Ernst & Young opens program in Boston to attract autistic workers and other “neuro-diverse” recruits [Boston Globe] These programs at EY are designed to hire talented candidates whose cognitive differences — dyslexia, autism, or ADHD, for example — might hamper them in traditional one-on-one job interviews that rely on good social skills. EY also provides […]
Closing arguments were held on April 13 in the bench trial of audit whistleblower Mauro Botta vs. PricewaterhouseCoopers. Botta, a former PwC senior manager, claims that he was wrongfully terminated by PwC in retaliation for making a whistleblower report to the SEC. Botta’s whistleblower report alleges that PwC had compromised its independence by acquiescing to […]
Bernie Madoff, the Ponzi schemer who died in prison today while serving a 150-year sentence, provided great wealth for my blog, Re:Balance, if not to the broad array of credulous customers from all levels of society, from whom he extracted over $17 billion. One of my favorites, from March 27, 2009, is re-offered here in […]
“Charles Ponzi is now a footnote. They’re now Madoff schemes.” — Anthony Sabino, a defense lawyer specializing in white collar criminal defense, famously said in July 2009 after Bernie Madoff decided not to appeal his 150-year sentence for fraud. As you’ve probably heard by now, Madoff died today in jail at the age of 82. […]
Presuming that Janet Yellen, our current secretary of the Treasury, lives in California, her marginal tax rate might be as high as 13.3%. That’s a little scary for those of us living here in Maryland. Good thing she knows how to handle finances. For that kind of tax rate she might easily be persuaded to […]
Active CPA exam candidates should have gotten an email about this upcoming planned outage however if your inbox looks anything like mine, it’s entirely possible that said email was lost among the Hello Fresh spam and discount codes from brands you bought from once that try and act like they genuinely miss you. So consider […]
“Hahaha … Dad, you were working all the time … we never saw you. Why would I want to do that?” It’s a sad day when buzzing in with “What is a CPA?” will win you $400 based on my daughter’s comment. Worse, her remarks aren’t grounded in laziness. She’s graduating college this spring with […]
It’s a given every year that the Big 4 firms will end up in Vault’s rankings of the best and the most prestigious accounting and consulting firms to work for. But banking? Yeah, last year I found out that’s a thing, for Deloitte and EY anyway. In Vault’s 2020 Banking 50, Deloitte Corporate Finance was […]
Grant Thornton in America’s hat recently admitted 35 new partners and 18 new principals into the purple kingdom. Alberta Chris Cameron, Partner, Edmonton Ken Hankinson, Partner, Edmonton Stephen Latimer, Partner, Wetaskiwin Jenny Pon, Partner, Edmonton Freida Richer, Partner, Edmonton British Columbia Shawn Birkenhead, Principal, Kamloops Sandra Blair, Principal, Kamloops Michelle Coates, Principal, Nelson Kevin Cooper, […]
So this guy actually thought he could get away with this, huh? SMH. Hadi Isbaih of Palos Heights, IL, was charged in an indictment returned Monday in the Northern District of Illinois with four counts of wire fraud for allegedly fraudulently assisting customers in obtaining millions of dollars in loans under the CARES Act, authorities […]
In today’s edition of “Big 4-on-Big 4 Poaching From Around the World,” we’re focusing on the strategy consulting arms of PwC and EY in Australia, as Miles Tam recently left PwC’s Strategy& as a director to join the partnership at EY Port Jackson Partners. In addition, EY Port Jackson Partners lured Chris Paxton away from […]
KPMG in the U.K. made it official this morning that head of audit Jon Holt will replace Bill Michael as the firm’s new CEO. The U.K. House of Klynveld said: KPMG in the UK has confirmed that following a partnership vote, Jon Holt has been elected with overwhelming support as the firm’s Chief Executive. He […]
So I was in the car listening to CBS Sports Radio while running some errands on Saturday afternoon when the show’s host, Andrew Fillipponi, started talking about his lack of interest in watching the Masters because Tiger Woods wasn’t competing for his sixth green jacket. He felt the Masters just wasn’t the same without Tiger, […]
How PwC US is thanking our people for a year of hard work [Tim Ryan via LinkedIn] Writes the PwC US Chair: “Our people are the heartbeat of our organization, and their well-being is the most important thing for us to look out for. Because it is so important to take breaks, unplug, and experience […]
