The perfect degree for Aspies: Accounting

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Are you an auditor? I don't think I would ever last in auditing because it is too subjective and too social. Most auditors (except in house internal auditors, and even then) deal with people a lot, usually clients. Public accounting (that is public, not corporate accounting) in general is a highly extroverted environment. The can and will get rid of you for no reason other than they don't like you. Actually today someone (an NT) said that he was very literal. I think that is the first time I have heard an NT say that. The people who do well in accounting have traits much like ours, such as being literal or introverted.

As for the subject matter, it is not a good idea to think that because you think of some subject in school a certain way that you will think about that subject in the real world that way. School is nothing like the real world. Because you don't like something for 4 years in school doesn't have anything to do with whether you would like it for 40 years in the working world.

What do you do now? Have you been pretty successful in accounting?

Well, you do to get through Intro to Finance and know how to do all the time-value of money stuff that you do in intermediate accounting

>>Had some other accounting jobs tho, when I couldn't do other things, but long term career goals have never really been that important to me so would move on when bored. <<


>What do you do now? Have you been pretty successful in accounting?<

Not successful, really. And maybe I wasn't so much an accountant as a bookkeeper.

I do have one part time job I do out of home for a small real estate holding company. I get checks in the mail and bills and make deposits and pay bills and reconcile the statements and do their taxes. Simple cash flow projections. Pretty much work when I want as long as everything gets paid on time and only see someone once a month when he comes over and signs checks. He knows me for 30 years so isn't expecting NT interactions, i.e. I don't have to dress up or make any small talk unless I want to.

Know another guy who runs a bigger but still small corporation who cals me and emails me to review stuff he is wrestling with. Even sometimes I have suggested legal strategies to him he has had his attorneys carry out. He doesn't have me go to meetings because I get frustrated when petty bureaucrats good at smoozing and office politics because they are good at that stuff (I am terrible at it) get in positions where they can dumb down the dialogue. I have been known to yell at people. But he knows me well enough that we can talk about business at hand and no need to wear the NT mask.

My wife does a craft business so I do her accounting and logistical support for lining up shows and stuff.

Somehow along the line I managed to end up in my own house that is paid for so housing costs are minimal and all my kids have moved out and are capable of caring for themselves so costs are low. Mainly we do without a lot of stuff Americans take for granted and are comfortable living below what is considered the poverty line. But I don't feel poor. Live in country so heat with wood. Stuff like that. A garden. Yard sales, flea markets and auctions instead of the mall.

In school you may use a little of this. In the real world of work you never will.

I'm an accounting major so I was wondering about this. I love the actual hands-on stuff I do for my classes (I've learned I'm even more of a hands-on learner than a visual one!) but I worry about my abysmal (but maybe getting better, I have no way to tell, I work around techies all day) social skills. Also my tendency for overload. I've discussed that with my worker at rehabilitative services and we came to the conclusion that I may never be able to work full time...so far the most I've been able to handle without any sort of meltdown or shutdown is 20hrs a week. I am, however, also a full time student. So if my work is anywhere near as tolerable as going to school and working 18hrs a week in a computer lab I believe I can do it.

Technically my BS (working on my AS right now) will be in Accounting Information Systems I think. I dream of working behind the scenes somewhere. I guess I just want some idea of what kind of accounting job would work for me...

That would not work for me.

I was the best in class in accounting, but it is extremely boring, I just happen to be naturally good at it, while sucking at regular maths. I would rather work in something more dinamical and idealistic, politics or diplomacy, or law, or being a CEO, or whatever, I'd rather be f^cking poor than being an accountant.
"Computer programmer: I don't like programming
Software engineer: same as above
Systems analyst : same as above
Database administrator/analyst: idem
Network/server administrator: idem
Physicist: I like the theory behind physics but complex numbers arent my thing
Astronomer: same as above
Chemist:same as above
Professor at a university: i get angry when confronted with wrong arguments
Industrial engineer: same as for physicist, etc
Civil engineer: I prefer urban design, more artistic and idealistic
Mathematician: I simply hate maths
Philosopher: not practical enough
Carpenter: dyspraxia
Sculptor: not my thing
Painter: I'd love to, but maybe as a secondary job/hobby
"

Accounting sounds boring. Definitely not my thing.

I majored in accounting twice and found it pretty easy. Unfortunately college and I did not get along.

I wouldn't. Not to "anyone with AS."

If numbers are your "thing" and it floats your boat, that's great, but let's not forget AS is a spectrum, and not everyone with AS is enamored with the same things.

I love math, but my "thing" is theoretical math. I love exploring complicated puzzles and exploring the nature of numbers and math, but the idea of accounting scares the hell out of me because it bores me to death. And yes, I have studied how it works, and it's definitely NOT for me.

There are too many "rules" that must be followed. I don't mind the kind of "rules" that exist naturally in math based science, but accounting applies rules based on non math based laws and regulations. That alone turns me off instantly.

If I were to go into a mathematical profession (and I did consider it at one time) it would have to be one that allows for a great deal of creative thinking. And we all know what sort of trouble "creative accounting" can cause.

I am NT, but I have my degree in accounting. Getting the degree was FAR more difficult than the work itself There is some degree of social interactions with others in the office, but a lot of the work is meticulous, routine and repetitive. I really liked balancing bank accounts and reconciling accounts. But overall, it was just too boring for me. I wanted to do something a bit more creative. The math involved in getting the degree is much more difficult than what you will ever use in the real world. It is basically, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is more about knowing when to add, subtract,divide, or multiply.

Funny thing is, my son is on the spectrum and my husband is a computer engineer. Both of us are NT, but my husband has a few AS traits. I have often wondered if the combination of our genes is what caused our son's AS .

I've been wondering the same kind of thing about myself and my parents. I've theorized that AS and all Autism may result from a number of different gene combinations. It sure would explain why it's such a wide spectrum. They say ADD is also a spectrum, and I agree it is, but I've not yet seen the breadth and depth in that spectrum that I see with the Autistic.

I HATE accounting, but could easily do at least 8 of the jobs you listed, including the top 5.

Heh, not this Aspie.

I took an accounting class once and absolutely was awful at it! The only way I would be one is if I had a computer with the right program and all I had to do was enter data and hit the enter key, letting the computer do the actual accounting for me...