Author: Caleb Newquist

Founding editor, Going Concern.

Stupid Man Frustrated with Girlfriend Engages in Random Act of Accounting Firm Violence

Are you a jobless loser? Is your significant other driving you batty? Not sure how to vent your frustrations? One man found himself in such a predicament an acted in the best way he knew how:

An unemployed man who smashed the window of a Burton accountancy firm during a heated row with his girlfriend has been ordered to pay £750 compensation.


Luckily, Craig’s Guy moment of rage resulted in some poetic justice for Mom and Pop accounting firms everywhere:

The 28-year-old, of Balfour Street, Horninglow, was left with a ‘substantial injury’ to his wrist after he punched and shattered the 10ft by 5ft window on Monday evening. Emma Thompson, prosecuting, told magistrates: “It was 6pm when two witnesses saw the defendant put his fist through the window. Police were called and they traced him 45 minutes later in Evershed Way. He was found to be bleeding heavily. “He made full and frank admissions straight away and said he’d had a heated row with his partner,” Ms Thompson said. “He told officers he punched the nearest thing to him and he accepts it was a stupid thing to do.

[via Burton Mail]

Accounting News Roundup: IRS Might Still Have Your Refund; Deloitte Expecting the Worst from the PCAOB; The Big 4 Tipping Point | 12.01.11

IRS Stuck with $153.3M in Undelivered Tax Refunds [AT]
In what has turned into an annual ritual for the service, the IRS said it has a fortune waiting in its coffers that could not be delivered to taxpayers because of mailing address errors. Taxpayers can still claim their refunds, though, and can probably use a little help from their accountants. The average size of an undelivered refund check this year is $1,547, which makes a nice stocking stuffer for the holidays.

Accountant: Bills for library maintenance ‘didn’t pass the smell test’ [Centro decision on hold for another day [SMH]
Investors in Centro Properties must wait until 11am tomorrow morning to hear if the proposed aggregation plan of its trusts will occur after a court order stopped the process late today. While Justice Barrett passed the scheme of arrangement earlier today, the lawyers for PwC immediately requested a stay of execution in order to read the judgment and determine if PWC wished to appeal. After a two and a half hour session, Justice Barrett in the NSW Supreme Court agreed to a request from the defendant, PwC, to halt any action until 11am tomorrow.

90% of HMRC staff on strike [Accountancy Age]
UNIONS have estimated that up to 90% of HM Revenue & Customs staff are on strike today. The PCS union, which represents lower ranking staff, announced the figure following “early reports” of staff staying away from work. The major public unions are striking over cuts to jobs, pay and pensions. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka, said: “The impact of these cuts will not only be felt by public sector workers. It will also be felt in those communities where they live and spend their wages, which is why it needs to be stopped.”

At Deloitte, More Pain Before Any Quality Gain [Re:The Auditors]
Francine McKenna: “[A] confidential, internal Deloitte training document, prepared this past summer, […] reveals the firm expects the worst when the inspection reports for their 2009, 2010, and 2011 audits are published by the PCAOB. The 2009 report should be out by the end of this year. The training document also shows how difficult it is for Deloitte leadership to steer the largest global firm away from the “audit failure” iceberg.”

The Big Four Accounting Firms’ Financial Tipping Point — Time for a Fresh Look [Re:Balance]
In the wake of the EU reform goodie bag bonanza, Jim Peterson keeps things in perspective.

Tax Exam Question: 80-Year Old Man Donates Suit to Goodwill With $13k Life Savings Sewn Inside Lining [TaxProf]
An 80-year-old Illinois man mistakenly donated an old suit to Goodwill with his $13,000 life savings sewn inside the lining. (He kept the savings in the suit because he did not trust banks.) He is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the money, which he needs to help care for his wife, who is battling stage-four cancer.

GOP warns troops on tax votes [The Hill]
House Republican leaders warned their caucus the GOP risks losing its image as the party opposed to tax hikes if it allows the one-year payroll tax break to expire at the end of the year. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told his rank and file in a closed-door meeting Wednesday that “taxes are a Republican issue and you aren’t a Republican if you want to raise taxes on struggling families to fund bigger government,” according to a source in the room. The leadership bid for support represents the GOP’s clearest endorsement yet of the tax extension, which is a cornerstone of President Obama’s jobs plan.

