Going Concern

Quote of the Day

Tim Geithner Will Tell You Exactly What He Thinks of Fannie and Freddie

Caleb Newquist
August 18, 2010

“This administration will side with those who want fundamental change. It is not tenable to leave in place the system we have today. We will not support returning Fannie and Freddie to the role they played before conservatorship, where they fought to take market share from private competitors while enjoying the privilege of government support.”

~ The Treasury Secretary has had it up to his coif.

Comp Watch: Deloitte Advisory Breaks Double Digits

Caleb Newquist
August 18, 2010

The news from the House of Salzberg continues to roll in; following the news from the audit practice yesterday:

The Deloitte advisory P/P/D group had a call today discussing the raises for this year. The raises will run between 5%-15% for anyone rated 1-3. 4s will get no raise. The breakdown will be based on level, promote status, rating and some potential variable factors to determine percentages. Most likely staff and seniors will get the best raises, as they are most likely to bolt once bonuses (AIP) are paid.

No word on what bonuses are, as this can vary much more on a person to person basis.

Tax practice was supposed to have their call this morning; was there a mass hari kari or a riot?

The IRS Is Unlikely to Take Blood Diamonds as Payment for Naomi Campbell’s Tax Lien

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

Where’s a Liberian warlord when you actually need one?

NC owes the Treasury around $60k which is really NBD seeing how that’s probably what she spends on antique torture tools to use on her assistants. In a weekend.

Plus, her boyfriend is the so-called “Donald Trump of Moscow,” which could mean a lot of things but it for sure means that dude is rich.

IRS slaps tax lien on model Naomi Campbell [Tax Watchdog]

News

A Sign of Things to Come? Walgreen Outsourcing 150 Accounting Jobs

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

Apparently this is part of WAG’s ‘Rewiring for Growth’ initiative. And by ‘rewiring’ they mean cutting $1 billion in expenses by next year (no pressure).

As many as 150 accounting jobs could be eliminated at Walgreen Co.’s Deerfield headquarters within the next 10 months as the drugstore giant outsources the work.

The job losses result from Walgreen Co.’s agreement with process-outsourcing firm Genpact, based in India, to take over certain accounting work.

Genpact has agreed to acquire Walgreen’s accounting office in Danville, Ill., where 500 former Walgreen employees have become employees of Genpact.

Another 300 Walgreen jobs, including the 150 in Deerfield, will be affected by the move. The remaining 150 jobs are scattered among Walgreen accounting offices nationwide, a Walgreen spokeswoman said Monday.

An unspecified number of Walgreen accounting department employees who remain employed will be shifted to other jobs or see their positions changed drastically, the Walgreen spokeswoman said.

Problem is “positions changed drastically” could be anything from the mailroom to working the counter at your respective local store on Christmas Day.

Walgreen outsourcing deal to cut as many as 150 accounting jobs [Chicago Sun-Times]

News

Good Riddance to Old Lease Accounting Rules

GoingConcern
August 17, 2010

This story is republished from CFOZone, where you’ll find news, analysis and professional networking tools for finance executives.

I see that FASB is sticking to its schedule for ending most off-balance-sheet treatment for leases, and so is the IASB. It’s about time, frankly, if only to spare us poor, I mean, intrepid financial journalists from having to sort through the particulars of the current accounting treatment a moment longer than necessary.

I speak from personal experience here, having wrestled with the false distinction between capital and operating leases for a sidebar to a piece I wrote for CFO Magazine way back when. The article delved into the details of a particularly complex variation that companies were using to finance real estate, called synthetic leases.

I swear, that sidebar itself shaved a year off my life, and at my age, every one counts, and did even a decade or so ago.

In fact, the hoops that companies must jump though to get a deal to qualify as an operating lease still make my head spin. Consider: In order to qualify, the current rule, known as FAS 13, requires that the lease fail all of four tests aimed at distinguishing the financing from being the equivalent of ownership.

