Reflections On Month-End: It Is What It Is

It’s month end. For anyone who has worked in a corporate setting, or even a retail setting, those words “month end” can set off a wave of panic, stress, and defensiveness. For those who don’t know…well, let me try my best to explain…

…what month end means to me…

Me at work, Halloween 2004

I am an accountant. I am the “Guardian Of The Books.”  “Protector Of The Figures.”  “Defender Of Policy.” A bean-counter. A stuffy white-shirt. Though, I must say, I haven’t worn a white shirt in years. Or even those cheesy business blue and white striped shirts with the white collar. But I digress…

Throughout the month, everyone is doing “business” – selling. In my division’s specific case, trying to sell services contracts; negotiating, meeting, trying to walk the fine line (or pretending to walk the fine line) between “doing what’s best for the customer” and “doing what’s best for the company”. Or, “doing what’s best for my paycheck.” At times, many times, all three things are, well, mis-aligned. And on the last day of the month, our systems lock down and do whatever processing necessary to complete the month and be “ready for business” for the following month.

June 1^st. The first day of “month-end.” First task on hand…making sure what the computers say happened really happened. Does Report A equal Report B? If not, where is it off? If I started with $10, and the reports said I added $5, do I now have $15? Sometimes this step works out, but sometimes, not so much, and when they don’t, we get stuck in the loop of “when will it be fixed? How long will it take? Is there an estimate?”  

Once that is done, us Accountants have to then deal with our arch-nemeses. Finance. See, throughout the month, they attempt to forecast how much in sales will be booked and how much in costs we’ve spent. And like the weather, sometimes the forecasts can be way off. Unlike weather-peeps, Finance has to face the firing squad (sometimes literally, at least in the employment sense) when the forecast is way off. We both, Accounting and Finance, work for the same company, but at times it can feel like the Civil War. North vs. South. Blue and grey. 

Accounting 101 – Cynical view:  Accounting laws are in place to try to prevent a company from defrauding the general public.  Less-Cynical View:  Accounting laws are in place to try to ensure a company’s stated financial reporting is reliable. Accounting is NOT math. It’s more like being a lawyer…applying Accounting law to a current situation using precedent and interpretation. To simplify:  Accounting laws generally try to prevent revenue or profit from being overstated, which would then encourage potential investors from investing in a lemon, which keeps the financial world in a state of balance. If financial statements are inaccurate and investors across the board are stuck in bad investments, everyone flees the market and Wall Street collapses and regular folk like you and me get laid off and welcome to the current recession…

So, the numbers are released and the reports are run, and lo and behold, Finance’s was wrong. “Why, Accounting, why? Why can’t this be counted as a sale? Is this really a cost? What’s the precedent for that? Decisions were made on our forecast and management will be none too happy. Is there anything you can do? Is this right?”  This comprises the remaining four days of month-end – the constant battle of “this can’t be” vs. “it is what it is.”

Anyone who has worked with me over my 15 year career knows that “it is what it is” is my most often quoted line. It’s an Accountant’s motto and best friend…”it is what it is.”  Accounting is not just a career, but a way of life:  it is what it is. One plus one equals two, every time, no more, no less, all day, every day. We don’t overstate the good, we don’t understand the bad. It is what it is. Everything is balanced, debits and credits, assets equal liabilities and equity. Left side and right side, yin and yang. We don’t die nor do we multiply. Just add and subtract. Month in and month out. We are who we are. It is what it is. Beans and all.