Here’s Your PwC Town Hall Open Thread

This thing is starting technically at 1:00 San Jose time but I have to go to…wait for it…hair and makeup, meet with handlers and whatnot, strip search, etc. etc. And since we typically don’t have *official* advance notice of these things, we’ve never done an open thread but this will serve as place where you can sound off while things are happening.


I’ll be tweeting from behind scenes, but if that’s not your thing, feel free to get pumped up for my little chat with Bob Moritz by watching this:

I have also heard that Bob’s entrance music is “More Important Than Michael Jordan” but these things can change at a moment’s notice.

Accounting News Roundup: Everyone Hates Barnier’s Audit Reform Ideas; GOP Backs Payroll Tax Cut; IRS Seattle Office Finally Gets Bedbugs | 11.30.11

Hey gang, I’m in San Jose, California today to talk to youknowwho. How do you west coasters do it? You do realize that you’re three hours behind the *rest of the world*, don’t you? Anyway, you’ve still got time to submit some questions for BoMo, so jump over and try to avoid repeating any of the trolls asking how to get a job at PwC.

Big four auditors face breakup to restore trust [Reuters]
The world’s top four audit firms will have to split up and rename themselves under a far-reaching draft European Union law to crack downerest and shortcomings highlighted by the financial crisis. “Investor confidence in audit has been shaken by the crisis and I believe changes in this sector are necessary,” Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said on Wednesday. Large auditors said the plans won’t improve audit quality, while smaller rivals accused Barnier of a climbdown. Policymakers have questioned why auditors gave a clean bill of health to many banks which shortly afterwards needed rescuing by taxpayers as the financial crisis began unfolding. Barnier said recent apparent audit failures at AngloIrish and Lehman Brothers banks, BAE Systems and Olympus “would strongly suggest that audit is not working as it should”. More robust supervision is needed and “more diversity in what is an overly concentrated market, especially at the top end”, he said.

Olympus Panel Said to Release Accounting Probe Report as Soon as This Week [Bloomberg]
Olympus Corp. (7733)’s independent panel investigating acquisitions and accounting by the Japanese camera maker may release findings as early as this week, a person involved in the investigation said. The committee plans to complete its report before Olympus announces earnings, the person said, asking not to be identified because the probe is confidential. The investigation is ongoing, so the report could be delayed, the person said.

Arrests in Olympus scandal could take weeks: lawyers [Reuters]
Even if criminal complaints are filed against former executives or others involved in the scam, which dates back two decades, arrests might not take place by end-year. This is partly to allow both suspects and prosecutors to spend the new year’s holidays at home, since the turn of the new year is Japan’s biggest traditional holiday, akin to Christmas in the West. Suspects can be held for a total of 22 days before either being indicted or released. “I think it would be hard to make arrests in early December and after December 10, they won’t take people into custody,” said lawyer Yasuyuki Takai, a former prosecutor. “It’s the turn of the year.”

PwC Reports Increase in Fraud, Cyber Crime [AT]
Overall, 45 percent of U.S. respondents from 158 companies reported their organization had suffered fraud in the last year, up 10 percent from 2009. Of those respondents, 40 percent were affected by cyber crime.

GOP Set to Back Payroll-Tax Cut [WSJ]
“I think at the end of the day, there’s a lot of sentiment in our conference—clearly a majority sentiment—for continuing the payroll-tax relief that we enacted a year ago in these tough times,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said.

More Big Bank Troubles: Lower Corporate Tax Rates Mean More Writedowns [GOA]
The Grumpies admit that the banks are probably way ahead of the game: “[D]o we really think for one second that the big bank lobby will permit a corporate tax reduction without some special provision that protects them from the adverse consequences that we have projected?”

Macomb County tries to offset $5M accounting error [DFP]
The error — an approximately $5-million discrepancy that began in 2006 — was created by the county and missed during yearly audits. Commissioners expressed their displeasure with accounting firm Rehmann of Troy during a special Finance Committee meeting Nov. 22 by voting 8-1 to ask County Executive Mark Hackel to consider canceling the firm’s contract.


