Author: Caleb Newquist

Founding editor, Going Concern.

Is There a Polite Way to Quit During Busy Season?

Welcome to the one-week-of-mall-madness-left edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. In today’s edition, a new hire is ready quit her Big 4 gig after three months on the job. Is there a nice way to do this during busy season?

Freaked out over your first busy season and need medication suggestions? Concerned about the lack of communication in your office? Curious about the drawbacks of a landing ��������������������ignificant other? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com and we’ll tell you what’s what.

Back to fed up in Big 4:

Hi,

I’m a recent new hire at a big 4 firm in LA, and I’ve been working for the firm since October. I’m hating the job and already want to quit. I’m currently looking for jobs as we speak. Is it inappropriate to quit during busy season? How do I do so in a “polite” way?

Thanks for the advice,
HatingMyJob


Dear HatingMyJob,

Your dilemma is not uncommon but we are curious as why you would accept a job that, at least semi-consciously, you already hated before you started. You essentially took a job from someone else that probably would sacrifice an appendage for the opportunity you have.

Now that we have sufficiently guilt-tripped you, we’ll address your problem. Way back in February, we addressed this very issue and here are a few thoughts we had then:

All the people we’ve had the pleasure of working with, despite all of them having multiple “F— THIS!” moments, pull it together because they have a job to do. Why the hell didn’t you quit prior to busy season? You really felt like sticking it to everyone?

Fine. Perhaps your desire for sweet, sweet revenge against your senior/manager/partner/firm is more powerful than any shred of integrity you may have but for crissakes, that makes you a very bitter person. More so than the average accountant.

We’re not sure what has happened in the last 10-ish months but we’ve mellowed on this position. That being said, we’re putting you on notice, regardless of whether you quit now (pre-busy season) or in mid-February, people will be JUDGING YOUR ASS. We’re not talking Chief Justice judging, we’re talking the WRATH OF THE ALMIGHTY judging (if your an atheist, think of it this way – science will get medieval on you with Lou Gehrig’s or something else sufficiently terrible). Hopefully you’re okay with that because your ears will be burning.

Accordingly, there’s no reason for you to worry about being polite about it. In fact, you’re better off admitting that you hate the job (feel free to get specific) and it isn’t for you. That involves you admitting that you made a mistake but hey, we all make them. It may save you a little face with some of your colleagues.

The good news is, your recruiter – if you’re using one – is going to be able to help you more during busy season because they won’t have a backlog of people burning up their phones with, “For the love of GOD, get me out of this job!” If you’re not using a recruiter, we suggest you find one and level with them about your situation. You’re not desperate but you want out ASAP. The process takes a little bit of time and you’ll be ahead of the people that choose to battle out busy season.

So, if you’re fed up. Fine. Nothing you can do to change that. If you’re looking, that’s good; you’ll have a leg up on the new associates that decide to leave after busy season. Good luck.

Bonus Watch ’10: KPMG Announces Mid-year and Year-end Bonuses for Exceeding Chargeable Hour Targets

Fresh off yesterday’s news of an improved FYE ’10 (and possibly more red meat!), KPMG announces their mid-year surprise. This should make busy season interesting, no?

New Above & Beyond Award for Staff Linked to Chargeable Hours
A Message from Jim Liddy, P. Scott Ozanus, and Mark Goodburn
8:11 AM ET, December 17, 2010

As we near the end of the first quarter of FY11, we are pleased to report that the firm’s business strategy is working well and yielding financial results that exceed our operating plan.

We are busy across Audit, Tax, and Advisory, with many of our client service professionals—especially staff—working particularly hard. While we are increasing our hiring efforts to meet the demand for our services, we also feel that it is important to recognize and reward outstanding efforts of our team members.

To this end, we are introducing a new Above & Beyond award that will provide all eligible Audit, Tax, and Advisory associates and senior associates who exceed chargeable hour targets with meaningful FY11 cash awards.

