The Wisdom to Know the Difference is about unique professional CPA encounters with Grand Jury Investigations, Criminal IRS Audits, the Legal System, and other experiences of mine while I was in the CPA profession. Normally, accountants are traditionally looked at as a bit dull. I believe this book will shed a different light on the profession. The book is true; however, it is a cynical synopsis of actual experiences. Many of those experiences are corrupted by "winning over the truth"; whether in criminal matters, IRS audits or because of the existing the legal system. I have set forth different examples and experiences where the system we live in just does not work and how I was able to overcome those obstacles in each instance, including examples of poor oversight in our own profession. Simply stated, I made more money than any other CPA in public practice in the State of Washington. In that process, I was able to help build a successful CPA firm, a great client base, a reputation of testifying professionally from Alaska to Florida, the past President and Chair of the Washington Society of CPAs, a Council Member of the American Institute of CPAs, Past President of other local service clubs and activities, Board Member to everything from Colleges to Not for Profits, and regular donor to needy local causes among other services.

The Wisdom to Know the Difference is about unique professional CPA encounters with Grand Jury Investigations, Criminal IRS Audits, the Legal System, and other experiences of mine while I was in the CPA profession. Normally, accountants are traditionally looked at as a bit dull. I believe this book will shed a different light on the profession. The book is true; however, it is a cynical synopsis of actual experiences. Many of those experiences are corrupted by "winning over the truth"; whether in criminal matters, IRS audits or because of the existing the legal system. I have set forth different examples and experiences where the system we live in just does not work and how I was able to overcome those obstacles in each instance, including examples of poor oversight in our own profession. Simply stated, I made more money than any other CPA in public practice in the State of Washington. In that process, I was able to help build a successful CPA firm, a great client base, a reputation of testifying professionally from Alaska to Florida, the past President and Chair of the Washington Society of CPAs, a Council Member of the American Institute of CPAs, Past President of other local service clubs and activities, Board Member to everything from Colleges to Not for Profits, and regular donor to needy local causes among other services.

A “brilliant” (Los Angeles Review of Books) history of accounting, showing how financial and political accountability has shaped the rise and fall of nations and empires Whether building a road or fighting a war, leaders from ancient Mesopotamia to the present have relied on financial accounting to track their state's assets and guide its policies. Basic accounting tools such as auditing and double-entry bookkeeping form the basis of modern capitalism and the nation-state. Yet our appreciation for accounting and its formative role throughout history remains minimal at best-and we remain ignorant at our peril. Poor or risky practices can shake, and even bring down, entire societies. In The Reckoning, historian and MacArthur "Genius" Award-winner Jacob Soll presents a sweeping history of accounting, drawing on a wealth of examples from over a millennia of human history to reveal how accounting has shaped kingdoms, empires, and entire civilizations. The Medici family of 15th century Florence used the double-entry method to win the loyalty of their clients, but eventually began to misrepresent their accounts, ultimately contributing to the economic decline of the Florentine state itself. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European rulers shunned honest accounting, understanding that accurate bookkeeping would constrain their spending and throw their legitimacy into question. And in fact, when King Louis XVI's director of finances published the crown's accounts in 1781, his revelations provoked a public outcry that helped to fuel the French Revolution. When transparent accounting finally took hold in the 19th Century, the practice helped England establish a global empire. But both inept and willfully misused accounting persist, as the catastrophic Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008 have made all too clear. A masterwork of economic and political history, and a radically new perspective on the recent past, The Reckoning compels us to see how accounting is an essential instrument of great institutions and nations-and one that, in our increasingly transparent and interconnected world, has never been more vital.

Reproduction of the original: The Making of the New Testament by Benjamin W. Bacon

In the momentous days from April 28 to May 2, 1945, the world witnessed the death of two Fascist dictators and the fall of Berlin. Mussolini's capture and execution by Italian partisans, the suicide of Adolf Hitler, and the fall of the German capital signaled the end of the four-year war in the European Theater. In Five Days That Shocked the World, Nicholas Best thrills readers with the first-person accounts of those who lived through this dramatic time. In this valuable work of history, the author's special achievement is weaving together the reports of famous and soon-to-be-famous individuals who experienced the war up close. We follow a young Walter Cronkite as he parachutes into Holland with a Canadian troop; photographer Lee Miller capturing the evidence of Nazi atrocities; the future Pope Benedict returning home and hoping not to get caught and shot after deserting his infantry unit; Audrey Hepburn no longer having to fear conscription into a Wehrmacht brothel; and even an SS doctor's descriptions of a decadent sex orgy in Hitler's bunker. In skillfully synthesizing these personal narratives, Best creates a compelling chronicle of the five earth-shaking days when Fascism lost it death grip on Europe. With this vivid and fast-paced narrative, the author reaffirms his reputation as an expert on the final days of great wars.

Perkins, a former chief economist at a Boston strategic-consulting firm, confesses he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business.