You think I’m kidding, don’t you?
Earlier:
You’d Be Wrong If You Thought Americans for Tax Reform Were a Bunch of Humorless Killjoys
You think I’m kidding, don’t you?
Earlier:
You’d Be Wrong If You Thought Americans for Tax Reform Were a Bunch of Humorless Killjoys
The latest from the moneymailbag:
Hi Caleb,
Can we get a thread opened about Grant Thornton raises and promotions. We started finding out promotions yesterday and the raise info came along with it. Thanks,
Not much news out of Grant Thornton lately so thanks for reaching out. The last we heard from Purple Rose of Chicago was that auditors were wanting their raises and bonuses to rival the Big 4 after a hellish busy season. I’d still be willing to be that Michelle Bachmann has a better chance of becoming President than GT’s raises keeping pace with the Big 4 but I do like a good longshot.
So if you’re in the House of Chipman and got news about a promotion, let us know and share the details of your newfound riches.
Last week, Caleb respectfully requested you all participate in a TPTB-sponsored poll to tell us which review course you are using. As expected, a comment was made along the lines of “it doesn’t matter which review course you use,” which we hear just about every time we dare to bring up the subject of CPA review.
We’ve talked about picking a review course, getting the most out of yours and even got bold enough to name names but have thus far (mostly) avoided getting into the dirty details due to my perceived bias as a former CPA review hack. But for those of you who are new to this whole CPA review thing, I figured it might be useful to revisit the topic and offer some tips for finding a review course and making it work for you since I’m far enough away from the industry as this point not to have an interest either way.
As always, picking a review course comes down to a few simple questions you have to ask yourself.
First, is someone paying for it so you don’t have to? If so, take it but let me give you a small piece of advice based on what I saw working in CPA review for four years: treat it like you paid for it. Too often I would see people who took their good fortune for granted and blew off studying only to discover a year or year and a half later that their “free” course expired, leaving them with outdated books and a set of flashcards they never opened. Don’t be that guy, use what you’ve been given or trust me, you’ll regret it later when you really need it and don’t have it or, worse, end up having to pay for Round 2 yourself. Most firms will only pay once so make it count.
Second, as many many people have pointed out here and elsewhere, which review course you take doesn’t really matter as everyone teaches based on the same bank of information made available to them by the AICPA. What does differ is the way the material is presented, therefore it’s up to you to figure out what you need. Some courses teach straight from the book while others don’t necessarily “teach” at all; if you’re the type of person who needs to be guided (and/or hand held) through huge amounts of information, you will want to go with something that breaks down concepts.
For an idea of which courses do what, the CPAnet forums are still one of the best resources as responses are written (mostly) by actual candidates without being as spammy as some of the CPA exam marketing blogs put out to steer customers into certain products. It’s also worth checking out blogs written by actual CPA exam candidates for nearly real-time comments on what’s working (or what isn’t) for them. If you’re on Twitter, check #twudygroup for candid tweets about studying, which will inevitably include comments about the review courses the kids on Twitter are using (and love tweets to Peter Olinto, natch).
It’s true that any review course (or even a set of CPA exam textbooks) can get you through this, but it doesn’t happen just because you gave a company your credit card details. Hate to break this to those of you hoping a $3000 course plus flashcards will automatically make you pass but regardless of which course you choose, you’ve got to study and sit for the exam just like every other candidate.
Now stop playing around on the Internet and get back to those books, you’ve got an exam to pass.
~ Good morning capital market servants. I’ll be traveling this morning to an undisclosed location, so posting my be on the lighter side until later this afternoon. That should give you plenty of time to either A) determine my whereabouts or B) dig up some dirt and send it to us. If you manage to sniff out my trail correctly, your reward will be a hot date with either Adrienne or DWB, depending on your preference.
