Professor Ariel Markelevich: The Accounting Advocate
Accounting has a reputation for being a dry, boring profession. That is not the case. The goal for Ariel Markelevich, associate professor of accounting, is to bust this myth by showing students how accounting impacts their everyday life and their future professional careers.
“There is nothing like the ‘a-ha moment’ in which a student realizes this is actually useful stuff,” Markelevich says. “I have these moments every semester and that is what keeps me going and fills me with energy and desire to keep on teaching.”
Born in Chile and raised in Israel, Markelevich teaches several different accounting courses at the graduate level.
One of the areas on which he focuses his research and worldwide collaborations is the use of technology in accounting—AI and XBRL, for example. XBRL is a markup language that is used to structure data used for companies to file financial statements with regulators. Markelevich has held many positions at the IMA, including the XBRL International Certification Board, and he serves on the Communications Steering Committee for XBRL US. He works frequently with accounting firms, regulators, and standard-setters both in the US and around the world.
Markelevich has published numerous articles, many of which focus on the practical applications of his research to professionals. His paper on fraud in financial statements and fees paid to auditors has was published in Contemporary Accounting Research, a prestigious accounting journal.