Louis E. Guida, Sr., Age 90 of Morris Plains, NJ Formerly of Livingston, NJ passed peacefully on May 7, 2017. Beloved Husband of Angela Marie. Loving Father of Louis (Mary Ellen). Cherished Grandfather of Louis III (Fiance’ Christina Markadakis), Jacquelyn, Joseph & Mary Elizabeth. Adored Brother of the late Angelina (the late Gorden) Hoover, the late Pasqualino (Michelina “Mickey”) Guida & the late Joseph (the late Rose) Guida.
After serving our country in the Battle Of The Bulge, as a WWII Veteran, Louis E. Guida, Sr. started his accounting career in 1950 with Pete Marwick & Company in New York City, (which merged with Klynveld Goerderler in 1987 to form KPMG) and then joined Pogash & Company in New Jersey, as a Partner.
Lou eventually joined Wiss & Company with its eight Partners as the Director of Quality Control. His first objective was to set up the Accounting and Auditing Department and to create and Auditing manual, which he did and is still in use to this very day.
The physical process for report generation was far different than it is today. The Word Processing Department consisted of two typists and a proofreader as computers did not exist. Reports were hand written by the accounting staff and eventually submitted for typing, which was done on IBM “golf ball” typewriters, which came with a box of golf ball type heads so one could flavor reports with wonderful innovations such as italics and bold print (up until the sole forms of emphasis to manual typists were capitals, underlining and double spacing). After typing, a report was given to the proofreader, then to Lou for accounting review and approval, then to the Partner. Reports were printed huge printing machines. Letters were typed on company letterhead to produce a file copy.
Like today, Wiss & Company used a report control which incorporated every step of the creation of a report and a final sign-off. As is true to this day immediate turn-around of all reports was of the utmost importance. Words such as, “Rush, Now, Yesterday, etc.” were commonplace. Lou ran the department in an orderly fashion and kept reports moving as directed.
Lou remembers Wiss as a place with excellent camaraderie where the staff worked diligently in cubicle workstations, desks aligned in rows, with rolodexes and dial telephones. Fax machines and computers were non-existent. He was always available as a mentor to anyone who required his expertise.
Clients were and continue to be always put first and staff members had to be available whenever needed, regardless of time and/or place. Lou explains and remembers reviewing numerous reports late into the night and wee hours of the morning. He distinctly remembers reviewing a report and being called into the office and asked to pack his bags as he was needed immediately in another Country. He called his lovely wife and told her he was going to be late and to hold dinner for about 4-5 days as he flew to a foreign country.
When asked what advice Lou might share with us after his greater than 50 years of experience in accounting he replied, “You will never work a day in your life if you love your job and career, always put your firm first, book knowledge is wonderful but learn how things are done in your firm and always be willing to learn”.
Lou dedicated his life to his family, his faith and his professional career. He was loved by many and respected by all with whom he came in contact.