Accountants are the offensive lineman of the corporate world, minus the million-dollar contracts and extended off-seasons. Let me explain. Whether or not you watch football chances are you know who Tom Brady is. The tall, handsome, quarterback who married a supermodel, and became a fixture of New England. You’ve also probably heard of Odell Beckham Jr or Rob Gronkowski. Two very talented high profile guys who are always grabbing headlines. Now, what about Trent Williams? Tyron Smith? How about Tristan Wirfs? Ever heard of those guys? Probably not. The last three people I named are the best offensive lineman in the NFL right now. And there’s a good chance the NFL nut in the cubicle next to you can’t even tell you who those guys are or who they play for. Go ahead, ask him.
Offensive Lineman and accountants are much the same. Offensive Linemen are the guys who do all the dirty work. They hold up the defense to give the Quarterback time to throw and create running lanes for the Running Backs. But in football, there’s a strange paradox associated with offensive lineman. The better you do your job, the less recognition you get. All the flash and action are centered around the people who have the ball. It’s easy to forget who made a great play possible. The same is true of an accountant. They are the ones who manage the money, ensure corporations are compliant and stay within a given budget. They are the one’s who maximize a company’s cash flow by identifying and patching up money leaks within a company. But when a company increases its revenue, it’ll be the marketing department, or sales, or maybe the CEO who will get the credit.
Now let’s examine a different scenario. The Quarterback gets sacked/hit, or the Running Back gets tackled before he can gain even a single positive yard. Now all eyes are on the Offensive Lineman, the announcers replay the down to see which lineman missed their assignment so they can call them out by name. Such is the life of an offensive lineman in the NFL. They won’t be interviewed at the end of the game, they won’t win the MVP, and you won’t ask for an autograph when you see them. Accountants can relate. When you do your job well, you become invisible. But the second something doesn’t accrue, or a business runs out of money, all eyes and all fingers are pointed at you. Outside of the Big Four, the only time an accounting firm makes the front page of any major news publication is when they’re battling a scandal, i.e. the Arthur Andersen debacle.
So you’d think that accounting firms, which serve as the mecca of the under-appreciated, would do their best to create an environment predicated on praise and acknowledgment of its workers. Or at the very least do that for its top performers. But research surveys and the turnover data show this is not the case. With the Great Resignation underway, accounting firms are scrambling to preserve their best workers. And it turns out it’s not that complicated, a little acknowledgement and appreciation goes a long way. A compliment about a well-prepared financial statement, a genuine thanks for going above and beyond during the busy season, or any other display of recognition that lets your employees know you care would suffice.
At Notis accountants are all we think about. They’re the heroes in our story. Our entire mission is to make your job easier, to give you a better work life balance, and to remind you that even if no one else does, We Notis… and We Care.
