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Friday Footnotes: Too Hot For Immateriality; Deloitte Ditches the Office; Diversity? I Hardly Know Her! | 6.18.21

AICPA, CAQ support SEC’s exploration of climate change disclosures [Journal of Accountancy] The AICPA and the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) voiced support for the SEC’s exploration of disclosures related to climate change and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in comment letters sent to the commission on Friday.

KPMG delays hybrid working plans after ‘Freedom Day’ postponement [Financial News] KPMG has pushed back plans to launch a new hybrid working regime for its UK staff following the announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that Covid-19 restrictions would remain in place longer than originally planned.

Deloitte’s UK employees to decide ‘when, where and how they work’ [The Guardian] Deloitte will allow its 20,000 UK employees to choose how often they come into the office, if at all, after the pandemic, making it the latest firm to throw out the rulebook and embrace ultra-flexible working.

ICYMI | When Will We Be Able to Breathe in Accounting? [CPA Journal] A recommended read if you’re at all interested in the real state of diversity in the profession: The AICPA confirms that a mere 1% of Blacks/African Americans are partners, contrasting wretchedly with their white colleagues, who represent 91% (AICPA, “2019 Trends in the supply of accounting graduates and the demand for public accounting recruits,” 2019). To remember context, as of 2018 African Americans make up 14.6% of the U.S. population (https://blackdemographics.com/). This is all the worse when framed against the historical reality that Black CPAs have typically represented less than 1% of the profession until quite recently (T. Hammond, A White-Collar Profession, University Of North Carolina Press, 2002).

Why PwC Is Betting $12B on Strategic Makeover [Bloomberg] An interview with Tim Ryan on PwC’s big plans.

Study: Big Four audit hold still strong despite 2021 dip [Compliance Week] The top 10 firms audited 66.9 percent of public companies in 2021, compared to 65.7 percent of the 5,985 public companies in 2020. Of this group, the Big Four accounted for 47 percent in 2021, a decrease from 49.2 percent in 2020. Each of the four firms—Deloitte, EY, PwC, and KPMG—lost less than 1 percent share year over year.

Former SEC chief accountant joins real estate investment platform as CFO [CFO Dive] At the SEC, Alison Staloch developed policy recommendations for the regulation of investment companies and advisers with respect to their disclosure and financial reporting requirements. Prior to that, she spent a decade in the audit practice at KPMG.

Capital Gains: A Century-Old Tax Break Gets a Rush of Attention [Wall Street Journal] This torrent of attention makes it a good time to review the complex, highly charged topic of income taxes on capital gains, especially as current proposals could affect some filers who aren’t among the wealthiest.