The thing that puzzled me about all this is that many, if not most, CFOs claimed that accounting treatment wasn’t the reason, or at least not the main one, that they used such financing techniques in the first place.

But the reason they gave often came down to their advantageous cost, and like all off-balance-sheet financing techniques, I could never quite understand how that lower cost arose without the accounting treatment.

After all, it seemed to me the only reason operating leases were less expensive than capital leases was that the underlying asset wasn’t counted as the property of the company by a sufficient number of investors willing to therefore pay a premium for the company’s equity. And if they did that, they were ignoring the fact that the asset was indeed the property of the company on anything other than a narrow, legal basis, and that the arrangement wasn’t financing its purchase.

So tell me again how off-balance-sheet financing results in lower cost if it doesn’t really do that.

Job of the Week

Job of the Week: SAS 70 Solutions Needs Senior Auditors

GoingConcern
August 17, 2010

SAS 70 Solutions, Inc. is conducting a national search for Senior Auditors, with specific focus in California, Illinois and Texas.

Select qualifications include 2 to 5 years of Big 4 experience and currently holds or is pursuing any of the following certifications: CPA,
CISA, CISSP, PCI QSA and/or CIA.

Company: SAS 70 Solutions, Inc.

Title: Audit Senior

Location: National search with specifirnia, Illinois and Texas

Compensation: Competitive

Position Type: Permanent

Position Type: Full Time

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

SAS 70 Solutions was the first ever CPA firm founded for the purposes of performing SAS 70 audits. It is now the largest non-Big 4 provider of such services in the world. Over time, the company’s services have expanded to include other attestation services, such as SSAE 16 and AT 101 examinations, AUP reviews, and Trust Services certifications. The company also performs PCI DSS validations and ISO 27002 compliance assessments.

The company’s personnel are almost exclusively the alumni of the “Big 4” / Tier 1 global accounting firms. SAS 70 Solutions’ clients are located throughout the United States, and include a significant number of publicly traded and Fortune 1000 companies, as well as privately held organizations of all sizes.

SAS 70 Solutions builds on the best of what the “Big 4” firms have to offer, such as the ability to offer high quality professionals to our clients. It also eliminates the parts of the job that personnel tend to dislike about their “Big 4” experience, including time reporting, chargeability goals, small and arbitrary bonus amounts, sales pressure, and the practice of using inexperience associates to provide the bulk of professional services.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Because SAS 70 Solutions does not employ inexperienced associates, senior auditors provide the majority of all “hands-on” activities with oversight from an audit manager and shareholder. Activities include standard project execution and report preparation activities. Senior auditors report to audit managers, which rotate based on client assignment. Audit managers generally handle project planning and interaction with the client prior to an engagement. Client engagements typically last less than three weeks, which allows senior auditors the opportunity to work on many projects over the course of each year.

DESIRED QUALIFICAITONS

• Bachelor’s Degree in accounting, finance or other related topics
• Between two to five years of related experience within professional services in financial auditing, operational auditing, information systems auditing, internal auditing, information security consulting and/or risk consulting
• Achieved the “senior” auditor/consultant level at a “Big 4” firm
• Currently holds any of the following certifications – CPA, CISA, CISSP, PCI QSA and/or CIA
• Willingness to pursue relevant professional certifications (e.g. CPA, CISA, CIA, CISSP, PCI QSA, etc.)
• Demonstrated entrepreneurial abilities, client focus, industry savvy, and the ability to work independently or as part of a collaborative team
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills
• Strong analytical and interpersonal characteristics
• Ability to operate in a dynamic environment
• Demonstrated consistency in values, principles, and work ethic

BENEFITS

• Competitive salary
• Quarterly performance bonus, which has historically averaged in excess of $20,000 per annum
• The opportunity to work with other highly skilled personnel on a constant basis
• No time reporting!
• No financial audit support work!
• No chargeability goals, sales goals or managed fee goals!
• Monday morning through Thursday evening considered “standard travel”, with little or no travel scheduled on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays
• Travel bonuses for any non-standard travel (e.g., overnight flights and/or Friday, Saturday or Sunday travel)
• Confirmed client schedule and related travel that extends months into the future and rarely changes within 30 days of an engagement
• Twenty-five (25) days of personal time off
• Immediately vested annualized employer 401(k) matching of 6% of the employee’s base salary
• Employer paid (or subsidized) health, vision and dental insurance
•Employee directed health savings account

TRAVEL

Out-of-town travel is estimated at 50%, or more, and is heavily dependent on the candidate’s location. Candidates must be available to travel and work in excess of standard hours when necessary.

