Introduction

Citation

Evans, S. (2004), "Introduction", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 17 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj.2004.05917dae.001

Introduction

Tom Shapcott's poem about accountability in this issue shifts quietly from issues of bookkeeping to professional ones with clients and finally, personal ones with family. It conjures an age that has since been overtaken by modernising technology, but the human principles that it represents still abide. The poem makes a good companion piece for Lee Parker's “The Young Professional”, and not merely because it presents a young worker who might be seen as a keen equivalent to the character at the heart of the Shapcott poem. In a sense, Parker's young woman faces a future that might be seen already as the other character's past. What do you think?

On a different note, a British report in March 2004 stated that “accountants read more for pleasure than many other professions” (BBC News 2004, “Accountants are the real bookworms”, online). A survey of more than 1,600 people showed that accountants indulged in over 5 h of pleasure reading each week, “and they also read more humorous literature than those from any other occupation”. Well, maybe that will help to counter the musty image still held in some quarters! Excuse me now, I'm just going back to my comics for a while.

Steve EvansLiterary Editor