Once there was a man that had a son that had gone to college and become an accountant. When the bright young newly minted accountant graduated, he wanted to look over his father’s books to see if he could help with the business.
The father brought out two shoe boxes and placed them in front of the boy. One was marked “Accounts Receivable”, the other “Accounts Outstanding”. The young man started looking through the two boxes and in short order threw up his hands in frustration. “This is ridiculous” he said. “How can you do anything with this, how can you even tell what your profit is?”
The father looked at him and said:
“When I came to this country and got off the boat, I had a pair of pants, no shirt, just a pair of pants. Now, we have a house in the city and a house in the country. We have a boat on the lake and fine cars to drive where ever we want to go. Your brother is a lawyer, your sister is a doctor and you are an accountant. You add all of that up, subtract the pants and THAT’S the profit!”
The father brought out two shoe boxes and placed them in front of the boy. One was marked “Accounts Receivable”, the other “Accounts Outstanding”. The young man started looking through the two boxes and in short order threw up his hands in frustration. “This is ridiculous” he said. “How can you do anything with this, how can you even tell what your profit is?”
The father looked at him and said:
“When I came to this country and got off the boat, I had a pair of pants, no shirt, just a pair of pants. Now, we have a house in the city and a house in the country. We have a boat on the lake and fine cars to drive where ever we want to go. Your brother is a lawyer, your sister is a doctor and you are an accountant. You add all of that up, subtract the pants and THAT’S the profit!”
