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Pipeline
National Pipeline Advisory Group releases draft strategy report [National Pipeline Advisory Group]
NPAG’s draft strategy report is now available [here]. Proposed solutions reflect a profession-wide effort to tackle the talent shortage and attract more people to a rewarding career in accounting.
AICPA Statement on National Pipeline Advisory Group Draft Report [AICPA & CIMA]
Barf.
The National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG) has done exemplary work over the past 10 months, and its members should be commended for their care, diligence and selfless service to the profession. While the AICPA & CIMA’s board of directors is still digesting the draft report as a whole, it has expressed directional support for NPAG’s call for an intentional and coordinated effort to evolve CPA licensure. While expanding approaches to CPA licensure alone will not solve the accounting talent problem, we believe our licensure process does need to acknowledge changing market conditions, address the need for a wider and more diverse group of recruits and shift to drive new generations of qualified professionals who can take on the growing challenges of a complex marketplace.
Accounting grads job market update: The future is bright for the ‘language of business’ [Mississippi Business Journal]
“We’re at near 100% placement of students,” said Shawn Mauldin, Ph.D., CPA, director of the Mississippi State University Adkerson School of Accountancy. “There are more jobs than students. It’s certainly been an issue for employers. There’s difficulty in the pipeline.” Mississippi State has approximately 500 students enrolled in the School of Accountancy, and 80 students enrolled in its graduate programs online and face-to-face. Mark Wilder, Ph.D., CPA, dean and KPMG chair of accountancy at the University of Mississippi Patterson School of Accountancy, agreed. “The job outlook for accounting graduates is very good,” he said. “We have 90% or more of our students from our master’s programs that have already accepted employment. Several other students are pursuing a law degree after completing our master’s programs. A few others in our program won’t graduate until December. Our job placement typically reaches 100% by the time of graduation.”
Is It Discrimination If They Would Do It to Everyone?
EY manager claims he was sacked for complaining about 80-hour week [Financial Review]
EY Australia has rejected a manager’s claims he was sacked because he complained about being told to work up to 80 hours a week, had time off with the flu, and took a month’s leave for his wedding and honeymoon. Mr Jeczewski alleged he made four complaints in 2023 regarding his workload – both having too much and too little to do. In late 2022, Mr Jeczewski claimed a senior manager at the firm told him to cancel all his personal commitments and work up to 80 hours a week on a new project. If he refused, it was alleged the senior manager threatened to give him a negative performance review.
News
Lawyers for late Collegeville accountant can’t find where he invested millions for dozens of trusting clients [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Lawyers for the estate of Collegeville accountant Joseph Pezzano say they’ve been unable to find any records supporting millions of dollars in investments he’d handled on behalf of dozens of clients in at least three states. Pezzano’s death last Christmas Day at the age of 73 has set off a flurry of litigation as clients seek to recover investments ranging from $12,000 to $3 million each. The FBI is conducting interviews and issuing subpoenas. On Thursday, the accounting firm where he’d worked pulled down its website.
Sentencing Due for Ex-Accountant at Pasadena Company in Insider Trading Case [Pasadena Now]
General Finance Corp., a Pasadena-based storage and modular space company, employed Marco Antonio “Marc” Perez as an accounting manager who reported to the company’s chief financial officer. He also performed assignments for the company’s chairman, including printing out the chairman’s emails, prosecutors said. As a result, Perez had access to material information belonging to General Finance, including offers to buy the company, before the information was released to the investing public, evidence shows. In violation of his fiduciary duties to General Finance and its shareholders, and in violation of company policy against insider trading, in March and April of 2021, Perez purchased a total of 66,585 shares of General Finance stock that he was later able to sell for a total of $1.26 million, according to prosecutors.
China adjusts added value accounting to mitigate data manipulation, clean up GDP statistics [South China Morning Post]
China revised its method for calculating the added value of the financial sector to improve the accuracy of gross domestic product statistics in the first quarter of this year – a change cited by many analysts as the proximate cause for April’s contraction in aggregate social financing, the first drop of its kind in almost two decades. The correction was also implemented to aid efforts from financial regulators to prevent capital from idling in the financial system and provide more support for the real economy, they argued.
Watchdog group ‘Truth in Accounting’ questions Jacksonville stadium renovation plan [Florida Politics]
A national group dedicated to honest accounting and citizen education is not sold on Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s plan for the Jaguars‘ stadium. Sheila A. Weinberg, the founder of Truth in Accounting, says the city is neglecting fiscal realities in favor of speculative and elective spending. “Is it wise to not pay the minimum on your credit cards so you can use the money to pay for a summer house that you may or may not make money on?” she asked. The reference is to a proposal that would see Jacksonville on the hook for $775 million in stadium renovations and $150 million in community benefits, with a $775 million total match ($625 million on the stadium) by the team, though with conditions. The Jaguars, owned by a man worth more than $12 billion, would have 30 years to dole out their $150 million share of the community benefits piece.
