Category: Uncategorized

Huron Consulting is Clearly Not a CPA Firm

iStock_000006509640XSmall.jpgFridays are great for lots of reasons. They’re especially great for announcing bad news long after everyone has left work to get their drink on.
Huron Consulting announced late last Friday that the CEO, CFO, and Chief Accounting Officer were all quitting and that their financial results for 2006-2008 were being restated. The restatements result in total net income for that period being reduced by nearly 50% from $120 million to $63 million.
According to Reuters:

The restatements are being made because Huron’s board audit committee discovered that shareholders of four businesses that Huron acquired between 2005-2007 redistributed portions of their acquisition-related payments among themselves and to certain Huron employees.

More, after the jump


Soooo, regardless of what Huron is saying, the CEO, CFO, and CAO sounds like someone might have been taking kickbacks, which we totally understand considering the economy and whatnot.
Huron was ranked 43rd on Fortune’s list of 100 fastest growing companies just last year. They help their clients “face complex matters that demand extraordinary combinations of financial, technical, and industry expertise.” Clearly they are not using any of this expertise on their own books but whatevs, nobody’s perfect.
What’s also strange is that Huron really goes out of their way to put the universe on notice that they are not a CPA firm and do not provide attestation services.
“Huron is a management consulting firm and not a CPA firm, and does not provide attest services, audits, or other engagements in accordance with the AICPA’s Statements on Auditing Standards.” This is stamped at the bottom of virtually every page on the website because THEY WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
Btw, Huron’s auditors are PwC, who really don’t need any additional bad publicity. If any of you Chicago P. Dubs peeps got any inside info on this story, shoot it our way to tips@goingconcern.com. The stock is getting hammered today so we’ll continue to watch this to see how it plays out.
Huron CEO, CFO quit as restatements slash profits [Reuters]

Tchotchke Wrap-Up

We know you’ve all been shaking with anticipation about the tchotchke results and frankly, we expected more of you. P. Dubs and Deloitte turned out squat and they’re the top two dogs, so that really dashed our hopes. Grant Thornton and BDO are zeros too. Are you all working too much? Regardless here are some results from our experiment:
Check out the schwag after the jump


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Bandage container for those E&Y Dads who have kids that wear harnesses and helmets.
8ball.jpg
Radio Station magic 8-ball so the employees can get answers on whether they’ll have jobs in the next six months.
rubic's.jpg
Rubik’s cubes are way more difficult than anything a 2nd year associate does.
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Chairs that Radio Station partners with Napoleon-complexes sit.
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We do things with so much quality we don’t bother using spellcheck.

Newt Gingrich Doesn’t Like the FASB

NewtGingrichPhotograph.jpgCongress seems hella determined to keep accountants from writing accounting rules. HR 1349, aka the Federal Accounting Oversight Board Act, which was introduced in the Spring would create a board that would consist of the chairs of the Fed, SEC, FDIC, PCAOB, and the Secretary of the Treasury.
This merry band of bureaucrats would basically get to slap the FASB around whenever they want. According to Newt “My head isn’t that big” Gingrich, a supporter of the bill, because of the FASB’S independence, politicians can’t torpedo accounting rules that are “destructive”.
More, after the jump


This gem of legislation has 14 co-sponsors, including seven members from the House Financial Services Committee, along with Gingrich and Paul Volcker. It has been referred to the Financial Services Committee so it will getting some Barney Frank lovin’ soon enough.
Say what you will about the wonks in Norwalk but we’re of the strong opinion that handing over the accounting rule bazooka to this board could possibly be the worst legislation since…anything Maxine Waters has introduced.
Congressional Bill Supports Federal Takeover of Financial Reporting [FinCriAdvisor via Jr. Deputy Accountant]

BDO Seidman’s Revenue Disappoints Us

weisbaum.gifBDO Seidman’s revenue for the fiscal year end June 30 dropped nearly 6% to $620 million and dammit, we’re disappointed. Sure tax revenue is up 6% but assurance revenue was down 9% and consulting revenue was down over 15%. What’s the reason for this? According to BDO’s CEO Jack Weisbaum it’s…wait for it…yes, the recession. What a news flash.
According to Web CPA, BDO’s revenue breakdown is 60/25/10 for audit/tax/consulting and the remaining 5% is a grab bag of stuff. Point is, BDO is a whore for audit and considering how the whole Banco Espirito thing turned out…
Speaking of Portuguese banks, BDO is still on the hook for $522 million. No word on how that fits into the firm’s plans to bounce back in fiscal year 2010.
BDO Seidman Revenue Falls Due to Recession [Web CPA]

Final Call for Tchotchkes

This is the final call for your firm’s schwag. The following submission is especially nice because someone at Ernst & Young was cool with a less than perfect item.
See this high-quality piece, after the jump


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Quality in Everything We Do – Damn straight.

