bean counter

noun

usually disparaging

: a person involved in corporate or government financial decisions and especially one reluctant to spend money

Examples of bean counter in a Sentence

He blames corporate bean counters for causing thousands of workers to lose their jobs.

Recent Examples on the Web

Having racked up 130-plus movie credits over a 50-year producing career, Don Carmody has long been known as the Don of Hollywood North by studio bean counters who crunched the numbers and chose to save money by shooting in Canada. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026

So, naturally, Thorne tries to have the bean counter killed, and Batman (Hamish Linklater) tries to save him. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Aug. 2026

So are the travel industry's evil bean counters trying to make money by incorrectly labeling you as a no-show? — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 24 July 2026

Like, the bean counters probably loved the fact that the first volume of the Beach Boys’ greatest hits eventually sold three and a half million copies. — Chris Willman, Variety, 17 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bean counter

• encounter