Many years ago, I had this somewhat demanding job that happened to also be a really fun place to work, so while it was stressful and the hours were long, I found myself reveling in this because I actually enjoyed it most days. Now, I realize this may be a foreign concept to some of […]
Not even a global pandemic, the likes of which we’ve never seen, could slow down the amount of accounting-related securities class actions filed in 2020. A new report from Cornerstone Research revealed that 70 federal securities class actions involving accounting allegations—all were “core” filings containing Securities Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Section 11, and Section 12(a) […]
Amber Guyger, the former Dallas cop who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2019 for murdering PwC accountant Botham Jean in his apartment a year earlier, has an appeals hearing scheduled for later this month. The NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth reported last month that Guyger’s hearing will begin at 1 p.m. […]
We’re less than two months away from the class of 2021 tossing their mortarboards high in the sky (either in-person with their classmates or virtually, not sure which at this point), thus signaling a new batch of eager beavers who will soon be starting their journeys in the meat grinder that is public accounting. But […]
This is the percentage of the 4,500 or so employees of the Queen’s Grant Thornton who want to continue to spend the majority of their time working from home post-pandemic, an in-house employee survey revealed. According to the Financial Times, GT U.K. CEO David Dunckley said the pro-WFH crowd was the same regardless of age, […]
Just wanted to say that this article (“Women, Can You Love Your Job But Still Be Pissed About Your Compensation?”) really struck a nerve, because it is TRUE! This week in particular, I found myself having this exact conversation on multiple occasions. I absolutely love my job, my team, and the partner I work for, […]
Consider this your unofficial invitation to “Navigating the CPA Exam,” a joint webcast from NASBA and the AICPA that will help guide CPA exam candidates through the perilous journey on the way to CPA licensure. Are you a candidate currently pursuing the U.S. CPA license? Join NASBA/AICPA for a webcast on April 20, 1 – […]
After being indicted last week on 35 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns and two counts of willfully failing to file personal income tax returns, Ametra Q. Wooden should probably change the name of her tax preparation business to F Plus Tax Experts & Financial Services, amirite? […]
This is the average salary for an accountant in 2021 based on an analysis by AdvisorSmith of accounting salaries, number of accounting jobs, and the cost of living from 363 U.S. cities. That salary is up about 2% from 2019’s average accountant salary of $77,920. The business research website used data from three sources—Bureau of […]
Partner who led KPMG’s audit of Carillion leaves Big Four firm [Financial Times] The partner who led KPMG’s audit of Carillion, the collapsed government contractor, has left the Big Four firm as the UK accounting regulator’s investigation into the scandal reaches an advanced stage. IRS provides details on April 15 postponement [Journal of Accountancy] On […]
[Updated on April 2 with additional information.] A consultant with Deloitte was released from jail and not charged with a crime following an altercation that turned deadly between roommates at a vacation rental complex in Hawaii earlier this week. Benjamin Fleming, 37, of Pittsburgh was charged with manslaughter on March 30 in the death of […]
Not sure if y’all heard but we live in the future now. Not the cool Ray Bradbury one with casual weekend trips to exotic Mars destinations and robots to do all the tedious things we’d rather not, but the future no less. And here in this dystopian nightmare glorious future, technical aptitude is in high […]
It took 10 years but an age bias lawsuit first filed against KPMG in 2011 by former senior manager Donna Kassman that now includes eight other plaintiffs and hundreds of other KPMG ladies, a vast majority of whom no longer work for the firm, is finally reaching the end of the road. Law360 reported yesterday: […]
Do what you will with this information. I’m just throwing it out there. Korn Ferry recently released the results of its 2021 Global Salary Survey, in which the management consulting firm combines “ongoing data we collect from 25,000 clients across 150+ countries with additional data gathered at key points throughout the year.” OK. So. Right […]
