Consumer Education
This education edition of the AccountingWEB newsletter has a bit of a focus on consumer education, since some consumers, as well as co-workers, appear to need a refresher course on getting along. First rule: If you're the type of person who would consider carrying a loaded gun or a can of pepper spray to the mall thinking that will help you bully your way to the front of the line so you can purchase that special something for your certain someone, be sure to keep your lawyer's phone number on speed dial. Better yet, you're exactly the type of person who should think seriously about staying home and shopping online.
And for those of you who are shopping online, this holiday season is greeting you with the latest attempts at credit card and personal identity theft. Even AccountingWEB has been the subject of a phishing attempt. C'mon - don't the bad guys know that accountants are the least likely people in the world to click on sketchy looking links or fork over personal information to complete strangers? Maybe the cyber criminals are starting to get desperate.
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Perry is a CPA and a former senior tax accountant with Big Four firm Deloitte. She maintains a small tax practice, she is a personal finance instructor, and the author of thirty books, including Surviving Financial Downsizing: A Practical Guide to Living Well on Less Income (Adams Media); QuickBooks on Demand (Que); Excel 2007 Macros Made Easy (McGraw Hill); The Complete Idiot's Guide to Doing Your Income Taxes (Alpha/MacMillan); and, most recently, Mint.com for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons). In addition, she is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News daily newspapers.
Perry is a nationally recognized speaker who advises public accountants on using Internet tools to improve their accounting practices. She also taught a college-level introductory accounting class and was on staff at the Indiana CPA Society as a computer applications instructor. For five years, she was a contributing editor for Accounting Today magazine before taking over the helm at AccountingWEB.
Perry is a graduate of Indiana University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She returned to school to study accounting at Illinois State University, passed the CPA exam (in one sitting!), and worked for Deloitte in the Chicago tax department.
Gail has been named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor magazine and the American Society of Women Accountants.