Questions or Resumes may be submitted to careers@sas70solutions.com

For further information about SAS 70 Solutions, Inc., visit http://www.sas70solutions.com. SAS 70 Solutions, Inc. typically does not pay relocation expenses for employment candidates. Non-US citizens will not be considered. SAS 70 Solutions, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) and strongly supports diversity in the workplace.

Deloitte

American Apparel Subpoenaed Over Auditor Switcheroo

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

American Apparel’s downward spiral continues as Bloomberg reports that the company has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney for the SDNY over the company’s “change in accounting firms.”

If you’re justl started with Deloitte quitting as the auditors of APP late last month. At that time, Deloitte warned that the ’09 financial statements may not (read: definitely are not) reliable and that they were getting the hell out of Dov.

Former APP auditor Marcum – for reasons unbeknownst to us – went back to their old client to try and help them straighten things out. Here’s the latest from the “preliminary results” for the second quarter, while thetardy 10-Q remains elusive. These prelims (i.e. a wild stab?), that were filed today warn that things are likely to get worse before they get better:

Potential Restatement of previously issued financial statements

Effective July 22, 2010, Deloitte resigned as our independent registered public accounting firm. On July 26, 2010, we engaged Marcum as our independent registered public accounting firm. On July 28, 2010, we reported on a Form 8-K that we had been advised by Deloitte that certain information had come to Deloitte’s attention that if further investigated may materially impact the reliability of either Deloitte’s previously issued audit report or the underlying consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Deloitte has requested that we provide Deloitte with the additional information Deloitte believes it is necessary to review before any conclusions can be reached as to the reliability of the previously issued consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 and auditors’ report thereon.

Depending on the outcome of this review, a restatement of our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 could be required. Any restatement may subject us to significant costs in the form of accounting, legal fees and similar professional fees, in addition to the substantial diversion of time and attention of our Chief Financial Officer, our other officers and directors and members of our accounting department in preparing and reviewing the restatement. Any such restatement could adversely affect our business, our ability to access the capital markets or the market price of our common stock. We might also face litigation, and there can be no assurance that any such litigation, either against us specifically or as part of a class, would not materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or the market price of our common stock.

But that’s not all! The company discusses a few more issues, “We are subject to regulatory inquiries, investigations, claims and suits. We are currently defending one wage and hour suit, one sexual harassment suit and responding to several allegations of discrimination and/or harassment that have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state counterpart agencies.”

At that point, the filing finally gets to the problem du jour:

In addition, in connection with our previously disclosed change in auditors, on July 30, 2010, we received a grand jury subpoena from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for the production of documents relating to the circumstances surrounding the change in our auditors. We have also received inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding this matter. We intend to cooperate fully with these requests and any related inquiries.

If consider all that, plus the fact that the company is spending cash like Pacman Jones at a strip club and that they’re likely to be in noncompliance with a major debt covenants at September 30th, it’s no surprise that the stock is off even more than when Deloitte first quit as auditors.

American Apparel Drops After Receiving Subpoena on Change in Accountants [Bloomberg]
10-Q [SEC]

Career Center

Big 4 Careers: Can I Get into the Tax Practice?

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

From the mailbag, we have a young lad who is about to go through his first recruiting season looking to land a Big 4 position. He requested that he got some advice from those of you in the biz and that have been through the process.

