the traditional view of accountants as merely 'bean counters' is slowly becoming a thing of the past. For centuries, accountants have been employed to report on the numbers. they have sat there in their little corner, surrounded by stacks of paper and computer printouts, and have told us whether or not we have made a profit. But more and more, accountants are finding that management does't need them to report on the numbers. with today's technology, management already has access to software which do this work for them.