Hey and good morning, afternoon, whatever.
Brief programming note: I’ll be in Chicago this weekend for an American Accounting Association panel thingy, will probably have some free time on Sunday if you’re at the annual meeting and want to fulfill your wish of putting Going Concern stickers on your stuff. Hit me up.
One other thing, we’re still piecing together what’s going on with last week’s layoffs at EY. If you have details to share, email or text anonymously.
Now, the news! Wanted to keep it light today but gotta roll with what we’ve got.
PwC has opened a 125,000 sq. in Gurugram, India:
This expansion raises PwC India’s total capacity in the NCR [Ed. note: That’s India’s National Capital Region, not New California Republic, sorry to disappoint any FNV players] to nearly 8,000 employees, contributing to a national workforce of around 30,000 across 20 sites.
The new office is designed to include spaces for innovation, client engagement, and collaboration, aimed at enhancing service delivery and addressing complex client needs, the accounting giant said in its press statement.
Sanjeev Krishan, chairperson, PwC in India, said: “The opening of our sixth office in the NCR region represents the continued demand of our services and trust of our clients. As a people business, our offices are always centered around our clients and employees.
“Our new office has been designed as an open, flexible, Gen Z friendly workspace created to challenge the conventions of traditional workplaces. The contemporary workplace design and bold interiors that are aligned with our refreshed brand identity, will support balance, collaboration, and innovation—giving our people what they need to thrive and bring their best every day, and our clients the experience they expect.”
PwC is set to open TWO new offices in Mumbai this year as well. Guess that means more layoffs on this side of the world. Fun.
Government Executive says Trump wants to get more customer service agents at the IRS, Republicans aren’t down:
While mostly hoping to slash the agency, there is one part of the Internal Revenue Service where President Trump is seeking to significantly add staffing: customer service.
While the White House is hoping to bring on thousands of additional customer service representatives to answer the 100 million phone calls IRS receives every year and attend to taxpayers who frequent in-person assistance facilities, House Republicans have so far rejected that vision.
“Customer Service Representatives are an incredibly vital piece of our tax system because they are on the front lines helping honest taxpayers meet their tax obligations and avoid errors,” said Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “Slashing this part of the workforce is a disservice to the millions of Americans who contact the IRS every year for help.”
Speaking of people picking up the phone at the IRS, we have this poor lady in California:
When Joy Hays decided to get ahead on her 2025 taxes, she and her husband Kenneth figured they owed around $3,360. But a small slip of the pen nearly cost them 10 times that amount.
As she wrote out the check, Hays mistakenly wrote out “thirty-three thousand + 60” in the written portion of the check. The discrepancy went unnoticed by the IRS, which tried to withdraw the full $33,060 from the couple’s Chase account. When it bounced, the agency tried again. It bounced again.
The Hayses were stunned, and then hit with a $661 penalty from the IRS for what was labeled a “failure to pay on time.” Despite multiple attempts to explain the error, Joy says she hasn’t been able to speak with a live agent. After spending more than six hours on hold over the course of a month, she still hasn’t received a resolution.
According to her husband, Chase told him the bank will only honor what’s written out on the line, not the number in the box. What a mess.
Something sciencey from CPA Journal: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Hiring in Public Accounting. The gist according to the intro paragraph:
Over the years, numerous studies have revealed racial disparities in hiring practices, specifically detailing the favoring of White over Black applicants by employers. By conducting a blind study of callbacks for eight fictitious applicants of various races, genders, and resume qualities, a recent study found that although White applicants still held a significant advantage when quality of resume was considered, marked improvements have been found in these racial disparities from a similar study that was conducted 20 years ago. This article explores the implications of this research and provides recommendations for those seeking to adjust their hiring practices.
I’m so glad we keep comments off on news briefs because there’s someone haunting our comments who gets activated like the Manchurian Candidate any time DEI is mentioned.
Alaska joins the growing anti-150 hour club with full support of state legislators but not the governor:
A bill promising to lower the requirements to become a CPA – or certified public accountant – passed into law Wednesday after the governor did not sign the bill.
Rep. Calvin Schrage, NA-Anchorage, sponsored the bill, saying it was a way for Alaska to catch up to a “growing national trend to simplifying some of [these] requirements.”
Schrage said he doesn’t know why the governor didn’t sign the bill but hey, at least it’s not a veto. Welcome to the club, Alaska.
Central Oregon will soon be filled with the sweet, tortured sound of accounting students:
Oregon State University-Cascades will begin offering an accountancy major this fall.
The program was developed by associate professor Logan Steele, who transferred this summer from OSU in Corvallis to the Cascades campus in Bend to lead the program.
Regional and statewide accounting groups are excited that the return of the program to Central Oregon will strengthen the pipeline of new accounting professionals and help serve a growing region and need.
Steele first applied to teach accounting at OSU-Cascades in 2015. It didn’t work out — the accountancy program lost its accreditation due to the number of junior faculty teaching what Steele called strategic courses. But his career path brought him to OSU’s campus in Corvallis.
“Bend, it’s just a magical place,” he said, before listing off all the reasons one could have to love living in the region.
Personally I would keep the accounting students away from any places I deem magical but you do you. Good luck with the program, Logan (not being sarcastic)! We look forward to seeing what your future drones do when they’re released into the wild.
Forvis Mazars put together some info on what the Cost Accounting Standards Board has been up to in case that’s of use to any of you:
The Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Board convened on July 2, 2025 to advance its ongoing efforts to modernize federal cost accounting rules and align them more closely with commercial practices. The board’s agenda informs the public of upcoming monthly meetings. While several agenda items are familiar to those following the CAS Board’s activities during 2024, other agenda items go further back to the Section 809 Panel recommendations from June 2018. The Section 809 Panel was established under Section 809 of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act to streamline and modernize the acquisition process.
Seeing the words “cost accounting” instantly gives me flashbacks to sitting through hours upon hours of BEC class with a belly full of donuts and Red Bull trying desperately to stay awake. God bless those of you who actually like this shit.
And that’s all, folks. Get in touch if you have a tip or have seen a story we should be talking about. And have a great week OR ELSE.