Category: Big 4

If it happens at a Big 4 accounting firm, we’re talking about it here.

A/P Clerk Would Like to Know How to Best Use $30k to Get a Job with a Big 4 Firm

From the mailbag:

I have been working as a Accounts Payable for 3 years. I don’t want to waste your time of explaining my disadvantages. One of my advantages is money. I have a large savings. I would like to give $30,000 to anyone who get me a job in Big 4. I am not talking about [a] bribe. I wish to know how to use advantages [sic].

Just don’t sit there, give the man some suggestions. All options are on the table. Bonus points for creativity.

An ‘Appropriate Email Use’ Refresher May Be Needed for All Big 4 Firms in Ireland

Earlier today we brought up some less-than gentlemanly behavior going on at PwC Ireland. However, that wasn’t the first story of misuse of email coming from the Emerald Isle. You may recall a few bros at KPMG asking for some assistance winning a trip to Whistler, which was received with mixed reviews in the States.

Anyway! Now comes the story – courtesy of our sister from another mister, Dealbreaker – about another KPMG associate maybe not using the best judgment, sharing his plans for putting the moves on a special lady friend with his mate over firm email.

From: Ian [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 10:24
To: John [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

Good night on wed man. Good old craic. Any luck with the ladies

Kind Regards,

Ian [redacted]

Financial Services Audit

2 Harbourmaster Place

IFSC

Dublin

____________________________________________________________________________
From: John [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 10:28
To: Ian [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

Was a very good night. Got very messy in the end. No luck with the ladies. Had my eyes on this one girl, [redacted]. Some piece of work. But bottled it in the end

_________________________________________________________________________________

From: Ian [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 10:45
To: John [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

I know the one your talking about alright. Shes friends with one of my mates in my year. Seems like a nice girl. Gonna chance it next time

_____________________________________________________________________________

From: John [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 11:24
To: Ian [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

Definiately going to stick the head in next time. Falling behind on this whole k score thing. Need to get on board. Shes top notch in fairness

What u reckon?

______________________________________________________________________________

From: Ian [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 11:40
To: John [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

Ya, sure go for it if you like her

_____________________________________________________________________________

From: John [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 11:48
To: Ian [redacted]
Subject: RE: Wed

Alright next thurs, im gonna stick the head in. Just wait for the right moment. (When shes drunk) and she cant say no. Got this unreal technique for scoring aswel, called the whisper. I pretend im whispering in her ear and when shes not looking I just kiss her. The element of surprise throws then off and BOOM.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

From: Ian [redacted]
Sent: 22 October 2010 12:04
To: [the girl]
Subject: Wed

Hey [girl],

Thought id give u the heads up about this chap John here. Think he has some serious plans for you

__________________________________________________________________________

From: [everyone who was forwarded this]
To: [everyone they know]
Subject: read from the bottom up!!!

Higher-ups at Deloitte Aren’t Sure Why Employees Are Still in ‘Shock Mode’ From the Last Few Years

All the good times at the Deloitte – Jim Quigley on the teevee, surprise raises, leaving PwC in the dust – hasn’t gotten green-dot morale to acceptable levels.

Accordingly, some of the senior partners in the advisory practice have taken it upon themselves to remind everyone how things are turning around.

From a green-dot familiar with the situation:

There has been an up-tick in senior partner communication recently – mostly in the form of mass e-mail communications, published “Your Questions Answered” videos and in-person “Straight-Talk” sessions – seeming aimed at reassuring the masses that Deloitte’s on its way to the promised land. The message is pretty clear that we’ve survived the recession, are hiring like crazy, are bringing in new business at a solid clip and that we’re spanking our competition (i.e., need to look into the rear-view mirror to find PwC and gang).

This, of course, is in contrast to what we in the trenches feel; that our compensation isn’t mirroring our level of output, that we can’t staff engagements because we don’t have enough resources and that all of our friends are leaving for our competitors. This disparity is acknowledged by the partnership; and at least at one straight talk session, we were told that they can’t figure out why we don’t see the light. It was then proposed that we’re still in “shock mode” because of the last few years; but this observer thinks it’s more that we’re working so hard to produce results for the partners that we can’t see the light because the only free time we have is the few hours of twilight that exists each day – and that’s for sleeping (or other creative stress reducing activities ).

Btw, not sure what you’re hearing; but in my group-region alone, I know of 8 people who have left in the last month (the group-region is about 120 people).

Okay then – so it boils down to either being in “shock mode” or your terrible attitude. Share your position on the matter and what camp you fall into below.

Is Citi Getting Bad Advice from KPMG?

John Carney wonders aloud if Citigroup’s low reserves (approximately $1b reserve for $500b in exposure) for its repurchase risk is thanks to the guidance provided by KPMG. Citi has said that they are, “comfortable with this level of reserves because historically realized repurchase risk has been quite small.” Carney explains, “In short, they haven’t had to pay out much on these claims in the past, so they figure they won’t pay out much in the future.”

Be that as it may, JC and his colleague, Ash Bennington are pret-tay sure Citi has it wrong (they lay out their case in full) and speculates that KPMG is, at the very least, an enabler here.


