A BETTER KIND OF CREATIVE ACCOUNTING: A PICPA BLOG SERIES

By James J. Caruso, CPA (inactive)

Let’s be honest: accountants are not generally considered to be among the most creative people. What further proof is needed than when the word “creative” is paired with “accounting” as an ironic euphemism for misleading financial reporting? There is not only an external damper on creativity, but an internal one too. Who among us has not uttered the words, “I’m not creative”?

While accountants have the unfortunate stereotype of being the opposite of creatives – well, maybe actuaries have it a bit worse – we are not the only professionals to disavow creative ability. Creativity is considered the exclusive realm of artists – authors, musicians, painters, actors, and dancers. On an episode of Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation podcast, Natalie Nixon – consultant, speaker, and author of The Creativity Leap – warns against this conflation of creativity with art. They are not the same. Having been made synonymous with art, creativity suffers from poor branding, Nixon suggests.

As a result, we accountants suffer from a similar branding issue. If creatives are artists, then accountants are creatives only in the bizarro world.

Can you see the irony? We act creatively whenever we design processes, ask questions, build financial models, derive insights from information, translate financial results for nonfinancial people, write a management discussion and analysis narrative, and put together fiscal puzzle pieces to form a cohesive financial picture. These acts are all forms of problem-solving, which requires creativity. Accountants are, in fact, creative people.

By Nixon’s definition, creativity is “the ability to toggle between wonder and rigor to solve problems.” Ah, rigor! Now that is something we accountants can identify with! Now, before we congratulate ourselves on being rigorous, we must heed Nixon’s observation that we too often confuse rigor with rigidity; the latter being something we are most certainly guilty of. In contrast with rigidity, rigor is “contextual and adaptable,” according to Nixon. The wonder aspect of the equation, however, may not at first glance seem to be part of our job description. But not so fast: we probably don’t give ourselves enough credit for wonder. Even the most analytical task is usually intended to answer a question, and questions start with wonder.

As advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, take over routine tasks, our roles require creativity now more than ever. Even though we are not artists, there is much to be learned from artists in the creativity department. “Artists happen to be exceptional at wrestling with the ambiguous process of creativity,” Nixon explains. This is why we tend to think of creativity as the exclusive domain of artists. In truth, it is an accessible skill that any of us can improve upon.

It’s well past time to change tired old perspectives and include accountants among the ranks of “creative professionals.” Let’s reclaim the term “creative accounting” as a positive. To do that, we must first learn to view ourselves as creative, and then resolve to improve our creativity.

Let’s take the journey together. In future posts I will explore “the ambiguous process of creativity” and look at how we can adapt the artist’s approach in our own work.

James J. Caruso, CPA (inactive), is the CFO of ClearView Healthcare Partners of Newton, Mass., and a member of the Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board. He can be reached at jim.caruso@clearviewhcp.com.

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Statements of fact and opinion are the authors’ responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.