Bean Counter
Noun · Hacker Culture
Definitions
A mildly mocking term for someone perceived as overly focused on budgets, metrics, or financial controls at the expense of broader judgment or craft. In tech culture it is often used when cost-cutting feels blind to engineering reality.
In plain English: A dismissive term for someone seen as obsessively focused on costs or numbers.
Example: "The engineers grumbled about the bean counters after travel got cut again, though the finance team would have said they were just keeping the company solvent."