Questions to Ask Your Accounting Friends

Over the past few years, I have realized that I spend a lot of my time talking to other accountants and finance professionals, and not as much time talking to people outside of that world. When I spend time with my friends who don't work in my field, I find myself talking about two main things to explain what I do for work. Today, I'm going to tell you the two questions you should ask to your accounting friends when asking about their work or professional life even if you have no clue what their actual job duties are.

What Type of Accounting Work Do You Do?

Generally, accountants either work as public accountants or private accountants. Public accountants generally work for an accounting firm that provides services to many different clients. These services could be financial statement audits, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and various types of consulting. Private accountants will work for a single company and support the financial function. Depending on the size and nature of that company, the job description can change significantly. The person might work certain busy seasons (public accountants) where they need to put in extra hours to meet certain deadlines, or they might have a month-end close (private accountants) to deal with where the first couple weeks of each month get a little bit busier than the rest. For accountants, the benefits, drawbacks, and characteristics of different types of accounting jobs are pretty well known, but that knowledge is not shared by the rest of the population. When many people hear about accounting, they assume that someone who is good at math is playing with numbers all day, which is simply not true. By simply asking your friends what type of accounting they do, you provide an easy question where they can dispel or elaborate on the assumptions people make about them as an accountant.

What Type of Company Do You Work For? / What Type of Clients Do You Work With?

This is a question that is frequently asked between financial professionals, but not by the general populations. Outside of the type of accounting work someone might do, the biggest factor that affects an accountant's work is the industry or company that they work with. Every accountant has a different experience dealing with their company or group of clients that have certain unique characteristics. An accountant that works with (or for) a technology startup will have a different experience than an accountant that works with (or for) construction contractors. You would be surprised at the unique insights you can gain by asking financial professionals about their clients or their company's industry. For example, I know accountants that are very familiar with certain medical practices and regulations because they work for a company that provides specialized medical services. 

The reason why these two types of questions are so important is because they're small nuances to accounting jobs that make a huge difference in someone's experience. If you ask these questions to your accounting friends you might realize that they have skillsets, knowledge, or industry insights that you would never think of when you hear the word "accountant". These questions are 100% better than asking "that means you're good at math, right?"' or "so you do taxes?"  And asking them opens up the door to a potentially insightful conversation where you can actually learn what your accountant friends do. The next time you speak to an accountant, try asking these questions, but don’t forget you can also treat them like a person and ask them about their interests outside of work too!