Above & Beyond awards will be paid in April 2011 and October 2011 and will be in addition to any year-end variable compensation or merit increases.

More details about the program, including award amounts, chargeability thresholds, and program guidelines will be communicated functionally by January 5.

The Above & Beyond award recognizes associates and senior associates for extraordinary effort while we continue to address our resource needs. And, in line with our compensation philosophy we will continue to monitor the marketplace to ensure that all our people are provided with competitive compensation that differentiates exceptional performers with superior rewards.

Our commitment to the highest-quality service to our clients requires that each one of us continues to do our best work and meet our objectives. Thanks again for your continued hard work, your outstanding contributions, and for all you do to help our firm succeed!

So, House of Klynveld pre-managers, what’s the consensus? It’s an extra bonus, paid twice, all practices are eligible and the firm will “continue to monitor the marketplace” (translation: read Going Concern) to make sure things stay competitive. It seems like a decent deal, although the award amounts are TBD. The only problem that we foresee is the time-honored tradition of some people putting in face time merely to run up their hours. Granted, budgets should help self-regulate that phenomenon but we all know how well that works.

Anyway, discuss your thoughts and let us know when you hear the award amounts.

Accounting News Roundup: Tax Deal Just Needs a Certain Someone’s Signature; PwC, Deloitte Giving Back, While Other Accountants Taketh Away | 12.17.10

Congress Passes Tax Deal [WSJ]
How funny would it be if Obama vetoed this thing, just to psyche everyone out? “Congress passed the most far-reaching tax bill in a decade late Thursday, averting across-the-board tax increases, enacting new breaks for individuals and businesses and laying a marker for how Washington might work in an era of divided government.”

PwC Charitable Foundation Commits $500K to Feeding America [PR Newswire]
‘Tis the season, “The donation marks the third year in a row that PwC and the PwC Foundation are giving more than $1 million during the holiday season.”

Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person [TaxProf Blog]
Seven shopping days left.

Weathering the Storm: The Top Five Finance Cities Through the Crisis [FINS]
There’s one on the East Coast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! [Tax Update Blog]
Our friend Joe Kristan’s firm, Roth & Co., is celebrating 20 years in the business and has plenty of pictures that prove it.

Accountant arrested for theft of $1,000 [The Mercury]
He must have really wanted an iPad (or something).


Church accountant accused of embezzling more than $2 million [Bellingham Herald]
This is slightly better. And by “better” we mean, “the thief was not as stupid.”

Deloitte contributes the thing it knows best: skills [WBJ]
“Donation and typical volunteer hours are also important but don’t necessary make the greatest difference down the road,” says Emily Rothberg, Southeast community involvement leader for the company, whose stated strategy with nonprofits is to work “with their leadership and staff to help address some of their critical challenges.”

Could KPMG’s Improved Revenue Mean More Omaha Steaks for Employees?

Yes, that’s a question for the group. But first, we should mention that despite the glaring lack of exclamation points, you can’t help but think that T Fly is running around 345 Park (or wherever he puts his feet up these days – is he in A/dam?) high-fiving everyone that crosses his path about the slight uptick in this year’s results:

AMSTERDAM, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — KPMG, the global network of professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services, today announced member firm combined revenues totaling US$20.63 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, versus US$20.11 billion for the prior fiscal year, representing a 2.6 percent increase in U.S. dollars; a 0.1 percent increase in local currency terms.

“These combined FY10 revenues overall reflect positive and improving business performance across the KPMG network of firms and functional businesses worldwide,” said Timothy P. Flynn, Chairman of KPMG International.

“This improvement underscores the strength of our brand and that, in a significantly changing economic and regulatory environment, clients and stakeholders value how the high-performing people of KPMG are cutting through complexity, delivering informed perspectives and clear solutions to them,” he said.

And if it wasn’t for Google – GOOGLE! – the House of Klynveld would be the idealist employer on the globe!

