"Chief Comptroller Wu has left the building."

December 10, 2024 6:34 AM

Are there any notable figures from the fictional world who were actually decent people AND very much in charge of finances?

I am looking for a name to invoke when I go into Head Beancounter mode in my personal life.

You know when people quote Melville's Bartleby the scrivener, "I'd rather not?" That kind of emblematic figure, but in a lofty financial supervisory role. Think of VP of Finance Dumbledore.

The figure has to be ethical. So Scrooge doesn't count (at least not till he grows a heart at the end of the story).

Preferably a fictional figure, but can be a real-life person, perhaps even someone who moved from major financial responsibilities to fiction writing, philosophy, or other pursuits.

No crooks or chiselers, unless they reformed.

posted by rabia.elizabeth to Society & Culture (18 answers total)

St. Matthew the Apostle is the patron of accountants and could fit the bill for you (so to speak).
posted by jquinby at 6:40 AM on December 10 [3 favorites]

Michael Astrue is a lawyer who has served as a leader in government and private industry (commissioner of the Social Security Administration and CEO of several companies) and is also an award-winning poet and poetry editor.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:51 AM on December 10 [2 favorites]

Moist Von Lipwig? (Sort of) reformed con man who ends up in charge of Ankh Morpork's banking system.
posted by damayanti at 7:11 AM on December 10 [10 favorites]

Grand Duke Tremane in the Valdemar Mage Storms series is very much an ethical bean counter. He's an organization man with ink-stained fingers surrounded by plotters and external difficulties. He applies his skills for the common good, surprising everyone (not least himself) with his success.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:21 AM on December 10 [2 favorites]

He's not exactly a beancounter, but Kurt Vonnegut's Mr. Rosewater might qualify.
posted by Ragged Richard at 7:49 AM on December 10 [1 favorite]

Norm in the TV series "Cheers" starts out as an accountant. He loses his job defending Diane from his boss' advances, and then becomes a housepainter.

Ben Wyatt in the TV series "Parks and Rec" starts out as a light antagonist to the main character Leslie Knope when he comes in to critically evaluate the town's finances, but is quickly found to be a very decent person aside from his love of accounting puns.
posted by AndrewInDC at 7:49 AM on December 10 [5 favorites]

Fictional: Hermes from futurama

Historical: Accounting adjacent, but Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrand was the brains behind the case U.S. v. Sullivan (1927) which first tested the idea that illegally earned income was subject to taxation, and laid the groundwork for the prosecution of Al Capone. So while she was a lawyer and not technically an accountant, as an accounting policy wonk she definitely deserves an honorary bean counter title.
posted by donut_princess at 8:23 AM on December 10 [4 favorites]

Also both Janet Jackson and Mick Jagger originally studied to be accountants and they both have actively said they would have enjoyed going into accounting if they hadn’t succeeded in music.
posted by donut_princess at 8:26 AM on December 10 [3 favorites]

Cliopher Mdang from The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard is a high ranking bureaucrat who is good with finances. He also spends a lot of the book transforming government for the better, and it's a good read!
posted by quacks like a duck at 8:42 AM on December 10 [12 favorites]

Myfanwy Thomas from the Rook Files books is THE BEST CONTINGENCY PLANNER EVER.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:49 AM on December 10 [5 favorites]

The true post-cyberpunk hero is a noir forensic accountant

The answer is Marty Hench, the forensic accountant cyberpunk hero of Cory Doctorow's two most recent books.
posted by tiamat at 9:08 AM on December 10 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Don't wanna threadsit, but y'all are giving me SO many ideas for my next reads as well. Keep the great suggestions coming!
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:00 AM on December 10

Meet accountant and IRS agent Jarod Koopman: "When he sits down at his computer, what he will do at work is much the same as what he does at the dojo. This work has, among other things, led to the rescue of 23 children from rape and assault, the seizure of a quarter-million child abuse videos, and the arrest of 370 alleged pedophiles. It has resulted in the largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency headed to Hamas, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. When Changpeng Zhao, chief of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, reported to prison in June, it was because Koopman’s small cybercrime team had uncovered evidence of the firm’s money laundering for terrorists and sanctions-busting for Iran, Syria and Russia. In the past 10 years, this work has returned more than $12 billion to victims of crime and to the U.S. Treasury."
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 10:50 AM on December 10 [4 favorites]

Lord Berenar in Katherine Addison's (aka Sarah Monette) The Goblin Emperor. He is the Witness for the Treasury (more or less the Minister of the Treasury or perhaps the Chancellor of the Exchequer) in a fantasy kingdom and is smart, honest, and kind.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 11:19 AM on December 10 [6 favorites]

OK, you ruled out Scrooge, but what about Scrooge McDuck? At least the Carl Barks version, who may have "three cubic acres of money" that he swims around in, but he's scrupulously honest. "I made it square!" he declares. Unlike his nemesis, Flintheart Glomgold.
posted by SPrintF at 11:54 AM on December 10 [1 favorite]

If I remember correctly from 50 years ago, there is a character in Dicken's Our Mutual Friend who has such control over finances that everything comes out even at the end of the month -- No shillings, no pence. It's one of those cute vignettes scattered through Dicken's chaotic sagas.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:58 AM on December 11

Hah! This is totally not the answer: fantasy accountant Colonial Finance Minister Baru Cormorant! Conflicted protagonist, but not always ethical nor decent and a kinda fuck-up in some ways. There's a sad little flicker of idealism that peaks through from time to time. Worth a look.
posted by ovvl at 6:11 AM on December 11

Cithrin bel Sarcour in Daniel Abraham’s The Dagger and the Coin series might fit the bill—her storyline is all about rising through the ranks in the banking system while using her influence to resolve the larger conflicts throughout the series.
posted by Kosh at 7:28 AM on December 11