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Footnotes: All the Money is in DC; The Pentagon Sucks At Money Management; The SEC’s Latest Whistleblower Report Is Here | 11.18.13

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

A Biglaw partner — who kinda sorta specializes in finance — lost $19.5 million, or rather may have let her husband steal it [Above the Law]

I will give a Bitcoin to anyone who can explain to me how, exactly, Bitcoin goes anywhere but apparently it's up 107% [CNBC]

Washington is where the money is at (duh) [Washington Post]

Accounting Fraud And Waste Is Standard Procedure at the Pentagon [The Atlantic Wire]

Australian "rural services" company Elders may have some accounting problems on its hands [ABC AU]

Because they have pretty much never appeared on this website (that's probably a good thing, at least for them), we'll share this good news out of RBZ [PRWeb]

Even if U.S. public companies would be required to use IFRS until the year 2085, it's still a good idea to know your international rules if you want to stay competitive [Compliance Week – subscription]

PwC will see KPMG's books for kids and raise them laptops (in Bermuda, at least) [Royal Gazette]

The SEC has released its 2013 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program [Dodd-Frank.com]

ALERT THE MEDIA, Butterball is reporting a shortage of "large, fresh" turkeys. No word if they can meet demand with small, not fresh ones [Baltimore Sun]

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Accenture, Feeling Left Out, Gets Our Attention

Accenture_logo.pngSince Andersen went the way of the dodo almost ten years ago, Accenture has been moseying along just doing whatever it is they do. They’ve done a pretty decent job of getting people to forget that they were once part of the Big 5 4.
Since we’re pretty sure there are plenty of you out there that have friends, former colleagues, sworn enemies, and booty calls at Accenture we thought we’d pass along that they are rumored to be getting into the pay freezing spirit.
Get some details, after the jump


Apparently an email went out today stating that “Most individuals will not receive an increase in base pay.” But if you’re one of the lucky few getting a promotion you’ve got a shred of hope, “People being promoted will receive an increase in base pay only if they are below the minimum salary range for their new career level.” Awesome.
This seems very curious because at least Accenture’s super star golfer sponsoree is playing well while someone else is screwing the pooch and risking a RIF.
So if you know some Accenturites pass this along and see if they know just WTF is going on in the Haunted House of Andersen. If you ARE an Accenturite, get us the info on this whole sitch at [email protected]. Their PR has apparently checked out for the weekend already and we’re not probably going to hear anything until Monday but we’ll update accordingly.

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]

Non-Knights Don’t Think Rule Convergence Is All That Important

Thumbnail image for tweedie_knight_jpeg.jpgNot everyone is as hung up on converging U.S. GAAP and IFRS as Sir David Tweedie.
As you may recall, Tweeds delayed his retirement in order to see the rules copulate and bring forth debit and credit harmony.
As admirable as his commitment to the project is, not too many people share his enthusiasm:

A survey by CFA Institute , an international association of more than 16,000 investment professionals, showed that three quarters of respondents believe that improving standards so they are more useful for making investment decisions is “at least as important if not more important” than reducing complexity or convergence.
While respondents generally support convergence, only 6 per cent of those surveyed, including research analysts, portfolio managers, corporate financial analysts and accountants, believe converging the International Accounting Standards Board and its US rival should be the primary objective.

It’s bad enough that Tweeds gets hassled by non-knighted clowns that don’t know a debit from their ass but now there’s a survey out there that says his pet project isn’t that important.
Plus, the SEC doesn’t seem too hung up on it and the FASB has its own problems. Has double-entry chivalry lost all its meaning?
Investors cool on audit convergence [FT]