Former Citigroup Accountant Accused of Embezzling $19.2 Million [NYT]
Gary Foster toiled away as a midlevel accountant in Citigroup’s Long Island City back office, collect 0 paycheck last year. But federal prosecutors claim Mr. Foster gave himself a bonus fit for a star investment banker by embezzling more than $19.2 million from Citi before its auditors picked up on the scheme.
Siemens CFO Says Tailwind From Recovery Is Likely Over [WSJ]
“The tailwind from the economic recovery is likely over. Now, increased efforts are required for continued growth,” Siemens Chief Financial Officer Joe Kaeser told analysts at an event in Shanghai. Kaeser has already said several times that growth will slow in the second half of the current fiscal year 2011, which ends in September, as the comparison base gets tougher.
Lululemon eyes $1 billion in revenue [Reuters]
While Lululemon’s sales have soared along with its share price, investors have been concerned that competition might start to slow its ascent. “We’re not feeling it or seeing it on a global basis or even store by store,” Chief Financial Officer John Currie told the Reuters Global Consumer and Retail Summit on Monday, when the stock hit an all-time high. “But you know, it’s a competitive marketplace. So, the next competitor … we have to worry about them just like we do about Nike and Adidas.”
Fed policymaker: Mortgage-interest deduction can be bad incentive [The Hill]
Narayana Kocherlakota, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in a speech in Big Sky, Mont., that the tax code now provides both taxpayers and financial institutions incentives to carry at times excessive debt. Kocherlakota, currently a member of the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee, specifically singled out the mortgage-interest deduction and a policy that allows banks to deduct interest payments on debt.
Los Angeles Dodgers File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Seek Television Deal [Bloomberg]
The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection after Major League Baseball rejected a television deal with News Corp. (NWS)’s Fox Sports, leaving team owner Frank McCourt unable to make payroll this week. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig last week said the 17-year TV-rights deal, which McCourt valued at about $3 billion, would harm the franchise in the long term. Baseball took over the Dodgers’ business operations about two months ago.
Negotiators Wrangle on Taxes [WSJ]
With time running short to reach a deal to avoid a government default, President Barack Obama met privately Monday with Senate leaders in hopes of resolving an impasse over whether to include tax increases in a deficit-reduction agreement. The White House argued that the deficit can’t be significantly cut without eliminating tax breaks for certain wealthy individuals and companies, while Republicans said doing so would cripple the economy.
Audit Comittees Dig Into Compensation [CFOJ]
A new rule requiring companies to disclose whether their compensation structures could lead to excessive risk-taking has so far failed to result in significant new disclosures. However, the rule has forced audit committee board members to work more closely with their compensation committee counterparts and may result in more members serving on both in the future.
A true man of the people:
The Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien against Miami Springs Mayor Zavier Garcia for nearly $200,000 in unpaid taxes. The lien, filed June 8, means the IRS would get paid before Garcia and his wife if they attempt to sell their home or other real estate. Garcia said the IRS issued the liens after his new accountant detected errors in previous years’ tax returns. Garcia said he voluntarily brought the errors to the agency’s attention, and plans to pay the money as soon as his finances permit.
Hours before a meeting with President Obama at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that any debt-ceiling deals that included tax hikes would be “politically impossible” in the current Congress because most Republicans and many Democrats oppose them.
“Those who are calling for tax hikes as a part of these debt discussions either have amnesia about the fate of similar votes just six months ago — when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress as well as the White House — or they’re acting in bad faith, since we all know that including massive, job-killing tax hikes would be a poison pill,” said McConnell on Monday from the Senate floor. [The Hill]
Welcome to the de minimis edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. In today’s edition, a young accountant wants to know how to reject a firm in the most professional way possible. Is it best to give them the Band-aid™ treatment or can you simply not call and hope they get the hint?
Are you surrounded by idiots? Worried your firm is morphing into something undesirable? Thinking of giving it all up for a shot a culinary immortality? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com and we’ll help you become the next Ray Kroc.
