Welcome to the class—whoops, I meant The Accounting Onion. Before you read my posts, you may want to read this frank and deeply touching tale of my personal journey to accounting blogdom.
I graduated from the Cornell Hotel School in 1973, but as I approached the time where I was supposed to snag a job in the hospitality industry, the traditional career paths open to ‘hotelies’ just didn’t feel right. Following a series of lackluster job interviews, I made an appointment with the assistant dean, an impetuous and avuncular fellow, to seek his advice. Within ten minutes, he offered me a position to teach accounting and finance at a 2-year junior college that Cornell was running for the tourism authority of Puerto Rico. Career-wise, it was the luckiest day of my life.
Here’s the next 35 years in a nutshell. I quickly found that I loved teaching, and two years later, I entered graduate school. I have taught accounting more or less continuously since taking the Puerto Rico job: at Cornell, Ohio State, Dartmouth, Wake Forest, MIT and Thunderbird. A little more than a year ago, I elected to ‘retire’ early. I say ‘retire’, even though I am busier than ever:
- I have lead and produced approximately 200 management education programs in 14 countries. Currently, I teach courses on SEC reporting, accounting for international operations, and International Financial Reporting Standards.
- I continue to provide consulting services to companies on matters including SEC compliance, U.S. GAAP, international accounting standards, operational and strategic decision making, and control of international operations.
- I continue to serve as an expert witness and provide litigation support on a broad range of accounting topics, including foreign accounting standards and valuation.
- In 2002, I co-founded Grove Technologies, LLC, producer of easy-to-use, hosted, web-based collaboration tools. Our flagship product is GroveSite (www.grovesite.com), and our clients range from SMBs to large organizations like Target Stores, AARP, Realogy and Texas A&M.
So, why have I become a blogger? Frankly, blogging has emerged as an important way for independent professionals to gain exposure that could lead to opportunity.
But, why The Accounting Onion? You’re supposed to blog about what you know. I know that financial reporting is often unnecessarily complex and far from perfect. (I promise not to make any greater understatement in subsequent posts!) From my years of teaching, I also learned how to peel away layers of jargon and complexity to expose what lies at the core of an accounting rule: sometimes a valid concept, and other times an unpleasant surprise.
I do miss the classroom, and I’m finding that blogging to inform, educate, and perchance to provoke has been satisfying.
