Top 100 Most Influential People Use LinkedIn

Most of us know LinkedIn, the most popular and best social media platform for accountants.  Yet, not very many accountants, accounting professors, accounting students and accounting aficionados use it well.

Would it help to know that the most influential people in accounting (according to Accounting Today) use LinkedIn and are heavy users?  If they have invested serious amounts of time in it, then perhaps so should you.

I use LinkedIn heavily.  Over the past year, I pretty much have shifted my social media efforts from blogging on The Summa to interacting with accounting types through LinkedIn.  So much so, I might be called Mr. LinkedIn amongst accounting professors.  Oh, I think that blogging is still my raison d’être.  But LinkedIn is le futur. [Perhaps I can be called Professor Social Media}

You remember the Accounting Today list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in accounting? Published in September of each year, it is Accounting Today’s attempt to capture what’s happening in the industry.  Look carefully, and you’ll notice that those savvy in digital era and social technologies get the AT nod as to who should be influential.

80 of the T100 Most Influential People use LinkedIn. 53 use it heavily with 500+ connections.  The other 27 have small networks. That’s the scale in online social networks.  Large networks are >2,500. Medium sized network have at least 500 contacts.

I categorize the Top 100 Most influential people into those who made the list primarily for (1) blogging/media, (2) audit firm leadership, (3) consultants and vendors, (4) regulators, (5) association leadership, and (6) lobbyists.

Here is my tally of the T100 Most Influential People who use LinkedIn.  I provide links to the profiles for the heavy users.  You must be signed into LinkedIn to fully see the profiles.

Bloggers. All four who make the T100 list for blogging are on LinkedIn.  Heavy users are Dave Albrecht (The Summa), Paul Caron (Tax Prof Blog) and Rick Telberg (CPA Trendlines).  Caleb Newquist (Going Concern) also uses LI.

Accounting Firm Leadership.  10/14 who make the T100 list due to their accounting firm leadership are on LinkedIn.  Heavy users are Jason Blumer (Blumer & Associates), Jim Bourke (WithumSmith+Brown) , Stephen Chipman (Grant Thornton) and Jody Padar (New Vision CPA Group).  Small LI network users who make the T100 list are Rick Anderson (Moss Adams), Ken Baggett (Cohn Reznick), Joe Echevaria (Deloitte), Tom Marino (CohnReznick), Kris McMasters (CliftonLarsonAllen) and Robert Moritz (PWC).  Echevaria is barely on LI, with a short profile and a network of zero.  What’s the point?

Consultants & Vendors.  40/41 who make the T100 list because of their service to accounting firms/professionals are on LinkedIn.  Heavy users are August Aquila (Aquila Global Advisor), Ron Baker (VeraSage Institute), Gary Boomer (Boomer Consulting), Jim Boomer (Boomer Consulting), David Cieslak (Arxis Technology), Gale Crosley (Crosley+Co.), Chris Frederiksen (The 2020 Group), Michelle Golden (Golden Practices), Jeff Gramlich (CCH Small Firm Services), Angie Grissom (The Rainmaker Consulting Group), Pascal Houillon (Sage North America), Randy Johnston (K2 Enterprises), Rita Keller (Keller Advisors), Allan Koltin (Koltin Consulting Group), Taylor Macdonald (Intacct), Jeff Pawlow (The Growth Partnership), Kevin Robert (Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting), Marc Rosenberg (The Rosenberg Associates), Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (BBR Marketing), Rebecca Ryan (Next Generation Consulting), Joel Sinkin (Transition Advisors), Doug  Sleeter (The Sleeter Group), Brad Smith (Intuit), Jennifer Warawa (Sage North America), Troy Waugh (The Rainmaker Companies), Geni Whitehouse (Even a Nerd Can Be Heard), Sandra Wiley (Boomer Consulting), Jennifer Wilson (ConvergenceCoaching), Joe Woodard (Scaling New Heights) and Diane Yetter (Yetter Tax Consulting).  Other LI users are Erik Asgeirsson (CPA2BIZ), Jon Baron (Thomson Reuters Tax and Acct), Chandra Bhansali (AccountantsWorld), Jim Buttonow (New River Innovation), George Farrah (Bloomberg BNA), Zach Nelson (Netsuite), Jay Nisberg (Jay Nisberg and Associates), Brian Peccarelli (Thomson Reuters Tax and Acct), Terry Putney (Transition Advisors), Jill Ward (Intuit).

