Business partner vs. bean counter. Do the personality traits of accounting students meet contemporary business requirements?

Abstract

The accountant’s role is subject to the scientific discourse as a fundamental paradigm change takes place, moving away from the traditional “bean counter” image towards a “business partner” of the management (Pickering, Byrnes, 2016; Richardson et al., 2015; Sorensen, 2009). As far back as 1981, Jacoby pointed out that the personality traits of a “bean counter” do not correspond to the requirements of the practice, e.g. strong soft skills and interdisciplinary qualities (Jacoby, 1981; Briggs et al., 2007). It can be observed that for decades, predominantly the “bean counter” type has continued to opt for a career in accounting (Briggs et al., 2007). The present study confirms the dominance of “bean counter” types in accountancy by applying the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with undergraduate business students and shows that there is still no significant change observable. The analysis shows that business students are significantly more frequently extroverted, thinking, and judging than the overall population. The accounting students among them are more sensing and thinking. Specific differences can be observed between the individual majors. As a result, the talent pool for the accounting profession is more likely to have “bean counters” than “business partners”.

Keywords

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• accounting students
• personality types
• traits
• bean counter
• business partner