PwC in court
I wrote about some people using PwC to get out of jury duty yesterday and this Financial Times article gives you a pretty good idea of what they’re missing:
Both sides’ opening statements made clear that the 10-strong jury will be expected to grasp complex US accounting rules: specifically, a standard known as ASC 860, which covers transfers of assets.
It’s surprising that more people from the jury pool didn’t all of a sudden have strong prejudicial feelings about PwC.
Robots
Yesterday we discussed the struggle that some companies have had in finding some decent accountants. The good news for companies frustrated with this shortage is that they can just give up and buy some software:
Although there’s great demand for more technical accountants—regulatory experts who can understand changes to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and ensure that management and staff comply—more companies are turning to software to handle more mundane accounting tasks, leading to smaller staffs.
Large companies reduced by 43% the number of full-time employees in financial departments’ back offices between 2004 and 2016, according to Hackett Group, a consulting firm.
I imagine some small accounting firms are hoping that corporate employers speed up their automation plans so they can have all the feral accountants for themselves.
How’s tax reform coming along?
Uh, well…it’s not? Tony Nitti writes in Forbes that tax reform is stuck in the mud for a couple of reasons:
1) Supreme Leader Donald Trump hasn’t really endorsed the plan put out by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady;
2) The replacement of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) has to come first because it has been earmarked for reconciliation, meaning that it has to be “attached to the passing of a budget.” That only happens once a year and trying to repeal/replace ACA and push through tax reform together would never break out of the 7th ring of legislative hell.
Elsewhere in tax reform obstacles, Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center writes more on the ACA hurdle and mentions that the Russia connection also isn’t helping matters.
Previously, on Going Concern…
Marsha Leest wrote about how your verbal and non-verbal communication create the persona that employers see. Rachel Andujar wrote about the best line of BS she ever heard during her time in public accounting. And my aforementioned mention of the jury duty avoiders.
In other news:
- Facebook names LinkedIn executive Susan Taylor as accounting chief
- Trump’s administration will be making it harder to get H-1B visas starting in April
- IKEA is going to save your relationship with new furniture that simply snaps together
- Will Women Revive the General Strike in America?
- Man Convicted of Not Filing Taxes Over ‘Mark of the Beast’
Get the Accounting News Roundup in your inbox every weekday by signing up here.