Carney points out that Francine McKenna has been following KPMG’s not so stellar guidance on this particular issue for years. Starting with New Century in 2007, Wells Fargo last year and Countrywide who was purchased by Bank of America.

Carney then writes that Bank of America is “widely assumed to have the largest repurchase risk, largely thanks to the acquisition of Countrywide.”

So that’s a helluva trail to be sure and Carney wraps up:

So is the advice of KPMG part of the reason for Citi’s complacency when it comes to repurchase risk? Given the history of companies audited by KPMG missing repurchase risk, perhaps Citi should rethink that complacency.

Of course Carney forgets that Dick Bové would take exception with everything he’s saying, since this firm is perfectly acceptable. Even if he doesn’t know who they are.

We’d like to get anyone familiar with the matter (read: Citi audit team members) on the record, so get in touch and we’ll put it out there. Or you can chime in below.

Let’s Speculate About Why Deloitte and KPMG Aren’t on the America’s Largest Private Companies List

Riddle me this, oh wise Going Concern readers – Forbes’s list du jour is America’s Largest Private Companies and its Top 10 has two familiar names: PwC and Ernst & Young but Deloitte and KPMG are nowhere to be found.

Here’s a rundown of companies, their revenues in billions and # of employees:

1. Cargill – $109.84, 130k
2. Koch – 100.00, 70k
3. Bechtel – $30.8, 49k
4. HCA – 30.05, 190k
5. Mars – 28, 65k
6. Chrysler – 27.90, 41.2k
7. PwC – 26.57, 161k
8. Publix – 24.32, 142k
9. E&Y – 21.26, 141k
10. C&S – 20.4, 16.6k

Just for the sake of not opening a bigger canner of worms we’ll ignore the enormous drop in revenues from #2 to #3.

Both firms have over $20 billion in revenues – Deloitte’s the biggest of the Big 4 for crissakes – so that puts them in the top ten easily, yet they’re completely MIA.

If you look at the methodology, you’ll find that both firms should easily qualify to make the list:

In addition to our $2 billion revenue requirement, the companies on our list have either too few shareholders to be required to file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or have shares whose ownership is restricted to some group, such as employees or family members. We exclude foreign companies, companies that don’t pay income tax (like Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority), mutually owned companies (like State Farm Insurance), cooperatives ( like Central Grocers), companies with fewer than 100 employees, and companies that are more than 50% owned by another public, private or foreign company. We also leave out companies whose primary business is auto dealerships or real estate investment and/or management.

If you take a hard line here, “companies that don’t pay income tax” should probably disqualify all the firms but obviously Forbes made at least two exceptions. As for the rest of requirements, nothing really jumps out so it’s anyone’s guess.

Perhaps Deloitte and KPMG just got their applications in late? Maybe they were “meh” on the whole list? Maybe they don’t support the flat tax so Teve Torbes just said “To hell with them.” ? The editors for the piece don’t have emails included in their bios but we’re pretty curious as to how this whole thing came together, so please get in touch.

Theories (DWB is going with “because they both suck”) on the alleged oversight/snub are welcome.

Ernst & Young Employee Disappointed with Boston Office’s Party Planning, Lack of Boozehounds

From the mailbag:

EY Boston Tax had their end of busy season party last week. On Tuesday, we had beer and wine in the office. Considering everyone had to work through the first football sunday of the year, the least they could do is get us drunk on a Thursday so we can enjoy ourselves. Who’s gonna get drunk in the office on a Tuesday? [Ed. note: show of hands?]

I have to say I’m disappointed with the social/drinking scene at this place compared to other Big 4s in this market. Pretty stiff, but I feel like the firm takes pride in that–I have no idea why.

Without the proper context, it’s difficult to know what kind of a drinker our tipster is. If he/she is merely a two wines/beers and out person then E&Y Boston is really bucking the trend in that fair city. However, if the tipster is Charlie Sheen, then there’s no cause for concern.

Any Bostonians familiar with the situation are invited to elaborate on the Big 4/next tier drinking scene below or share with us directly.

Unhappy KPMG Employees Need to Quit Making Excuses

Like every company out there, KPMG has its share of unhappy people. It’s unavoidable when people are working long hours, have random employees emailing colleagues and your boss’s alma mater can’t field a decent football team.

But it was recently brought to our attention that despite the Kranky Klynveldians out there, KPMG was recently recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Happiest Companies.


Yes, it’s true! The list is alphabetical but it only features ten companies so you know this isn’t one of those catch-all lists that just gets thrown together. Seriously, the firm is on their with Google and Zappos, two of the most notoriously nauseatingly gleeful companies on the planet.

But why is KPMG one of the hap, hap, happiest? Simple. It comes down to education. From Forbes’s list:

[The Company] [i]nvests in happiness training; allows employees to take partially paid leaves for up to 12 weeks; encourages flexible scheduling and formal mentoring programs.

So the bottom line is that if you work at KPMG and you’re unhappy, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. Money be damned. Get your ass to happiness training, take copious notes and you’ll be whistling to work in no time.