Madoff’s 5 best ideas to make markets fair [MW] Includes: "Accounting firms should audit other accounting firms. — Accounting firms should be enlisted to check on their peers, which would make sure audits have been conducted properly, suggested Madoff. 'But these firms use the excuse of competition. If accounting firms keep each other in check, a proper audit would uncover most of the fraud that exists — including my own fraud.' "
What Enron and the IRS Have in Common [WSJ via Tony Catanach] Headed up by white guys with thinning hair?
The end game [China Accounting Blog] Professor Paul Gillis predicts that the SEC will get the workpapers they want from the Big 4's Chinese affiliates and the PCAOB will be allowed to perform joint inspections after some U.S.-China meetings in July.
Tax lobbyists work to get on ‘The List’ [The Hill]
Lobbyists all over Washington are working furiously to get their tax breaks on a special list being kept by Congress’s top tax-writers. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) plan to rebuild the tax code from scratch, lowering rates and eliminating breaks in the process. Camp described it in recent weeks as a “blank sheet” approach to tax reform, while Baucus said last year that every tax break “needs to prove it has a tangible benefit to our economy or society.” “If not, it doesn’t belong in the tax code,” the Montana Democrat argued.
A dozen public accounting ideas that don’t work anymore [CPA Insider] A lot of no brainers here, including face time and "hours-based measures" but they all bear repeating.
Accountant admits role in scamming elderly client [QCT] Man, this guy really deserves a kick in the shins.
What Changes in the Mortgage Deduction Would Mean for Home Prices [TaxVox, Study]
The study by Ben Harris found that completely eliminating the MID would reduce home values by an average of 11.8% for the 23 cities studied. Read the whole paper here.
House lawmakers to grill IRS’s ‘Spock’ over conference spending[The Hill]
Faris Fink, the Internal Revenue Service official who played Spock in a now infamous “Star Trek” parody, will testify before Congress on Thursday as lawmakers probe excessive spending at the tax agency's employee conferences.
Beswick: “Change fatigue” a barrier to IFRS in U.S. [JofA] [SEC Chief Accountant Paul] Beswick said that new SEC Chairman Mary Jo White is working through other priorities such as money market fund reform, cross-border filings, and staffing at the SEC. He also said White’s initial efforts should not be taken as a sign of whether IFRS is a priority for the SEC. Beswick said convergence is important, but said financial statement preparers report “change fatigue” in the financial reporting system as they deal with the many fundamental standards changes FASB already is issuing.
Here's What Daft Punk Look Like Without Their Helmets [Gawker] FYI.
‘Big four’ auditors bring in independent directors in response to regulators [Guardian]
The Financial Reporting Counc CAEW, issued a new audit governance code back in January that recommended audit firms appoint non-executive directors to their UK firm however, Ernst & Young will go so far to appoint them to their global advisory boards.
“Although the code technically applies only to our UK business, as a globally integrated organisation, we believe it is most appropriate for us to implement the code’s provisions on a global basis also,” said Jim Turley, global chairman and chief executive of Ernst & Young. “Including individuals from outside Ernst & Young on the global advisory council will bring to the senior leadership of our global organisation the benefit of significant outside perspectives and views.”
BP Won’t Issue New Equity to Cover Spill Costs [WSJ]
But if you want to pitch in, they are happy to take you up on an offer, “BP would welcome it if any existing shareholders or new investors want to expand their holding in the company, she said. BP’s shares have lost almost half their value since the Deepwater Horizon explosion that triggered the oil spill April 20.
BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is visiting oil-rich Azerbaijan amid speculation the company may sell assets to help pay for the clean-up of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The one-day visit comes a week after Mr. Hayward, who has been criticized for his handling of the devastating oil spill, traveled to Moscow to reassure Russia that the British energy company is committed to investments there.”
Looking for a post-college job? Try accounting [CNN]
Happy times continue for accounting grads, according to the latest survey on the matter, this time from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The average salary listed for an entry-level accounting major is just over $50k and the article also notes that most accounting jobs go to…wait…accounting majors.
FASB, IASB Staff Describe Plans for New Financial Statements [Compliance Week]
As always, the two Boards are hoping that bright financial statement users will chime in with their suggestions but they’ve got the basic idea down, “The FASB and IASB are rewriting the manner in which financial information is presented to make it more cohesive, easier to comprehend, and more comparable across different entities. The proposals would establish a common structure for each of the financial statements with required sections, categories, subcategories and related subtotals. It would result in the display of related information in the same sections, categories and subcategories across all statements.”
Accounting rules “practically impossible to implement”, Barclays claims [Accountancy Age]
Barclays’ finance director, Chris Lucas isn’t too keen on these new loan valuation proposals. Besides the ‘practically impossible’ thing, he says, “The sensitivity disclosures…are highly subjective, difficult to interpret, and potentially misleading, particularly when the underlying data is itself highly subjective,” Lucas said.
“It is hard to see how sensitivity disclosures could be aggregated by a large institution to provide succinct data that avoids ‘boilerplate’ disclosure.”
Asking The Difficult Questions [Re: The Auditors]
“Audit committees too often rely on the auditors’ required disclosures without comment. They sometimes lack the independence, experience, or determination to ask the probing questions. It’s critical, however, that committees seek answers to vexing questions and not accept the response, ‘But that’s the way management has always done it.’ “
Buffett Donates $1.6 Billion in Biggest Gift Since 2008 Crisis [Bloomberg]
WB continues his plan of giving away 99% of his fortune, “[Buffet] made his largest donation since the 2008 financial crisis after profits at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. jumped.
The value of Buffett’s annual gift to the foundation established by Bill Gates rose 28 percent to $1.6 billion from $1.25 billion last year. The donation, made in Berkshire Class B stock, was accompanied by gifts totaling $328 million in shares to three charities run by Buffett’s children and another named for his late first wife, according to a July 2 filing.”
The case for cloud accounting [AccMan]
Dennis Howlett continues to provide evidence that switching to the cloud provides benefits that are simply too big to ignore, “This 2min 1 sec video neatly encapsulates why this is something you should be considering, especially if you are operating electronic CRM or e-commerce for front of house activities.”
