Bill Gates Has Less Than Flattering Things to Say About Government Accounting

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

“[R]eally, when you get down to it, the guys at Enron never would have done this. This is so blatant, so extreme,” Gates said of state governments’ accounting practices generally. “Is anyone paying attention to some of the things these guys do? They borrow money — they’re not supposed to, but they figure out a way — they make you pay more in withholding to help their cashflow out, they sell off the assets, they defer the payments, they sell off the revenues from tobacco.” [HuffPo]

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Who’s Going ‘Above and Beyond’ at McGladrey?

A few people, apparently.

The “prestigious 2010 McGladrey Achievement Awards” are only given once a year (we think) and while C.E. Andrews realizes everyone is doing their part, there are a few people that need special recognition, “While all of our employees are focused on the client, these award winners are being recognized as having gone ‘above and beyond’ to ensure client success.”

But enough with the boilerplate, on to the names:

This year’s winners include:

• Dalia Pearson (Ft. Lauderdale) was recognized as Employee of the Year for her can-do attitude and excellent customer service
• Michael Sher (Chicago) was recognized as Partner/Managing Director of the Year for his strong work ethic, industry expertise and his industry knowledge.
• Jennifer Murtha (Melbourne) was recognized as Career Advisor of the Year for developing talent, cultivating teams and relationships and helping to shape the firm’s future.

Individual and team awards were also presented for relationships, excellence, integrity and unity. Team awards included the Great Lakes Core Tax Team, Ohio Private Equity Growth Team, Building Trust Through Service Engagement Team, the Olympus Capital Audit Team and others.

Obviously this is stupendous news but what we’re curious about now is, what does extra-special people receive for such a prestigious honor? A year’s worth of bragging rights is a given but is there any money involved? As much punch and cake as their hearts desire? A lunch with your Mickey G’s-sponsored golfer of choice? We need answers. Or wild-ass guesses.

AICPA Launches Clearly Pretty Awesome Campaign to Target High School Students

The following post is republished from AccountingWEB, a source of accounting news, information, tips, tools, resources and insight — everything you need to help you prosper and enjoy the accounting profession.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has launched the Clearly Pretty Awesome Competition for high school students to introduce them to the CPA profession.

“The CPA designation offers many rewarding career paths,” said Jeannie Patton, AICPA vice president – students, academics, and membership. “College students are graduating with degrees in accounting at historically high numbers. Decisions regarding career paths are being shaped very early, many at the high school level. It’s important that students have substantial information about accounting careers before they select their majors at colleges and universities.”


The Clearly Pretty Awesome Competition calls for students to devise a job (other than certified public accountant) using the acronym CPA, such as “curb paint applicator” or “city park accordionist.” To enter the competition, students are encouraged to visit Start Here, Go Places and register using the site’s FutureMe tool, and then submit their entries, along with an explanation as to why being a real CPA is a better option than the job they created.

A panel of judges will select the finalists on November 18 and 19. The top submissions will appear on Start Here, Go Places for public voting beginning on November 29. The AICPA will announce the winning entry on or about December 15, and plans to incorporate it in a national advertising campaign.

There will be 1st through 5th place awards:

• 1st place: A laptop for the student, $3,000 grant awarded to the student’s school in his or her name, use of the entry in the ad campaign, and a poster for school display;

• 2nd place: A laptop for the student, $1,500 grant to the school in the student’s name and a poster;

• 3rd, 4th, and 5th places: An iPod touch for the students.

The competition is open to full-time 15 to 19 year-old students who are enrolled in a high school in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa or the U.S. Virgin Islands. The AICPA will accept entries until Nov. 17.

About the AICPA:
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national, professional association of CPAs, with 369,000 CPA members worldwide in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student affiliates and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.