An engineer in love

I just got back from a whirlwind of travel,

And along the way, I caught up with an old friend

An engineer I used to work with.

They recently took on a project that involved accounting software

Despite having zero prior accounting experience.

But instead of dreading it, they were fascinated.

They told me about their deep dive into cost allocation,

Categorizing expenses from the P&L,

And the dramatic chase to track down “missing” expenses

Only to find them lurking on the balance sheet.

Listening to them describe it was like hearing a murder mystery.

A riveting tale of discovery, told by someone who had just unlocked an entirely new system of thinking.

And it hit me:

This is exactly what I do for my clients.

We go from them hating finance

To falling in love with the process.

Except with my clients, I don't always see it so starkly.

I'm sitting beside them the entire time,

So the change feels more subtle

When they go from dreading opening a spreadsheet

To talking excitedly about an increase in their risk-adjusted booked revenue for Q2.

Here’s the thing:

Finance is only frustrating when you don’t understand it.

But once you do?

It’s a puzzle that reveals the inner workings of your business.

Finance is the language of business.

When you learn to speak it, you stop feeling anxious about your numbers.

Instead, your financials become your most valuable tool.

And talking finance?

It stops feeling like a dreadful chore

And starts feeling fun,

Like talking shop

About any another technical thing.

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