>> That is kind of strange. I can't imagine it being a high-stress environment. Maybe the sheer boredom of it? <<

Oh, it can be stressful, namely when management or a client is pressuring you to come up with the "right" numbers. My wife, who is an accountant, quit one well-paying job as Controller because the owner of the company was leaning on her to fudge the financial statements with numbers she knew were bogus. Most accountants are by nature cautious, by-the-books (literally!) types and it is stressful to feel you are expected to start tossing wild numbers around.

Mike