Author: Caleb Newquist

Founding editor, Going Concern.

Your AICPA Dues at Work

stephen-colbert.jpgWe know you’re all worried about the financial regulation overhaul because it may just make your lives more of a living hell. PCAOB, IRS, state accountancy boards, etc. are bad enough but no, we could all be looking at more alphabet soup (in this case the Consumer Financial Protection Agency) in the name of political grandstanding.
Fear not. The bastions of accountant lobbying, the AICPA, is all over this like Barry Salzberg at a Rogaine convention.
Continued, after the jump

[AICPA Chairman, Bob] Harris argued that the proposed legislation creating the agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Act, was overly broad.
“The definition of ‘financial activity’ in the bill is so broad as to include many services that CPAs routinely provide to their clients in accordance with a very strict regulatory and oversight regime,” he said. “The bill would result in redundant regulation of CPAs and CPA firms that are already subject to appropriate and significant oversight by the IRS, Treasury, state boards of accountancy, and professional and ethical standards for the AICPA’s members.”

Sweet Jesus, Bob. We actually agree with you on this. The situation sounds oddly similar to the situation the brain trust in DC is trying to fix now. Too many regulators let the sketchy stuff fall between the cracks and now we’re in economic no man’s land. Add more
Who knew that there was common sense being shoveled around in the halls of Congress? The problem is, we’re certain the amount of bullshit being shoveled outweighs the common sense by an exponential margin.
AICPA Wants CPAs Exempted from Consumer Agency [Web CPA]

If I Get Asked to Work One More Weekend…

lumberg1.jpgWe got pointed to this article in the World’s Finest News Source from last week and frankly, we thought it might sound familiar to some of you:
More, after the jump

dozens of minor policy changes, coupled with his easily cowed personality, have gradually served to make each work day an unbroken series of degrading humiliations…In addition to the single small raise [you] received and the loss of various benefits that have almost imperceptibly contributed to his professional impotence, [your] good nature and work ethic have made [you] subject to domination by both his superiors and peers…Though [you have] been stripped to little more than a neutered shell of [your] former self, [you have] reportedly started carrying out pathetic, completely unnoticed acts of rebellion in an effort to preserve some shred of what [you] believes to be [your] dignity.

Another example might be, say, eery silence.
Or this, courtesy of tip we received:

EY only gets Christmas Day and New Years Day off for the holidays…not even christmas eve…Considering they cant roll vacation time, it is just a firm way of getting people to burn vacation they cant take because their chargeable hrs and utilization will go down

We’re not sure how other firms handle the last week of the year, which tends to be worthless, but if you’re working, trying to remain chargeable that week, that’s enough to make you feel trampled on. And since accountants seem to be gluttons for punishment, they have a tendency to put up with it. But hey, if we’ve got it all wrong, let us know. Just putting it out there.
So if you’re getting walked all over and you get a kick out taking home post-it notes and printer paper for personal use, this post is for you. Try to keep it together.

The Year Ahead

We’re sure that some of you need some cheering up, so we’ll throw out a little participatory exercise.
The BBC ran a piece yesterday asking readers to predict their year ahead in three words. We’ve noticed that brevity isn’t a strong suit for some of you so this should be a nice challenge.
In the comments, describe your year ahead in three words. If we get enough good submissions we’ll run a poll tomorrow because we’re sure we won’t want to work that hard. Keep it relevant people. ‘Pwn more noobs’ and the like will be ignored with extreme prejudice.
Impress us.

PwC Is Going to Teach You Some Manners

manners.jpgEven though lots of you are beyond help but regardless, we’ve heard that P. Dubs hosts dining etiquette get-togethers in order to teach you heathens how to use a napkin, leave your feet off the table, not to lick your plate when finished, etc.
Never having the pleasure, inform us and our less dignified readers about your experiences at these or similar events so we can all learn something.
And for God’s sake, if you’re going to one of these events this week, we’ll remind you of our only advice: wear pants.

Interview Questions Thread

BelushiCollege.jpgThere is lots of talk about interviewing going on this week so we’ll run a thread on questions that you recruits might be getting or are getting. Hopefully this first question isn’t “Where are your pants?“
Most firms, regardless of size, seem to ask the same questions, so if you feel inclined, tally the cliché ones in the comments. You’ll get more interesting responses here anyway.
But also feel free to submit questions that you are asking your potential employers and their less-than satisfactory responses. This will most certainly be the place where you can ask the questions you want to ask and you’ll get honest responses from our brilliant readers. Do your worst.