Your New Career Goal: FEI Hall of Fame

Pisani_Bob.standard.jpgDid you ever dream of being inducted into any form of a hall of fame. Baseball? Rock ‘n Roll? Calculus? Did you think all hope was lost for this particular career goal when you decided to become a pointy-headed number cruncher?
Well, we’ve got great news for you. The Financial Executive International Hall of Fame was established four years ago (how did we miss that?) and just announced this year’s recipients. Now you too can fulfill those dreams of giving a teary-eyed speech, thanking all the little people you stepped over and around to become the finance and accounting oracle that you are.
This year’s ceremony will induct Donald Nicolaisen, former Chief Accountant at the SEC and Dennis Dammerman, former vice chairman at GE. So what if you’ve never heard of them? They’ve achieved financial professional immortality! You could be next. Oh, and Bob Pisani of CNBC is hosting. Joan Rivers won’t be far behind. Is there a reason that this ceremony isn’t being beamed into every home in America?
Nicolaisen, Dammerman Named to FEI Hall of Fame [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]

Deloitte Study: Your Boss Wants to Know About Your Trite Status Updates

facebook at work.jpgA study put out by Big D states that 60% of business executives believe that they have every right to know how you portray yourself and the organization you work for.
And while they’re checking that out, they’ll probably go ahead and sneak a peek at your photos from your friend’s bachelorette party where phallic hats and straws were passed out to anyone who would accept them.
Not surprisingly, the study also states that the majority of 18-34 year old employees want The Man to BTFO of their online social networking. While this demand for privacy may exist, apparently you’re still aware that the power of rumor mill known as the Internet can still take your employer down like Nixon Dick Fuld Arthur Andersen.
While less than 20 percent of the overlords out there actually have Big Brother in place, almost half of employees say that they will still flagrantly update their status as “I hate Mondays” or “The weather is way too nice to be working!”
Deloitte’s 2009 Ethics & Workplace Survey Examines the Reputational Risk Implications of Social Networks [Deloitte Press Release]

Goldman Sachs Lawyer Likely to Appear on Dateline NBC

pervert.jpgSo you’re an attorney for Goldman Sachs, married, three kids, live in WestchesterManhattan, life is pretty mundane. You’re probably getting a nice bonus this year, why not have a little fun?
So you “accidentally” stumble into a chat room. You start chatting innocently, with a fifteen year old girl, no big deal, just talking. You might make mention of a certain Jonas brother or whatever 15 year old girls are into. Then you start getting brave and might start asking about her VS Pink undies. Then you’re really feeling comfortable and start talking posish.
WHAM. Next thing you know, cops at the door, yelling, “you like VS Pink you pervert?!? You planning on doing a little wheelbarrow and switching it into a reverse cowgirl? Nice try SICKO!”
Then after six months in Chino Riker’s you’re walking door to door telling everyone you’re a pederast how you really like VS Pink undies.
UPDATE 1:47 PM: After further review, looks like the perv is a Manhattan resident and travelled to Westchester to seal the deal. Our bad. Anyway, turns out the guy was really just looking out for his fellow GS employees.
DA: Goldman Sachs lawyer Todd Genger caught soliciting ’15-year-old’ [NYDN]

Sometimes, Adultery Happens…and Maybe a Little Insider Trading

lovers.jpgSometimes when two married people decide to get down to some adulterous activity, bad things can happen. Divorce, confused kids, awkward dinner parties. Most people probably don’t count on getting involved with serious insider trading allegations.
Steamy details after the jump

Eventually the two settled into a comfortable day-to-day routine in their respective offices in New York and Philadelphia, staring at the same Yahoo Finance screen. Mr. Gansman led Ms. Murdoch in a guessing game about which deals he was working on, she said.

Lady Hard Up For Cash Whores Self Out For Hot Tips, Help With Subprime Mortgage [DB]

Mark-to-Market Gets Vindicated, For Now

TOLD YOU.jpgSweet justice has finally arrived for supporters of mark-to-market accounting. According to the Financial Crisis Advisory Group, MTM may have actually understated some of the losses suffered by banks and “did not contribute to the pro-cyclical nature of the economic system.”
The Group also stated that public flogging of accounting rule wonks for the purposes of shameless political grandstanding doesn’t really help matters, “We have become increasingly concerned about the excessive pressure placed on the two boards to make rapid, piecemeal, uncoordinated and prescribed changes to standards, outside of their normal due process procedures”.
Our money is on the pols BTFO for as long as banks want them to and as inconvenient changes are proposed, which will likely be soon, the public beatings will continue.
Politicians Accused of Meddling in Bank Rules [Floyd Norris]
Accounting is semi-officially exonerated from causing crisis [FT Alphaville]

Pennsylvania Firms to Merge, Attempt to Expand Non-Quaker Client Base

quaker_1.jpgTwo Pennsylvania CPA firms, Parente Randolph and Beard Miller Co., announced yesterday that they are merging.
The combined firm, still without a name (we’re pulling for “Beard”) will have 170 partners, over 1,200 professionals, and 27 offices in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Texas(?).
The combined firm will have a stranglehold on the coveted Quaker market in Pennsylvania and will be well positioned in the New York City market. It will be focusing its growth efforts to find similarly pious and plain clothed, plain speaking business people in upstate New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.
Pa. accounting firms Parente Randolph, Beard Miller to merge [Triangle Business Journal]

Tchotchkes Submission Update and Reminder

In case some of you missed our request last week, or in the event that some of you chose to ignore the request, we are asking for your tchotchke submissions. So keep sending us your pics! You know you have pride in the frivolous junk with your firm’s name on it.
The gimmickyness of this exercise is obvious but if we are forced to discuss the trend of pessimism among CFO’s, a couple things may happen: A) Someone may fall asleep while reading and 2) the vitriol may reach critical mass. Either way, here’s a taste of the submissions we received so far:
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That’s a KPMG magic 8 ball for those of you scoring at home.
Question: KPMG 8 ball, will Going Concern readers ridicule this post?
Answer: It is certain