“An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did”

“An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did” is a jocular definition of an accountant. “Accountant: A man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did” was cited in print in 1965 and credited to Evan Esar’s “Comic Dictionary.” Comedian Joey Adams (1911-1999) used the joke by at least 1981.
 
 
HathiTrust Digital Library
Comic Dictionary (revised and enlarged edition)
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Horizon Press
1951
Pg. 17:
accountant. A man whose business it is to prove that figures can lie.
 
2 April 1965, The Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), “Comic Dictionary” by Evan Esar, pg. 14, col. 8:
Accountant
A man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.
 
Google Books
Strictly for Laughs
By Joey Adams
New York, NY: A & W Publishers
1981
Pg. 180:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.
 
15 March 1987, The Sunday Republican (Springfield, MA),  “Glad You Asked That!” by Marilyn and Hy Gardner, pg. G-2, col. 4:
IN THESE TAXING TIMES, we offer Joey Adams’ definition of an accountant: “The guy you hire to prove you didn’t make the money you did!”
 
Google Books
Phillips’ Book of Great Thoughts and Funny Sayings:
A Stupendous Collection of Quotes, Quips, Epigrams, Witticisms, and Humorous Comments
By Bob Phillips
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House
1993
Pg. 4:
ACCOUNTANT
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.
   
Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 5:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.
 
Google Books
Business Wit & Wisdom
By Richard S. Zera
Washington, DC: Beard Books
2005
Pg. 18:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.