Names for Accountants and CPAs: 75 Tax-Season Picks for Pets, Boats, and Cars

You survive busy season every year. You know the difference between a credit and a deduction, and you've explained it to your relatives more times than you can count. These names for accountants and CPAs put that vocabulary to better use, on the pet, the boat, and the car you finally have time for once the returns are filed.

We've grouped them by what you're naming, with a quick translation for the insider terms, so you'll have an answer ready when someone asks, "What does that mean?"

Pet names for accountants

• Deduction: for a pet who deducts food from your plate.
• Write-Off: every dog knows a treat is a legitimate business expense.
• Audit: for a dog who inspects every bag you bring home.
• Audit Trail: for the dog who follows you from room to room.
• Petty Cash: for a small cat with expensive tastes.
• Goodwill: an intangible asset on the balance sheet, and the best description of a good dog.
• Debit: for the first of two pets.
• Credit: for the second. Together, they always balance.
• Accrual: revenue is recorded when it's earned, not when it's paid. Love works the same way.
• Tickmark: the little check marks auditors leave on every page, for a pet who leaves a mark on everything.
• Footnote: for the smallest member of the family, who still matters most.
• Going Concern: auditor-speak for "still in business," for a senior dog going strong.
• Schedule C: the IRS form for self-employment income. Or "Sked" for short.
• Refund: the happiest dog in the neighborhood.
• Receipt: for a pet who shreds every piece of paper in the house.
• Bean Counter: a proud title, for a hamster or a guinea pig.
• Ten Key: for the cat who walks across your keyboard.
• CPA: or "Cee Pee" for short.
• K-1: the partnership tax form, one letter away from K-9.
• GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, for a dog with a gap in their smile.
• Ten Ninety-Nine: for the freelancer's first pet.
• Busy Season: for a very energetic puppy.
• Exemption: for the one pet who's allowed on the couch.

Boat names for accountants

• Extension Granted: six more months to file. (To file, not to pay.)
• October 15th: the extended deadline, and the end of the season for many boats.
• April 16th: the most relaxing day of the year.
• Filed Early: for the rare, well-organized accountant.
• Tax Shelter: a real shelter, from the sun.
• Safe Harbor: an IRS rule that protects you from penalties, and a good place to drop anchor.
• Sea Corp: for an S corp owner with a boat.
• Books Balanced: the most satisfying two words in accounting.
• Year-End Close
• Reconciled: finally at peace.
• Depreciating Asset: every accountant knows the truth about boats.
• Liquid Asset: the only kind that floats.
• Net Loss: for a fishing boat that comes home empty.
• Gross Income: before taxes, and before the fuel bill.
• Carryforward: an unused loss that carries into future years, for a boat that keeps paying off.
• Deferred Maintenance: honest, at least.
• Double Entry: every transaction recorded twice, for a boat with two owners.

Banker or financial advisor in the boat too? See our finance boat names for 70 more.

Car names for accountants

• Depreciation: straight-line, from the moment you drive off the lot.
• Straight Line: the steady way to depreciate, and the steady way to drive.
• Accelerated Depreciation: for a sports car.
• Bonus Depreciation: for a second sports car.
• Mileage Log: the most carefully kept log in the family.
• Standard Deduction: for a sensible sedan.
• Itemized: for a car with every option.
• Business Expense: ask your own accountant.
• Estimated Payment: for a car paid off in quarterly installments.
• Fiscal Year
• Placed in Service: the day depreciation starts, and the day you drive it home.
• Useful Life: for the car you plan to drive forever.
• Salvage Value: for a car that has seen better days.
• Due Date
• Bottom Line

Home names for accountants

• Home Office: if you qualify.
• Cost Basis: what you paid, before every improvement since.
• Capital Improvement: the new deck counts. The new couch doesn't.
• Principal Residence
• Fixed Asset: about as fixed as an asset gets.
• Retained Earnings: for the house that years of saving paid for.
• The Counting House
• Tax Haven: the only one you'll ever recommend.
• After Tax
• Post-April Place
• Sum Place Special: say it out loud.
• Reconciliation Retreat

Understated names for the discreet

Not every name has to be a joke. These read as elegant to outsiders and as an inside nod to colleagues.

• Ledger
• Tally
• Balance
• Assurance: the formal name for what auditors provide.
• Reserve
• Margin
• Basis
• Penny: the smallest unit, for the smallest companion.

Tips for choosing names for accountants

• Pick a term your family can pronounce. "Accrual" is fun until the kids start calling the dog "a cruel."
• Keep it client-safe. If clients might see it, on the boat at the marina or the car in the office lot, skip anything that sounds like a tax dodge.
• Test it on a non-accountant. The best names work on two levels, so outsiders enjoy them even without the inside joke.
• Name it after busy season. You'll have more patience, and a better sense of humor, on April 16th.

A note on the fine print

These names are jokes, not tax advice. Whether anything is actually deductible depends on your situation, and you know better than anyone to check the rules before claiming it.

More for the numbers crowd: our boat names for accountants and bankers, Wall Street dog names, and cat names for bankers.