For those truly passionate about this field of expertise, accounting is about much more than numbers. Sure, arithmetic plays a pretty important role in everything - but at the end of the day, accounting is about growing businesses, about law, about being part of a national system of rules and regulations (not just from an economic point of view, but from a social point of view as well). Businesses happen on multiple fronts. There is the front stage, where salespeople in shiny suits sell products and services that have been beautifully dressed by the marketing pros. And then there is the backstage - the spreadsheets and statements where it all happens. The place where accountants, auditors, managers, and assistants analyze, dissect, and find the best solutions for the best growth. As an accountant, you are part of a machine that is bigger than you - but you are not a simple cog without which the machinery would keep on going. You are the very oil running the machine. Without great accounting, even the largest companies can easily fall - and the Enron example we have referred to throughout this book is a very comprehensive portrayal of how things can go wrong when accountants work on the dark side of accounting regulations.