One Minute of English: 17th December: Bookkeeper, accountant

Date: the seventeenth of December
Accents: American, British

Word of the day: accountant :comptable
bookkeeper: aide comptable

Transcript

Tell me, Jeremy, what exactly do you do here?

I’m an accountant. I work in the accounts department. One of my responsibilities is to make sure that the company pays the right amount of tax.

Oh right. What’s the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper?

An accountant is more qualified than a book keeper. A bookkeeper is someone who records financial information. An accountant uses financial information to help the company run successfully.

OK. Some people say that the world today is run by accountants.

Well, the business world is run by accountants, and that has a large influence on the world. When people say that, they mean that the only thing that is important is profit. Accountants measure success in terms of profits, so they are criticized for only being concerned with money.

What about you?

I went into accounting because I’m good at maths and have an analytical mind. I enjoy working with numbers.

So how are the company’s finances?

Erm, maybe we should talk about something else.

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