Salix, Cosmo Cancel Merger Agreement [WSJ]
It seems the anti-inversion measures have taken hold: "Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and the Italian parent company of drug maker Cosmo Technologies Ltd. said Friday they had terminated a previously announced $2.7 billion merger agreement—a deal that had been structured as a so-called inversion. Those deals have come under increased scrutiny in Washington and elsewhere. Raleigh, N.C.-based Salix’s move to scrap the agreement represents one of the first deal-making retreats in the wake of new rules implemented last month by the U.S. Treasury to make inversions less attractive."
You Know It’s a Tough Market When Ben Bernanke Can’t Refinance [Bloomberg]
The former Fed chair told an audience in Chicago about his personal finance bummer: “I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so.”
Public Company Audit Fees Increased 4.5% This Year [AT]
Financial Executives Research Foundation and Audit Analytics crunched the numbers and the average fee is $7.1 million.
Continued rise projected for accounting salaries in 2015 [JofA]
Bob Half says starting salaries will rise 2.9% and 4.4% for corporate accounting jobs and 2.7% to 3.9% for public accounting jobs.
The Great American Accounting Opportunity [AT]
FYI: Big 4 is over, says Darren Root: "The American Institute of CPAs predicts that as much as 75 percent of the profession's leadership is set to retire in the next 10 years. This opens the door to vast management and partner-track opportunities. And with small firms making up nearly 99 percent of the industry, this is where the majority of opportunities lie. This is the Great American Accounting Opportunity."
Men vs. women – the accounting conundrum [Federal News Radio]
BDO partners Amy Thorn, Kellye Jennings, and Cassie Hartogs discuss the low numbers of female partners: "I think accounting firms don't understand how you can be flexible with women and how we need to embrace the future and we need to embrace technology for women to really succeed."
'An Airplane S*** On Us,' New Zealand Woman Claims [HP]
Well, this is awful: "Karen Bass said she went out into her yard Sept. 28 and something smelled terrible. She said there was waste splattered all over her yard, her house, and her car. 'The first thing when I walked out of my door this morning and I saw it, I thought an airplane s*** on us. You open the door and it smells like s***,' she told the Herald on Sunday. 'I'm absolutely disgusted at the moment. The amount of crap everywhere is horrendous.' Bass' home lies directly along an Auckland International Airport flight path. She's convinced that the excrement isn't from birds or other animals, and has sent a sample of the mess to be independently tested."