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Ongoing Big 4 Drama
Evergrande liquidators challenge watchdog’s HK$1 billion settlement with auditor PwC [South China Morning Post]
Hong Kong’s securities market regulator has defended a HK$1 billion (US$128 million) settlement with an accounting firm at the centre of an auditing scandal involving developer China Evergrande Group, saying it has unfettered powers to enforce discipline and a duty to protect the interests of independent investors.
KPMG prepares to unleash ‘project vector’, slashing staff and costs [Financial Review]
KPMG’s board is preparing to sign off on the first stage of a cost-cutting plan known as Project Vector next week, as the accounting and consulting firm has discussions about a financial lifeline from its global parent amid a document misuse scandal that has hit revenue. Project Vector initially will target about two dozen partners and 450 staff, but more partners are expected to leave, including some waiting until end-of-financial-year bonuses are finalised at the end of this month.
KPMG blames auditing rule change for reassessment of whistleblower contract [The Mandarin]
KPMG Australia was providing whistleblower solutions to Reserve Bank of Australia? LOL. See also: KPMG ceases whistleblower hotline service FairCall for big name audit clients
A Freedom of Information request response made to the RBA about its subscription to whistleblower services provided by KPMG reveals the central bank has exchanged emails with unnamed KPMG partners about its audit and assurance division scandal. The accounting firm has said amendments to an audit standard related to fraud have now created an obstacle to providing the RBA’s whistleblower hotline service, FairCall, to audit clients.
KPMG’s audit scandal puts the credibility of Australia’s biggest companies under a cloud [SmartCompany Opinion]
After [a Senate committee on] Friday, if not well before it, it’s hard to take any claim by KPMG seriously. We can’t even believe KPMG about itself, let alone the companies it audits — in some cases, it is alleged, having secured the job by cheating. There was the deputy general counsel who told the committee on corporations and financial services that KPMG partners lied to him to cover up their cheating to win audit contracts. That’s a ringing endorsement for KPMG audits right there. There was the now-sacked chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett, who’d insisted that one of the central claims from the whistleblower who launched this scandal — that confidential documents used to win work with other firms had been kept in a locker — was not true, only for an email to emerge in which Hoggett instructed her EA to let someone look at the confidential material in the locker. Hoggett professed she couldn’t recall sending the email (dispatched with a smiley emoticon) and that, while she took full accountability, she hadn’t lied. Hoggett also claims mystification as to why KPMG sacked her.
People
Former KPMG partners given period practising ban [AccountantsDaily]
On Thursday (13 August), former KPMG partners Eileen Hoggett and Paul Rogers were ordered to cancel their Certificates of Public Practice (CPP) during the period of the CA ANZ disciplinary tribunal’s undertaking, preventing them from practising as a principal at any firm that provides audit services or acting as a registered company auditor (RCA) for a specified period. Hoggett is one of the former partners at the centre of allegations currently engulfing KPMG of misuse of client data by the audit division, which were revealed by a whistleblower. KPMG is being investigated for both misconduct in the audit division as well as its treatment of the whistleblower. Hoggett is one of the former partners at the centre of allegations currently engulfing KPMG of misuse of client data by the audit division, which were revealed by a whistleblower. KPMG is being investigated for both misconduct in the audit division as well as its treatment of the whistleblower.
Meet Marney MacKenna, EY’s New Dallas Office Leader [D Magazine]
“Dallas is so exciting for our profession,” MacKenna said. “I lean in on the growth of data centers. There’s growth in real estate, healthcare, life sciences, and the number of headquarters that continue to move to Dallas.”
PwC extends CEO tenure of Kevin Burrowes as firm returns to growth [Consultancy.com.au]
The partnership of Big Four professional services firm PwC has re-elected chief executive officer Kevin Burrowes to a second term following the firm’s return to growth for the first time since 2023.
Lawyer, banker, author: How PwC chair John Green reinvented himself [Financial Review]
John Green, the chairman of professional services firm PwC, had been a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (or at least their predecessors) for 17 years. He loved the role but after nearly two decades he felt he was on “rinse and repeat”. He needed something different.
Tax
Kentucky judge allows case arguing period product tax is unconstitutional to proceed [Kentucky Lantern]
This comes roughly a month after the judge heard arguments over the state’s motion to dismiss the case that Alex Baldon and Skylar Davis filed in March. These women assert that Kentucky is discriminating against women on the basis of sex by taxing period products like tampons and pads when no comparable product for males is thus taxed.
IRS updates FAQs on qualified overtime compensation deduction [PwC]
The IRS released Fact Sheet 2026-13 on August 6, updating its frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the individual income tax deduction for qualified overtime compensation, commonly referred to as “No Tax on Overtime.” The Fact Sheet supersedes the January 2026 FAQs (Fact Sheet 2026-01), removes guidance applicable only to the 2025 tax year, and adds more detailed rules for 2026 through 2028.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Perspectives from the Profession: An Acquisition Strategy to Solve the Ownership Crisis [INSIDE Public Accounting]
The traditional succession model asks a junior partner to buy out the founder at full price, usually financed against their personal balance sheet. For a firm doing $3 million in revenue, the buyout price might sit between $2.5 million and $4 million, depending on the multiple. The partner is expected to service that debt, maintain margins, keep clients happy through a leadership change and somehow grow the practice all at once. Most people in their thirties and forties look at that deal and walk away. Not because they lack ambition, but because they would be taking on enormous financial exposure without the structural support to make the gamble work. And so, they make the reasonable choice to take a salaried role at a larger firm and leave the practice without a real owner.
After about 30 acquisitions, is Aprio still the same firm? [CFO Brew]
Yes and no, longtime CEO Richard Kopelman says.
Omaha-based RIA Stevens Capital Partners nears $1B, buys Dallas CPA firm [InvestmentNews]
The acquired practice belongs to Joe DePetris, a Dallas-based certified public accountant who spent more than three decades serving individual and business clients before deciding it was time to step back.
Mike’s Fort Wayne firm is up for grabs:
Please repost!
— Mike Sylvester, CPA (@FortWayneCPA) August 17, 2026
We are considering selling our CPA firm for the right price.
Please contact me by email at Mike@sbscpagroup.com if you have interest. Those with interest I will send more information.
2 Million in annual revenue. Over 40% of the work is bookkeeping and…
Firm Watch
Wipfli releases fiscal year 2026 annual report highlighting strategic growth and continued investment. [PR Newswire]
“The success of FY26 reflects the dedication of our people and the trust our clients place in us every day,” said Kurt Gresens, CEO of Wipfli. “We remained focused on creating positive impact for our clients while continuing to invest in the talent, innovation and capabilities that will further drive our firm forward.”
Municipal Madness
Okolona schools had been losing money for years, audit finds [Mississippi Today]
Okolona schools have also seen declining enrollment but school officials were spending more, particularly on consulting services and travel, said Stephanie Palmertree, co-founder of Novum Advisory, a Madison-based firm. Palmertree also was a longtime top official in the Office of the State Auditor before leaving in 2024 to start Novum. Missing annual financial audits and federal pandemic relief funds — one-time money that the district was using instead as recurring revenue — masked the district’s “profound state of financial disrepair,” Palmertree said.
Security
Personal files taken in Buford accounting firm data breach [FOX5 Atlanta]
Forrestall CPAs LLC discovered the security incident, secured its systems and launched an investigation alongside a cybersecurity firm. Investigators determined that an unauthorized person viewed and obtained specific files from the network. The firm secured its systems, brought in a cybersecurity company and reported the matter to law enforcement, according to a release from the company.