New Semester at Fairleigh Dickinson

Today a new semester starts at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). I will be teaching Auditing in the Master of Accounting Program. This will be the ninth course I will be teaching at FDU. FDU has one of the country’s top MBA and graduate programs in accounting, and I am honored to be a part of this fine university. I’ve taught about 30 semesters at FDU. Last year I taught two courses at Baruch College, my alma mater, and while that was never on my bucket list, I was thrilled to be teaching there. I will also be running a Graduate seminar at Baruch in the spring, so my dance card is pretty filled up.

Connecting with young students at FDU and Baruch provides me with a unique opportunity to mentor, coach and teach the next generation of business leaders and accountants and is a way for me to give back for the great career I’ve had.

Many students approach classes as a “must get done” so they can get on with their “real lives” when they start their careers. However, most classes are training grounds to prepare them and to allow them to have a running start when their careers start. Getting a degree is extremely important, but after a student is hired for their first job, they will be rated by, and grow professionally by, what they can do, how they apply what they learned and how they synthesize what they know with their newfound experiences. Logically what they learn is more important than the sheepskin they can brag about.

My job is to teach them what they will need to know to be successful. I know grades are important, but to become important people in their profession or whatever undertaking they strive for, it is the foundation of knowledge that will enable them to create real value for themselves.

The reality for my students (and everyone else) is that what you learn, you own. Owning it allows your bosses and clients to rent it. The greater your inventory of what you own, and the greater its quality, the greater your value. The greater your value, the more you will earn, plus the greater your satisfaction in what you are doing. Further, you can keep renting it, and the greater your use of what you own, the greater your inventory will become, as will your growth.

I believe that Auditing is an essential element to future success in accounting and business. Most people understand that auditors provide an opinion on publicly traded companies’ financial statements, but they do not fully realize the scope and extent of what auditors do. The auditing process requires a review of a company’s accounting system and an assessment of its controls. To do this, auditors thoroughly look at how a company operates and conducts its business and how the transactions flow. Some of what many companies do is acquire raw materials to produce what it sells, ships, bills and collects payment for, they check the credit worthiness of the customers, have various categories of personnel employed and many locations they do business at, have a method of its supply chain and facilities management and inventory control and should have adequate insurance, banking and financing arrangements, and how it reports timely to its executive management, board of directors and stockholders or owners.

Auditors get into the nuts and bolts of how a company functions, including the technology employed, cash flow, personnel and backlog management and scheduling systems, regulatory compliance and exposure to liability — especially if there is pending litigation. It also requires a full understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and the company’s conformity with them.

Auditing is an involved process and one that has been developed over the years to provide the assurance that users of the financial statements need to make their decisions. This, and a lot more, is what my students will learn this semester, and I will try to do it in a way where they develop a firm understanding and insight into this linchpin of business.

Auditing is an exciting process and gives auditors, especially young auditors, an understanding of how companies function. What could be more interesting?

My class starts tonight, and I cannot wait to meet my students, share my knowledge and provide them with the underpinning of how businesses operate that very few can obtain but that all auditors have access to. This is exciting stuff.