U.S. Senate Rejects SEC’s Crypto Accounting Rule But Biden May Veto The Vote [The Defiant]
The U.S. Senate passed a resolution seeking to overturn an accounting rule decreed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that could have disastrous implications for financial institutions providing cryptocurrency custody services. On May 16, the Senate voted 60 to 38 in favor of repealing the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121. The resolution, H.J. Res. 109, garnered bipartisan support, with 11 Democrats joining all but two abstaining Republican senators to reject the rule despite Democratic party leaders opposing the resolution. “Limiting the SEC’s ability to maintain a comprehensive and effective financial regulatory framework for crypto-assets would introduce substantial financial instability and market uncertainty,” the White House said in a statement published on May 8. “If the President were presented with H.J. Res. 109, he would veto it.”
Contractor’s dispute over cost-accounting standards has roots dating back 17 years [Federal News Network]
The most shocking part about this podcast is that 2007 was 17 years ago.
Sikorsky Aircraft and the Defense Department have been arguing in court for the past 17 years, over the company’s compliance with cost-accounting standards. One reason it has been running so long is the government keeps asserting violations but takes no action. For more on the importance of this case, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince.
Technology
Embracing the GenAI wave: Key insights for tax and accounting professionals [Thomson Reuters]
For accountants, the advantages of GenAI are undeniable. Consider these benefits: Data entry automation. Generative AI systems can automate data entry tasks by extracting information from various documents, such as invoices and receipts. This can reduce the manual effort required for data input while minimizing errors; Tax research and compliance. Generative AI can assist in keeping track of evolving regulatory requirements and ensuring that financial practices comply with the latest standards. This helps in reducing the risk of non-compliance; Document generation and summarization. Generative AI models have the potential to automatically generate financial reports, invoices, or other accounting documents. They could also assist in summarizing lengthy financial statements or reports for quick insights.
Rapid Shifts in Technology, Policies Unite Tax Pros Worldwide [Bloomberg Tax]
In the near future, we can expect more tax administrations will deploy AI to issue opinions, undertake audit actions, and even perform assessments. This is already happening in some highly digitalized jurisdictions. As AI tools become more integrated, taxpayers and the industry around them need to adjust to the experience of interacting with machines. This reality poses new challenges for seasoned professionals and the next generation. For example, what questions should a judge ask when the analysis behind an act of authority didn’t come from a tax inspector, but from software?
Lili Launches Accountant AI to Help Small Businesses Manage Their Finances [PR Newswire]
Grab the 🍿, this could be fun.
“Nearly eighty percent of business owners handle their own accounting and finances, which can be a heavy burden to bear on top of managing all the day-to-day operations of a business,” said Lilac Bar David, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lili. “Accountant AI will revolutionize the way business owners interact with their financial data by providing them with quick and more affordable answers to all of their accounting and financial questions. For business owners who cannot afford an accountant or more expensive accounting tools, Accountant AI is a game changer.”
Audit
Taking a closer look at the new PCAOB standard AS 1000 [Thomson Reuters]
The introduction of Auditing Standard 1000 (AS 1000) significantly enhances financial auditing by improving the reliability and integrity of financial reports. AS 1000 updates key auditor responsibilities, emphasizing their role in protecting investor interests with independent reports. It also clarifies engagement partner duties, shortens documentation timelines, and incorporates modern terminology to reflect technological progress in auditing. These improvements aim to ensure the fairness of financial statements and boost stakeholder confidence. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key provisions.
The Serious Questions
The Divergent Accountant [CPA Journal]
Author Anton Lewis, PhD is an associate accounting professor at the college of business at Governors State University in Illinois.
My own personal tale presented above points to a disconnect between what I and other neurodiverse professionals have experienced and the bombast emanating from some large firms with respect to neurodiversity in accounting. Despite the rhetoric of some Big Four firms, the lot of the disabled accountant is a sorry one for many (Duff and Ferguson, 2012; Jiles et al., 2024). From the scant research we have on this subject, it seems isolation is common, and that while accommodations are provided, they are implemented in accordance with the letter of the law rather than the spirit (Duff and Ferguson, 2011). Still, an important question remains: what about the neurodivergent accountant of color? What is their experience at the nexus of race and neurodivergence?
PSA
Y'all need to step up your monitor game pic.twitter.com/4UDkkO5Tec
— Going Concern (@going_concern) May 17, 2024
Talent
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