The Accountant Strikes Back

June 1997

We never had a lack of accountants at Parsons. Bob was a CPA and most of the VPs were CPAs. Some of them knew how to balance reality against the numbers, but for the most part, I've come to the conclusion that CPAs are the bane of business.

The problem with accountants is that by definition they can only see a snapshot of the status of the company, and they can only see the past. As a company grows and becomes more risk-averse, the accountants begin to exert a strong influence and keep the company from doing anything beyond the status quo.

Anyway...

Barb Rechterman joined the company a year or so before I did. She started as comptroller (whatever the heck that is -- accountants make up their own words) and eventually became co-president (I'm not making that one up, either) of the company. She left (wisely) when Broderbund bought Parsons.

At her going-away party she presented gifts to each of the members of her staff. Mine was this shirt, which she forced me to wear for at least one day before she left.