It's an easy mistake to make. I know someone who did this very thing.
It's true that American education does a pitiful job of impressing upon the average citizen that (a) accountants rule the world; (b) you should therefore take a basic accounting class, and/or pay attention to the words in those IRS instructions that the government carefully mails to you every year; and (c) you should talk to an accountant for an hour every few years, unless you can't afford that, in which case you should probably still try to find a way to talk to an accountant, pro bono or something, because they might be able to help.
Talking to an accountant isn't expensive. It's just a task which people think of as unpleasant. It's kind of like somebody moping about how they need to pay $500 for dental work, because they didn't visit a dentist when the problem was easily fixed.
It's true that American education does a pitiful job of impressing upon the average citizen that (a) accountants rule the world; (b) you should therefore take a basic accounting class, and/or pay attention to the words in those IRS instructions that the government carefully mails to you every year; and (c) you should talk to an accountant for an hour every few years, unless you can't afford that, in which case you should probably still try to find a way to talk to an accountant, pro bono or something, because they might be able to help.