Member-only story

A Bookkeeper, an Accountant, and a CFO Walk Into a Bar…

Ben Wann
3 min readMar 23, 2024

--

A Bookkeeper, an Accountant, and a CFO walk into a bar. They settle in, and after a few rounds, the conversation turns to work.

The Bookkeeper proudly declares, “My debits and credits are always in perfect harmony. Not a penny out of place! We reconcile every time, and I don’t care how much time and effort it takes to reconcile.”

The Accountant nods. “Precisely. I can analyze those figures and turn them into reports that summarize the month’s results. The balance sheet always balances, and the P&L ties to the GL.”

The CFO leans back, a thoughtful look on their face. “That’s all well and good,” they say, “but do the numbers make sense? Do the financials tell the story of what is going on in the operations of the business?”

The Bookkeeper and Accountant look back with confused glances.

“But the numbers reconcile…”

“Yes,” the CFO reiterates, “but are they right???”

Understanding Your Financials

If you were to ask me for my best advice after 12 years of experience in getting accurate financials and the true story behind what is going on within them, I would tell you this:

  1. Hire Truly Highly Skilled Professionals

--

--

Ben Wann
Ben Wann

Written by Ben Wann

Strategy-Execution & Expert Practitioner Insights | The Alexander Hamilton of Management Accounting | 10x Author | Strategy-Execution | https://amzn.to/3wxTCUH

No responses yet