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Accounting News Roundup: Tax Reform Glitches; KPMG and GE; Sexual Harassment | 03.13.18

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G.O.P. Rushed to Pass Tax Overhaul. Now It May Need to Be Altered. [NYT]
There are a number of quirks in the new tax law “that disadvantage certain farmers, hurt restaurateurs and retailers and could balloon the tax bills of large multinational corporations,” and that has business owners and executives worked up. Meanwhile, many fixes require Congress to act, so that’s unlikely to happen. A PwC tax policy expert is chill, though: “Everyone needs to stop and take a deep breath,” Rohit Kumar said. “This is normal, against the magnitude of the change.”

Sexual harassment is a bigger problem than accountants think [AT]
In an online survey of over 3,000 professionals across multiple industries, 34 percent of women in accounting said they have been subject to some kind of sexual harassment, and 39 percent of female respondents are aware of someone who has. Men were far less likely to be harassed but were as likely to be aware of someone who has been a victim. Despite these numbers, 73 percent of men and 69 percent of women believe there is a low prevalence of sexual harassment in accounting.

At GE, KPMG Keeps its 109-Year Streak Alive [WSJ]
Michael Rapoport reports “GE reaffirmed in its proxy statement Monday that it intends to keep KPMG as its auditor for another year despite all the other issues it has on its plate.”

Elsewhere in imagination at work: GE’s Top Executives Miss Out on Cash Bonuses for the First Time

Georgia Accountant Who Stole From Houston Firm Gets 9 Years [AP]
File to Accountants Behaving Badly: Give an inch, take a mile. Daniel Nathan West resigned from Airis International Holdings as treasurer and CFO to start his own firm that kept his former employer’s books. After her left Airis, however, he still had signing authority on the accounts, allowing him to steal $3.6 million.

Previously, on Going Concern…

Jason Bramwell writes about nonprofit controllers and all the hats they wear.

I asked people to curb their enthusiasm for CPAs running for office simply because they know tax stuff.

In Open Items: Transition from Big 4 to owning own firm

From the archives: Someone Made a Life in Audit Remix of Lorde’s “Royals”

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