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Friday Footnotes: Deloitte Hates Old People; Australia Anyone?; Interview Intel | 6.25.21

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk

Signs you or a colleague could use mental health support [Journal of Accountancy] Some of you may need to give this podcast a listen.

KPMG Study: Majority Of Female Executives Taking On Expanded Leadership Roles At Work While Responsibilities At Home Increase During The Pandemic [PR Newswire] “Advancing the Future of Women in Business: A KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit Report” surveyed 900 high-performing executive women who are 1-2 career steps away from the C-suite and have participated in the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit. The report offers key insights into how female executives lead their companies through periods of uncertainty and disruption, while managing change in their own careers and personal lives and solutions for how companies can better support women in the workplace.

Deloitte slammed over retirement policy targeting older workers [2GB] Deloitte Australia has been slammed over a retirement policy after it settled a landmark $3.8m age discrimination suit brought by a current partner.

Targeting post Covid economic boom, EY promotes record number of partners [The Economic Times] EY member firms in India announced 43 promotions to partnership across all service lines in the India region as the country’s largest professional services firm scales up its India operations to capture market share in the post pandemic economic boom.

‘A war for talent’: Accountants prioritised under skilled migration list [Accountants Daily] Immigration minister Alex Hawke on Tuesday added 22 occupations to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) aimed at filling critical skills in Australia amid international border closures. Accountants, taxation accountants, management accountants, external auditors and internal auditors are now part of the PMSOL, with visa processing for these occupations to be prioritised.

What to Expect at a 2021 Accounting Job Interview [AccountingWEB] Pants might still be optional.

Haunted House Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Crime [DoJ] “Business owners have a responsibility to collect and turn over all IRS employment taxes,” said Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS, Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office. “Employment fraud can also impact employees who may see future benefits affected such as Social Security, Medicare or Unemployment Compensation.”

The World Health Organization broke its own rules to spend millions on BCG consultants [Vox] The world’s leading health organization, the WHO, repeatedly broke its own rules and spent millions of dollars on high-priced management consultants, according to a new independent audit — even as the United Nations agency has struggled to pay for lifesaving equipment and vaccines in its global Covid-19 response. An unnamed consulting company, which Vox has identified as BCG, charged the World Health Organization $11.72 million since the start of the pandemic for contracts that were dubiously awarded, according to the audit.

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Stephen Chipman Is Slightly Annoyed by the Non-Grant Thornton People Reading His Blog

We didn’t get the third installment of Stephen Chipman’s blog until late last week and apparently while the Grant Thornton CEO seems to be keeping up his promise to come at you once a week, he’s going to be a bit more reserved going forward.

Last week SC shared a few insights from his readers, however we warned that he wouldn’t be sharing the most intimate details (e.g. ragers in Atlanta):

“Because large portions of my blog are finding their way to external Web sites, I will answer some sensitive or strategic questions via internal e-mail and send my responses directly to the person who posed them.“


Well, shucks. We’re not sure what “external websites” SC is referring to but as far as our humble posts are concerned, we merely provide snapshots that certainly don’t qualify as “large portions”. If you guys are aware of someone reposting the posts in full, get in touch with us and we’ll let them know at GTHQ.

We’re also curious as to what will qualify as “sensitive or strategic questions”. Is SC getting prodded with nosy questions about Sue Sachdeva? If so, he could at least give us a diagnosis on her supposed shopaholic tendencies. That doesn’t seem too sensitive. It’s most certainly not strategic.

We’d also like to hear his thoughts on Grant Thornton being vindicated in the Overstock.com circus. Patrick Bryne said some pretty nasty things about Steve’s beloved firm. This is the perfect opportunity for Steve-o to throw it in Patsy’s face via an all-out blog-off. Does he take it? So far, no. Sensitive? Absolutely not. This is justice. Strategic? Not really. Chip must get enough satisfaction knowing that the firm clear of the whole thing and doesn’t see the need for gloating. We’ve got two words for that: MISSED. OPPORTUNITY.

Because of this new cautious approach, we don’t have any parties or white whales to share this week but SC did mention that he got a little face time with SEC Chief Accountant James Kroeker. And don’t think that just anyone was invited to this little sit-down, “I was honored to be included in this very small group, which also included the CEOs of two large competitors.”

Well! We’re assuming Chip is referring to two B-I-G-F-O-U-R competitors and only since only two of them were there, this is pretty H-U-G-E opportunity for Steve. SC won’t turn down a little glad-handing with the Chief Accountant, no sir. Unfortch, he didn’t really get into what was said at the meeting but we’re sure it was a stimulating convo: Olympic fever. St. Val’s gifts for the wives. Maybe some talk about the nonexistent SEC roadmap on IFRS? Here’s to hoping that he’ll open up more this week.

One Man’s Holiday Wish List Includes Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel Sharing a Prison Cell with Wesley Snipes

Actually, if Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, had his way, Wes wouldn’t be doing time at all.

“The three-year federal prison sentence for Snipes’s failure to file tax returns is absurd. Snipes is not a threat to anyone, and the judge who sentenced him clearly just wanted to scare others who might think about resisting federal taxes.

“Maybe it’s worth reminding people that Wesley Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiracy charges in 2008. He was only found guilty on misdemeanor charges of ‘willful failure to file an income tax return.’


Right, so the ‘willful failure’ part is where we kind of have a problem. If you willfully fail to control your urge to get cop-slugging drunk and then actually slug a cop, you have committed a crime. Mr Benedict doesn’t buy it though:

“Why is a failure to file a tax return a criminal non-act? Should people ever be sent to prison for not doing something? If the IRS wants to come after Snipes and take his money, they have power to do that. Who does it help to send the man to prison?

“The tax code is incredibly vague and open to interpretation [Ed note: UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY]. In fact, the ‘law’ is largely written by IRS bureaucrats. If they decide the law says one thing, you’re OK; if they decide it’s something else, then you’re headed for prison.

“The federal tax code also allows for ‘selective enforcement,’ to put it mildly. Why is it that Wesley Snipes gets a prison sentence, but known tax cheat Tim Geithner gets promoted to Secretary of the Treasury? Maybe Tim should be Wesley’s cellmate. Throw tax cheat politician Charlie Rangel in the slammer too for good measure.

Tim Geithner’s poor choice in self-prep tax software and an actor giving the 16th Amendment the middle finger for 10+ years aren’t quite the same thing. Maybe it’s just us.

[h/t Tracy Coenen]