Meanings
- The act or policy of relying on quantitative measurable details, especially those concerned with expenses and profits, as opposed to seeking a broader understanding of something.
Birt was 'obsessed with systems and procedures and power diagrams and channels of accountability' and 'turned the BBC into a beancounting Babel'.
2016, Tom Mills, The BBC: Myth of a Public Service3 more examples
A proud bureaucrat, Hermes serves as Planet Express's accountant, although, as we will discuss, his role goes well beyond the traditional beancounting activities we associate with accounting.
2016, Michael A. Allen, Justin S. Vaughn, Poli Sci Fi: An Introduction to Political Science through Science Fiction, page 130Ad statistics, the boring beancounting task critical to keep the budgets flowing, would have to exist separately and work for advertisers and their accounting departments.
2016, Antonio Garcia Martinez, Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money MachineAt a practical level, a project of organizing prisoners would challenge the predominant beancounting organizing approach that considers a campaign viable only if potential dues income exceeds organizing and servicing costs.
2022, Jordan House, Asaf Rashid, Solidarity Beyond Bars
Origin
Cite this entry
beancounting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beancounting
“beancounting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beancounting. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beancounting,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beancounting.
Source: beancounting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.