We kid, we kid. We’re sure it’s a real firm but they don’t seem to have time for professional services these days.
B&W is the audit firm plaintiff in Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts, LLP v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that was heard before the SCOTUS earlier this month.
We were pointed to the B&W website which you might notice, is entirely devoted to its case against the PCAOB. As far as we can tell, there isn’t any indication that the firm provides, you know, professional services.
The page does link to the 2006 Accounting Today article that mentions Brad Beckstead as one of the “100 Most Influential People” because he serves as “the symbol of the very opposition to reform the law” but there’s no mention of his superstar auditing abilities.
Even stranger is the firm’s latest PCAOB report which could indicate that the firm is indeed open for business except the report states that the firm doesn’t have any professional staff or issuer audit clients.
So can we assume that the firm’s purpose of being is to serve as the poor audit firm that is taking on the PCAOB? We admire the gusto but what happens when the case is over? Seems like a lot of trouble just for spite.
2006 Top 100 Most Influential People.pdf
Beckstead & Watts PCAOB Report 6.29.09.pdf
Author: Caleb Newquist
Founding editor, Going Concern.
Preliminary Analytics | 12.23.09
• Stanford again seeks bail – Dude is crackin’ [Houston Chronicle]
• Blackberry users faced e-mail outage Tuesday evening, less than a week after previous outage – Speaking of crackin’. [CT]
• Citi Denies Theft Report, Says Accounts Are Safe – Apparently the Journal is in the business of publishing fake news as Citi continues to maintain that there’s “Nothing to see here.” [WSJ]
• AIG executives’ promises to return bonuses have gone largely unfulfilled – All the populist rage was totally worth it. [Washington Post]
Review Comments | 12.22.09
• The Goldman Sachs Coffee Conspiracy – Worse than Flavia? [Gawker]
• CIT’s CFO follows CEO in retiring – Submit your resumé now. [Reuters]
• How to choose a hedge fund manager – Probably works just as well as any other strategy. [Felix Salmon]
• SEC Charges Austin-Based Investment Adviser in Fraudulent Scheme Utilizing Football Stars – So go with talk shows, avoid jocks. Got it? [SEC Press Release]
An Alternative to the Bob Dylan Christmas Album
So in case you weren’t aware, there is a singing CPA that actually puts out albums. He wrote a song for Sarbanes-Oxley’s fifth birthday, has appeared on Nightline and yes, he has a Christmas album.
Make fun if you want but we dare you to deny the song-writing genius of someone that mentions Martha Stewart, Pavarotti, Al Capone, and Dennis Kozlowski in one song (“Deck the Halls with Calculators”).
And then of course, there’s this:
Rumor Mill: More Ernst & Young Restructuring Details
We’ve got a follow up to our post yesterday about E&Y’s restructuring plans for the North Central and Pacific regions.
A source has informed us that the Financial Services Office (“FSO”) began nationalizing non-audit banking and asset management clients earlier this year. Insurance clients are also going to be under FSO, which will centralize all non-audit financial services clients. Our source has further indicated that the next step is to nationalize the audit clients. The ulitmate goal is to slim the firm down to five total regions (West, Central, Southeast, Northeast, and FSO).
We asked a couple of sources about this particular rumor to get some opinions:
I do hope this is not true, as [FSO] can’t audit their way out of a paper bag. I’m not sure why they would make an interim step as they’re making now if there’s an ultimate goal of five sub-areas
Another view:
Running FSO out of NYC seems like a good call from an overhead…cost standpoint but that’s about it. I have heard horror stories about the kind of hours FSO staff typically pull year round. I don’t see this making the “people in the trenches” any happier. Having all the work routed to one place makes it easier…to make sure that work is getting done…Of course I think this is just going to turn FSO into more of a meat grinder than it already is since they are going to do everything they can to get as much work in the pipeline as possible to keep that group busy.
As we mentioned yesterday, E&Y would not comment on internal firm matters.
If you’re in the FSO practice and can attest or refute any of the above details (horror stories, meat grinders, auditing out of paper bags) or even if you’re not and have an opinion share your thoughts below.
Thanks to This Week’s Advertiser
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertiser on Going Concern:
• Verizon Wireless
If you’re interested in advertising on Going Concern, email us at advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!
Non-Knights Don’t Think Rule Convergence Is All That Important
Not everyone is as hung up on converging U.S. GAAP and IFRS as Sir David Tweedie.
As you may recall, Tweeds delayed his retirement in order to see the rules copulate and bring forth debit and credit harmony.
As admirable as his commitment to the project is, not too many people share his enthusiasm:
A survey by CFA Institute , an international association of more than 16,000 investment professionals, showed that three quarters of respondents believe that improving standards so they are more useful for making investment decisions is “at least as important if not more important” than reducing complexity or convergence.
While respondents generally support convergence, only 6 per cent of those surveyed, including research analysts, portfolio managers, corporate financial analysts and accountants, believe converging the International Accounting Standards Board and its US rival should be the primary objective.
It’s bad enough that Tweeds gets hassled by non-knighted clowns that don’t know a debit from their ass but now there’s a survey out there that says his pet project isn’t that important.