Flynn added, “KPMG was pleased to be honored by Universum, the global talent consultant, this year for its ability to attract the very best people. Universum announced that students worldwide ranked the KPMG network globally second, behind only Google, as an ‘ideal’ employer. This is strong affirmation of our priority to making KPMG a magnet for talent and a place where people can maximize their potential.

“The caliber of talent is a true differentiator among professional services firms in the global marketplace, and KPMG member firms worldwide will continue to invest in their people in the year ahead, attracting the best and most diverse talent. Our growth plans call for us to recruit approximately 250,000 people over the next five years,” Flynn said.

Whether “recruit approximately 250,000 people over the next five years” actually translates to putting asses in the cubicles, will remain another matter since every firm on Earth claims to ratcheting the hiring up a notch. Anyway, feel free to discuss whatever you like related to the Radio Station revenue results, including the likelihood of more bovine flesh in your future.

Area Man Under the Assumption That Firing an IRS Examiner Was Within His Powers as an American Citizen

Mining obscure tax court cases for blog posts during this slow time of year, Joe Kristan discovered this little gem:

In the April 4, 2008, letter petitioner stated that respondent [IRS] had repeatedly refused to answer his questions regarding Code sections that define income and property received as income and establish respondent’s “Delegated Constitutional and Legislated Lawful authority”. The letter contained meaningless language, for example: “I do hereby give you notice that you, and all you are, are Fired from any and all representation of my private affairs without recourse“.

Big 4 Shoots Blanks on Glassdoor 50 Best Places to Work

The following was brought to our attention this morning:

Glassdoor just published their 50 best places to work… and I believe none of the Big 4 are on it. Surprise surprise?


So we checked it out and yes, it’s true that none of the Big 4 (or any accounting firm for that matter) appear on the Glassdoor 50 Employees’ Choice Awards for 2011.

It’s worth noting however, that the methodology for this particular list is driven entirely by audience participation. From the FAQs:

The Glassdoor list is the only list that truly represents employees’ choice. Unlike many workplace-related awards that require companies to self nominate, Glassdoor relies solely on the input from employees. All that is required for consideration is an employer must have had at least 25 employees complete a survey to be considered.

So you could probably conclude one of a two things: a) Fewer than 25 employees of each firm bothered to visit Glassdoor to sing their firm’s praises or b) the reviews were so incredibly negative that the firms landed nowhere near the Top 50.

Now, possibility “a” seems unlikely since there are plenty of people working at these firms that don’t have anything better to do than mindlessly surf the web and participate in seemingly innocuous surveys and whatnot. Possibility “b” seems a little more realistic, so we’ll explain our thinking:

Since this particular list doesn’t have an application process, it is merely up to some ambitious person in the marketing/Internet reputation department to take the initiative to spread the word about this campaign TO EVERYONE IN THEIR OFFICE. Besides the fact that asking employees to add one more thing to their already-impossible-to-conquer “to-do list,” these types of emails are largely met with eyerolls that would cause most people to topple over backwards in their chairs. But rather than simply delete the message, this wells up so much annoyed rage within the bitter Big 4 Bobs/Betsys out there that they immediately proceed to the survey to crucify their firm out of spite.

Or then again, maybe we’re just cynical. If you’ve got your own theory, do share.

Someone in the Frazer Frost Marketing Department Didn’t Get the Memo RE: No Mas Frazer Frost

Last month we told you about the break up of Frazer Frost, a firm that was born out of the combination of Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer Torbet, LLP and Frost, PLLC. Turns out, the announcement made in November 2009 left out the part that it was just a ‘trial merger’ and after a year, they scrapped it for various reasons that included a) a ‘culture clash’ b) ‘issues in the Chinese reverse mortgage practice’ and c) well, those first two are pretty bad.

While it’s unfortunate when these things don’t work out, it would be assumed that everyone working at the firm would be acutely aware of the situation. A merger doesn’t exactly qualify as a “minor administrative issue” that gets overlooked. Nevertheless, a tipster sent us the following picture that appeared on page 48 of the December issue of Celebrate Arkansas.


