How Zynga, Facebook and Groupon's Go-To Auditor Rewrites Accounting Rules [Forbes]
For Zynga, which also owns CityVille, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars and Words With Friends, virtual tractor sales are big business. The fledgling San Francisco company likely sells millions of tractors each year (that compares with 190,000 real tractors sold in 2011 in the U.S. and Canada). Sales of virtual goods, from FarmVille hay to Mafia Wars assault rifles, accounted for nearly all of Zynga’s $1.1 billion in 2011 revenues—and 12% of revenue for Zynga’s distributor, Facebook. Which makes it very helpful that both have the same friend in the accounting business: Ernst & Young, the public auditor for Zynga and Facebook.
In One Man’s Return, the Tax Code’s Unfairness [NYT]
My adjusted gross income was higher than in 2010. Yet my overall tax rate went down. My alternative minimum tax also went down. Wasn’t the opposite supposed to happen — the more you make, the higher rate you should pay? I called my accountant to double-check, but my returns were correct. This perverse outcome proves that what I’d already discovered about the ultrarich also holds true for people who are far from the million-dollar bracket: our tax code isn’t progressive. It’s not even flat. For people like me — and I assume there are millions of us — it’s regressive. For many people, the more you make, the lower the rate you pay.
Will the legislative monster FrankenDodd be able to protect and incentivize whistleblowers?
Should Luca Pacioli's diaries be required reading?
Your co-workers are judging you. Beneath a veneer of professional collegiality, they're taking note of the mess on your desk, how loudly you chew, even your word choices. Obviously, serious misconduct such as discrimination and harassment can lead to a job loss. But small irritants can hurt productivity and build walls between co-workers. "Those little annoyances, like having a really sloppy work area or being a disgusting desk eater, can loom large," says Charles Purdy, senior editor at jobs site Monster.com.
If there is a lesson it for filmmakers, it is simply this: Keep good books, and, no matter how much you might like making movies, do try to make a buck.
Carter Campbell leaned over the stick-figure hockey players, loosening up his wrists and hopping from one foot to the other. The 14-year-old's cap was turned around. His iPod blared tunes from the classic-rock band Rush. Across from him, 35-year-old, No. 1 ranked table hockey champ Mark Sokolski hunched over his own players. "I'm gonna stomp this kid," Mr. Sokolski said. At stake was a slot in the elite eight of this year's Canadian Table Hockey Championships, the best-attended North American tournament that the game has seen in decades.
