Art of Accounting: A holiday gift for my readers

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

Thank you for reading my Art of Accounting columns posted on Accounting Today these past 11 years. I find it amazing that I have been able to post 572 weekly columns with quick fixes to questions, problems, practice management issues, and best practices. 

As a gift to my readers, I organized a file with six technical articles I wrote or co-wrote and an extra you might enjoy. My columns in Accounting Today do not deal with technical issues, but I am a practicing CPA and have had an extraordinary career serving clients. Along the way, I developed the ability to write about complicated topics in an easy to read and understandable manner. I wasn't born that way and only started doing it when I realized that getting published was a good way to publicize my firm, get noticed, and establish credentials. I worked at it and had many missteps. Early on, I hated some of the editors but also realized the ones I hated the most were teaching me the most.

The first article I wrote was never published. I had a typing service (this was long before word processors) type out a dozen copies and I sent them with a "nice" cover letter to 12 editors, who all rejected it. That never got published, so to assuage my ego and get published, I started my firm's newsletter. In any event, I kept at it and, by a lucky break, I got something published and then leveraged that to the hilt. 

The following is a listing of and description of each of the gift articles. The first one I did not write, and the six articles that follow on the list appeared in five different authoritative publications. The gift file contains 60 pages. 

1. Umps Fwat: A "cartoon" booklet that I did not write, but which I have been using in my college courses, high school workshops and with even younger people (and occasionally with clients) since the early 1980s. It is really good, and I've had a lot of fun with it. Enjoy it!
2. Taxation of Collectibles: Something that frequently comes up and that is not so simple but is fully covered in this article. This is a great technical tax article.
3. Getting Started with Financial Planning: A great "how to do it" if you want to start performing these services.
4. Growing Today's Accounting Business: This was written a few years ago but is fully applicable today and includes a listing of over 20 advisory services at the end.
5. Illusion of Value: This article has 20 actual illustrations of how value is looked at in the real world and is not always as perceived.
6. Trust Taxation: Everything you wanted to know about the basics (and some very technical things too) about trusts.
7. A Down and (Not) Dirty Business Valuation Technique: How to provide a client with a quick valuation of their business — a complete how-to guide that suggests a great advisory service where you would help a client measure growth by the value creation of their business.

This is a valuable resource, and I am sure you will keep this file handy to use when you have a client question where you need a quick and pretty complete answer, or a point in the right direction. Even though I wrote most of these, I keep them handy for a quick refresher or to share with a client, or to answer a colleague's question.

To get the free PDF file, just email me at GoodiesFromEd@withum.com and put Holiday Gift as the subject. No messages please as I handle this myself and reading the messages slows me up. 

Enjoy, and thanks again for continuing to read my columns, and have a happy holiday.

Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.