Next time someone goes on about the shortage of talent in accounting, kindly remind them that things could be worse, like in construction. Similar to accounting, construction can’t hire young workers to replace its retiring experienced workers fast enough. But the double whammy for construction companies is that they’re really only hiring men. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that only 9.1% of the industry’s workforce are women. Compare that to accounting, where nearly half of current staff and new hires are women.
Uber
In other accounting-could-have-it-way-worse news, Uber’s chief bro Travis Kalanick is taking a leave of absence from the company after it “released 13 pages of recommendations compiled as part of an investigation into sexual harassment and other wrongdoing.” During the all-hands meeting to discuss the leave of absence and other things, this happened:
While speaking, [board member Arianna] Huffington pointed out that Uber was adding a woman to its board, Wan Ling Martello.
“There’s a lot of data that shows when there’s one woman on the board, it’s much more likely that there will be a second woman on the board,” she said around six minutes into the recording.
“Actually what it shows is it’s much likely to be more talking,” Uber board member David Bonderman said.
“Oh. Come on, David,” Huffington responded.
Bonderman has resigned from the board.
Sports!
Spain has accused international football star Cristiano Ronaldo of failing to pay over $16.5 million in taxes, using “offshore accounts to hide income from his image-rights payments.” I’ll bet he wishes he could hide the images of that statue.
Facebook Deal Spurs Inquiry [WSJ]
The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun examining whether disclosure rules for privately held firms need to be rewritten as a result of recent deals allowing investors to buy shares in Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. The review is at an early stage, these people cautioned, and SEC officials looking at the recent deals haven’t concluded that any of them run afoul of the 47-year-old rules governing private companies. The rules require firms with 500 or more shareholders of record in a given type of stock to pu ain financial information. The requirement is designed to protect investors from risking money on companies that say little about their operations and performance.
Fed May Keep Easing at `Full Throttle’ Until Jobless Rate Falls [Bloomberg]
Federal Reserve officials signaled they’ll probably push ahead with unprecedented stimulus until the recovery strengthens and many of the 15 million unemployed Americans find work. The jobless rate hasn’t fallen below 9.4 percent since May 2009 and will probably average that figure this year, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Unemployment probably declined to 9.7 percent last month from 9.8 percent in November, according to the average estimate of a Bloomberg poll prior to a Labor Department employment report on Jan. 7.
Former AIG employee sues PwC, board over audits [Reuters]
A former employee of American International Group has filed a lawsuit claiming that PricewaterhouseCoopers was negligent in its audits of AIG and that the board of the bailed-out insurer failed to pursue a claim against the accountants. The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday by Wanda Mimms, was brought as a derivative action on behalf of the AIG Incentive Savings Plan. PwC and AIG’s board are named as defendants.
Deloitte a Leader Among SAP ERP Implementation Service Providers in North America [PR Newswire]
You can ask Marin County about it.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Calling a Bean, a Bean [White Collar Fraud]
Counting beans. Well! That’s a whole other matter entirely.
No Accountability: Goldman Sachs Wants You To Invest In Facebook [Forbes]
Francine McKenna’s latest, “Facebook wants the public’s money – and their trust – with none of the disclosure and none of the regulatory scrutiny of a public company. Goldman Sachs strategy to raise $1.5 billion for Facebook from ‘sophisticated investors’ and invest another $450 million of their own money is an example of wanton disregard for accountability to the securities markets. But it’s more a function of Facebook’s ‘have your cake and eat it too’ attitude towards the markets than any subterfuge on Goldman’s part. The investment bank and Facebook’s lawyers get paid to make their client happy.”
Roger Milliken Died on Dec. 30, Beat Estate Tax on $1 Billion Fortune by 48 Hours [TaxProf Blog]
Close call!
Cantor hopes Obama moves forward on tax reform [OTM/The Hill]
It only took Eric Cantor three years to get on the hope train.
Tax Vox’s Fearless Predictions for 2011 [TaxVox]
You can probably sum it up with: lots of talk.
Accounting, Computer Science Among Most Desirable Majors [HuffPo]
FYI.
U.S., BP Near Deal on Fund [WSJ]
“The Obama administration and BP PLC are close to a deal to use future revenues from the oil giant’s Gulf of Mexico operations to guarantee its $20 billion cleanup and compensation fund, a move that would give both sides an incentive to continue production in the Gulf, scene of the U.S.’s worst-ever offshore oil spill.
