I am an entrepreneur, now retired, who once founded a research and publishing company for which I was the CEO. I struggled with the start-up, where my research process and performance convinced clients from large corporations to retain my services. They didn't know I had difficulty paying the office rent to have a fine conference facility they used during engagements. They didn't know how I anguished over cash flow to pay my employees and contractors.
I retained an accountant to help me with the books even though I graduated with a business degree and knew accounting practices. The reason I paid a significant fee for his services is that I performed some work for the U.S. Government and wanted to make sure everything was correct.
I did my record keeping and gave them to my accountant each month. He was impressed by how impeccably I kept my books. He hinted that maybe I only needed him at tax time, though I wanted assurance that I made no mistakes.
For me, it was a matter of responsibility and hands-on integrity. As a CEO, I was responsible for everything.
When I see how cavalier the Trump executives appear about their business practices and how they use accounting and legal professionals as alibis for their errant performance and behavior, it stuns my conscience. How could they be so abusive to our system of laws, regulations, and accounting practices and seemingly ignorant?
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and the buck stops with them. I want them to be wholly accountable and to pay dearly for abusing our system.
