BAT lights up audit contract competition [Fast FT]
British American Tobacco, the world's second largest tobacco company, is on the hunt for a new audit firm to replace PwC, its auditors since 1998. In a rather mysterious statement to the London Stock Exchange, BAT said PwC will not seek re-appointment as the company's auditors at this year's annual general meeting. This is a result of proposed legal action by a subsidiary of the tobacco giant against the audit firm.
Come on, guys, let BoMo in on the selfie [Twitter]
Great discussion with students of @PittTweet today! #PwCAspire pic.twitter.com/sS8hKwQG4E
— Bob Moritz (@Bob_Moritz) February 27, 2015
8 things millennials want—and don’t want—show how different they are from their parents [Washington Post]
Spoiler alert: they don't care about cars, TVs, or houses. We'd still like that pony, though.
O'Mara appointed as new KPMG global audit chief [Accountancy Age]
To quote the new guy: "As auditors, we are committed to help address these issues by offering assurance over what matters to stakeholders and with innovative cutting-edge audit processes and tools, such as utilizing data and analytics to drive audit quality and surface actionable insights from audit evidence."
Data breaches fuel new era of tax fraud [The Hill]
The rash of massive data breaches across the United States is driving a new era of electronic tax fraud that has caught Congress’s attention and left consumers wondering if their tax information is safe. “You’re seeing the dawn of this new era,” said Jim Penrose, a former head of the National Security Agency’s Operational Discovery Center and now an executive vice president at cybersecurity firm DarkTrace. “A concerted effort on the part of cyber criminals to gather the personally identifiable information [PII] of taxpayers.”
Entrepreneurs' views on recommending accountants [AccountingWEB UK]
The shade of it all: "I was concerned to hear that one client especially liked their accountant because he seems to know the answer to everything, never needs to check and never needs to research anything. He knows it all. Of course I can understand why this might appear superficially attractive. But I do hope the accountant in question recognises what he doesn’t know and has just got lucky so far, in that the client has only asked simple stuff."
Talent shortage hurting accountancy profession [economia]
Sound familiar? " More than 70% of accountancy employers say they are affected by a skills shortage, according to research from professional recruiters Robert Walters While 56% of recruiters say they have struggled to recruit for some roles, 32% say the quality of candidates is lacking. The research also revealed that as a result staff moral is suffering with 43% of businesses struggling to meet deadlines and client expectations because of shortages. Nearly a quarter (24%) of employers reported that morale has reduced as unfilled vacancies have heap pressure on existing staff."
American Arrested for Smuggling After Her Mom Mailed an Adderall Refill [Gawker]
In Japan.
