Interview by My Grandson Sam

My grandson, Sam Mendlowitz, interviewed me for a school journalism class assignment. It came out great and I want to share it here. Besides him writing a really good article, I was very impressed by his advanced preparation and insightful questions. His pen name is “Hi’s Eye,” and he is a high school sophomore.

Edward Mendlowitz is a Certified Public Accountant and adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Baruch College. He has been teaching for over forty years in addition to his work with his own CPA firm and is an emeritus partner at Withum. He’s been named to Accounting Today’s Top 100 Influential People and Forbes Top 200 CPAs lists and is the author of 32 books. Hi’s Eye met with him to discuss his career, particularly his teaching experiences.

Hi’s Eye: How do you use personal experiences to teach others?

Edward Mendlowitz: I use my personal experiences of what I did wrong. I don’t use what I did right because it was what I knew, and I assume everyone else either knows that or will eventually learn it, too. But the stuff I got wrong I learned from and teach my students, or clients, how to not to make those mistakes.

HE: How does the work change based on your clients?

EM: Each person has to be taught in a way that relates to them. Each client has different ways of doing and learning things, so I have to adapt to their method. It is constantly changing based on the clients, plus accounting and tax laws that constantly change.

HE: How do you connect with your students?

EM: That is something that is on my mind all the time. I teach the material that is in the textbook, but I apply that material to real-life situations that CPAs do on a daily basis so my students understand what they are learning is real-world stuff. I prepare for each class and orchestrate it with a thorough lesson plan. I also understand that I need to teach, motivate, excite, entertain and interest the students during the class sessions.

HE: How do you relate information to the real world?

EM: Applying the information to the real world helps engage students. For example, instead of using the textbook, I have each student download an annual report from a company. When I tell them to find certain information they find it in their real financial statements, so they get a visual and feel of how it works.

HE: How has your teaching style changed over your career?

EM: The types of students have changed. When I first started teaching, I had MBA students in their 30s. I was teaching people who had life experiences, money issues, family responsibilities and I used that as examples to teach. My students today are much younger and don’t have as much life experience yet where I could explain certain financial concepts. I had to change the examples and methods I use to teach them.

HE: How has technology changed accounting?

EM: It speeds up the process. When I first started, it could take three weeks to prepare information that can now be done by clicking one button. Stuff I used to do by hand is now done on a computer or an iPhone. Technology has reduced the work from trudged and repetitive data entry to analytical, conceptual and strategic thinking.

HE: What are the most effective study tools outside of the classroom?

EM: You’ve got to read about people who became successful and learn what they did and about the industries they worked in. Learning is a collective and collaborative effort between the student and teacher. The students should go home and review what the teacher taught them. And they should learn the field. Reading helps to find out what successful people did and you should learn and absorb the ideas they are handing to you.

HE: What’s the biggest challenge facing your students today?

EM: The biggest challenge is the distractions. Students get interruptions from all types of social media. Some students told me they spend two hours a day on social media. Even if they learn important information, they are still wasting a lot of their time surfing or responding to social media. Their biggest hindrance is allowing the distractions.

HE: Where do you see accounting heading in the future?

EM: I see it growing tremendously. Every business needs an accountant because we have specialized training and experience from all types and sizes of businesses. Every business in the world needs bookkeeping and internal accounting services. There is no reason why that work has to be done inhouse by the companies when it could be outsourced to CPA firms. That allows the client to fully concentrate on their revenue generating and customer service activities.

HE: What changes would you like to see to how accounting is taught?

EM: Accounting needs to be taught in a way that involves real world scenarios, not just with the classroom and textbook illustrations.

Great job, Sam!