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Accounting News Roundup: When Accountants Break Bad and AICPA Anxious for Tax Law Guidance | 01.30.18

accounting news kpmg pcaob aicpa tax law

​​​When Good Accountants Go Bad, More Questions Are Raised Than Answered [IIA]
Richard Chambers, the president and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors, reacts to the allegations in the KPMG-PCAOB scandal, writing that “the extent of the ethical lapses exhibited by the accused is appalling.” He does not believe “for one minute” that these lapses should affect the reputations of “the many extraordinary professionals at both KPMG or the PCAOB.” “[P]rofessional ethics live and die at the personal level.”

Accounting Group Seeks Sweeping Federal Guidance on New Tax Law [WSJ]
The AICPA is getting antsy for the Treasury Department and the IRS to direct traffic. Melissa Labant, director of tax policy and advocacy for the AICPA, is quoted: “We can use our best judgement in interpreting the law, but experienced professionals could reach different conclusions and until we have guidance all we can use is our best judgement.”

Few U.S. adults report bonuses, raises from Republican tax law [Reuters]
“Two percent of U.S. adults said they had gotten a raise, bonus or other additional benefits due to the Republican tax law enacted a month ago by President Donald Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday. ”

Skills that help accounting professionals succeed alongside AI [JofA]
Mike Baccala, PwC’s U.S. assurance innovation leader, says, “We haven’t actually removed anybody from the practice [because of AI],” but that there’s “reskilling” going on that includes fundamental data skills, storytelling with data, and recognizing opportunities for automation.

Accountant charged with helping ex-state Sen. Joyce file false tax returns [BG]
File to Accountants Behaving Badly: Coffee kickbacks? John H. Nardozzi, 66, has been indicted for helping former Massachusetts state Senator Brian Joyce file false tax returns. Allegedly, this included “misclassif[ing] $2,268,520 as business expenses, when the money went to his children’s tuition, a trip to Aruba, home repairs, clothing purchases, house cleaning, and more.” Joyce, you may have heard, was indicted late last year on corruption charges, which included accepting a bribe of “hundreds of pounds of free coffee from a Dunkin’ Donuts store owner.”

Previously, on Going Concern…

Megan Lewczyk has some business travel tips for busy season.

I picked up on Francine McKenna’s report that identifies Ambac as one of the KPMG clients that got a second look thanks to the stolen PCAOB information.

From the archives: Florida Man Didn’t Play the Part of a Dunkin’ Donuts Auditor Too Well

In other news:

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