Plus, the SEC doesn’t seem too hung up on it and the FASB has its own problems. Has double-entry chivalry lost all its meaning?
Investors cool on audit convergence [FT]
Job of the Day: Tax Maven Wanted at BBH
Nine days left in 2009 and all you tax trolls are gearing for another great tax prep season. For those of you looking to bestow your IRC wisdom at a new shop, we’ve got at least one option for you.
Check out a Senior Tax Manager position at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, after the jump.
Company: Brown Brothers Harriman
Title: Senior Tax Manager
Location: New York City
Experience: 8 – 10 years
Description: The Sr. Tax Manager at Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) is responsible for the maintenance of tax records as well as the preparation and review of all specifically assigned tax returns and related documents for all BBH Partners and Managing Directors, Partnership and Trust returns.
Responsibilities: Tax Preparation: Review as well as assist in data gathering, preparation and filing of the firm’s federal, state, and local partnership income tax returns as well as personal property tax returns, sales tax returns, unincorporated business tax, business privilege tax and other returns.
Tax Research: Collaborate on tax research on new tax laws, regulations and rulings to disseminate information to the firm; Research and assess the integration of foreign tax credits, from operations and investments, on the overall tax burden of the firm.
Tax Review: Review individual partner tax filings as well as discuss and explain tax positions to Partners. Review tax returns and tax return workpapers for individual Partners and Managing Directors
Requirements: BA/BA degree; Masters in Tax and/or CPA a plus but not required; Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local personal income taxes, gift taxes, generation skipping taxes, estate taxes, nonresident withholding taxes and payroll taxes for high net worth individuals; Strong fundamental understanding of international tax concepts, including value-added tax, foreign tax credits and withholding tax.
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.
The American People Have Spoken on Tax Reform
After asking pretty much everyone for their suggestions on tax reform, the President’s Tax Reform Panel has released 384 submitted suggestions and the American People did not disappoint.
The FairTax.org crowd turned out en masse and plenty of practitioners and academics also provided their $0.02.
We didn’t really read those but we’re sure they’re great. We were more interested in those people that were more or less thinking out loud.
Suggestion #239 Mike Finch:
I support yearly audits of all government big wigs and prison terms for any that are found to have made more than $100 mistake on their taxes.
Suggestion #249 from “Froggy” whose organization is “peace man”:
Tax the rich! tax the rich! tax the rich!. oh please please please tax the rich. I want the economy to sink further!
Suggestion #278 from Alex Clay:
Make it explicit that cheating on your taxes makes you ineligible for presidentially appointed positions or committee chairmanships in the congress
Suggestion #346 from Ed:
0% tax rate. Reduce the tax law to 2 pages.
David Laing’s suggestion (#359) must have gotten lost on its way to the health care debate:
No option is NO OPTION! No bill that does not contain a public option is not worth your signature.
Since most of you have checked out for the week, consider spending some digging through these for more gems (we haven’t been able to find an intern that’s up to the job) or suggest your own ideas in the comments.
The FASB Is Still Trying to Get Everyone to Buy into this Codification Thing
Despite your best efforts to resist the new FASB codification as the source for all things GAAP, the FASB is not disheartened. Herz and Co. are cognizant of the desire of many accountants to have reference books on shelves in their offices in order to maintain their double-entry wonk image. In order to feed this natural inclination, the FASB is now offering the codification in a four volume set for the low, low price of $195.
Call us skeptical but this particular attempt by the FASB to get more people on board with the whole codification thing is doomed. DOOMED, we tell you. If they really want to get accountants to buy this stuff it will require a marketing campaign the likes of which Ronco and the Shamwow guy have never seen.
FASB Offers Codification in Four-Volume Set [Compliance Week]
Preliminary Analytics | 12.22.09
• Dubai World fails to seal deal on debt talks – Even though DW is insisiting that the talks have been “constructive.” [Times Online]
• Marijuana-Reeking Tour Bus, Red Ferrari Are FDIC’s Crisis Booty – Not to mention ashtrays with dead cigarette butts. These guys will take everything. [Bloomberg]
• FBI Probes Hack at Citibank – The bank deee-nies that there was a breach so you have the less than desirable option of believing the B or the C. [WSJ]
• World Series Champs Pay Hefty Luxury Tax – Tax Girl is not a Yankee fan. [Tax Girl]
• U.K. Backs Merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation – Somehow the Brits came to this conclusion: ‘[T]he merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market for live music ticket retailing or in any other market.’ [NYT]
Review Comments | 12.21.09
• Christmas Gifts for that Special Tax Person – A possible gift for that Tim Geithner groupie in your life. [TaxProf Blog]
• GM Recruits Microsoft’s Liddell as New Finance Chief – Apparently GM’s finance department had some Deliverance thing going on. [Bloomberg]
• Top 50 Blogs for Accountants – There are some familiar names on this list, including GC. Thanks! [The Biz-Learner]
• Rajaratnam, Chiesi Plead Not Guilty – Doing what’s best for investors is not a crime. [WSJ]
• Crazy Eddie inductee talks about walls of false integrity – Sam Antar = Hall of Famer [Con Artist Hall of Infamy]