Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Accounting News Roundup: Huron Consulting and PwC; More Missing Beans From GMCR; Groupon’s Cash Flow Methods | 07.24.12

Huron Consulting, Its Executives and PwC; All’s Well That Ends Well [RTA]
The lede from Francine McKenna: "The Huron Consulting case is a great one if you would like to see examples of almost everything that’s wrong with the audit industry, the regulation of the industry and 'reforms' like Sarbanes-Oxley."

Ex-Anglo Irish Bank Chief Charged With Fraud [WSJ]
Sean FitzPatrick was arrested Tuesday at Dublin Airport as he returned from holiday. Two other senior former Anglo executives were arrested in Dublin and charged with 16 fraud-related counts Monday. The 64-year-old Mr. Fitzpatrick presided over Ireland's runaway property boom, which was swiftly followed by the banking collapse at the heart of the country's 2010 international bailout. Anglo's losses on bad loans to property speculators are nearing €30 billion ($36 billion), or more than €6,500 for every person in Ireland.

Deloitte: One in 10 U.S. Employers to Drop Health Coverage [WSJ]

Deloitte's findings differ from estimates by rival firm McKinsey & Co. last year that found 30% of employers say they would "definitely or probably" stop offering health insurance after 2014, as well as calculations by the Congressional Budget Office that estimated around 7% of workers could lose coverage under the law by 2019. In all, 9% of companies in the Deloitte study said they expected to stop offering insurance in the next one to three years. Around 81% were planning to continue providing benefits, and 10% weren't sure.

Can Green Mountain Coffee Roasters explain those missing beans? [WCF]
Sam Antar picks over the latest dodgy numbers from GMCR.

The Death Of This Waffle House Illustrates Perfectly Groupon's Cashflow Accounting Methods [BI]
The restaurant posted a message on its site say it was "closed indefinitely due to the bloodthirsty  business practices of groupon." The message was accompanied by a diatribe about how long it takes to get money remitted from Groupon. The message goes some way to illuminating a controversy surrounding Groupon—whether its cashflow practices are a sign of good management, or whether they're a questionable way to fund a business that otherwise would make little or no money.

18 Chinese Police Officers Dispatched to Rescue Sex Doll From River [RN24]
When Shandong police received a call reporting a body floating in one of the province’s rivers on July 11, they wasted no time dispatching 18 of their finest officers to recover it. As the police struggled to bring the corpse to the shore, rumor of the incident spread and a crowd of over 1000 spectators gathered, blocking traffic and preventing firefighters from reaching the scene. Finally, 40 minutes later, Chinese police succeeded in recovering the body. Only, it wasn’t a body, but an inflatable sex doll. As the “body” was floating about 40-50 meters from the riverbank, it was likely difficult for the police to realize what it actually was until it had been brought in closer. After confirming that they had indeed run around in a panic for nearly an hour over trying to rescue someone’s Dutch wife, the police presented it to the anxious crowd, who quickly covered their children’s eyes and walked away.

 

Posted in ANR