Yesterday, the Accounting Today released its 2011 list of “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting.” Thanks, AT, for publishing this list.
What does influential mean? A year ago, I wrote about it in “To Ripple or Not to Ripple.” Influence is in some ways like starting a ripple.
People won’t remember you if your make your own life better. People will remember you if you help make their lives better. The first is valueless to anyone else but you. The second is of great value to the universe.
You will be fortunate indeed if the recipients of your good life in turn make life better for those with whom they come in contact. If so, you will have started a ripple effect.
In past years, the list has been comprised of four types of professionals. First are executives of the largest CPA firms. Second are government officials and regulators. Third are AICPA executives and key staffers, as well as top officials at the largest state CPA societies. Fourth are CEOs of large companies that provide software or key services to CPA firms.
Bloggers and commentators to the accounting and auditing industries have not made the list, until last year. Professors have rarely, if ever, made the list.
Last year, though, one blogger and two blogger combos (influence rooted in traditional sectors, but also a well known blogger) made the list. This year, there are more. There are also three accounting professors on this year’s list.
First, I recognize and congratulate the bloggers.
Paul Caron is on both the 2011 and 2010 lists. He makes the list because of his TaxProf Blog. AT says, “In seven years, Caron has gone from an upstart exploring social media to one of the most important sources of tax news in any format, with close to three million visitors in 2010.” Look for Caron to be a permanent fixture of the list.
Caleb Newquist is on the 2011 list. He makes the list because of his Going Concern blog. AT says, “You might suspect that we put accounting news blogger Newquist in the T100 list so he’ll stop saying the list is boring–and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. But he’s also here because his Going Concern site has become a major source of news, analysis and inside dirt on the world of public accounting, building a strong community from the trenches of the large audit firms.” Look for Newquist to be a regular on the list.
Michelle Golden is on the 2011 and 2010 lists because she is an accounting marketing guru, but she is also a popular blogger (Golden Practices). AT says, “Well regarded for her social media savvy and practice management counsel, Golden’s conference sessions on everything from sales proposals to practice management pack rooms and spark discussions. She continues the discussion on the blog she established in 2005, now supplemented with insightful tweets to her thousands of followers and a published book on social media strategy.” She will remain on the list permanently.
Tom Hood has been on the 2011 and 2010 lists (he might have been on in previous years) because he is CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs. However, his blogging (CPASuccess) is important. AT says, “Hood harnesses his vast social media reach to promote new programs, like like the strategic thinking program he co-developed that is now used by the AICPA Leadership Academy, state based CPA leadership programs in Utah and Maryland, and the 16 workships he ran in eight cities to crowd-source ideas about the profession’s future for the AICPA’s forward thinking Horizons 2025 initiative.” He will be a fixture on the list.
I made the list mostly for blogging on The Summa, and partly for innovative teaching. Accounting Today, thank you very much.
Professors Paul Miller (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) and Paul Bahnson (Boise State) made the list for their column in the Accounting Today magazine. They have written numerous essays against the adoption of IFRS in the United States.
Congratulations to all 100, and especially to the bloggers and professors mentioned here.
Debit and credit – – David Albrecht
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Francine McKenna, the Accounting Watchdog at Forbes, is famous for metaphorically thrusting her stiletto heels through the public facade of the largest audit firms. In “Don’t Count On Europe To Reform Auditors And Accounting,” she stabs Michael Barnier’s idea for controlling said large audit firms in Europe. I agree with her.
The Summa 