bean counter


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bean counter

n. Slang
A person, such as an accountant or financial officer, who is concerned with quantification, especially to the exclusion of other matters.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bean′ count`er


n.
Informal. a person who makes judgments chiefly on the basis of numerical calculations.
[1975–80]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.bean counter - an accountant or bureaucrat who is believed to place undue emphasis on the control of expendituresbean counter - an accountant or bureaucrat who is believed to place undue emphasis on the control of expenditures
accountant, comptroller, controller - someone who maintains and audits business accounts
administrative official, bureaucrat - an official of a bureaucracy
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
Everything the Treasury bean counter touches seems to turn to dust at the moment.
Bean counters: A bean counter has a lot in common with the recreational player, but has decided to make the commitment to building and maintaining a bankroll.
Crime is going up so the recommendation is a reduction in the number of police, typical bean counter logic.
She is the owner of Bean Counter Tax Services in Springfield.
Quickbooks for the new bean counter; business owner's guide.
Allie Ash, who rose from bean counter to publisher at Cap Pub, liked to say that there was greater return in spending your creative capital launching another newsletter than in dreaming up seminars, conferences and/or doing consulting, because you can only sell an hour of your time and expertise once, but a successful new newsletter brings long-term returns.
Even so, he first hired someone who was a good bean counter rather than a good controller.
Very impressive I but only if youOre a bean counter.
A gentle, intelligent man, Samuel Tyne immigrated to Canada with his uncle Jacob and has spent 15 years working as a government bean counter. When Jacob dies, leaving Samuel a house outside the small town of Aster, the 40-year-old man sees an opportunity to reject his soul-destroying job and stale life in Calgary, and move his family to the hamlet on the prairie.
"I would say 10 years ago an accountant was considered to be just a bean counter. Count the beans, put the numbers in a book, put the financial statements out.
I wish my bean counter would explain to me what my financial statement says in an over-easy manner ....