April 2001

Society Member Turns 101 This Month

Max Grill, member of the New York State Society of CPAs since July 1, 1927, is celebrating his 101st birthday on April 24, making him the oldest living member of the Society. Although he still goes into his Manhattan office at Hecht & Company a couple times each week to tend to his accounts, he spends more time these days as a philanthropist than as an accountant, sponsoring and volunteering for “any organization that’s worthwhile.”

“My parents gave me what they could afford,” Grill said, “and though it wasn’t much, it made an impression. It’s important to give back what you can. I’m not wealthy, but I’ve done pretty well investing long-term in good companies.” His spacious, award-filled Upper West Side apartment attests to his financial and professional success, as well as to his greatly appreciated involvement in the community.

Grill grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and, at 18, served as a lieutenant during the final months of World War I. At the height of Nazi power, he and his wife decided not to have children. However, he has been instrumental in the intellectual development of many young people by contributing generously to scholarship funds.

A graduate of City College, Grill entered the accounting profession in his early 20s because “there’s nothing more important than enjoying your work and making a comfortable living,” both of which he feels accounting has offered him.

In addition to keeping accounts, Grill stays on top of issues in the profession by reading The CPA Journal and other accounting publications. Though he does not recall what the exact requirements for becoming a certified public accountant were in the mid-1920s, Grill does not believe there have been too many changes over the years to entering the profession.

“What’s important, whether you have 100 hours or 150 hours of study, is that you love what you do. I don’t think the 150-hour requirement will keep young men from entering the profession because, if they want to be CPAs, extra courses won’t keep them out. It will make the young accountants more learned, more capable, and it will make it easier for them to practice, that’s all. If anything, there are more accountants now than there were when I started.”

Presumably, many of these accountants are women, who did not enter the accounting profession in any great number until the 1970s. Considering that Grill was born at the turn of the century, he spent the majority of his professional career in an all-male environment.

Grill and the accounting profession grew up together, and the accountant has witnessed or personally been involved in some of the nation’s most famous historical events. From World War I all the way through the Internet Age, Grill was a frequent passenger of the 20th century, and now he’s buckled in for the 21st.

Though the developments of the last 100 years were at times monumental in their cultural impact, Grill believes they had little effect on the accounting profession. He attributes the success of the accounting practice to unwavering public trust in the profession and the conviction of its practitioners that the services they provide are vital to the community—a feeling shared by many younger Society members.

Stuart Kessler, a former chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, brought Grill to the attention of today’s accountants as a result of a chance encounter on the subway. Grill noticed a CPA pin on Kessler’s lapel and commented that he too was a CPA.