bean counter
a person who is obsessed with financial details
TRANSLATION
bean counter = der Buchhalter, der Erbsenzähler, der Pedant --- GOOGLE INDEX bean counter: approximately 250,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Frustratingly for BEAN COUNTERS, successful innovation contains elements that are hard to quantify and impossible to buy.
(adapted from BusinessWeek magazine)
---
But the reality is that accounting and finance now cover a wide diversity of roles, which goes from the traditional BEAN COUNTER all the way through to financial investigation, business analysis and planning and company leadership.
(www.businesstobusiness.co.nz)
(adapted from BusinessWeek magazine)
---
But the reality is that accounting and finance now cover a wide diversity of roles, which goes from the traditional BEAN COUNTER all the way through to financial investigation, business analysis and planning and company leadership.
(www.businesstobusiness.co.nz)
Did you
know?
bean counter
slang
- a person, such as an accountant or financial officer, who is concerned with quantification, especially to the exclusion of other matters
(American Heritage Dictionary® of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
---
WORD ORIGIN
The term bean counter was first popularised in the 1970s and was used to describe financial comptrollers and accountants with an overly zealous interest in the smallest details of a company's finances.
Originally, almost any accounting professional could be called a bean counter, with little or no insult intended. These days, the expression is very often used in a negative context to describe the "nitpicker" who can't see the big picture because he is lost in the details. It derives from the image of the accountant literally counting every bean.
What's the definition of an accountant?
Someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand.
--
SYNONYMS
accountant, actuary, analyst, auditor, bookkeeper, comptroller, financial executive, financial officer, number cruncher, statistician, treasurer
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"One needs a good memory and a logical mind to become a bean counter."
slang
- a person, such as an accountant or financial officer, who is concerned with quantification, especially to the exclusion of other matters
(American Heritage Dictionary® of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
---
WORD ORIGIN
The term bean counter was first popularised in the 1970s and was used to describe financial comptrollers and accountants with an overly zealous interest in the smallest details of a company's finances.
Originally, almost any accounting professional could be called a bean counter, with little or no insult intended. These days, the expression is very often used in a negative context to describe the "nitpicker" who can't see the big picture because he is lost in the details. It derives from the image of the accountant literally counting every bean.
What's the definition of an accountant?
Someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand.
--
SYNONYMS
accountant, actuary, analyst, auditor, bookkeeper, comptroller, financial executive, financial officer, number cruncher, statistician, treasurer
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"One needs a good memory and a logical mind to become a bean counter."
