Art of Accounting: Bring your kid to work

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

Many businesses have an annual Bring Your Kid to Work day and so does Withum. For quite a few years I have participated, trying to engage the children in the exciting profession of public accounting.

This year I gave a presentation on the stock market and how CPAs consult with clients on using investments in the stock market as an essential part of their financial plan. I prepared a short handout and had it printed with an attractive cover as a booklet to give to the kids. I also used other props, and I am proud to say I kept the attention of the 25 children ages 6 to 13 during the half-hour presentation.

The handout has some very basic information about the stock market, but I also included some pretty sophisticated tables so anyone over the age of 13 would not be bored and would get something out of it. The handout also provides clear instructions on how to open a brokerage account and what the first purchases could be. I also distributed the handout to my MBA students and to some of my partners to give to their children or grandchildren. Some partners asked for extra copies.

I will postal mail you a copy if you mail me a 9x12 envelope with $1.45 postage on it. This way I can just slip the handout in the envelope and put in the mailbox. My address is Edward Mendlowitz, WithumSmith+Brown, PC, 1 Tower Center Boulevard, 14^th Floor, East Brunswick, NJ 08816. Alternatively I can email you a copy if you email me at GoodiesFromEd@withum.com.

I highly recommend participating in your firm’s Bring Your Kid to Work day and if you want to discuss how to do it, contact me and I‘ll call you to discuss. Also, this is a good program to present to high school students, college accounting groups or people of any age. Try it -- I think you will also like it!

Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management issues or questions.

Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People List. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” Ed also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. Ed is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where Ed shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. Ed welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.