The Justice Department and BP said Monday they had completed talks to establish the fund, which is designed to cover damage claims from residents and businesses hurt by the spill and clean-up efforts by state and local governments. BP paid $3 billion into the fund ahead of sch Hurd, Deloitte and Tone At The Top [Re: The Auditors]
“The auditors serve the role of independent watchdog, guardian of shareholders interests in the capital markets . Their relationship to management should be adversarial – not friendly, cozy and comfortable. They are hired and fired by the Board, also supposedly independent. Given the way auditors are compensated, directly by the companies they judge, they have a difficult job. Their regulators guard those guardians and are supposed to make sure they do it.
So how does a Vice Chairman, one of those guardians, “dupe” his fellow partners and professional colleagues more than three hundred times, as Deloitte’s lawsuit against him alleged?
Deloitte has a culture of non-compliance.”
Oracle Chief Faults H.P. Board for Forcing Hurd Out [NYT]
Meanwhile, Larry Ellison wrote an email to the Times, “The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn’t come back and saved them.”
Moss Adams Partner Bob Bunting Helps Create Reporting Standards for Corporate Sustainability [Moss Adams]
“Bob Bunting, chairman of the Moss Adams LLP International Services Group and president of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), has been appointed to the steering committee for the newly formed International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC). The Prince of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the formation of the IIRC today.
‘In addition to the annual reports publicly listed companies are required to file, an increasing number of companies are voluntarily producing corporate social responsibility or sustainability reports,’ Bunting said. ‘It’s an honor to be tapped for this role and to contribute input to developing a single standard for these reports. It’s a natural extension of the work I’ve been involved with at IFAC to help drive adoption of a single set of global standards for accounting, auditing, and professional ethics. It’s also a pleasure to be working alongside so many thought leaders in the world of standards setting and corporate sustainability.’ “
Small business optimism sags in July [Reuters]
“Small business owners became more downbeat in July as expectations of weaker economic growth in the second half of the year reinforced a reluctance to hire, according to a survey published on Tuesday.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its optimism index fell 0.9 point to 88.1 in July.
‘Virtually all of the decline was due to weaker expectations for business conditions six months from now,’ said William Dunkleberg, the group’s chief economist.”
SEC Charges Seattle-Area Company and Former CFO With Phony Accounting of Infomercial Sales [SEC]
When did the SEC start putting photos up of the Regional Directors?
The SEC alleges that Karl Redekopp, the former CFO of International Commercial Television Inc. (ICTV), turned millions of dollars of quarterly losses into profits by falsely accounting for ICTV’s sales of the Derma Wand, a skin care appliance that purports to reduce wrinkles and improve skin appearance. Redekopp fraudulently recognized revenue before the Home Shopping Network had actually sold or delivered the product to viewers. He also improperly recognized revenue before a free trial period offered by the company had expired, and failed to reverse revenue from products that had been returned. Redekopp’s misconduct caused the company to falsely report millions of dollars in excess revenue in 2007 and 2008.
” ‘Redekopp violated fundamental principles of accounting to fraudulently boost ICTV’s bottom line and conceal its true financial health from investors,’ said Marc J. Fagel, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. ‘Unfortunately, ICTV’s auditors turned a blind eye to the company’s financial irregularities and failed to fulfill their role in investor protection.’ “
Accounting PACs spread the wealth [Web CPA]
“Political fundraisers in the accounting profession began shifting their largesse toward congressional Democrats after they won control over both the House and the Senate four years ago.
But now with Tea Party activists screaming for the heads of incumbents and Republican candidates showing strength across the country, is the accounting profession resurrecting its overwhelming partisan support for the GOP in time for the mid-term elections?”
Flight Attendant at JFK Pulls Emergency Chute, Flies Coop [NBC New York]
Steve Slater was hit in the head by some luggage, was cursed at by the passenger who refused to apologize for it and Slater then proceeded to flip out. He cursed at all the passengers over the PA system on JetBlue Flight 1052, grabbed two beers and slid down the emergency chute after inflating it.
He was later arrested at his home in Queens, “Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst having sexual relations.”
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