What collective term best describes a group of accountants. A numeracy of accountants? A charter, an asset, or, unkindly, a liability? Given the current propensity of high-rolling number-crunchers to cruise for business in a piranha-like shoal, why not a double entry of accountants? This week, partners in Price Waterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand formally created a double act, agreeing to merge their practices. The resulting monolith, if approved by various regulatory authorities, would create the world's largest accountancy firm with 8,500 partners and 136,500 staff. In Ireland this double act would dominate the stage with projected fee income of £63 million, 79 partners and 1,177 employees. The merger raises issues of client confidentiality, narrowing of choice and anxiety over fee structures. Also an accountancy hypermarket may not be in the interest of many small businesses, frozen out by higher fees and impersonal service. Perhaps the big players should reflect on some of the philosophical nuances of basic bookkeeping - entries must be made in two different accounts to keep the ins and outs in equitable balance.