What a number is made of

What accounting says about a life, and about the companies you hear about.

Behind every result, there is a decision, an estimate or a matter of timing.

Bill's ledger shows them at work in an ordinary life. The blog finds them in company accounts, in plain language.

Subscribe for free One piece a week by email: Bill's ledger one week, the blog the next

The ledger

EP.33 / 20 Oct 2026 / Share-Based Payment

Bill was granted 3,000 euro of shares. His ledger records nothing.

Bill is granted 150 restricted stock units at 20 euro a share. On the grant date that is 3,000 euro.

Read EP.33 Meet Bill

The blog

Note 11 / 27 Oct 2026

Where the buyback shares go

40 million shares bought, 14 million handed to employees, and only 3 million of those came from the ones bought back.

Read the post