Bedbugs found in Seattle IRS offices [KOMO]
An IRS worker first spotted a single bedbug at the Seattle office in October. An exterminator trapped a second bug, and that was enough for IRS officials to send in the hounds.

IRS Dives into the Bonus Pool [CFO]
Reversing a position it had maintained for 36 years, the Internal Revenue Service ruled in November that a corporation can deduct the entire amount of its bonus pool even though incentive payments for some employees can’t be determined before the end of the year.

Rooney, first KPMG LI managing partner, dies [LIBN]
Gerald Rooney started the LI office with 30 professionals in 1966.

Norquist, Chamber press for repatriation [The Hill]
Your token GGN link.

KPMG Finds Half of That MF Global Client Money; Still Not Making Any Promises

After apologizing for the slow pace, it appears the House of Klynveld has upped their game.

“We have so far collected about a half of the approximate $1 billion outstanding but it is hard to speculate on the final amount given we are dependent on third parties,” said KPMG partner Richard Heis in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.

Okay, so there’s still half a bil out there somewhere. Anybody seen it? No? No worries, then. KPMG has a backup plan.

The administrator confirmed last week that it had sold MF Global’s stake in the London Metals Exchange to JP Morgan and the broker’s British metals desk had been offloaded to former rival FCStone. Heis said: “There are other parts of the business that could be sold and we are looking to sell them. We’re hopeful of making further announcements shortly.”

Your continued patience is appreciated.

KPMG recovers $500 million of MFG client money [Reuters]

Aronson, LLC Spent $100,000 to Give iPads to All of Its Employees

[caption id="attachment_52044" align="alignright" width="260" caption="Excitement is relative."][/caption]

Has your firm shown you any appreciation lately? Made you feel loved? Did you have a single reason to be thankful for anything last Thursday? For some, the answer is a resounding “Hell no.”

This is not the case at Rockville, Maryland-based Aronson, LLC who shocked the pants off all of their 200+ employees with iPads at their annual meeting.

Why would a firm would do this, you ask? Is management trying to a prevent a winter exodus? Was it a banner year for the firm and they opted to spread the wealth around? Maybe. But right now they’re going with “appreciation” and a anniversary:

Aronson LLC, the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier public accounting and consulting firm, surprised its staff at its November Annual Meeting by handing out over 200 iPads, one for each and every Aronson employee. The company’s offering, valued at nearly $100,000, was made both to celebrate the firm’s 50th Anniversary (coming in 2012), and to demonstrate appreciation for the employees’ dedication and hard work.

Motives notwithstanding, it beats kick in the shins. All non-Aronson employees may commence envious bitching as they see fit.

[via Aronson]

Audit Reform Goodie Bag to Be Opened Tomorrow

Michel Barnier delayed things for a week – not his choice – but your anxiety should subside tomorrow:

Internal markets commissioner Barnier will present his audit reform proposals to European Parliament tomorrow, one week later than planned. […] Headline proposals include pure audit firms, mandatory joint audit and mandatory rotation, but critics claim the measures would not address Barnier’s proclaimed objectives.

Barnier’s audit reform unveiled tomorrow [Accountancy Age]

Accounting News Roundup: Diamond Foods’s Lawsuits; PwC’s ‘Honest Mistake’; Norquist’s Next Debate | 11.29.11

American Airlines Parent Files for Bankruptcy [NYT]
The parent company of American Airlines said on Tuesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, in an effort to reduce labor costs and shed its heavy debt load. American’s parent, the AMR Corporation, was the last major airline in the United States to resist filing for Chapter 11 in an effort to shed contracts, a move that analysts said left it less nimble than many of its competitors. AMR intends to operate normally throughout the bankruptcy process, as previous airlines have done. The company doesn’t expect the restructuring to affect flights or frequent flier programs.

