Chief Financial Officer Bean Counter Number-Maker-Upper Officer at Stanford Financial, James Davis, is appearing in court Wednesday to answer fraud and conspiracy charges.
Davis has spent the last few months cooperating with prosecutors and may flip on Stan the Man regarding the small matter of some money gone missing.
No agreement has been reached yet for Davis but considering the number of years being handed out and Stan’s potential fate of multiple centuries in prison, he may at the very least, consider cooperating.
Stanford CFO to appear in court [Accountancy Age]
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Turns Out the Guy that Joe Biden Called a Smartass Is Just an Ass
Yesterday we learned about Joe Biden not taking too kindly to a custard shop manager’s suggestion that he can eat all the free custard he wants as long as JB & the rest of the crew “lower our taxes.”
The Veep retorted that maybe the dude in the funny paper hat should try saying nice for change instead of being a smartass. It was the typical Joe Biden charm that you would expect. Perhaps he should have suggested visiting the White House’s tax savings tool instead of name-calling but the past is the past and we’ll just chalk up another Joe Biden moment of hilarity/political liability.
But wait! What if the VP was right about this portly custard slinger? We read over a little mini memoir over at Daily Intel that indicates that the guy probably had it coming:
First of all, as anyone who has ever lived in Milwaukee knows: Kopp’s Frozen Custard is the most delicious dessert on the planet. It’s basically ice cream with twice the fat. So when Smilin’ Joe Biden showed up at Kopp’s in Glendale, Wisconsin, last week, you can only imagine his annoyance at being interrupted in the middle of his first taste — from the looks of things, Friday’s special flavor, chocolate chip cookie dough — by a store manager cracking that the cone was free, as long as the vice-president would agree to “lower our taxes.” Biden being Biden, he called the manager “a smartass.” And who was that smartass? None other than my nemesis of twenty years ago — the first boss I ever hated and feared.
Said smartass is Scott Borkin and the author of this piece, Dan Kois, proceeds to tell a tale of a lunatic boss from hell (thanks, Richard Lewis):
Once, very late on a long, hot night of customers piling in and the custard machines jamming and the store’s owner, Carl Kopp, walking around in his apron and hat terrifying everyone, Scott Borkin came over to collect a shake for order number 87. “What the hell is this?” he asked me.
Inside, I panicked. What had I done wrong this time? But I had the ticket right in my hand — malt with chocolate — and was positive that’s what I had made. “It’s a chocolate malt.”
“No, this,” he said, pointing at my Sharpied “7” on the lid. I’d written it with a line through the center because once someone had mistaken my non-lined 7 for a 2.
“Uh, it’s a seven,” I replied.
“This is a seven,” he said, taking the ticket from my hand and drawing a non-lined numeral. “Do it right or you’re outta here.” He plucked the malt off the counter and stalked away. “This isn’t Germany!” he called over his shoulder.
Christ. Threatening termination because of lined 7 and anti-Germany? PLUS he likes bitching about taxes? This guy could be the next Joe the Plumber. Oh wait, he’s already been on Fox & Friends. Mission accomplished.
Here’s How This Year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Would Shake Out If It Were Based on Accounting Research Production
It’s that time of year again where thousands of Americans spend countless hours of company time researching basketball teams and agonizing over which #12 seed will pull a minor upset only to have someone from marketing, who doesn’t know a damn thing about basketball, to win the pool. It also marks the time of year when the accounting faculty at BYU puts outs their own simulated version of the tournament, played out based on the productivity of accounting researchers over the last six years.
As you can see, a lot of similar schools are making a run again this year including Texas (last year’s simulated champion) and Michigan State. If you’re interested in what this year’s non-bracketed accounting rankings are, you can check them out on the campanion research page.
Games start on Thursday tomorrow (obviously I’m not in a pool) so if you’re having trouble filling out your bracket, this seems like a good place to start. You could do a helluva lot worse when it comes to strategy.
Another Top Ten Diversity Ranking for the Big 4; This Time for a Price
Diversity Inc. ran a post this week highlighting Ernst & Young’s recruiting efforts with regards to increasing its diversity numbers. Specifically touching on EY’s Discover Tax Program, the essence behind Diversity’s article revolved around how EY (like its competitors) have established programs in place to both actively recruit Black and Latino students as well as break the stigma oftentimes placed on accountants by the media and society (i.e. nerdy white guys). What it ignored was the money these programs are costing firms.
It’s no secret that the Big 4 are out to recruit the best and brightest. Caleb has hit home the fact that the same firms are ranking whores as well. But why do the firms have separate programs aimed directly at minority-represented societal cross sections?
Because the numbers are abysmal.
Latino in America cut through recent U.S. Census data to realize that, although roughly one in three Americans is a minority, only 8% of the CPA profession is represented by minorities:
• 4% Asian/Pacific Islander
• 3% Latino
• 1% African American
Increasing diversity from the campus level is an uphill battle. Internal programs and recruitment efforts can can only reach so far (and they’re expensive). For the sake of not sacrificing quality workmanship, the reality is there are simply not enough minority accounting students in the market. Supply and demand, people.
In steps INROADS.
INROADS is, for all intents and purposes, a global internship placement company for minority students. Companies pay a premium for an opportunity to hire the candidates that the INROADS organization hand selects. Their website states the following:
There are three keys to success for INROADS students: Selection, Education & Training, and Performance. For over three decades, INROADS has helped businesses gain greater access to diverse talent through continuous leadership development of outstanding ethnically diverse students and placement of those students in internships at many of North America’s top corporations, firms and organizations.
A quick glance at their top ten client listing and four very familiar names will jump out to you. According to the website, the Big 4 are the current employers of more than 375 INROADS interns. These are not staggering numbers by any means, but it is clear that the firms are in fact shelling out money to make the workplace more diverse.
You might even be asking yourself, “What’s a few thousand dollars to recruit two additional minority students to my office?” Well, after an increase in an office’s diversity percentage, it most likely results in someone’s personal payday come performance review season. Oh, and the firm looks great on paper.