As you probably have heard, the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is underway, and a jury of 12 people (and two alternates) will decide if he is guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. The USA Today last weekend ran small profiles of each of the 14 jurors, […]
Last week I wrote an epic poem to the art of suffering. The TL;DR is that it’s dumb to work yourself to the bone for an employer who sees you as an expendable resource and bragging about how many hours you put in doesn’t mean you’re any better at your job than the guy in […]
“I didn’t feel I had a choice. I had to fight for justice. And any cursory examination of the facts of the case showed that I was clearly in the right. Given that, I have never been able to understand why EY fought a losing battle for so long.” — Amjad Rihan, a former audit […]
Back in January we told you guys about the Dallas City Council approving to rename a four-mile stretch of South Lamar Street, including where the Dallas Police Department’s headquarters is located, in memory of Botham Jean, the PwC accountant who was murdered in his apartment by a Dallas police officer in September 2018. Botham Jean […]
So this guy and his wife walked into MZ BIZ Tax Services in Houston last Thursday to complain about something or another regarding the tax return the business prepared for them. An argument ensued, with the owner of the business allegedly telling the couple to “get the hell out.” The wife left but the man […]
Hey. Hope you are having a good Monday so far. Danielle Malone wasn’t as scared of KPMG coming after her as the dog in the video we posted on Sunday. In fact, she actually left PwC in Australia (the biggest of the Big 4 in terms of revenue) to join the Australian House of Klynveld […]
Alternate title: When You Receive Offers From Both KPMG and PwC. pic.twitter.com/czY7qWpzWo — TheBig4Accountant (@TheBig4Tweets) March 28, 2021 Have a good rest of the weekend.
Wirecard ‘Criminals’ Had Us Duped, EY Auditor Tells Lawmakers [Bloomberg] An Ernst & Young LLP partner said his firm fell victim to “criminals” at Wirecard AG, rejecting allegations EY didn’t do enough to uncover wrongdoing at the now defunct payment processor. Deadline for certain single audits delayed because of pandemic [Journal of Accountancy] The due […]
Did ya hear? There’s a global pandemic going on. And although we’ve had more than a year to figure things out, obviously there are still some areas where the “idk, just kick that can down the road and we’ll deal with it later” mentality is about all TPTB can muster. For example, the IRS announced […]
A bored tax associate asked on Fishbowl earlier today if anyone has ever been involved in a fistfight at work. We don’t know which accounting firm or who the combatants were, but someone responded with this little bit of awesomeness: Ah, the good ol’ days of public accounting.
[Updated on March 25 with information on the leading CEO candidate at Deloitte Australia.] You can cross EY Oceania off the list of potential landing spots for a woman CEO of a Big 4 firm, as David Larocca, currently the managing partner of EY Oceania’s Strategy and Transactions business, will take the reins from CEO […]
Aminta Smith, a former tax preparer in Charlotte, NC, was given 30 months to think about her choices. According to the sentencing hearing, court documents and evidence presented at trial, Smith owned and operated a Charlotte-based tax preparation business, Touch by Angels Tax Services, also known as Touch by Angels Accounting Services and Smith Tax […]
For some reason Big 4 partners think buying their capital market servants pizza will make everything all better. Here, have a free slice of pepperoni or two as a token of our appreciation for working those 80-plus hours last week. Your employees are adults, not elementary school children. But some of my favorite public accounting-related […]
Before I get into this, I feel it’s important to explain where I’m coming from. You see, I had a turbulent childhood. Not “damn, my mom won’t buy me a Power Pad!” turbulent, I only wish that had been the extent of my troubles growing up. I won’t get into too much detail as I’m […]
“Just remember: if we all go an extra mile for our client, even when we feel that we’re reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance.” — David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in a message to the investment bank’s 34,000 staff worldwide last Sunday, in which he responded to […]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or neck deep in tax returns, you probably heard about the recent allegations from 13 first-year analysts who work at Goldman Sachs that their employer is actually a sweatshop disguised as an investment bank. In a Working Conditions Survey created and only answered by those 13 GS analysts, […]