Judging by this ad, you might get the impression that Frazer Frost was in fact still a firm and if one visits www.frazerfrost.com that’s when it gets hella-confusing:

Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer Torbet, LLP and Frost, PLLC are moving to resume operations as separate entities, as existed prior to their combination in January 2010. The combined firm, Frazer Frost, LLP, will continue to exist as a legal entity until the separation has been completed. It continues to be the policy of both firms not to comment publicly on client, personnel, or other internal matters.

Maybe we’re a little slow but if the two firms are “moving to resume operations as separate entities” but “The combined firm, Frazer Frost, LLP, will continue to exist as a legal entity until the separation has been completed,” we interpret that as “Frazer Frost is still technically a firm but in reality, it’s only a matter of time until we’re not.” It’s seems like a bad breakup where two people continue living together in a tense, awkward environment where way uglier shit gets said than during the actual break-up but they’re both stuck in this god-awful situation until somebody finds a new apartment.

Regardless, placing an ad in a periodical could be construed as misleading but that’s just us. If someone at the firm can explain it to us, we’ll be here. While we wait, if you’ve got thoughts on whether this ad is perfectly hunky dory or a little dubious, share below.

CPAs: Start Your Stimulus Engines

Apparently this video is from last year but whatevs. Since the new year is creeping up fast, it serves as a friendly reminder that all the tax jockeys out there carry some heavy responsibility, stimulating the economy year after year.


Okay, let’s forget about the refunds for two. What’s really worth noting is all the CPAs out there scarfing bagels and guzzling coffee from January until March/mid-April because their time is far to valuable to bother going to the grocery store to buy a piece of fruit. Then think about all the late night take-out. The profession is single-handedly keeping bagel shops, pizza joints and various Asian restaurants in business year after year.

Then Joe Kristan makes the following point:

Never mind that the refunds are a result of overwithholding, or anti-stimulus, the rest of the year. Actually, in a way, it underlines how all “stimulus” spending really works: it takes our money all year, and we’re supposed to feel stimulated when they give a little of it back.

So in reality, the only stimulus is CPAs giving a boost to various segments of the restaurant industry. It’s not ideal but it’s an annual boost they can rely upon, nonetheless.

[via Tax Update Blog via Tax Lawyer’s Blog]

Accounting News Roundup: Tax Cuts in the House; PwC: Practical Joke Victim?; Are You Tempted to Cheat…on Taxes? | 12.16.10

House Democrats Set Vote on Estate Tax, Tax-Cut Extension Bill for Today [Bloomberg]
The U.S. House is poised to vote today on a compromise between President Barack Obama and Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts, with a dispute over the federal estate tax looming as the final hurdle.

The House will vote on a proposal to amend the compromise plan with a higher estate tax sought by Democrats — and which Senate Republicans say they will refuse to accept. If that amendment fails, the House will vote on final approval of the bill passed by the Senate yesterday, 81-19.

A Question for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters [White Collar Fraud]
Specifically, Sam is asking CFO Francis Rathke to clear something up.

Mortgage-Bond Math Means Everyone Is a Winner in Duel Audit [Jonathan Weil/Bloomberg]
This feels more like a practical joke than a conspiracy, “There’s no reason to think MBIA Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are conspiring to make the Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP look foolish. They couldn’t have done a better job, though, if they tried.

As the outside auditor for both companies, it’s PwC’s job to make sure each presents its financial results fairly. The strange part here is that MBIA and Bank of America have taken dueling accounting positions when it comes to some soured mortgage bonds that MBIA insured during the housing boom. PwC meanwhile is letting both companies’ approaches stand.”

Fixing the Broken Audit Model [The Summa]
Dave Albrecht has some ideas.

Schmalbeck: With Tax Vote, Congress Will Have Blood on its Hands [TaxProf Blog]
Unless Congress acts very quickly, there will be blood as the accidental estate tax “holiday” slouches toward expiration on December 31. Tax “holidays,” during which a tax is temporarily suspended, are questionable tax policy at best. But they are truly disastrous in the case of a tax that is triggered only by death. Estates that might be exposed to the tax can channel the incidence of the taxable event into the window of the tax holiday, but only through homicide or suicide (or the practical equivalents of “pulling the plug” on life support devices).


