Editorial

Citation

Evans, S. (2013), "Editorial", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 26 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ.05926haa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Literature and insights From: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Volume 26, Issue 8

It is in your stars: the Evans simplified accounting zodiac, patent pending

As we reach the end of 2013, you may be thinking back over what went right during the year and what went a little bit awry – or, at least, headed in unexpected directions. Doing this can help in your approach to the next twelve months, maybe ushering in the prospect of a new, better self with a more productive and more sanguine outlook.

Well, here to help you is a zodiac especially attuned to the busy lives of readers of this august journal. Reflecting the contemporary age, it has been designed with an efficiency dividend, that is, it comprises just four signs rather than the traditional twelve. They principally relate to your career, with a little personal advice thrown in. So, pretend you are hearing a little fanfare right now and let us see what is in store for you in 2014: here is your new horoscope!

Numerus

You will be pedantic and annoying all year. No text will be safe from your proofreading and nitpicking, and no colleague able to avoid you when you decide to make another of those constant offers to help that are thinly disguised attempts to assert your superiority. Surprisingly, it is all in a good cause. Everyone will eventually come to realize that no-one knows more than you do, and they will end up competing, sometime viciously, for your company. Consequently, you will receive several proposals of marriage (regardless of your marital status), bribes of small Mediterranean islands, and offers of co-authorship of articles already accepted by high-ranking journals.

Personal

Grin at everyone; it will unsettle them. Take out insurance, because 2015 will be terrible.

Managa

Nothing can detract from your stunning animal magnetism and charm. Your voice and dress sense, the way you move, and slowly brush your hair out of your eyes will cause workmates to swoon and political parties to seek you out as a candidate in the next bye-election. You will introduce a revolutionary filing system as well as a cost-saving method of car-parking at your place of employment. You will also devise a radically new method of research and teaching that sees you short-listed for the Nobel Prize, though it will go to someone who writes software that shortens bank customer queues (basically, by eliminating counter service).

Personal

Your partner will run off with an imaginary friend he/she had in high school, taking only the best of your CD collection. Start lessons in ancient Greek; you will need them.

Paciolis

Advice will come from all directions – some from people with good intentions, and also from a smaller number who wish you would fall under a bus. Pay them no heed. Despite their smiles, they all ultimately want the glory associated with your wise management. If there is credit to be had, it is all yours. You will be exactly on track and should be aiming to bulldoze your way through any objections, regardless of how sensible they seem. If there is blame to be apportioned for some unintended consequence, sheet it home vigorously to the first who questions your ability. Take no prisoners.

Personal

Your Satnav will occasionally speak Esperanto, or just misdirect you just for the fun of it. Wear blue socks and write a best-seller crime thriller accounting novel.

Ledga

You will be prone to outbursts of dizzying rhetoric, and often at inconvenient times. People will either be in awe of your ability to home in on the very heart of an issue in short time or dumbstruck at your ignorance and lack of tact. Never mind. All that matters is that you let yourself be carried away with your own sense of importance and the complete delusion that you are dazzling a willing audience with your insight. While in this mood, you will write an discerning and comprehensive report for delivery at a board meeting but drop the USB in your coffee cup as you enter the room, sending you into mute panic.

Personal

You will appear on a comedy cooking show. Towards November you run the risk of being eaten by an escaped lion. Always have a flower in your shirt lapel or blouse.

There is a bonus with this new streamlined zodiac, and it is that you can choose your own star sign. Any of the above can be yours, though you are not permitted to change during the year as that would be cheating. If you are not sure about your future, personal readings are available at enormous prices. Just send me a telepathic message straight after remitting a thousand dollars to my bank account.

Our contributor’s section for this issue comprises a poem jointly written by Milorad Novicevic and Ashley Burrowes. Maybe a little more serious than the editorial above, “The Creed of Good Governance” strikes an advisory tone. Is there irony here? That is for you to decide!

Your own creative contributions can be submitted via ScholarOne (see footnote on previous page), and your email correspondence is always welcome, of course, at: mailto:steve.evans@flinders.edu.au

Acknowledgements

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) welcomes submissions of both research papers and creative writing. Creative writing in the form of poetry and short prose pieces is edited for the Literature and Insights section only and does not undergo the refereeing procedures required for all research papers published in the main body of AAAJ. Author guidelines for contributions to this section of the journal can be found at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=aaaj

Steve Evans
Literary Editor