AECM Bloggers

July 26, 2010 by David Albrecht

AECM (Accounting Education Using Computers and Multimedia) is the listserv for accounting professors. Membership fluctuates between 600-1,000.

Over the years, the e-mail discussions have been carried out between Bob Jensen, David Fordham, Paul Williams, Jagdish Gangolly, Amy Dunbar, Ed Scribner, Richard Campbell, myself and several others (my apologies for not mentioning any that want to be recognized).

How do these discussions get started? It’s just like in any group. Usually there’s a leader, who in this case is Bob Jensen (emeritus professor from Trinity University). He’s always finding interesting articles out on the web (he’s a prolific surfer). He’ll bring them to our attention, sometimes with his own comment. Then, if the article strikes someone’s fancy, they’ll respond and pretty soon there’s a pretty good exchange going. Discussions can get started in other ways, but not usually.

In recent years, Bob has been picking up on the commentary provided by bloggers. Bob has passed along links to many posts written by some of the AECM members.

Bill McCarthy (Michigan State AIS guru) got the idea that a blogger panel discussion at the American Accounting Association annual meeting would be a good idea. Five of us–Tom Selling, Ed Ketz, Francine McKenna, Joe Hoyle and myself–quickly jumped on board. At the last minute, I’ve had to drop off due to a scheduling conflict. It has been eating at me for weeks that I won’t be there on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 in San Francisco.

Here’s a preview of these bloggers and what they mean to AECM.

Ed Ketz – The Accounting Cycle

Ed has been writing a column (The Accounting Cycle) for SmartPros (a professional web site) for ten years or so. These editorials on accounting issues have started many AECM discussions over the years. Ed mostly writes about sin in accounting, and he’s against ist. Cook the books, and he’ll write unkindly about you. Create stupid accounting rules, and he’ll write unkindly about you. My first blog post was about one of his editorials. I’ve admired and respected Ed for years. He is a natural to include on this panel. Ed usually posts 1-2 editorials per week, definitely not enough.

Ed is a professor at Penn State, and has written the popular book, Hidden Financial Risk.

Tom Selling – The Accounting Onion

Tom has been blogging since 2005 or so, at The Accounting Onion. A professor retired from the Thunderbird School of Management, he now has a thriving consulting/training practice specializing in financial accounting.

Tom has more nuts and bolts knowledge about accounting standards (GAAP or IFRS) than any other person of whom I am aware. He as a keen mind that frequently is devoted to the theoretical issues of financial accounting. As far as I’m concerned, once Tom writes on an issue then it’s lights out. More than a few times I’ve killed a rough draft because Tom’s blog piece came out before mine and was so much better. Tom’s blog posts have prompted many deep discussions at AECM.

Francine McKenna – Re: The Auditors

Francine is an independent blogger, writing for her own re: The Auditors, as well as for Going Concern and Huffington Post. A former non-audit principal at a Big 4 firm, she has entered into a second life commenting on the audit industry. She is in frequent demand by media journalists whenever a business scandal with accounting or auditing overtones hits.

Since Francine joined AECM a year ago, her blog posts have started many discussions. I call her “Stiletto Heel Girl,” for what she pokes into the Big 4 for shoddy auditing. Her recent post, “Watch Banks Pull Rabbits Out of Hats, Ably Assisted By Their Auditors” pretty much sums it up.

I admire and respect Francine. Her knowledge of the Big 4 and her many contacts enable her to write on issues I wish I could (but can’t). I’m hoping she never has to poke me with one of her heels. Love you, Francine.

Joe Hoyle – Teaching Financial Accounting

Joe Hoyle is the new kid on the blog as he’s only been blogging for six months. Moreover, he doesn’t blog about professional accounting or auditing issues. He blogs about the teaching of accounting at Joe Hoyle – Teaching Financial Accounting. Is he qualified? He’s the award winnng teacher from the University of Richmond who has written a popular textbook on Advanced Accounting.

So why is he a natural to join this panel? When we read his posts (faithfully passed along by Bob Jensen), we other accounting professors want to become better teachers. He recent post has provoked many of us to ponder how to add value in our F2F classes.

Welcome aboard, Joe. I hope we get to meet someday and become friends.