Accounting Humor

It was a tough room at lunch today at the OnCenter. It was filled with accountants and financial experts. Through their own admission they are not known for being a fun crowd. But, by the end of the gathering they actually proved that to be wrong. We were there to honor the best Chief Financial Officers from across Central New York, the Mohawk Valley and the Southern Tier. I was the Master of Ceremonies. It was my pleasure to introduce the finalists for multiple awards and announce the winners. As for humor I quickly realized it was better to leave the accounting jokes to the accounting.

They really hit the mark on their own. Like Kathleen O'Brien of PEACE Inc. who came up to receive her trophy and thanked her husband for all his support. She added he too was an accountant which made them popular party guests. I tried to ride her coattails by saying they have no problem figuring out the tip when they go out to dinner.

Then another honored CFO pointed out what the best bean counter tells his CEO. Michael Walker of C&S Companies said, "the numbers aren't always right, but they're always good." That drew a wonderful laugh from the CEO's who joined their financial experts at the lunch table. I'm pretty sure they were laughing because it was just a joke and not because they were covering the way business really gets done.

All the kidding aside, what a year it has been to be in charge of the money in any given company. Whether you're part of a small non-profit or a large private corporation navigating the waters of a down economy, belt tightening and cost cutting is a challenging task. That could be why the Business Journal and Biz Events put this awards luncheon together. It's also a chance to spotlight some of the best companies and institutions in the region like Sensis, the Bonadio Group, Solvay Bank, Galaxy Communications and LeMoyne College. Some well deserved recognition for the long hours and number crunching. They picked up much deserved trophies and maybe even a bit of fresh accounting humor.


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