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Guess Which Accounting Firm Took Out The Biggest Ad In the 125th Anniversary Edition Journal of Accountancy

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

By now, most of you who are AICPA members in good standing have received your special 125th Anniversary edition Journal of Accountancy. As you thumb listlessly through it, no doubt you noticed that certain firms took out large ads while others – true to their benchwarming status among Top 10 firms – took out small, subtle ads.

Going Concern freelancer candidate Andrew Roberts must have had too much time on his hands when he sent over his analysis of the JofA ads, which was nice because it saved my lazy ass a bunch of effort.

Here's the breakdown ranked in order according to the Accounting Today 2012 Top 100 with page numbers included in parentheses for any of you JofA subscribers to check out yourselves:

Deloitte – full-page (49)
PwC – full-page (89)
E&Y – two-page ad!!! (120-121)
KPMG – a half-page!?!?! (43)
McGladrey – full-page (39)
GT – full-page (63)
BDO – full-page (25)
Crowe Horwath – half-page (64)

Now, perhaps EY is trying to make up for that whole L-word snafu by reminding everyone they are still relevant – which we can't hate on – but who in their advertising department signed off on the photo of a guy in a helmet and goggles with wings strapped to his arms trying to fly through a grassy field with the tag line "It's more than just three letters. It's a world of possibility"? The possibility being dude runs around the field for three hours flapping his arms wildly until it finally dawns on him that humans can never fly? I'm baffled.

I believe I can fly!

Can anyone decipher this for me?

Other notable ad items from this edition of the JofA: KPMG's pathethic half page ad stuffed to the gills with all the important buzz words like "independence" and "objectivity" – yes, yes, we get it. Interesting that even CCH and Avalara managed full-page ads but KPMG didn't. What gives?

Reznick took out half a page while un-merged EideBailly and Wipfli took out a quarter page each (not to be outdone by each other, obviously). It's also worth noting that the AICPA placed five different ads in its own publication, promoting CPA2Biz, its discount program for members, its CPA.com email program, and the AICPA store on Amazon.

Oh, and I already got one for attending Council but if anyone wants a free 125th anniversary poster, you can order one from CPA2Biz.

Call me a masochist but I've always enjoyed reading the JofA, so besides the strange EY ad and the AICPA's own self promotion, it was a pretty good issue looking back on the history of the profession. If yours is still sitting in your mailbox, at least give it a good glance and you might find something interesting. Or at least have something good to whack the dog with when it pisses on the floor.

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In Case You Forgot, the Big 4 Are Hiring a Small Army of People This Year

CNN/Fortune managed to dig up this corpse of a story: “Bean counters wanted: Why the Big 4 are in a hiring frenzy.”  This refers to the hiring bonanza that Deloitte announced last September that was followed by various announcements by the rest of the Big 4:

[T]here’s one unlikely place where the help wanted sign is up, big time: Accounting firms.

Deloitte plans to hire 17,000 professionals in the U.S. and India in 2011, according to Cathleen Benko, its chief talent officer. It’s seeking accountants, auditors, consultants, and IT staff. Hiring is split evenly between experienced and entry-level applicants.

Ernst & Young has stepped up recruiting. It’s looking to hire 7,000 employees from college campuses — 4,500 full-time and 2,500 interns — and 6,000 experienced staff, totaling 13,000 people in 2011, says Dan Black, its director of Americas Campus Recruiting. Experienced staffing is up 80% from last year and campus recruits are up 20%.

Both firms compete for talent against PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and large consulting firms such as McKinsey and Bain. The hiring confirms a 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics report that predicted employment in accounting and auditing would spike 22%.

For starters I don’t know why accounting firms are an “unlikely” place for the “help wanted sign” but don’t forget that this is the same outlet that told us that the firms were making money hand over fist back in the Fall of ’09. Also, why CNN/Fortune is now reporting Deloitte’s India’s hiring numbers as part of this story is a little confusing. Plus, if “hiring is split” between experienced and new hires that is a change in the breakdown from what was reported last September. Again, maybe the India numbers change things up a bit and I lost my 10-key long ago.

