bunch of blood-thirsty nogoodniks. To such nay-sayers I ask them to consider the following. In today’s age, with computers and internet and such thing, just about anyone can file their tax returns by themselves. Why is it then that despite the fact all people have ready access to tax forms, that they hire accountants? Do people just like to spend money for no good reason on a scorned professional? Of course not. People pay accountants because accountants are trained to pinpoint all deductions and exemptions possible. In other words, tax accountants are trained to *save you money*. It is the pervading goal of their work. It’s how they get their jollies (and as an insider, trust me on this one). Accountants live to find ways to keep more money in your pocket and then tell their accounting friends about it. Not because they care how thick your wallet is, but more for personal pride reasons. Finding new and inventive ways to chip away at your taxes inflates their egoes.

To sum up, accountants get a bad rap for the same reason so many others do – they’re misunderstood; them, their profession, and their motivations. Of course, there is one breed of accountant I have neglected to mention – The IRS agent. In their regard, I’m afraid I’m with the consensus.

Funny, I have found that my colleagues (CPAs, MBAs, financial types, etc.) have forever held this standard view of massive government intervention in our industry: “it’s probably necessary, and it’s a good thing.” So simplistic and brainwashed! However, those that have experienced SarbOx from the trenches have turned that complacent viewpoint on its ear: they are now enraged, baffled, and really sound like evangelistic libertarians on that particular issue.

It’s quite a conflict to be in the “hey day” of accountancy, yet hold firm to free market beliefs. Can one reconcile being an accountant while at the same time adhering to Austrian principles?