What led you to a career in accounting?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
I took five years at Lehigh University to get my bachelor\u2019s and M.B.A., but when I got there, I didn\u2019t even know what \u201cCPA\u201d meant. I originally wanted to become an engineer, like my father. Nonetheless, my studies in engineering weren\u2019t working out, and this was the \u201960s, so you didn\u2019t drop out, or you got a one-way ticket to Vietnam. The only thing I really enjoyed was my accounting class. It was different. It wasn\u2019t more math, or science, or history\u2014I always said that if I took another history course I was going to get sick [laughs]. Accounting wasn\u2019t easy, but I was able to get it. I started to see it as the language of business, and like learning any new language it\u2019s not fun in the beginning. But the more I learned, the more I liked it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Why do you think the subject clicked for you?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
I think it was because I was always fascinated with business. As a kid I would look up stock prices in the paper. One time, I visited a family friend who was a stockbroker in New York, and we watched the tickertape come off the machine. I was captivated, even though I didn\u2019t understand it all. My father was also fascinated with finance, and we would sit and read annual reports together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
You worked for several decades in public accounting before joining Monmouth\u2019s faculty. What did you come to realize about the profession in that time? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Accounting is a foreign language; it\u2019s also an art. It\u2019s not a science. I teach my students this. I\u2019ll say to them, \u201cOK, you just elected me treasurer of your organization. Do you want me to give you good news or bad news?\u201d And they\u2019ll say, \u201cJust give us the numbers.\u201d And I\u2019ll say, \u201cNo. Do you want me to show a profit to shareholders and a loss to the IRS?\u201d I\u2019m not talking about breaking the law; I\u2019m talking about understanding the language of business. An accountant isn\u2019t there to just add up numbers. Anyone can use a software program to do that. An accountant needs to put talent and experience together to assess who the information is being tallied for and what that information will be used for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Do your experiences from that time trickle down to your students? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
I teach by telling stories. Sure, I show PowerPoints and go over homework and prepare students for exams. But I don\u2019t go 10 minutes without saying, \u201cLet me tell you about this experience I had.\u201d I use that technique in my continuing education courses as well. It adds value and my students aren\u2019t just watching a video.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
So your approach is a combination of theory and practice?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Absolutely. Students need both. I think some schools in accounting have gone a little too far in practice. For instance, my students don\u2019t ever do a tax return in my classes because the forms change, the laws change. I want them to understand the theory<\/em> behind the practice. I don\u2019t do my own tax returns, the software does. But if you don\u2019t understand what the software is doing, you\u2019re lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s talk about that title, \u201cThe Most Tax-Efficient Man in America.\u201d How did that come about? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n I wasn\u2019t keen on that title, actually [laughs]. But here\u2019s The Wall Street Journal <\/em>writing about some CPA from New Jersey\u2014already you\u2019re off to a bad start, because it doesn\u2019t get any duller than a CPA from New Jersey\u2014but they were looking for a way to get readers interested in this tongue-in-cheek, front-page article. And they said, \u201cWhat do you do that\u2019s different?\u201d Well, I get a W-2 from Monmouth, and I get benefits. I used to pay for my own health and life insurance. All pension money came directly from me. But as a full-time employee of the University, those things are now covered. I even get a 10 percent discount at the bookstore and free tickets to football games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, on the side, I have Doug Stives LLC, which is my vehicle for teaching continuing education classes across the country. For that work I get a 1099. So I told [the Journal<\/em>] it\u2019s the best of both worlds. I get benefits from the college side and then deduct on my tax return things like my Wall Street Journal subscription, my computer, Wi-Fi, my cellphone, continuing education, and some travel expenses. You can\u2019t do that as an employee. They twisted it around in journalistic fashion\u2014which I admire\u2014and came up with the title.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n That article says you \u201cuse the tax code\u2019s many quirks\u201d as the means through which you \u201ccan live a fuller life.\u201d How so?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Tax laws are complicated by their nature. Congress writes them\u2014and Congress can\u2019t do anything without complicating it. As a professor, I know what you can do\u2014not<\/em> what you can get away with\u2014what you can do to reduce your taxes legally<\/em>. I\u2019d be a fool not to take advantage of those things. And the more you do it, the better you get at it. I\u2019m careful. I know what records I need,and I know what to back up and what will survive an audit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The article also mentions \u201cthe flurry of tiny deductions that add up,\u201d explaining how you write off things like allowable mileage and food expenses on business trips\u2014even down to a hot dog you bought at the airport. Are there things the average person doesn\u2019t understand about deductions?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Deductions can be very beneficial. However, one of the things I\u2019m constantly telling my students is that just because you can deduct it from your taxes doesn\u2019t make it free. There\u2019s so much misinformation out there. You have people who brag about being in the top tax bracket or who brag about not paying any taxes at all. That tells you a lot about a person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, some people think that because they work from home, they can deduct part of their house. Well, no, there are very strict rules about that. People are doing stuff they shouldn\u2019t, sometimes intentionally and sometimes because they lack information. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n This is the first year that people are filing under the new tax law. What should the average filer know heading into this season?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n For a lot of people, tax returns are simple. They get a W-2, and unless they are afraid of computers, they get a software program and file that way. By the way, don\u2019t ever<\/em> do your return by hand. That\u2019s stupidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the new law, a lot of people won\u2019t itemize deductions this year. Many people are reverting to standard deductions. And if you don\u2019t have more than $24,000 (for married taxpayers) in deductions, there\u2019s not a whole lot you need to know. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n What about someone whose return might be a little more complicated? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If you have investments, a business, or rental properties, then you really<\/em> need professional help from a CPA. And you need to meet with that person one-on-one. Unfortunately our profession has morphed into just scanning your W-2 and other forms. Then the accountant processes your return and sends it back to you for filing. Don\u2019t do it that way. You don\u2019t call a doctor and just tell him what\u2019s wrong over the phone, right? When it comes to finding an accountant, you have to insist on some kind of personal meeting, at least the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People should also be aware of the new Qualified Business Income deduction, which, if you have your own business\u2014within certain parameters\u2014you won\u2019t pay taxes on 20 percent of what you make. This law simplified taxes for a lot of people but made it unnecessarily complicated for others. But we don\u2019t have nearly enough time to get into all of those complications [laughs]!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Any other tips? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If you hear from the IRS, get professional help before you respond. The IRS is not the Middletown police. They don\u2019t read you Miranda rights. You open your mouth, say the wrong thing, and you could go to jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n What do the next few years look like for you?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n More of the same wonderful stuff, really. I know it can\u2019t go on forever. I\u2019ve tragically seen people who don\u2019t know when to quit, and I don\u2019t want that to happen to me. My memory is not as good as it used to be. I need more sleep. My hearing is terrible. My eyesight\u2019s bad [laughs]. I think I\u2019ll give myself another four or five years in the classroom. But I still like to ski and sail. The last thing I\u2019ll ever do is sit around screaming at the television. But right now I am just exceedingly happy doing what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Talking taxes and more with Doug Stives, CPA\u2014\u201cThe Most Tax-Efficient Man in America.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/02\/07-Doug-Stives-V3-JOHN-S-DYKES-1-229x300.jpg\")
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