AccountingWEB 20 year celebration

What were you doing in 1997?

Didn't find your answer?

Hello! To celebrate our 20th birthday, AWEB is currently putting a very smart AWEB20 book together about the last 20 years of accountancy. We've got a question for you - tell us what you were doing in 1997? We'll print the best and post a link to a PDF so you can see who made the cut!

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By Maslins
03rd May 2018 18:58

GCSEs

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RLI
By lionofludesch
03rd May 2018 19:17

1997 ?

Surely 20 years ago was 1998 ....

20 years ago yesterday, I was strolling round Wembley with £100k of antique silverware. We had the reunion last night at the Skyrack in Headingley.

All reflected glory, of course, but I didn't care.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By 356B
04th May 2018 12:20

He clicked on it in 2017..............but being AW, it didn't appear until 2018.

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By Matrix
03rd May 2018 19:35
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Replying to Matrix:
Mike Goldsmith
By Mike Goldsmith
03rd May 2018 22:17

Yes, quite a few made it – but it's a big book with a lot of pages to fill!

Thanks to all for their comments - we'll be giving hard copies away at Accountex and a free PDF download after the show.

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Gary Turner
By garyturner
03rd May 2018 20:19

I was a fresh faced, twenty-something account manager at Pegasus Software, driving around the country, extolling the virtues of internet-enabled accounting software.

When internet enabled meant adding an email address field to the customer contact record.

Gary Turner
Managing Director, Xero
@garyturner

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Replying to garyturner:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 15:04

Pegasus software ... I used that in the late 1980s. I seem to recall a lot of file corruption occurring regularly.

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By Duhamel
03rd May 2018 20:42

Starting secondary school.

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ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
03rd May 2018 21:14

I was 14 , I think just about getting ‘train track’ braces fitted.

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
Richard Hattersley
By Richard Hattersley
04th May 2018 08:04

Ah, now that brings back some memories. My mouth was filled with so much metal I could have been a Bond villain.

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Replying to Richard Hattersley:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
04th May 2018 08:25

I had the removed the day before my 16th birthday. One of my (unfortunate) friends had them out on the week before she left for uni!

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 12:18

Braces?! Eeh in my day the dentist just took out a couple of teeth to give the others more room. No braces. True story.

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Replying to Red Leader:
RLI
By lionofludesch
04th May 2018 12:39

Braces ?

We call them gallusses round here. Better than a belt for holding your trousers up.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
03rd May 2018 21:35

Laughing at all the accountants predicting the end of the world with the first SA returns "clients will never cope!" sound familiar? - plus ça change

Also, having broken away from another practice, setting up a new practice/office with a colleague determined that every desk would have a PC as part of a network (whatever that meant).

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By justsotax
04th May 2018 08:57

starting as a tax junior having decided upon a career change....together with a pay cut of 70%....gulp!

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By KevinMcC
04th May 2018 09:37

I was 7 and still in the "wee end" at school.

If I could go back to my 7 year old self and tell him where I was now... I'd probably make my younger self cry.

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By cathygrimmer
04th May 2018 09:41

Standing up for a colleague and getting sacked for it (from a job I didn't enjoy, working for people I didn't like). Turned out to be a great career move as I had two weeks off and then started in a better paid, more senior role with the new tax and accountancy arm of the BMA which was a great job working with lovely people. The icing on the cake was that I received an out of court settlement in the amount I had brazenly asked for assuming they would knock me down. It was way more than I would have got in court as I had zero loss of earnings - in fact I was considerably better off. I also conceived my first child in 1997 so it was a good year!

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By dialm4accounts
04th May 2018 10:38

1997: Transitioning from second to third year at university... and passing my driving test!
1998: Graduating and starting my career as an accountant at Whitbread - and getting dumped by my boyfriend!

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By AlastairWarwick
04th May 2018 10:50

I was in the process of leaving HMRC. Glad I left? You bet!

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Portia profile image
By Portia Nina Levin
04th May 2018 10:56

Oh, I appear to have accidentally logged into Facebook.

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
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By andy.partridge
04th May 2018 11:09

Lucky it wasn't Twitter

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Replying to andy.partridge:
Portia profile image
By Portia Nina Levin
04th May 2018 11:38

Not a mistake that can be made. You can say c**t on Twitter.

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Replying to Portia Nina Levin:
RLI
By lionofludesch
04th May 2018 11:47

See You Next Tuesday.

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By SteveHa
04th May 2018 11:11

I was still working for the Revenue, though had recently been diagnosed with diabetes, which resulted in my being let go on health grounds less than two years later (with a maximum payout).

Couple of changes of treatment later, and here I am.

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Replying to SteveHa:
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By colinhigginson
04th May 2018 11:52

SteLacca wrote:

I was still working for the Revenue, though had recently been diagnosed with diabetes, which resulted in my being let go on health grounds less than two years later (with a maximum payout).

Couple of changes of treatment later, and here I am.


