Accounting and Finance Literacy…a Dynamic Dance

Accounting and finance often get a bad rap for being “boring”.  Businesses often procrastinate or see their bookkeeping as a “necessary evil” to meet regulatory requirements rather than something that adds significant value to your business.

However, here at 2 Liquid Assets, we like to look through various lenses to see how exciting accounting and financial literacy can be and how having a foundational understanding of the books may enhance your organization’s value.

One of these lenses is to view accounting and finance as a dance.

Dance, Finance & Communication

Dance requires two people to have a basic knowledge of the dance in order to deeply communicate.  Anyone could watch a dance and generally appreciate the athleticism or artistry.  However, if you know the steps and the effort it takes to execute them, as an observer you can truly appreciate the performance; understanding the work that has gone into the dance and being able to provide a critique at a fundamental level.  When dancing with a partner, you understand the same language and you can communicate a sequence of steps that develop into a performance that can generate emotions, shift perspectives, and inspire action.

Similarly, accounting and financial literacy allows an individual to better appreciate the effort needed to summarize hundreds or thousands of transactions to create financial statements.  Understanding the language of accounting and financial literacy allows someone to unlock the secrets of metrics and analytics to drive decision making and generate a road map for an organization’s vision.

Partnership

Creating a relationship with a dance partner requires vulnerability, trust, and intimacy, even if only during the duration of the dance.  Generating a relationship with a bookkeeper, CPA, banker, employee, or other business partner also requires these same attributes.   You need to open yourself up to sharing information about your business with another person and be able to trust them to respect that information, provide valuable insights from that information, to communicate it in a responsible way to you and other approved parties and not to disclose it to others that may be competitors or not have your best business interests in mind. 

Storytelling

The dance floor serves as the canvas for a dancer to express their story.  In the same way, a financial statement opens up the user to the narrative of the business, going beyond merely communicating about a company’s product or service, but sharing the historical successes and the exciting direction of an organization.  By viewing the financial statements as a way of sharing the organization’s story to stakeholders, they become alive and vibrant.

A dancer uses meter, timing and rhythm to evoke a feeling, an emotional connection.  Every stretch of an arm, point of toe, or arch of foot is specifically chosen to draw attention.  Ratios, metrics, and disclosures are designed to highlight the results, needs, or goals of an organization to a stakeholder.

There are all different styles of dance.  From ballet to hip hop, tango to cha-cha, jazz to aerial; each style communicates something different to the dancers and the audience.  Different regulations and guidance generate a need for different styles of reporting; tax to banking, operations to investing, selling to auditing all require unique formats.

Conclusion

When looking at accounting and finance through the lens of dance, it quickly becomes more interesting and involved.

Want to hear more?  Please check out one of our 2 Liquid Asset partners (and a dancer)  in her guest appearance on the Bee Dance Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0DWDMRg06cwhere – You will learn more about how dance and accounting have many parallels and how accounting literacy can be a valuable tool in communicating about your business or organization.