Regulators.  Only 5/18 who make the T100 list because of their service as regulators of accounting are on LinkedIn.  Heavy users are Orrin Hatch (U.S. Senate) and Mitt Romney (presidential candidate). Other LI users are Karen Hawkins (IRS), Terri Polley (FAF) and Leslie Seidman (FASB).

Professional Associations.  19/20 who make the T100 list because of their leadership in professional associations are on LinkedIn.  Heavy users are Richard Caturano (AICPA), Richard Chambers (IIA), Calvin Harris (NABA), Marie Hollein (FEI), Tom Hood (MACPA), Erinn Keserica (AAM), Mark Koziel (AICPA), Lana Kupferschmid (NCCPAP), Barry Melancon (AICPA), James Metzler (AICPA), Clarke Price (OSCPA), James Ratley (ACFE), Ralph Thomas (NJSCPA) and Jeffrey Thomson (IMA).  Other LI users are JoAnne Barry (NYSSCPA), Parnell Black (NACVA), Loretta Doon (California Society of CPAs), Edward Karl (AICPA) and John Sharbaugh (Texas Society of CPAs).

Lobbyists.  Two of the three who make the T100 list because of their leadership of important lobbying organizations are on LinkedIn.  Neither Ken Bishop (NASBA) or Cindy Fornelli (Center for Audit Quality) are heavy users.

In the world of accounting, influential leader and LinkedIn go hand in hand.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

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ProfAlbrecht’s LinkedIn Policy

My digital era and social media technologies world revolves around LinkedIn.  My profile is located here.  I have a medium-sized network (500-2,000).  For those seeking to connect with me, here is my policy.

All connection requests should contain a reason for why we should connect.  This is especially important if we have not met F2F.

I often accept connection requests from:

• my students
• accounting students
• accounting professors
• professors from the teaching groups to which I belong
• employees of the SEC, PCAOB, FASB, IASB, AICPA

I may or may not accept connection requests from others.  It depends on why they want to connect.

I only endorse those for whom I have a great deal of respect.  Just like anyone else, I appreciate being endorsed.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

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Memorial Day 2013

I have not served in the U.S. armed forces.  There was a draft back in my younger days.  The prevailing thought amongst young adults was to wait until called.  That is, of course, unless you had a low draft number, like 3 or 6.  Since you knew you were going to be called, you signed up just to get rid of the hassle.

My father served for a while.  He was discharged after training due to a back injury. Everyone else in his unit was killed during a Pacific beach landing in World War Two.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

Prof Albrecht to La Sierra University

I have accepted an appointment to the Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University in Riverside, California.

The contract term is two years.  My duties are those of a regular faculty member, to teach courses and conduct publishable research.

I am very excited about this opportunity.  La Sierra University is a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher education.  As a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this move is like a return home for me.

I start my research duties on July 1, and arrive on campus August 1.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

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Up All Night, Working on LinkedIn

[Bowling Green, OH. Friday, July 24, 4 a.m.] It is 4:00 a.m. I am still up, working. That I am still up is not unlike some of my students. That I’m working is very much unlike them. After all, who stays up until 4:00 a.m. to study accounting if there is no test later in the day?

So what is an accounting professor working on during the summer? I’m glad you asked. I’m becoming better acquainted with some features of LinkedIn.

At the current time, I have about 900 first level connections. 300 are former students, 300 are professors. Then there are practicing accountants, regulators, social media experts, friends, a nephew and my older son.

Right now I’m growing and maintaining my network.

ProfAlbrecht’s LinkedIn Network

In the network map above, you can see the student connections from the schools at which I’ve taught: BGSU, Concordia College, and USC Upstate. A small cluster is forming already for La Sierra. Also, there are large clusters for professors and bloggers (and heavy social media users).

LinkedIn is a great network managing system, and in this digital technologies era I need a good network. For months I’ve been lamenting that I’m only connected to 140 former students from BGSU. There were thousands, and I’m sure at least a thousand of them are on LinkedIn.

A couple of days ago I got the bright idea to do an advanced search on LinkedIn inputting BGSU for the school and accounting for the industry. Suddenly I had hundreds of accounting grads to search through to see if they took a class from me. If they graduated between 1992 and 2010, probably they took at least one course from me. So I stayed up late and sent out about 20 invitations to connect. All of them accepted!

