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Academia and Education
FSU auditing scholar ranks among world’s most prolific researchers [Florida State University News]
Florida State University accounting professor Nate Newton ranks No. 8 worldwide for the volume of archival audit research published over the past six years, placing him among the most prolific scholars in his field, according to Brigham Young University’s newly released 2025 accounting research rankings.
UT Receives Gift To Name Department of Accounting [University of Texas]
The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business announced today that a foundational gift from accounting alumnus Jon Shulkin, BBA ’97, will name the Jonathan K. Shulkin Department of Accounting.
A degree is ‘not enough’ to get hired in consulting [Financial Review]
The advent of AI means a university degree is no longer the ticket it once was into the workplace, Accenture’s chief learning and research officer Majd Sakr says. “A university degree on its own is not enough. Now we are saying university degree – plus: how can you prove to us that you have the necessary ‘can-do’ approach in technology,” Sakr says. “What will be replaced are people who don’t speak AI. Those who fail to embrace this technological shift risk becoming obsolete.”
Strategies for Boosting Black Students’ Interest in Pursuing an Accounting Major [CPA Journal]
Despite efforts by professional organizations, the representation of Black CPAs as accountants remains disproportionately low.
People
Deloitte adds Mark Roman to Washington national tax practice [Consulting.us]
Mark Roman joins the Big Four accountancy after 20 years at the US House of Representatives, where he most recently served as staff director of the Committee on Ways and Means during the 118th and 119th Congresses. In the role, Roman directed development and negotiation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
KPMG Taps New US Law Chief to Grow Services as Pushback Mounts [Bloomberg Tax]
KPMG LLP on Friday named a new US division leader who is tasked with integrating the firm’s growing legal services offerings with its corporate advisory work. Christian Athanasoulas, a Boston-based leader of the KPMG M&A tax practice who has been with the company for more than 25 years, takes over as head of KPMG US Legal Services. The firm a year ago gained approval to offer legal services in Arizona, making it the first Big Four accounting, tax, and consulting company to operate a US law firm.
How life changed for this CEO when private equity took over [Financial Review]
This regional airport operator talks about how she narrowly avoided being sentenced to a life in public accounting.
Her father was a partner at KPMG and his daughter assumed that would be her path too. “I always thought I’d be an accountant. I was lucky enough to get into EY, and that was it. I was going to become a partner. That was my life. I was set at 21 years of age,” recalls Evans. Only she wasn’t set at all.
Unsubstantiated Buzz
Polymarket Earnings Bets Trigger Insider Trading Rumors Linked To KPMG [GamingAmerica]
Key word here is RUMORS, the betting and crypto spaces are rife with ’em. Replies to the tweet linked in this article have some ideas.
The chatter started with posts claiming a small group of wallets repeatedly placed large bets on earnings outcomes right before official reports hit. The companies named in the thread include Home Depot, DoorDash, CarMax, Thor Industries, and StoneX. None of that is illegal by itself. People guess earnings every quarter, and some traders are genuinely good at it. What makes this one travel is the pattern traders say they are seeing: big positions, late entries, and a win rate that looks more like “already knew” than “strong model.” Not only that, but all of the companies mentioned are audited by the same firm, KPMG.
Big 4
Deloitte to consolidate EMEA network under unified €20bn practice [International Accounting Bulletin]
Deloitte has outlined plans for a major regional combination under a new Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) enterprise, bringing together member practices with combined revenues of €20bn. The new structure, called Deloitte EMEA, is scheduled to come into effect on 1 June 2026.
Deloitte shake-up of global structure set to trigger UK leadership race [Financial Times]
The shake-up of Deloitte’s network of national member firms will lead to the creation of a new structure across the region, which will encompass 132,000 staff and be led by long-standing UK senior partner Richard Houston.
2 top EY leaders explain why a lack of experience is a junior consultant’s big advantage in the age of AI [Business Insider]
“AI”
“If anything, as a young graduate, they’ve got more opportunity to change our organization,” Errol Gardner, global head of consulting at the Big Four firm EY, told Business Insider. Junior consultants have the native digital skills and the creativity necessary for the AI era, he said.