And we’ll also mention that the E&Y numbers are slightly better than what they initially reported last September so make of all these stats what you will, the rainbow and unicorn PR machine is in full force and CNN is happy to scoop them up spit them out.

Bean counters wanted: Why the Big 4 are in a hiring frenzy [CNNMoney]

Deloitte Is Moving to 30 Rock

We’re still waiting for Jim Quigley’s tweet to confirm but it appears, based on an internal email sent to Going Concern, that Deloitte will be consolidating its offices to 30 Rockefeller Center.

Here’s our tipster’s email:

[I]t appears that they will be going public with this in the next couple of days. D&T is consolidating its three New York offices into 12 floors of Rock Center. The sublease from Merrill Lynch at 2 WFC is up next year and apparently [Bank of America] wanted to raise rents on them. The consensus is that there is just too much space that isn’t getting used and that consolidating the offices would be a more efficient use of the space.

Regards,

“Anonymous Tipster”

And here’s the internal email:

The only attention we’ve really paid to the Deloitte commercial real estate story is that they were threatening to leave the City altogether last summer but DWB debunked that theory sufficiently. This not only marks a major move for Deloitte but it also is a major new tenant at 30 Rockefeller Center. But why is so much sprawling cube farm space available at 30 Rock? Is this a result of Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal from General Electric or is Jack Donaghy holding a fire sale? We don’t know the real estate business well enough to give it an educated guess so if you’ve got other theories, leave them below. We left a message with Deloitte but Christ, it’s after 9 pm on Friday, so we’ll back to you Monday.

Former SEC Chairman Pitt: Criminal Prosecutions Are Possible for Ernst & Young, Lehman Execs

Okay then! Not exactly what you’d want to hear from a former SEC Chairman on Monday but what’s a former SEC honcho to do? Paint a rosy picture for everyone? Hell no! The man is gong to get real about this latest bank/accounting firm disaster. Barron’s ran down Harv to get his $0.02 on the whole Lehman/E&Y sitch and he he laid it out for Dick Fuld, E&Y, et al. as how to best handle this dicey situation.

Regarding the timing of a response to the report, you best explain yourselves ASAP and while you’re at it, none of that fancy-schmancy language. Everyone needs to be able to understand this:

If they want to avoid the logical consequences of the Report’s conclusions-and none of those consequences are at all good for either Fuld or E&Y-they will need to come forward quickly with a very plain, easily understandable explanation of the errors or their defenses. The longer it takes them to do that, the less likelihood they will have of mitigating the publicity the Report’s allegations have already received.

Consequences, you ask? How about indictments? How about no more SEC clients for E&Y? Next Andersen? Maybe! Shockingly, the SEC seems to be dragging its feet, per the usual standard operating procedure (emphasis original):

Many are wondering why there hasn’t been any action taken, and why the government hasn’t reported on the same events itself. Criminal prosecutions are possible, as are SEC civil actions. For Fuld, an SEC action could mean that he would forfeit his right to participate in the securities industry and possible disgorgement of monies he received over the years from Lehman. For E&Y, the SEC has the power to suspend their right to practice accounting, limit their ability to take on new clients, and impose remedial sanctions.

Yeah, that last part is kind of the crux. As you may recall, Andersen did not bite the dust because of the money it had to pay to Enron investors but because it’s reputation took such a bad hit that states began revoking their license even before the firm voluntarily surrendered its license to practice before the SEC. This occurred after Andersen clients started running away from the firm like a band of lepers. There’s no indication that’s what will happen to E&Y but there’s a 2,200 page report with E&Y’s name all over that says nothing flattering about the firm.

And say what you want about Harvey Pitt: bearded Bush yes-man, lawyer, whatever. As far as we can tell, he has nothing to gain by throwing out wild-ass speculation about what the possible outcomes could be.

Lehman: Criminal Prosecution Possible, Says Pitt [Barron’s]