By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Question: When does a person decide to become an accountant?

Answer: When he or she realizes they don't have the charisma to succeed as an undertaker.

We've all heard the endless jabs and tired stereotypes regarding those who crunch numbers for a living. If you believe what you hear, accountants offer a sure-fire cure for insomnia, can entice terrorists to talk faster than water boarding and generally bore their own mothers to death.

But they're not all that way, are they? Is anyone out there still crammed into a tiny office, hunched over an adding machine, furiously pounding the keys and tearing off the paper with a scowl and a never-ending search for their deduction?

I was sure that if I looked hard enough, I would find an accountant who could fog up a mirror, hold a decent conversation and took time away from his abacus to watch an occasional Buffalo Bills game. Little did I know he was right across the street.

"Rising star"

When I first floated the idea that I was looking for a "fun" accountant to interview, a lot of people laughed. One suggested I would have better luck finding Bigfoot or perhaps the Loch Ness Monster. Heck, I might find both before I actually came across a fun accountant. But I persisted. Then I heard about Joe Burwick, a CPA and manager at Freed Maxick and Battaglia. He came highly recommended and was described to me as a "rising star" in the firm. I had three simple questions before I agreed to meet with him:
Is he young? Yes. He's 29.
Can we meet in his office? Yes.
Does the office have a window in case I suddenly need to jump out? Yes.

OK, then, I think I found my man.

After trading a few phone messages, Joe agreed to meet with me on a Thursday afternoon. Not wanting to be late (I know how those accountant types are sticklers for precision), I left the office 15 minutes early to cover the roughly 100 yards that separate our respective buildings. I did make one quick stop to down a half-dozen bottles of Five Hour Energy, just to be safe. Then I rode the elevator to the eighth floor of the Liberty Building, held my breath and stepped off.

Accounting ... fun?

What happened next shattered every stereotype I had and most of the good accountant jokes I found online (including the one at the beginning of this article). We sat down for one of the most enjoyable conversations I have had in recent memory. It wasn't boring; it wasn't too far over my head. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a single old-fashioned adding machine in the entire place.

"People think accounting is all about the numbers and it can't be fun," Joe began. "But it can be when you deal with the practical applications behind the numbers and laws."

Accounting, fun? I thought you were all math nerds.

"That is kind of a misconception that you have to be great at math," he continued. "You might have to do some interest calculations, things like that. But a lot of what we do isn't numbers. You have to be good at math but not great."

With misconception No. 1 shattered, I pressed on.

The stereotypes usually involved a cramped office with files stacked to the ceiling, fresh air nothing more than a pipe dream, and things such as lunch breaks a fantasy best left for slackers. Apparently, this, too, is an exaggeration of fact.

"I spend a good amount of my time outside the office, going to sites and working with clients," Joe said matter-of-factly. "I might spend my entire morning out there, talking to an engineer about five different products, learning everything I can about my client so that I can work with them on the issue."

So you aren't a math savant and you work outside the office. This is crazy talk now. Next thing you're going to tell me you get paid to hang out and eat ice cream all day.

"One of our clients is actually Perry's Ice Cream and we did a research-and-development study for them," he said.

Excuse me? Did you just say you got paid to do research for an ice cream company? Where do I sign up?

"Their process was so manually-driven, they were looking to improve it," he said. "Their competitors were all automated, and so they automated their process, as well. And that qualified under the R&D stuff."

Despite Joe's claims that he didn't sit around eating ice cream all day, I'm not buying his story about working with Perry's to evaluate whether or not its plans qualified for a research-and-development tax credit.

My new, rapidly developing image of a free-wheeling, man-on-the-town accountant came complete with a big bowl of Perry's Peanut Butter Cup.

Accountants are a chatty bunch

So what about the undertaker joke? You guys are a bit antisocial, right? Give me that, at least.

"Actually, I am talking to my clients every day," he said. "If I'm not talking to them, I'm not learning and understanding their situation and I can't give them the best direction."

Apparently the conversation doesn't stop once he returns to the office.

"We aren't just a bunch of nerdy guys crunching numbers," he said. "We focus heavily on training and so we are always working in groups, meeting, talking. And there is constant communication going on between all of us."

He had shed stereotypes faster than the guy on Long Island can down a dozen Nathan's hot dogs, but I saved a good one for last.

A youthful disadvantage?

"So, what about the idea that I don't want my accountant to look like he just rolled out of a frat house?" I asked. "Don't clients feel like the most reliable accountants are the ones who have been crunching numbers for decades?"

"That can definitely be tough starting out," he said. "But once you get established, and you have that knowledge base, you can sit across from a client and tell them what you see and what they need to do. You'll never get away from the white-hair effect, but you can give yourself credibility." 

He also credited Freed Maxick for easing the transition, as veteran CPAs often accompany the newbies into the field and make introductions to break the ice. 

"The senior partners make the transaction a gradual transition," Joe said. "They help you where you need it until the credibility has been established."

OK, help me out a little, Joe. Protect at least one of the accounting myths steeped in tradition (or at least in bad jokes).

Tell me that when you go home, you stay up all night reading accounting books. Tell me your favorite TV show is "Numbers." Or that your idea of a wild Saturday night is to calculate statistical probabilities ... ratios ... something!

"Well, my thinking is that this isn't a 9-to-5 profession if you want to grow and advance quickly," he said.

Got it! You work 10-hour days on the weekends, right?

"I take time to play golf, which is something I love to do," he said.

His favorite course? He's a fan of The Links at Ivy Ridg and estimates himself to be a 12 handicap. To his accounting nature, he says he strives to be a perfectionist on the course.

I knew the interview was over when I asked if he was a Bills fan. Without missing a beat, he reached into his front pocket and retrieved a pair of tickets to an upcoming home game.

As I packed up my recorder and notebook to leave, I couldn't resist one last question: In a nutshell, if you were talking to an 18-year-old college freshman who was on the fence, make your pitch for the accounting profession.

"I'm very driven and I like to constantly learn," Joe said. "In this business, the laws change every year, new regulations are passed and you are constantly tackling something different and unique. Despite the jokes, it really can be a fun and exciting job."

I bet the undertaker can't say the same.