Returning to the rejector:
Dear GC,
I have two FT offers from mid-size firms. I know which offer I want to accept but my question is what is the best/most professional way to “reject” the other firm? Is it better to call or email them and how should I word it?
These two firms are competitors and they both know I have interned with the other. My second question is should I try to leverage the firm I want to accept from and negotiate a higher starting salary? I’m not sure I even want to bother if there is a possibility of “burning any bridges” with either firm if I’d only get an extra grand or two. I just graduated and this is my first time in this situation. Any advice from you or the GC community would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Newbie
Dear Newbie,
Here’s the thing – rejecting a firm isn’t like rejecting a human being. They don’t have feelings so don’t be afraid to be honest. Sure the person you speak to may sound disappointed but trust me when I say that they’ve heard it all before. That said, sending them an email with an image of your photocopied ass attached is not advisable. Your message can be communicated by either phone call or email and can give as little or as much detail as you like. You can keep it vague, “I’ve decided to accept another offer,” decline any pressing by your rejectee or you can go into detail, “I chose Firm A because [insert reason],” as long as you don’t feel like this is your opportunity to share thoughts on everything that is wrong with their firm. The person listening to you will appreciate your honesty and you can feel good that you’ve kept a professional decorum throughout the process.
What you don’t do, is this:
I recently learned [a recruit] cancelled his second round interview with us- said he broke his ankle and went to the ER- but was seen out partying that same night by one of our former interns.
This was sent to Adrienne by an HR professional at a firm regarding a potential recruit. Granted, this person may not have gotten an offer to begin with but considering the tact involved with this rejection, the firm is better without this loser.
As for trying to use one firm against the other to leverage a higher salary, this is hardly the time in your career to play hardball over your salary.
Bottom line is that you can reject a firm in a direct. professional manner and who knows, the contact may serve you in the future when/if your current situation doesn’t pan out. Or you can be ‘fraidy cat and tell them your mother is sick and you’re re-examining your life choices. That will your professionalism somewhere in between toddler and pre-pubescence. Choose wisely.
We understand that complying with financial reporting in the U.S. can be difficult, so don’t get too worried about it. But we do ask that you keep the workpaper hostage taking to a minimum.
China is looking into accounting issues involving Chinese companies listed in North America, an official at the country’s securities regulator said in the watchdog’s first public remarks since a series of accounting scandals. Corporate misbehaviour, unfamiliarity with the U.S. market and some practices involved in overseas listings had all contributed to recent investor distrust of Chinese companies, said Wang Ou, vice head of research at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). “First, we have to admit that some of our companies may have flaws. Second, our (companies’) understanding of the U.S. market and the measures to tackle risk there may be inadequate,” Wang said at a conference in Beijing this weekend. “We have contacts with the U.S. and its relevant regulatory bodies and we’re studying the issue together.”
Oh, and it isn’t necessary to issue a press release when your auditor ties out your cash balances.
[via Reuters]
The Financial Times published an interview with PwC International Chairman Dennis Nally over the weekend and we learn a few interesting things about DN that you probably didn’t know. For starters, he’s very aware that his firm is in a tussle for title of the largest professional services firm ON EARTH, “We’re in a real dog race to continue to sustain our leadership position as the largest professional services network in the world,” he told the FT. Of course this gives us the impression that Denny doesn’t believe that P. Dubs has relinquished the Biggest of the Big 4 title, as some other CEOs have claimed.
And as you might expect, there are various softening questions thrown around, including:
1) Leaders he admires – he wants to meet The Pope because “[Nally] seems impressed by the feat of co-ordination.”
2) Feats of strength – He practiced hot yoga to “strengthen his golf swing” but gave it up because “I found that you had a tendency to over-workout your muscles.”
Despite those little tidbits, Helen Thomas manages to get under Nally’s skin a little when she asks if “auditors should rightly find themselves in the line of fire” when fraud or “disingenuous” accounting occurs:
Mr Nally crosses his arms across his monogrammed shirt, for the first time looking a touch defensive. “There are professional standards out there [and] an audit is not designed under those standards to detect fraud,” he says, pointing out that detecting fraudulent behaviour rests on other indications including a company’s governance, management tone and control systems. “The reasons it has been done that way is because, while we always hear and read about the high-profile fraud, the number of those situations that you actually encounter in practice is very de minimis.