Diamond Foods says more lawsuits may come [AP]
Diamond Foods Inc., which is in the midst of an internal accounting probe and facing several related lawsuits, says it expects more suits will be filed against the company in the future. The company, based in San Francisco, is looking into allegations of improper accounting for crop payments to walnut growers. Diamond said earlier this month that its $1.5 billion acquisition of chip company Pringles from Procter & Gamble Co. would be delayed due to the investigation. It is slated to be Diamond’s biggest acquisition yet, more than tripling the size of its snack foods business.

Facebook Said to Plan IPO at $100B Valuation [Bloomberg]
Facebook’s $100 billion valuation would be twice as high as it was in January, when the company announced a $1.5 billion investment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other backers. The IPO is far enough away that the details may change, said Lise Buyer, principal of the Class V Group, an IPO advisory firm. “It’s far too early to accurately predict where the valuation will be on deal day,” Buyer said.

PwC defends ‘honest mistake’ in JP Morgan audit disciplinary [Accountancy Age]
PwC fought for minimal sanctions yesterday after it admitted audit failures in the case of JP Morgan Securities Limited.
Appearing before a disciplinary panel, it argued JPMSL shortcomings were to blame as it omitted to flag up non-segregation of client assets for the seven years to 2008, not systemic audit failure. PwC committed an “honest error” as it “strove to test segregation and reconciliation of client assets”, argued Tim Dutton of law firm Herbert Smith. Dutton said the firm’s penalty should be in the region of £500,000 to £1m, saying it would be “appropriate to keep the fine at the lower end due to mitigating reasons”.


Is the Judiciary about to Give the SEC a Backbone?* [Accounting Onion]
Tom Selling’s old stomping grounds got the business from Judge Jed Rakoff.

Grover Norquist v. Ross Douthat on the Taxpayer Protection Pledge [TaxProf]
We’re still waiting for a real match up.

IASB Chairman: Convergence Is So Over

“The simple truth is that when you have two independent, highly competent boards, sometimes they will agree with each other, and other times they will not,” he said. “It’s not that one is right and the other wrong; they just reach different conclusions. The same would be true if I were to split my board in two and ask them to consider 10 projects. I doubt each smaller board would reach identical conclusions on all 10 projects, so convergence would require compromises to be made. Convergence therefore does not always result in the highest quality outcome. It has served its purpose, but now it is time to move on. [AT]

PwC Poaches a KPMG Partner and Issues a Press Release, Part VI

Today in KPMG is the PwC Triple-A team news, partner Erik Hansen has joined the P. Dubs Houston office as a risk assurances partner leading the firm’s Internal Audit Practice in the Oil and Gas Industry Sectors. I suppose it goes without saying that Mr. Hansen is pretty adept in the energy field, as well as auditing:

Hansen has served companies in the oil and gas industry on issues related to internal audit outsourcing and co-sourcing solutions, Sarbanes-Oxley assistance services, as well as other risk and control-related services. He has also served as an instructor in several KPMG training programs designed to provide partners and managers with the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective in the marketplace.

Enjoy Houston, Erik! Just keep your wits about you at the happy hours down there.

[via PwC]
Earlier: More posts on KPMG v. PwC.

Who Has Questions for PwC’s Bob Moritz?

Good morning and welcome back, capital market servitudes. If you’re a PwC employee, you may or may not have heard some rumors that I might be making an appearance at the firm’s townhall meeting this week to chat up Chairman and Senior Partner Bob Moritz. Well, I’m happy to report that, despite a number (read: LOTS) of detractors and an intensive background check, I am being given 20 minutes with BoMo to ask him whatever I want. The problem is, I’m out of ideas.


Of course, that’s where you all can help. If you have questions that you’d like me to pose to Roberto, then please leave them below in the comments and we’ll add them to our current list of inquiries. Maybe you’re a PwC employee who wants to know where all the holiday cheer is. Maybe you’re wondering what Bob’s job entails when he’s not writing painful letters to auditing regulators. Maybe you’re a KPMG partner who is patiently waiting to HEAR BACK ABOUT A JOB. Whatever’s keeping you up at night, just let us know and we’ll squeeze in as many questions as time will allow.

This may be your one and only chance, so don’t let this slide. Go.