When accounting goes unaccounted for
You're going to have to do better than that to scare ol' Grover, he's got the heart of a lobbyist and the soul of a poet! Oh, and the beard of a FTM transsexual.
Nice. RT @MuscularSon: i sometimes think about how hard i could physically hurt grover norquist, and then i look up to the sky and laugh
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) January 15, 2014
Thanks again to everyone for humoring us and taking our survey. Some of the highlights:
• 76% of the respondents work in public accounting.
• 41% of the respondents work for a company with more than 100,000 employees.
• 44% of the respondents describe themselves as “auditors”, 22% describe themselves as “tax professionals”. Some of the “other” responses include: marketing, attorney, financial modeler, teacher, engineer, professor, and of course, unemployed.
• Nearly 84% of the respondents are CPAs, 14% have a JD (with a handful of LLMs), along with a few CIAs, CFEs, CMAs, and one CFA but no CVAs. “Other” responses include: CISA, CISSP, CGFM, FRM, CLU, and CPCU.
• 47% of the respondents answered they work in the “accounting industry”, 13% in “banking/finance”. 19% responded “other” including: publishing, oil & gas, construction, real estate, forensic and litigation consulting, federal consulting, entertainment, law, and education.
Some of the comments and suggestions we received:
• I think you should speculate more on rumors. Add some fuel to the flame. but don’t go overboard and scare everyone.
• More professionalism. the foolishness of some stories is great and well taken as a break from work, but i am interested in hearing more about the industry and the dirt accompanying layoffs.
• ATL writers know how to be witty without being juvenile. This site, not so much.
• Not as snarky/funny as, say, above the law, but accountants just aren’t (as) interesting (as almost anything that’s not an accountant).
• Stop being so negative. I know the Big 4 aren’t perfect but the constant bad mouthing is out of place on a website devoted to them.
• More focus on the big 4.
• Suggestions: It would be interesting to see posts about sexual harrassment stories and stories about times our firms have asked/encouraged us to do illegal things…
• Maybe there are too many articles?
• Please have more posts per day and more information “after the jump”
• Language formality will improve overall credibility.
• I heart Caleb and Pomeranians.
So based on some of these responses, we will try to do the following: post more, post less, avoid dick and fart jokes (or maybe just grow up), find out if ATL does workshops, and get a Pom. Got it.
Seriously, thank you for all your feedback and suggestions. We also need you to keep sending us ideas and tips. In fact, it’s imperative that you do so, in order for us to inform you about all rumors, gossip, and chicanery going out their in the bean counter universe.
Here’s where we make like your performance counselor and ask you to double your efforts, step it up, or whatever the hell it is they say to you. Let’s take it to next the level, people. Ugh, we just managed to creep ourselves out with that…
Thanks again!
White House: No Permanent Tax Cut on Rich [WSJ]
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod said Sunday the president wouldn’t support a permanent extension of tax cuts for wealthy Americans but declined to say whether the White House would support a temporary extension.
Mr. Axelrod also reaffirmed President Barack Obama’s commitment to securing an extension of tax cuts for the middle class, saying this group of Americans has “taken a terrible beating.”
After several days in which U.S. lawmakers have attempted to gauge the White House’s willingness to compromise on tax-cut extensions, Mr. Axelrod said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that there would be “no bend” on the president’s opposition to permanent cuts for couples making more than $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $200,000.
Rangel’s Hearing Set to Begin, but Details Are Few [NYT]
After two years of investigations and political recriminations, Mr. Rangel is scheduled to appear before a hearing of the House ethics committee on Monday to formally rebut charges that his fund-raising and personal finances violated Congressional rules.
Congress holds public ethics hearings so rarely — the last was in 2002 for Representative James A. Traficant, an Ohio Democrat who had been convicted of criminal charges — that the proceedings will open amid an air of novelty and uncertainty. Neither committee investigators nor Mr. Rangel will discuss who or how many people are on their witness lists, so it is unclear whether the case will end quickly or drag on for days.
What Are the Odds of an Obama Compromise on Bush Rates? [Tax Update Blog]
It’s not Vegas but this should help you get a feel for what the tax rates will be next year.
Accounting for Grant Thornton’s Accountants [China RealTime Report/WSJ]
The Journal takes another stab at the BDO/Grant Thornton jumble in Hong Kong and appears to have straightened things out.
Baucus will introduce legislation to repeal 1099 requirement [On the Money/The Hill]
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Friday that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal requirements that businesses file 1099 forms for purchases of $600 or more made from suppliers.
“I have heard small businesses loud and clear, and I am responding to their concerns,” Baucus said in a statement.
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