I asked my brother Peter to guest blog on this traditional tax day because he is a CPA. (He's the one on the right in the photo above in the Wrigley Bleachers. The girl between us is our cousin Martina). He isn't blogging about tax advice, however. I'll let him explain further...
Just Because I'm a CPA, doesn't mean I know taxes
It usually goes something like this…
“Hi. Nice to meet you. So what do you do for a living?” Innocent enough question.
“I am an accountant.” Oops! Why did I admit it so quickly?
“Oh, you must be really busy this time of year with taxes and all.”
Rolling my eyes, “Well, actually I have been very busy at work, but I don’t have anything to do with taxes.”
Then the dance begins, trying to explain what I do in my corporate accounting job. I have had to do this countless times in the past 20 years. Don’t worry – I won’t try to explain it here. Some people get it, most people don’t, others just get bored to tears (and rightfully so.) There are some family members and really good friends of mine that still don’t understand that I have nothing to do with taxes, that I have a hard time preparing my own tax return every year (and TurboTax makes it pretty easy.) In fact, I actually end up doing some of their returns for them just so I don’t have to go through the dance.
All they know is that I am a CPA, so they assume I am a tax accountant. I guess that’s really not too bad of an assumption. Why should anyone be able to distinguish among the various specialties and disciplines in accounting unless they are an accountant? This stuff just isn’t common knowledge - it’s not like accounting gets a very glamorous portrayal in movies or on TV. Face it, unless you are a cop, lawyer, doctor, politician or bad lounge singer, chances are you won’t be seeing too many shows featuring your profession, let alone accounting.
I’m OK with that. Accounting really isn’t that fascinating. It just happens to be something that I can do fairly well and it happens to pay the bills just fine. Yes, I am an accountant; a CPA. I admit it. More accurately, though accounting is what I do for a living.
I don’t get excited about tax deductions. I never played Dungeons & Dragons. I wasn’t part of the Audio-Visual club in high school. I don’t wear glasses (all the time.) I don’t even watch Star Trek re-runs. I like to think I’m a pretty regular guy who just happens to have a dull job.
So next time you meet an accountant, don’t ask him about taxes. Try asking about his family, or what he thinks of the White Sox’ chances of becoming World Champions again (had to get that in there Rick). You might be surprised to find he actually has a life outside of work.
Good luck out there and best of luck with your taxes.