Leon Chan just couldn’t stop taking photos up girls’ skirts. This dude, who used to work for PwC, had 1,700 upskirt pics saved on his iPhone when he was arrested in July 2019 at the Topshop clothing store in London after getting caught taking photos of a female shopper bending over. The crazy thing is […]
It seems based on the amount of time Adrienne and I spend lurking on Reddit and Fishbowl that more people are fleeing the meat grinder that is public accounting lately than in previous years. It’s not because they’re working ungodly Goldman Sachs-type hours, but some people are just not cut out to be capital market […]
I don’t know which is more dumb: that El Paso, TX-based tax preparer Victor Gonzalez intentionally underreported his income by roughly $289,000 over a three-year period or that the name of his now-defunct business was Tax Preparation Services. Seriously, Victor? You couldn’t come up with a better name than that? Anyhoo, V-Gon was indicted recently—not […]
Bonuses Are Targeted in U.K. Crackdown on Audit Scandals [Bloomberg] Top executives at companies hit by accounting scandals could lose their bonuses under U.K. proposals for beefed-up regulation after a wave of corporate collapses including Carillion Plc and travel firm Thomas Cook Group Plc. UK audit reform set to cost businesses more than £430m a […]
Apparently yesterday was St Patrick’s Day. I don’t know about everyone else but I didn’t even realize it, maybe because we’re all still in a quasi holding pattern of lockdown depending on where we are and getting shitfaced with strangers in kelly green T-shirts wasn’t on the menu. Or it could be that I no […]
If there was such a thing as a “I love my job” gap, men and women would be equals, according to the latest U.S. salary survey from the Institute of Management Accountants. And that boggles my mind because, as we all know, women’s salaries in accounting are definitely not equal to men’s. So as a […]
Alternate title: “Ex-CPA with Irish Surname Gets Jail Time on St. Patrick’s Day.” Authorities say 64-year-old Mark Harmon of Evansville, IN, who was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison on multiple counts of tax evasion, altered client invoices and falsified income on personal tax returns for several years: Harmon owned and operated Mark […]
If there’s one main thing pandemic living has taught us it’s how to pivot. For many of us, we’ve had to figure out how to do our jobs at home (oftentimes while simultaneously wearing our parent hat). Our kids have had to adjust to learning in virtual classrooms. The past year has forced some people […]
If introverted EYers were expecting another quiet Monday as a socially-accepted hermit in these troubling times they were in for a surprise this morning when EY Chair Kelly Grier came crashing into their inboxes with an update on the big post-COVID plans. Spoiler: it involves making yourself available in the office. The following email has […]
In case you’ve been out of the loop — which we hope you are since it likely means you’ve managed to stay gainfully employed throughout this past dumpster fire of a year — Deloitte has gotten quite a bit of hate of late over their handling of certain state unemployment systems. The most notorious has […]
UK watchdog investigating Deloitte audits of Lookers [Reuters] Britain’s accounting watchdog said on Friday it had opened an investigation into audits conducted by Deloitte of car dealership operator Lookers. The investigation will look at financial statements for the years ended Dec. 31 2017 and 2018, the Financial Reporting Council said in a statement. Babcock parts […]
Nearly a week after Deloitte in India said it would give all employees either a bonus or a straightforward increase in salary this month as the firm bounces back from a pandemic-related malaise, PwC leaders in India are also sharing the wealth with employees as a “token of appreciation” for hanging in there during the […]
In an announcement that reportedly stunned Deloitte Australia partners and staff, CEO Richard Deutsch resigned today after spending two and a half years on the job, the Australian Financial Review reported. “After a difficult and unprecedented year and following much personal reflection, today I announced my resignation as CEO,” Mr Deutsch told partners and staff […]
Those of you who are still on the fence about pursuing a professional accounting certification should, if for no other reason, consider getting your CPA or CMA or both because of this: more money. The Institute of Management Accountants polled its U.S. membership last September for its 2021 U.S. Salary Survey. Of the 1,300 or […]