Altria Shuffles Executives, Names New Financial Chief [Dow Jones]
C-suite musical chairs at the smoke shop.

Have You Been Tempted to Cheat on Your Taxes? [You’re the Boss]
It’s a simple a question.

What Can a New Big 4 Associate Expect Their First Week?

Welcome to the Holiday Hump Day edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. In today’s edition, a future tax associate wants to know how to prepare for the first few weeks on the job. Can we help this newbie avoid a nervous breakdown?

Need career advice? Looking for busy season survival tips? Curiosity around the dirt of our country’s diplomatic relations getting the best of you? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com and we’ll make sure you don’t end up in a room with no windows.

Back to our nervous Nellie:

Hey guys,

I apologize if this is a duplicate of a prior question; but I’ve scoured the forums and can’t seem to find an answer.

I am starting at a Big 4 firm in January as an associate in the Federal tax practice. I have a few weeks at my local office before leaving for national training.

Could anyone give me an idea of what to expect from the first few weeks? Like most new associates, I feel like HR’s oversight. I really want to give myself the best possible chance to not look like a complete idiot. What can I do to prepare for my first few weeks at work? What am I expected to know or not know going in?

Constructive comments (I’ve heard all the “get ready to have no life”, “you are a slave” comments already) would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Booker T. Nervousman

Dear Booker T.,

Constructive comments? Where do you think you are? If you want real help, call Dr. Phil (the real Dr. Phil, not his Deloitte doppelgänger).

Kidding aside – it’s pretty difficult for us to predict what your first couple of weeks as a newbie will be like (our personal experience was as an experienced hire) but we’ll give it a shot. You’re likely to get a whole lot of mindless training thrown at you – diversity, sexual harassment, the ushe. This will be useful when you’re sitting around with nothing to do, while a SA or manager tries to drum up some work for you. Like everyone, you’ll get the office tour but since you’re in tax, you’ll want to pay close attention because you are going to spend all your time at the office; our guess is that you’ll have a cubicle waiting for you.

Things to keep an eye out for – a) bathrooms with lighter foot traffic; b) hotties (regardless of proximity to where you sit); c) easily accessible stairs so you can avoid awkward elevator encounters; d) break rooms with real coffee (not that Flavia garbage).

You’re likely to get some work in your first couple weeks leading up to your national training but it’s not like you have to memorize Bittker & Eustice before starting work. Chances are your seniors will assume you don’t know jack and in some respects they’re right. Hopefully, they’ll walk you through exactly what they need from you but remind them that you do have training coming up so you don’t have work sitting on your desk for the better part of a week. Keep in mind that if you had an internship with the firm and will be working with a lot of the same people, they may have higher expectations for you than if you end up on a brand new team.

Ultimately, your first-ish week(s) will be hectic but you’ll be fine. Make like an eager beaver but not too eager. Oh, and look sharp. Nothing worse than sloppily dressed newbie.

Surely we’re missing some things here, some chime with appropriate insight, keeping in mind that Booker T is already aware that their life is about to come to end.

(UPDATE) Bonus Watch ’10: PwC Holiday Payouts Coming In

This just in:

PwC West Coast just got issued the increased spot bonuses you talked about in this article:


[Bonus Watch: Pre-Turkey Spot Bonuses at PwC?]

From what I have gathered, they were either $1,500 or $2,000 in amount. (I have talked to several peers about this)

This is in addition to chatter we heard last week about bonuses being awarded in New York. If your city’s office is spreading the holiday cheer, discuss below or email us the details.

UPDATE, Thursday circa 11:00 am: Another tipster begs to differ on the amount:

I haven’t checked my paycheck yet- but my bonus sure as heck wasn’t $1500-$2000. I was told I was getting about $800.