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Friday Footnotes: The Future of Remote Work; Talent Crunch Gets Crunchier; SEC Sucks | 5.28.21

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk

KPMG launches relaxed work policies to combat remote work fatigue [Accounting Today] “Since the start of the pandemic, the firm has employed a continuous listening approach, using regular experience surveys and other feedback channels to stay connected with people and better understand the challenges they’re facing and support they need,” Darren Burton, vice chair of human resources at KPMG, told Accounting Today. “Recent survey feedback showed that our employees, like so many other workforces across the globe, continue to face challenges around well-being and resilience. In response, we decided to immediately implement these small, but impactful changes in the hope that we can better support our people to disconnect, recharge and manage stress.”

POGO Urges New SEC Chair to Reform the Audit Industry [Project on Government Oversight] The letter to SEC chair Gary Gensler highlights meme stocks, an ineffective PCAOB, and other annoyances that probably keep ole Gar up at night.

Deloitte Receives $115M Task Order to Support Currency Printing Agency Info System [GovCon Wire] Deloitte has been awarded a five-year, $115 million task order to provide information system support services to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, G2Xchange FedCiv reported Friday.

PwC sets down 3-day office guidelines for staff [Irish Times] “Flexibility will be a two-way street. There are times where the business or client needs will make demands of us that won’t permit flexibility. The flip side of this is that when those demands aren’t there, you should have much more scope to control how and where you work,” said managing partner Feargal O’Rourke.

EY staff to work from home at least two days a week after lockdown eased [The Guardian] “There will always be a need for EY to have office space across the UK, but how we use our offices in the future will change with a greater emphasis on collaboration rather than as a place for individual working,” said UK chair Hywel Ball.

Why Are Accounting Jobs So Hard to Fill? And What Can Be Done About It [CPA Practice Advisor] Globally, accounting and finance roles (certified accountants, auditors, financial analysts) ranked seventh out of 10 positions that are the hardest to fill. In the U.S., accounting and finance roles ranked fifth out of 10 jobs that are the hardest to fill, while in Canada and Australia, they ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.

A leader laser-focused on filling the pipeline [Journal of Accountancy] The AICPA’s new chair will be leading the fight for talent.

Crypto investor sues IRS over tax enforcement rules [Fortune] Joshua Jarrett, a cryptocurrency investor, has filed suit against the IRS. He claims that taxing newly created tokens as income “is in direct contradiction of over 100 years of U.S. tax law.”

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Groupon Will File a New S-1 to Pretend Like ACSOI Never Existed

All Things D has reported that Groupon will amend its S-1 public offering filing to remove references to its controversial ACSOI accounting treatment, which we discussed previously here.

In a June 2, 2011 SEC filing, Groupon admitted the metric was creative to say the least. “Our use of Adjusted CSOI has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider this measure in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP,” they said. Some of the die-hard tin foil hat anti-IFRS brigade (I count myself as one of them) might feel the same way about other “alternative,” non-GAAP accounting methods but I digress.

ACSOI did wonders for Groupon’s numbers. It turned a 2010 operating loss of $420,344,000 into a positive $60,553,000, turning Groupon’s luck in its favor to the tune of $481 million. All well and good if investors can actually rely on those statements but didn’t the very idea of ACSOI self-proclaim that it was not to be relied upon? So how the hell did it end up in Groupon’s S-1?

All Things D elaborates on Groupon’s trouble since introducing the idea of ACSOI:

Hence, a furious debate — along with much internal tension — within Groupon about what to do. At first, in another S-1 amendment, the company backed away from using ACSOI as a “valuation metric.”

But that was apparently not enough for the SEC or anyone else, so Groupon’s top managers finally thought it best to rid itself of the term entirely. That will happen next week, sources said.

And, in coming weeks, sources added, the company will be filing additional financial information about both its growth and costs, which will undoubtedly also be put under a microscope by the media, investors and regulators.

Probably good for everyone involved. Things are complicated enough using metrics we all pretty much agree upon, no reason to start pulling accounting tricks out of our hats.

Friday Footnotes: No More Loaning Staff?; It’s a Trap; SEC and Social Change | 09.25.20

AICPA and CPA.com See Strong Initial Response to New .CPA Internet Domain [Business Wire] Thousands […]

NASBA and AICPA Launch New Site to Take the Guesswork Out of Mobility

Practice mobility has always been a big issue for CPAs, more so in these turbulent times when qualified individuals have to pack up and go a la Tom Joad just to find paying work in a reasonable market sometimes. So it makes sense that the AICPA and NASBA have jointly released a new online tool to help CPAs do what they do best from state to state.

Until all 55 jurisdictions can truly band together and agree on a uniform requirement across the board for all CPAs (never going to happen), this is the next best option.

Here’s the scoop:

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants today announced the launch of CPAmobility.org – an online tool designed to help Certified Public Accountants navigate the new practice privilege requirements that allow CPAs to more easily practice across state borders.

A joint project of the AICPA and NASBA, the new CPAmobility.org website provides helpful information, updated regularly, on state practice privilege requirements for CPAs, commonly referred to as “mobility” laws, for all 50 states and 5 U.S jurisdictions. In four simple clicks online, CPAs can learn whether their existing home state registration is mobile and allows them to work in other jurisdictions without additional notice, or whether further paperwork is required. In most cases, additional registration is no longer required because mobility statutes recognizing CPA licenses granted by other states and jurisdictions have been enacted in 47 of the 55 U.S. jurisdictions.

“CPAmobility.org is a valuable service that allows CPAs to take advantage of the benefits associated with state mobility laws with confidence. We are happy to offer a free tool that will assist CPAs in determining whether or not they can exercise mobility in a particular jurisdiction at the click of a button, on their laptop or mobile device,” said Ken L. Bishop, executive vice president and COO of NASBA.

“Mobility has become a reality for CPAs and accounting firms from coast-to-coast and it is now time to open the system for business,” said Barry Melancon, president and CEO of the AICPA. “We are very pleased to be able to offer this free service to CPA firms together with NASBA, which was a key partner in developing the technology and information to power the website, CPAmobility.org.”

The site works by posing three targeted questions to CPAs interested in exercising cross-border practice privileges. Those are:
Where is your principal place of business?
Where are you going to perform services (target state)?
What type of services will you perform?

Information on licensing and registration requirements is then produced allowing CPAs to move quickly to address new business opportunities. CPAmobility.org offers immediate access to the site through a mobile application, an attractive benefit for CPAs needing to confirm eligibility requirements while they are on the road or away from their offices.

NASBA and the AICPA have been longtime advocates of mobility, providing support and resources to state boards and state CPA societies seeking changes to current rules. As additional states continue to embrace mobility, the need to educate CPAs on the requirements is growing.

CPAmobility.org will feature useful links to NASBA and AICPA resources. To learn more about mobility or to research cross-border practice privilege requirements, visit www.CPAmobility.org.

At first glance, the new site features a slick interface (if you ignore the obnoxious Helvetica header) that asks you three simple questions: where do you practice normally, where do you plan to practice and what type of services will you perform? Once you answer those, it will tell you the rules for individuals and firms based on your responses.

Awesome!