“This is a constant Darwinian contest of survival of the fittest. We need a much better Big 4. Let’s hope the generation coming through will finish off this archaic system of tutelage and abuse based on the dream of the million pound pay day.” — Ken Charman, CEO of uFlexReward, a London-based data company that […]
PwCers who work in the firm’s building in Wellington, New Zealand had a bit of a scare earlier this morning after they were evacuated following a bomb threat. Police are responding to an incident on Wellington's waterfront. Multiple officers & police cars are stationed outside the PWC building. Public area outside has been cordoned off. […]
On the same day Deloitte Consulting executives were taking haymakers from Florida senators during a hearing on the recent failures of the state’s unemployment system that the firm built, Deloitte and the state of Florida scored a win in the courtroom as a circuit judge threw out a class-action lawsuit against the toxic couple over […]
For years now, we here at Going Concern — much like most of the accounting profession at large — have been engaged in dramatic hand-wringing over the possibility of robots edging accountants out of their jobs. And — again, much like the greater profession — we have mostly come to the conclusion that even when […]
The big news last week in the U.K. wasn’t the sale of KPMG’s restructuring unit but the resignation of Dimple Agarwal, Deloitte’s diversity and inclusion chief. The resignation attracted widespread attention as Agarwal allegedly harassed younger staff and spoke aggressively to them. Agarwal’s resignation came less than a month after Bill Michael stepped down as […]
It might just be me but it seems that tax preparation businesses with unscrupulous owners have the most ridiculous names. Would you really trust getting your taxes done correctly and legally at a place called Tax Terminatorz? Well, people did and in the process were part of Tax Terminatorz’s grand plan to screw the IRS […]
“[This is] in circumstances where my client is finding it very difficult to remain in the partnership and has lost the trust of his partners.” — Paul Moorhouse, the lawyer representing Deloitte Australia partner Colin Brown, said in federal court on March 5. Brown, an audit partner, is accusing Deloitte of age discrimination by unfairly […]
Endlessly scrolling my YouTube recommendations the other night in a desperate attempt to scrape up the tiniest shred of dopamine, I came across the video I’m about to share with you all. It’s about the “Hall of Tortured Souls,” an easter egg buried in Microsoft Office 1995. This website has been around for 12 years, […]
Deloitte to pay Malaysia $80 million to settle claims linked to 1MDB [Reuters] Audit firm Deloitte PLT will pay Malaysia’s government $80 million to resolve all claims related to its auditing of accounts of scandal-linked state fund 1MDB and its unit SRC International from 2011 to 2014, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. ‘There Is […]
An article titled “PCAOB Inspections: Public Accounting Firms on Trial” describes the results from an academic study and survey about the effects on auditors who have been subject to PCAOB inspections. One of many good observations from that academic study is repeated below: Respondents collectively perceive that audit quality has improved as a result of […]
While a circuit judge in Leon County in Florida still has to decide whether a potential class-action lawsuit against the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity and Deloitte Consulting over the shoddy and problematic unemployment benefits system D-town built and installed will continue, Florida senators are pushing forward a bill that would penalize companies (cough, Deloitte, […]
The owner of InTouch Tax Solutions in Dallas won’t be touching anyone’s tax returns for quite a while. The Feds said: A North Dallas tax return preparer was sentenced to 3½ years in prison and ordered to pay $11.9 million in restitution for filing fraudulent income tax returns, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern […]
When it comes time to think about leaving public accounting, which happens for 99% of public accountants except for those brave and oddly-programmed individuals who are cut out for the partner track, one of the foremost considerations in any exasperated public accountant’s mind is: how can I do this without burning bridges? From the time […]
Our favorite convicted felon and career advice-giver, Sam Antar, the former CFO of Crazy Eddie, had some things to say on Twitter about the current state of audits in a reply to a tweet from Francine McKenna about EY and the Wirecard accounting scandal: I’m going to make this plain and simple:•Audits are a myth.•It […]
