Of course people have asked about things that seem weird. I'm not saying accountants never use the word "why." I'm saying that's not their role. The function

Of course people have asked about things that seem weird. I'm not saying accountants never use the word "why." I'm saying that's not their role. The function of a public accountant is to gather enough evidence to be reasonably assured of management's assertions. That's it. They aren't investigating the company, they aren't looking for fraud (though sometimes they find it), and they aren't looking to poke holes in the story they've been told. They're looking to confirm it. If you think about the type of person who tends to become an accountant they're usually more of the box-checking/completionist type rather than the model-building/creative problem-solver type that become engineers. For the most part that's a good thing.