Notice that he doesn’t directly address the “disingenuous” accounting. Examples which might include, say, AIG and Freddie Mac, but rather addressed fraud which is easy to fall back on, since the expectations gap is so blatant (something he has mentioned before).
His statement also appears to indicate that he feels situations like Satyam are immaterial, unless by “de minimis” he intended to mean “rare in occurrence.” But, then again, I suppose semantics are also de minimis.
If I seemed impatient about hearing from the Black and Yellow, it’s because I was. Fortunately, someone answered the call:
As of now, we haven’t heard ANYTHING regarding raises/bonuses etc. On our performance management internal website the status of my annual review just changed from “Leadership Review/Roundtable” to “Release to Compensation” so hopefully we will be getting some news soon!
So, no news is…news, isn’t it? Last year, we started hearing Ernst & Young compensation rumors around the 15th and here we are, one week from our nation’s birthday and hardly a peep. Someone buy a partner a happy hour beer tonight or something, wouldja? Keep us updated.
The Most Expensive Journal recently came out with a top 10 list of most expensive iPad apps and – surprise, surprise – it looks like Becker’s mobile flashcards made the list.

The mobile flashcard set includes over 950 cards with questions on the front and brief answers on the back, which will look familiar to any of you who have used Becker’s regular flashcards.
The app works on iPhone or iPad but you don’t have the option to use it on both if you happen to own both devices; you’ll have to buy two copies of the app if that’s what you’re trying to do.
Curious to hear what your most expensive app is and whether or not you’d buy these.
Companies Are Erecting In-House Social Networks [NYT]
As social networks increasingly dominate communications in private lives, businesses of all sizes — from tiny start-ups to midsize companies like Nikon to behemoths like Dell — are adopting them for the workplace. Although it is difficult to quantify how many companies use internal social networks, a number of corporate software companies have sensed the opportunity and offer various systems, some free to existing customers, others that charge a fee per user.
Pelosi Says U.S. Debt-Ceiling Deal Must Reduce Tax Subsidies for Companies [Bloomberg]
Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner will need the support of Democrats to get an agreement through the House, Pelosi said yesterday in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Such an agreement would have to include both spending cuts and an end to tax breaks for some industries such as oil, she said. “You can’t cut your way out of the deficit,” California Democrat Pelosi said. “You have to have revenue on the table.”
What the CFOs Want [WSJ]
CFOs at big companies are no longer content to manage just finances or operations. They want, and say they need, a prime seat at the table when setting strategy. So said the roughly 60 big-company finance chiefs at The Wall Street Journal’s inaugural CFO Network annual meeting last week. Many of these CFOs already count strategic planning among their responsibilities, a shift from the past, and one that primes them to possibly take the chief executive spot some day.
Chipotle Will Raise its Prices Regionally [WSJ]
We need a Poncho No. 8 over here.
Did Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Violate Its Code of Ethics, too? [White Collar Fraud]
This is starting to get awkward.
Must the Amish e-File? [TaxProf]
The horror!
Senate’s Snowe offers bill to repeal tanning tax [The Hill]
A bill, sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and co-sponsored by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) was introduced on Thursday in the Senate, mirroring an effort in the House to eliminate the 10 percent tax on certain tanning services. Support for the House measure has grown since June 2 when Rep. Michael Grimm (N.Y.) introduced the bill. His legislation now has 29 Republican co-sponsors backing the effort.
Tax activists want U2’s Bono to ‘pay up’ [DMWT]
Reports of actual mud-slinging have not been confirmed.
‘Angry Birds’ Staying Power Tested With CEO Hatching Movie [Bloomberg]
And now, some important news.