November 10 is also known as International Accounting Day, respectively International Accounting Day. It is not surprising that accountants have their own day, because accounting is one of most common professions, its history is rich and accountants are needed almost everywhere. So let's celebrate this day and let's look at some interesting facts that you (probably) didn't know about this profession.

1. Accounting is over a thousand years old!

If we want to find the roots of accounting, we have to go back to ancient civilizations. For the ancient Egyptians, we would find records of something we know today as an audit, and we would have discovered double-entry bookkeeping in medieval Europe.

2. French and Latin

Accounting is often described as “the language of business”. If you believe that the word originates from English accounting (or account), you are wrong! The term accountant has its roots in France, where the terms 'compter' or 'computare' were used, which means count. The word accountant was used in the UK only around 1800 and it was derived from the word “accompting”. Another linguistic point of interest is that many well-known accounting terms come from Latin. For example, the word 'debit' in Latin means owning, while the word 'credit' can be translated as trusting.

3. First publication

Do you know to which event is International Accounting Day related to? November 10 is also referred as the day when the first official double-entry booklet was published, which accompanied the reader in detail on this issue. The author was the Italian pastor Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli, also known as the father of accounting. Although accounting was known long ago, the collection entitled Summa de Arithmetica, Geometry, Proportioni et Proportionalita, in Slovak All about Arithmetic, Geometry and Intention was the first official publication on accounting.

4. Accounting and celebrities

Let’s leave the history behind and move on to the present day. Did you know that many celebrities worked in the field of accounting before their career? Mick Jager studied accounting and finance at the London School of Economic, even with a scholarship. It lasted only a year, but that is also counted. Other celebrities on the snoop accountants list include Janet Jackson, Kenny G, Robert Plant or John Grisham.

Otherwise, have you seen Ben Affleck’s The Accountant?

5. As an accountant invented chewing gum

A man named Walt Diemer worked at Fleer as an accountant. The company produced chewing gum, but the products did not sell well. The gums were sticky and disintegrated easily. Despite his position as accountant, Diemer was fond of experimenting with recipes to make them in his spare time, until once his experiment was truly successful. He invented a gum that was less sticky and those who chewed it could easily blow bubbles. And this is a story about how an accountant invented a chewing gum...

6. Accountants love their profession

Believe it or not, surveys published by Accountemps show that up to 70% of accountants have confirmed that they have a positive attitude to their work and if they had the opportunity to go back in time and choose a profession again, they would have chosen accounting again. So, dear accountants, what about you?

7. The accounting future is favorable!

We will say it in numbers - by 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of accounting jobs should increase by up to 11%. Dear our accountants, you will not get lost!

At the end of this article, we would like to say another THANK YOU. To our VGD accountants and also to others who read this article. For your efforts, patience, time and energy you put into your profession, whether you are accountants, payroll accountants, tax advisors, auditors and others who are backed up with accounting.

And those of you to whom the accounts say nothing, do not hang your head. Our VGD experts are ready to share their knowledge and experience with you. Just contact us and we'll do everything else. For more information click on our website, Facebook or Linked In profile.