Gather ’round, kids, we’re going to talk about accounting salaries. The other day, Business.org came out with a report on which states (plus the District of Columbia) pay accountants the best and the worst. To do this, the site said it used data from the Bureau of Labor’s annual occupational employment stats and compared each […]
Last October Mazars made a huge deal about its new brand identity, including a revamped logo that we thought was as bland as paste. Maybe the firm could have added a little orange to it, ya know, in honor of its most famous client in the U.S. Whatever. It is what it is. But while […]
Before working in my current position as a senior tax associate, I was helping people to make the world a better place in a different way, as a manager for a Montessori preschool. I valued my relationship with the staff and children, but my interest was continuously drawn more into the business side of the […]
If Cleveland-based public accounting firm Cohen & Co. were an English Premier League goalkeeper, the firm would have gotten a clean sheet. Or if you’re not a fan of European soccer but like the NHL, Cohen & Co. would be like a goalie who finished the game with a shutout. In its 2019 PCAOB inspection […]
This was tweeted last night by New York Times culture reporter and author Dave Itzkoff after seeing the defenders of the ballots from EY on stage at the Golden Globe Awards: The Masked Accountant, this spring on Fox pic.twitter.com/fQ34Rnjv3D — Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 1, 2021 *Chef’s kiss* Related article: EY Is Bringing Its Shiny […]
Get a load of this shit. If you follow the link, it takes you to a post on the McKinsey website about how stress isn’t the problem, YOU are! Just the kind of gaslighting we need on a Monday morning to get our week started right! At the core of this challenge for many people […]
Leaving public accounting is rarely an easy decision, even when the choices are “stay or have a crippling nervous breakdown.” It’s not that the decision itself is hard, rather the consequences of taking an oftentimes necessary leap can lead to difficulties in securing subsequent employment if, as your accounting professors would have you believe, walking […]
No progress without a pandemic? [Accounting Today] Dan Hood asks the important question in AT. Federal accounting can be a more dynamic career than it sounds, industry group says [Federal News Network] LOL: “If you think federal accounting is dull and unchanging, think again. People who do federal accounting and finance say it’s a constantly […]
PwC ‘Punished’ Thorough Auditing, Whistleblower Testifies [Law360] A couple Augusts ago, Adrienne wrote about an academic study that revealed the market for audit services penalizes audit firms for disclosing information critical of management in their audit opinions and that audit firms that find internal control material weaknesses experience lower client and fee growth. In other […]
Whether it’s in the sports world or the business world, whenever you see a press release or an article that says, “[PERSON’S NAME] is stepping down from [HIS/HER] role as [EXECUTIVE JOB TITLE] and will be taking another position with the [TEAM NAME/COMPANY NAME],” it’s because that person sucked at his/her job or something bad […]
According to the AICPA time table, the second batch of CPA exam scores for the first half of 2021 were due on February 23, which means that candidates were anticipating them starting some time last week. Even with the entire world in turmoil, the benevolent overlords of CPA exam administration have done a spectacular job […]
Significantly screwing up half of your audits inspected by the PCAOB won’t get your firm included in the pantheon of worst PCAOB inspection reports of all time. RSM US beat that handily in 2017. BDO USA has had audit failure rates of 74% (2014), 67% (2016), and 65% (2013). Grant Thornton did a horrible job […]
If you search for reviews on Yelp of the best tax preparation firms in the Bronx, it’s no surprise you don’t see RAP Tax Services among them. Maybe it’s because the owner admitted to submitting false and fraudulent tax returns on behalf of clients, falsely claiming dependents, nonexistent charitable deductions, or bogus business expenses. Yeah, […]
Two former KPMG auditors who worked on the ill-fated audit of a not-for-profit college agreed to having their wrists slapped by the SEC for their roles in the school’s collapse: The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended two former KPMG auditors [Christopher Stanley and Jennifer Stewart] from practicing before the SEC in connection with settled […]