Is that a reflection of how far the treatment has come on or a reflection of HMRC?
My daughter was diagnosed with Type I at 5 and it hasn't stopped her doing anything.
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Replying to colinhigginson:
By SteveHa
04th May 2018 12:49

I was terrible with MDI, and just couldn't get decent control. I was in and out of hospital more often than the staff were.

After my last incarceration in what was the local hospital, where I found that they had me on the wrong insulin and were slowly overdosing me, I got a referral to Manchester Royal Infirmary, which was also one of the pioneering pump clinics in the UK.

Six months later, I was on pump therapy, and less than 12 months later back in work full time.

I still have the odd bad day, but it's given me a new lease of life generally.

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Replying to SteveHa:
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By andy.partridge
04th May 2018 12:14

Well done.

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
04th May 2018 11:34

Studying for my ACCA finals in June 1997 and December 1997.

Working as a temp at a few places at the start of the year (after leaving my job the previous November) and getting a permanent job at a small accounting practice around March.

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By KevinMcC
04th May 2018 12:13

I wonder if there are any AWeb members that weren't even born then? A young AAT trainee or similar?

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 12:21

April 1997 got my first client. He's still a client. Which is nice.

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By brian-scholar
04th May 2018 12:31

Getting ready to be 50.: ( Gosh, those previous posts make me feel ancient.

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FT
By FirstTab
04th May 2018 12:45

I was born again into atheism.

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FT
By FirstTab
04th May 2018 12:45

I was born again into atheism.

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Replying to FirstTab:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 15:08

I make that born three times then.

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Replying to Red Leader:
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By andy.partridge
04th May 2018 16:17

I genuinely think that an ability to count is a prerequisite for a career in accountancy.

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Replying to FirstTab:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
04th May 2018 22:31

That’s funny FirstTab from your posts I thought you were born yesterday.

(Only kidding)

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By Krusty
04th May 2018 13:01

I was still in nursery!

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Della Hudson FCA
By Della Hudson
04th May 2018 13:24

20 years ago I was working in an engineering company and responsible for preparing the business to resist the Millenium Bug. Quarterly board meetings used overhead transparencies because the UK MD was a luddite who mistrusted Powerpoint but at least I got to travel to London first class.

It was around this time I was invited to a meeting of their “Top 100” (Directors and FCs of all UK subsidiaries) where I was the only woman in the room apart from the secretary taking the minutes.

I had no plans to have children, run my own business or to write a book and I’d never heard of an Ironman triathlon.

How times change

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By Justin Bryant
04th May 2018 13:37

I was about to unexpectedly make a fortune and then lose a fortune in the 1990s dot com bubble, mostly all thanks to Hemmington Scott's dot com online discussion forum - anyone remember AndyH (ramper of Baltimore Technology that went from about £1 (as Zergo) to about £140 and then back down to zero in about 18 months) and all that?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Technologies

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By JCresswellTax
04th May 2018 13:42

I was in India as part of the Rajneesh cult.

Didn't work out for me, so I took up tax!

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Replying to JCresswellTax:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 15:12

Oh.

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Replying to JCresswellTax:
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By andy.partridge
04th May 2018 22:18

Was it, to paraphrase Ringo Starr, like Butlins? Or maybe more like The Guilty Remnant in The Leftovers?
You can't leave us like that.

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Replying to andy.partridge:
Red Leader
By Red Leader
04th May 2018 18:12

andy.partridge wrote:

Was it, to paraphrase Ringo Starr, like Butlins? Or maybe more like The Guilty Remnant is The Leftovers?
You can't leave us like that.


Yeh, what he said. Come on JC. Did you watch the Netflix documentary?
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By Rammstein1
04th May 2018 14:09

Worked at HMRC. Daughter born and ended up in intensive care. HMRC were heartless and demanded to know my overtime plans for the next three months immediately. Handed my notice in and left after 9 years.

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Replying to Rammstein1:
By SteveHa
04th May 2018 16:19

Lightweight. I did 18 years before I left, by mutual agreement and provided they gave me a chunk of money (which they did) :)

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By Pygmy
04th May 2018 16:30

Working on chemical weapons (post-doctoral) research contract for Porton Down

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Replying to Pygmy:
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
05th May 2018 11:12

You probably win.

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By pawncob
04th May 2018 18:50

I was wondering whether I could afford to retire.
(and I did)

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
04th May 2018 19:14

Bank Holiday weekend 20 years ago.

Pretty sure I was on a stag-do in Whitley Bay/Newcastle.

As Glennzy and Redfive will confirm Whitley Bay on a Bank Holiday weekend is like the Wild West.

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Replying to Kent accountant:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
04th May 2018 23:24

Oh aye

Whitley Bay on a bank holiday was a lethal day out back in 90’s

I went there for my 21st with about 30 pals, most drunk I have ever been and bus had to get police escort out of town as nearly caused .

When I did my level 2 power boat licence I had to the practical off Tynemouth and Whitle Bay

When we’were out there was some Black Sea birds diving

The skipper said do you know what they are?

Me: either cormorants or s hags
Skipper: do you know how to tell the difference.
Me: No, How
Skipper : You cannot get a cormorant in Whitley Bay

Cannot beat a boating/fishing gag

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