In "hoteling" concept, Deloitte says it has sufficient space for huge workforce [SA] The firm's senior manager for ops describes it thusly: "A lot of people are in for only a couple of hours a day. They'll come in, they'll touch down in a conference room or a bench for two hours, get some work done, collaborate with a colleague, and then go back to their client … We can't fit all 1,300 (people) at once."
BDO USA, LLP, Admits Three New Partners [BDO] Katie Ferris and Stephen Maniaci in Grand Rapids, MI; Jennifer Core in Woodbridge, NJ.
PwC Names Sigal Zarmi Network CIO [CIOJournal] He's the former CIO of GE Capital Americas.
Have Obamacare? You May Need It to Navigate Tax-Filing Headache [Bloomberg] H&R Block to the rescue! "There’s going to be tons of questions and confusion and uncertainty and complexity," said Kathy Pickering, executive director of the Tax Institute, the research and analysis division of H&R Block Inc. (HRB) "We still have a lot of questions."
Oscar Nominations: ‘Birdman,’ ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ Lead With 9 [Speakeasy/WSJ] The first part of PwC's favorite counting engagement is complete.
How the e-Commerce Gag "Ship Your Enemies Glitter" Became a Viral Hit–AndThen a Nightmare [FC] Literally an overnight success story.
"Let me first say that I regret my actions in leaking non-public data to a third party regarding the clients I served for KPMG. Most importantly, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is that KPMG had nothing to do with what I did. The Firm bears no responsibility in this matter. These actions were by my choice and mine only.
Groups Push Legal Limits in Advertising [NYT]
“The basic rule of thumb for nonprofit groups organized under Section 501(c) of the tax code is that more than 50 percent of their annual activities cannot be political. Although it is a matter of debate how spending on traditional issue ads would be categorized by the Internal Revenue Service, it is indisputable that spending on express advocacy would be classified as political.”
Lords to hear top six firms on audit reform [Accountancy Age]
“A showdown has been planned for the UK’s top six ac evidence is heard at a House of Lord’s inquiry into audit reform.
The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will take evidence from the heads of the Big Four – PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young – followed by their mid-tier rivals – BDO and Grant Thornton – during its inquiry into audit competition.”
Accounting industry sees ray of light on the horizon [Crain’s]
“Demand for accountants is forcing large CPA firms to bump salaries by as much as 3.8% next year, the steepest jump since 2008. U.S. companies with more than 20 employees plan to increase hiring of full-time accountants and finance personnel this quarter for the first time since early 2009, says Michael Shapow, a senior vice-president at Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing firm Robert Half International Inc.
During the dot-com era, bachelor’s degrees in accounting fell from 53,000 in the mid-1990s to 35,000 in 2002, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Washington, D.C. The figure has boom-eranged, rising to 49,000 in 2008, creating a new problem: not enough professors.”
Systemic Risk! Dominance! Momentum! Auditors In Crisis. Again. [Re: The Auditors]
The “outrage” and “risk” over the dominance by the Big 4 in the audit industry is so played.
Obama Attacks Republicans on Tax Policy [TaxProf Blog]
AICPA to SEC: Companies Will Need as Much as Five Years to Ready for IFRS Adoption [JofA]
“In the portion of its letter regarding the impact of IFRS conversion on contractual arrangements, the AICPA voices support for a requirement for companies adopting IFRS to file one year of comparative financial statements rather than two. ‘Our research indicates that companies will need five years preparation time to adopt IFRS if the SEC requires two years of historical comparative financial statements. If only one year of comparative financial statements is required, a four-year transition period would be needed to adopt IFRS.’ The SEC has not said what the requirement would be.”