EY employees have had to endure a lot of crap in the past six months, most notably seeing many of their colleagues and friends lose their jobs and being told by management they have an “entitlement mentality” when it comes to vacation and then having unlimited PTO shoved down their throats. But as a reward […]
It’s fair to say Grant Thornton auditors are no longer on the struggle bus. From 2010 to 2015, the Purple Rose of Chicago had an average audit failure rate of 44% in its PCAOB inspection reports during that time frame, including a whopping 65% worth of screw-ups in the firm’s 2012 report, which gave GT […]
Edward Kelly has been suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant because he got caught insider trading. You can read the SEC order from Feb. 16 here. But the blog SEC Actions put together a nice little synopsis of the case against Kelly: Now the agency has brought an insider trading […]
Plus, a U.K. accountant is going to spend some time in jail for stealing money from two nursery schools, which she used to treat herself to a new kitchen. Accountant arrested for embezzling $1.2 million from furniture firm [Woodworking Network] Manuel “Mendy” Goldring was arrested on Feb. 18 for allegedly embezzling $1.2 million from Academia […]
Black CPA Centennial celebrates first Black CPA [Journal of Accountancy] The first CPA law was passed in New York 1896. It would be another 25 years before a Black person joined the profession. The primary blockers that made licensure essentially impossible for many aspiring Black CPAs included education, experience, and exclusion. Art of Accounting: Work-life […]
The February gloom was broken recently by the news that the British government will be introducing reforms targeting company financial reporting and audit oversight. In truth, none of this should be a surprise. There have been several accounting scandals in recent years where the directors of various companies have been unscrupulous and their external auditors […]
The move toward value pricing marks the dawning of a new era for accountants and accounting firms, where financial and professional advancement opportunities abound. No longer constrained by the billable hour, earning potential for accountants is limited only by their own efficiency. And that’s awesome—for those who can find ways to make every minute of […]
Back in September we talked about the NASBA Summer 2020 State Board Report, in which the benevolent overlords who torture you for fun who oversee the CPA exam discussed the possibility of remote testing. I know it was a loooooong time ago (let’s be real, yesterday is a long time ago when on Corona time) […]
Here’s a number of the day for ya: 50.7%. That is the average failure rate of BDO USA audits in PCAOB inspection reports from 2010 to its most recent 2019 report, in which PCAOB inspectors found significant errors in 42% of audits reviewed. Public accounting firms that have been historically bad at auditing, like Grant […]
It was big news around these parts when we found out Deloitte Consulting was kicked off the Big 4 throne by EY-Parthenon in Vault’s most recent ranking of the 50 best consulting firms to work for. Deloitte had held down fourth place (No. 1 among the Big 4) for five consecutive years, so it was […]
After a roller coaster of a week that ended with the fall of Bill Michael at KPMG, it is time to don the forensics hat to determine how it went horribly wrong. The Titanic may have hit an iceberg, but where did Michael trip over his didgeridoo? Michael the F-bomber: Ben Marlow, a business columnist […]
Since 1923, the Elijah Watt Sells Award has recognized the extraordinary achievements of the top-performing CPA exam candidates each year, a rare and hard-earned reward for above-average scores. The few, the proud, the … wait, wrong slogan. Have you ever wondered just who Elijah Watt Sells even was? Most people probably assume he was some […]
[UPDATE] Bill Michael quit today, according to the Financial Times and other U.K. outlets. “I am truly sorry that my words have caused hurt amongst my colleagues and for the impact the events of this week have had on them,” Michael said in a statement on Friday. “In light of that, I regard my position […]
China orders Deloitte to investigate whistleblower allegations [FT] China’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement that it “attached great importance” to the whistleblower report and that it had called a meeting with Deloitte’s management. Virtual accounting: How to succeed remotely [Journal of Accountancy] The coronavirus has changed the business landscape significantly. Many accounting firm […]
