Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Accounting News Roundup: AICPA Wants Everyone on the Blockchain Bandwagon | 05.23.18

Plus, the shakeup at the PCAOB continues, General Electric wants to sell its insurance unit, POTUS promises more tax cuts, and more.

Melancon calls for the transformation of the audit [AT]
AICPA president, CEO, and world-famous juggler Barry Melancon wants everyone to jump on the blockchain bandwagon to change auditing as we know it. But if you’re worried about all the technological mumbo jumbo, Barry puts your mind at ease:

“We don’t need to really understand the underlying software,” he said. “It’s the implications and power of blockchain that are more important that [sic] the actual software.”

Yes, just cede the knowledge to the tech nerds. We’re all working for them, anyway.

PCAOB Chief Auditor Martin F. Baumann to Leave the Board [PCAOB]
The PCAOB’s announcement that Marty Baumann would be leaving follows the news that Helen Munter, the Director of Inspections, and General Counsel Gordon Seymour would also depart this month.

GE seeking to shed troubled insurance business [Reuters]
That’s the same insurance business that the company took a $6.2 billion write-down for, as well as an additional $15 billion in reserves. I’ll bet that auditor with 109 years of experience will be relieved to have one less thing to worry about.

Trump says he will propose new tax cuts prior to November [Reuters]
Does this guy know his audience or what:

“We’re going to be submitting additional tax cuts sometime prior to November,” Trump said in a speech to the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group.

I guess he’s making up for the time that he was supposed to talk about tax cuts and went off on immigration instead.

Previously, on Going Concern…

Megan Lewczyk wrote about Wells Fargo and its seemingly endless string of control failures.

Here’s a whitepaper from our partner FloQast: The Definitive Guide to Effective Close Management.

In other news:

Get the Accounting News Roundup in your inbox every weekday by signing up here.

See something we missed? Have a tip, correction, comment, or complaint? Email us at [email protected].

Latest Accounting Jobs--Apply Now:

Have something to add to this story? Give us a shout by email, Twitter, or text/call the tipline at 202-505-8885. As always, all tips are anonymous.

Related articles

cat on a desk

Friday Footnotes: RTO Isn’t Going So Great; KPMG Wins Something; What Auditors? | 5.19.23

Footnotes is a collection of stories from around the accounting profession curated by actual humans and published every Friday at 5pm Eastern. While you’re here, subscribe to our newsletter to get the week’s top stories in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. See ya. ICYMI I Love Accounting. So I Had to Leave. [GC] Benjamin […]

cat with breakfast in bed

Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: Identical Twins Head to Deloitte; TWO PwC Leaks; VA Tackles 150 | 5.15.23

Good morning and happy Monday! Here’s some stuff happening. Virginia Society of CPAs is tackling the question “is 150 too many?” For nearly the past two decades, prospective CPAs in Virginia have had to undertake 150 hours of education before becoming licensed. But a declining CPA pipeline has accountants asking: Is the 150 now a […]