Numbers aren’t neutral.
Numbers aren’t neutral.
We like to think they tell an objective truth. But the humans behind them have everything to do with the story they tell.
In my global business accounting course, I learned how financial statements prepared under U.S. GAAP and international IFRS can tell different stories about the same company. Not because anyone did the math wrong but because each framework is built on different assumptions.
And the more complex a business becomes, the more those assumptions shape the picture.
Even at the small-business level, the numbers for just revenue don’t tell the whole story.
Where did the revenue come from?
How much did it cost to earn it?
Was it worth it?
The data might look objective, but the framing — what you choose to include, exclude, or emphasize — is always human.
That’s what I love about bookkeeping: helping people uncover the stories their numbers are already telling (and the ones they could tell next).
Because numbers don’t determine the story.
We do.
(And if you’d like a little help finding the story in yours, you know where to find me.)