That was the easy part. I now have to start working on establishing a relationship. When they were sitting in my class, forming a teacher-student relationship was expected. I learned most student names, most students learned my name, and I helped them learn accounting. But years later we no longer have a relationship. But I want one.

I send a thank you note to everyone who joins my network. For these twenty students, I can also ask if they remember anything about the course (or courses) they took from me. I ask if they liked the accounting program. Later on, I’ll send out an occasional e-mail.

Sometimes a former student will e-mail me. In the past few months, a couple students volunteered to write a LinkedIn recommendation for me. Yes, yes, yes!

I’m also trying something new. I’m headed off in the fall to a school in California. I did a similar search (industry and school), and sent off a half dozen invitations to connect. Five accepted. From these students I hope to learn what it is like to study accounting at that school. I’ll also learn if they’ve stayed in touch with the school. Later on in the fall, I’ll invite them to attend the grand opening of the new business building and I’ll get a chance to chat face-to-face.

Once I get good at LinkedIn networking, I’ll start researching it and writing about it.by.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

A Nose for Honest Financial Statements

[April 1, 2013 Special Edition]  Corporate leaders from across the country today gathered on Wall Street for the first ever display of business support for honest financial statements.

Ruta Crumwell led off with an emotional call for death to all who betray the public trust.

CFOs then marched en masse to a traders pit, sawed off their pinocchio length noses, and lit a bonfire visible at the SEC.

Richard Foldover, beloved leader of defunct Lehman Sisters and the featured speaker at the event, then spoke at length on the evil of Repo 105.

The evening ended with auditors wiping up with clean audit opinions.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht

Please Update Your LinkedIn Profile

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reviewing the member profiles for those in my LinkedIn network.  For the most part, it has been a wonderful journey to memory lane.  Most of the nearly 800 are in my network for a good reason–I appreciate them for our shared experiences and I greatly respect them.

About 100 have asked me to join their network, and I agreed.  I suspect many of them know me through my blogging efforts.  I am hopeful that some day I’ll be able to contribute positively to their network.

In addition, I’ve been reviewing profiles of people with whom I’ve come into brief contact.

I’ve come to several conclusions.

The first and foremost advantage to LinkedIn is how you describe your self, skills, work experiences and education.  I am appalled at how many people, both in and out of my network, list where they work and possibly from where they received the most recent degree.  And that’s it.  I meet many, many people from day to day. In this information available age, I turn to the Internet and LinkedIn to find out more about them.  I seldom am satisfied.  When I shop, I do so on the Internet.  When I research something, I do so on the Internet.  When I want to information about a person, I do so on the Internet.  If you aren’t adequately describing yourself, now is the time to join the 21st century.

CPAs should be listing the skills that give them both identity and competitive advantage.  But more than a list of skills, CPAs should be providing descriptions.  Too much verbiage is bad, but I’ve only seen 1 or 2 cases where too many words were used.

Academics are worse.  Many accounting professors never even mention the word accounting. Professors don’t, but should describe their program of scholarly pursuits and highlight key accomplishments.

I have two contacts on LinkedIn without their full name.  One is listed as “Dr. firstname,” the other by initials.  Neither wants to release too much personal information. Well, in this day and age we expect a minimum of a person’s name.  How else are we to find that person?

One of the basic advantages to LinkedIn is how it enables network assembly and management in the Internet and social media ages. I’m amazed at how many professionals (and academics) have small networks of less than 100.  In this day and age, accounting professionals should be LinkedIn connected to all of their clients and work colleagues, both current and from the past.  I think it’s possible to be both selective and inclusive.  If you have a beneficial relationship with another professional, then why wouldn’t you include them in your LinkedIn network?

Once a LinkedIn network is built up, then you have a responsibility to it.  Use it to stay in contact.  Also, endorse those in your network.  Endorsements should be handed out sparsely, only when it is deserved.  But if you respect someone enough to add them to your network, then what prevents you from endorsing them?

LinkedIn endorsements for skills are valuable because they provide affirmation and validation from those who best know the professional.  Professors especially miss the boat here.  Many do not list accounting (or tax or auditing) as a skill.  If the professor has professional skill, then the professor’s network will validate it.  I am surprised at how many professors don’t list college teaching as a skill.

And finally, why not put up a nice professional picture.  I’ve seen pictures of dog and owner.  I certainly hope I don’t meet the dog.

Debit and credit – - David Albrecht