Accounting = Good at Math?

This blog entry discusses why you don't have to be a math genius to be an accountant. The subject of accounting is one that is very different from its crazy cousin math.

Personally, I’ve never fancied myself as “good” at math. I am “OK” at math in my opinion (and the opinion of many standardized tests). In the years that I have worked in accounting, I’ve never found the need to be a mathematician. In fact, knowing a few formulas in Excel has generally covered any math problem I’ve been forced to solve. Working in finance, I have found it necessary to understand more complicated math subjects. However, these still have not been terribly difficult either.

Accountants in particular do not have to have an understanding of complex mathematics. Accounting, if you ask me, is a science all its own. To understand and be good at accounting, you have to understand and be good at accounting – not math. It is its own specialty and this fact is what makes it so difficult for many people to grasp when they are first learning about the subject.

So if you are considering studying accounting in college or high school but are hesitating because you are not good at math, remember that to be a good accountant, you only need a basic grasp of math. You only really have to be good at accounting.