Abraham Jacob Briloff (July 19, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American accounting scholar and Professor of accounting at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

in New York. He was known for his contributions to accountancy,Abraham Briloff, Accounting Professor, Dies at 96
The New York Times, December 15, 2013Abraham Jacob Briloff
The Accounting Hall of Fame. Accessed 2015-02-14. and also as the "most prominent accounting critic."

Biography

Born in Manhattan to Benjamin and Anna Briloff, Briloff obtained his BA in commerce at the City College School of Business and Civic Administration, now

, in 1937. Later in 1965 he obtained his PhD in accountancy and taxation at the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with the thesis, entitled "The Effectiveness of Accounting Communication." Briloff began his career in the final days of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

as high school teacher, teaching bookkeeping and stenography, and as assistant accountant in the accountancy firm of Apfel & Englander. In 1944 he became partner in that firm, and in 1951 started his own accountancy firm. In 1944 he also started lecturing accounting at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, where he became a full-time faculty member in 1965. In 1976 he was appointed Emanuel Saxe Distinguished Professor of Accountancy. He later started writing for the

Barron's Magazine ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

, a financial weekly. Briloff was inducted into the

Accounting Hall of Fame The Accounting Hall of Fame is an award "recognizing accountants who are making or have made a significant contribution to the advancement of accounting" since the beginning of the 20th century. Inductees are from both accounting academia and pract ...

in 2014. The induction statement read: "for over half a century, he was the conscience of the accounting profession, challenging it to raise standards and to meet its obligations to society. Always motivated by the best interests of the accounting profession, he was respected by both supporters and targets of his criticism."Briloff's research, teaching, and professional accomplishments, as well as his　backbone and personality, are described in detail in a 13-part series in the following journal: Aishi Imafuku, Department of Economics, The Challenge of an Accountant, Business Accounting, Cyuou Keizaisha, Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 49 No. 1 to Vol. 49 No. 13 (1997).

Selected publications

* Briloff, Abraham J. ''Effectiveness of Accounting Communication.'' (1967). * Briloff, Abraham J. ''Unaccountable Accounting.'' Harpercollins, 1972.(Japanese edition, translated by * Briloff, Abraham J. ''More Debits than Credits.'' Harper and Row, New York, NY (1976).Japanese edition, translated by Kumano, Imafuku, Nakano, McGrow-Hill Kogakusha, Ltd., 1980, Tokyo, Japan. * Briloff, Abraham J. ''The Truth about Corporate Accounting.'' Harpercollins, 1981. Articles, a selection: * Briloff, Abraham J. "Old myths and new realities in accountancy." '' Accounting Review'' (1966): 484-495. * Briloff, Abraham J. "Accountancy and society a covenant desecrated." '' Critical Perspectives on Accounting'' 1.1 (1990): 5-30. * Briloff, Abraham J. "Garbage in/garbage out: A critique of fraudulent financial reporting: 1987–1997 (the COSO report) and the SEC accounting regulatory process." ''Critical Perspectives on Accounting'' 12.2 (2001): 125-148.

References

External links

Abraham Briloff, Accounting Professor, Dies at 96
The New York Times, December 15, 2013
Abraham Jacob Briloff
The Accounting Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Briloff, Abraham Jacob 1917 births 2013 deaths American accountants American business theorists Accounting academics Baruch College alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni Baruch College faculty Educators from New York City