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Cute dog of dachshund, black and tan, buried in the sand at the beach sea on summer vacation holidays, wearing red sunglasses with coconut cocktail
istock_Ирина Мещерякова_aweb

The accountant’s guide to a pandemic summer holiday

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Remember summer holidays? Those things we used to do each year – packing up for less rainy climates or fighting the midges in Scotland. A time to reset, recuperate, and perhaps make our way through a poolside page-turner.

20th Aug 2020
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With many now forced to embark on a wet weekend in Frome (this is my lot), inspiration is at hand for those looking for positive diversions in lieu of sangria and sun.

Painting by numbers

Practice is at the heart of learning new skills, and finding one's level as a beginner is essential to keeping up morale before the muse can chart their true path as an artist. The "How accountants swear coloring book", therefore, could be a good place to start before moving to the loftier ambitions of abstract art.

TikTok – definitely not LTD to dancing

Or perhaps something more practical? Like the development of real technical skills that will help engage the next generation of prospects. Youtube is now, of course, so 2018. So accountants are tentatively making their way to TikTok. AAGTax dip their toe in with hard beats and hard facts.

While jamiepkeeling prefers a more direct approach with his tax advice.

And if you were curious as to how the Australian tax system works then, ZACXP is happy to help, if perhaps not showing Aussie accountants at their most "cloud".

Accountancy Shanty

If the urge to lip-sync on social media consumes you, who knows where it might lead? Accountants have proved a huge success having when taking their trilling talents to the TV:

Although, in my opinion, seeing where this one ended up, perhaps the profession dodged a bullet?

Let’s get fiscal

But let’s not waste our natural inclinations for sports and dust off the gym spandex for some physical activity.

My introduction to the somewhat unusual proclivities of accountants goes back to 1999 on hearing of the success of Peter Owen securing the World Bog Snorkelling Championships, and amazingly you can still revisit the moment. The advantages are clear with it being an all-weather sport requiring only the bare minimum of specialist equipment.

Other heroes and heroines have aspired to the noble feather throwing of darts

And one former tax accountant at Ernst & Young who decided triathlons might be a fun, new hobby… Gold medallist Olympic athlete? No problem!

Even AccountingWEB favourite Della Hudson can make the case for the run, swim, and cycle of tax season

However, if you want to live life in the maths lane, the motor racing success of accounting tycoon Simon Dolan might be an impractical goal to achieve over the few short weeks in August and September.  

Grand Theft Audit

And for those who prefer more stationary holiday diversions with less movement and more sitting, there are plenty of accountant-targeted games to tickle your fancy.

If you’ve had enough of your children being glued to their screens, gaming at all hours, you could, perhaps, kick their assets and beat them at their own game with the intriguing Zombie Accountant. And for strictly iPhone users, there is the highly addictive Numtris (literally numerical Tetris) to while away the hours with a strong beverage in hand.

Or if it’s a more old school board game with the famille ensemble gathered around the table that tickles your fancy, you can try Cashflow – which I suspect will still cause as much fighting and shouting as the less traditional Monopoly variations.

Stock-taking, bean-counting head-scratchers

Or does your depreciation fall more within the puzzles category? You may find the "Accountant - I'm Not Arguing I’m Always Right" book of some 316 Sudoku game sheets less taxing than some. Others may seek diversion in this online crossword puzzle of accounting terms

Are you a board game aficionado? I know I would be more at home with the new virtual rendition of Mob Accountant – the escape room style event reinvented for the post-Covid holiday. 

Although, I would stress that the national treasure that is Rebecca Benneyworth, with her Joy Smith Murder Mystery hat on, was was light years ahead in this field as this 2010 AccountingWEB article will testify.

And finally, if all this is just a little too much, then perhaps it’s best to stock up the drinks cabinet and try your arm at flinging the shaker, crushing the ice, and perfecting that garnish twist for an Income Tax, Sage Lady, or dare I say Moneyshot Martini.

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