Joe Francis Can Now Get Back to ‘the Business at Hand’

Joe-Francis.jpgA judge has convinced ‘some brilliant legal minds’ and prosecutors with some slimy witnesses to reach a plea agreement in the Joe Francis tax case.
Francis’s original plan to argue that anything related to topless girls was obviously a ‘business expense’ was apparently too confusing for prosecutors to understand.
The defense attorneys also must have realized that Judge James Otero may have been on to something when he suggested that they settle before trial.
More, after the jump


AP:

Otero told prosecutors during a hearing earlier this summer that they should consider resolving the case before it went to trial. He had also questioned Francis’ ability to control himself in the courtroom during the trial, nearly sending him to jail when he learned that Francis had taunted a prosecutor.

Definitely a shocking revelation that Joe Francis wouldn’t be able to control himself, being the purveyor of class that he is. However, perhaps we judge to quickly as it sounds like he has grown through this whole ordeal, which included nearly a year in jail:

“The one thing I’ve learned about myself during this process is that I can be a difficult client, but they are a fantastic group of brilliant legal minds who recognized the truth when they saw it and had the passion to care about what happened to me,” Francis wrote in his statement.

The truth has been recognized, friends. We can all comfortably move on.
Plea deal ends ‘Girls Gone Wild’ founder tax case [AP via TaxProf Blog]

Grant Thornton Will Now Let You Tell Everyone How Great the Weather Is

We’re happy to report that the generosity at Grant Thornton continues. We found out earlier in the week that those of you that did something special, which may or may not involve an outift that wasn’t of your choosing, would be included in GT’s small bonus pool.
According to a tip we received, The Baumer and Co. has now decided that those of you that remain will be rewarded with the ability to make banal status updates at work:

During the experienceAugust all-personnel call, Ed Nusbaum announced the firm’s plans to open access to several external Web sites from Grant Thornton’s network. These sites include social networking and personal email sites such as Facebook, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and MSN Hotmail.
I am pleased to announce that access to these sites is now open.

This unexpected show of appreciation is almost overwhelming. As a tribute, leave cliché responses to this latest development in the comments. In this particular case, the more cliché, the better.

Preliminary Analytics | 09.24.09

BuffettCarriesLunch.standard.jpg• Omaha’s Oracle of Style Sings the Praises of a Chinese Suit – And probably will take the opportunity to spread the folksy seed around. [WSJ]
• Employee of Perot Affiliate Charged With Insider Trades on Takeover Talks – “[Reza] Saleh began buying call options, which give the holder the right to buy stock at a specific future time and price, between Sept. 4 and Sept. 18, according to the SEC complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas. Around that time, several Perot executives and board members, including Mr. Perot, became aware of the takeover negotiations, the SEC alleged.” [WSJ]
• Acorn Sues Over Video as I.R.S. Severs Ties – And the Fox News grave dancing begins…[NYT]
• CFOs plan to invest in technology – When the economy recovers, sayeth Bob Half. [Washington Business Journal via DBJ]
• Microsoft says no plans to buy Electronic Arts Yet. [Reuters]
• The beginning of the end of meaningful regulatory reform – Banks 1 gazillion, Congress 0 [Felix Salmon/Reuters]

Review Comments | 09.23.09

• Audit by Ernst & Young says RSK MiG worth only 3.5 cents – Someone remind us why the Cold War such a big deal? [Russia Times via Alert 5]
• Celebrity Tax News: Floyd Mayweather, Jim Thorpe – Floyd paid over $5 mil, Thorpe’s looking at two years. Nice work fellas. Hire an accountant you dolts. [TaxProf Blog]
• Under The Right Conditions, Imagine How Masterfully This Guy Could Massacre A Food Eating Challenge – Hizzoner can put the wieners away but is a calories counter. No word on any refunding. [DB]
• Palin Addresses Asian Investors – What “investors” are listening to her? Let’s pretend that this didn’t really happen. Great. [WSJ]
• How to Answer an SEC Comment Letter – Submit your suggestions in the comments. Cap it at three words you chatty Cathys. No more, no less. [CFO]

KPMG Is Probably Happy This Guy Left Prior to Getting Really Creative

charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-20050715092008864.jpgA former KPMG partner has pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges related to tax shelter scheme.
According to the WSJ, “[Robert] Pfaff is currently serving a 97-month prison sentence after he and two others were convicted on tax evasion charges last year in a case once billed as the largest tax-shelter fraud case in U.S. history. In that case, prosecutors had alleged that Pfaff and another former KPMG employee left KPMG in 1997 and formed an investment adviser known as Presidio Advisory Services, which was little more than a ‘tax shelter mill’.”
Doesn’t ‘tax shelter mill’ sound like a wonderful place of capitalistic creativity and entrepreneurship where things just magically happen and you don’t why or how? Sort of like a financial Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The kind of place where you wish you worked?
Ex-KPMG Tax Partner Pleads Guilty In Tax-Shelter Case [WSJ]