If you have questions about your career, recruiting, choosing a firm a problem/challenge at work (wonky technical questions will be ignored) or whathaveyou, send us an email at advice@goingconcern.com. In the meantime, let’s oblige this young man.

The details:

I need help (advice from professionals) deciding whether I should apply for tax jobs, or audit/assurance jobs. I want to work for one of the Big 4 firms, but I know that may be lofty since I didn’t necessaril path to a career in accounting. Below is a brief narrative so that you may better understand my experience and qualifications

I am a senior at the University of Memphis (Memphis, TN) and will be graduating with a BBA in Accountancy in December 2010. I work full-time during the day to provide for my family and I attend classes at night. I work for a small bank opening new accounts, but accounting is the field I would like to have a career in. I am 24, so not much older than many of my accounting peers, and this is my first degree. I currently have an overall GPA of 3.35 and a major GPA of 3.89. I am the VP of Development for my Beta Alpha Psi chapter, and I have attended BDO’s 2009 Pathway to Success Program. Due to a change of major from Biology to Accountancy several years ago, I will have 156 credit hours when I graduate in December. I have enrolled in a Becker course beginning later this month, and plan to complete three parts of the CPA exam in the final window of 2010 and the fourth in the first window of 2011. Firms are now posting staff positions and internships on the career and employment website at my university. The time has come for me to go through my first recruiting season, and I am experiencing some anxiety.

As I mentioned earlier I am really interested in the tax specialty, but I am most interested in working for a public accounting firm. I have been told by several people in academia that a masters is necessary for tax staff, and about 90% of the entry level tax staff positions are filled with individuals who have had at least one internship. I must delay my advanced degree for a few years since I am out of cash and do not want to incur debt via student loans. I have hopes, though, that having at least some portion of the CPA exam passed will give me a leg up in the battle for staff positions at accounting firms. Also, an internship is not really an option at the current time, unless it is absolutely necessary.

I would like to know if someone with my education and experience would even be considered for a full-time tax staff position at a Big4 firm. Should I apply and hopefully interview for tax staff positions? Should I focus my attention on landing an audit/assurance staff position? Big time public accounting is where I want to be, and I know I have what it takes to make it there.

I hope you can publish my question, and ask for feedback/comments from professionals that work at big 4, regional, and local firms.

Okay, so lots of “interests” to wade through here. Let’s break these down. You say, “I am really interested in the tax specialty, but I am most interested in working for a public accounting firm,” but then you also say that you want to work for a Big 4 firm.

Depending on how you rank the importance of these three goals, that should give you the answer to your dilemma.

Let’s say working at a Big 4 firm is the end all to be all for you. You might have an easier time getting in by taking a job in the audit practice. A market like Memphis won’t be hiring too many tax professionals and it is likely that they will have advanced degrees. If there are tax positions available, by all means apply and interview for them. To answer your question, a Big 4 firm interviewing for tax positions will probably listen to what your interests and career goals are but you might not fit their ideal candidate criteria.

To address a couple other of your issues – having portions of the CPA may help you but is by no means is it a huge advantage. Also, if putting off an internship is what works best for you, then understand that will put you at disadvantage to those that have had them, especially since the Big 4 is making full-time offers primarily to their interns.

However, your GPA, work experience and BAP involvement are all good things so chances are, a Big 4 audit practice will give you a serious look as long as you interview well.

If you land the gig, you could do some time in audit and then explore some rotational opportunities a couple of years down the road, although again, those are probably extremely limited in a small market like Memphis.

On the other hand, if you are truly interested in working in a tax practice, it might easier to go with a regional or local firm to get the work experience you want. Since it sounds like you’re a good candidate, you can be selective about who you ultimately choose and what areas of tax you want to work in. Once you have a few years of experience and you still want to work for a Big 4 firm, it might be easier to get into their tax practice.

For the rest of you out there, dispense with your experiences and advice. Does he have a chance at tax? With Big 4? Should he just give it all up and join the Peace Corps? Help him out.

Should CPA Exam Candidates Crack Open College Textbooks?

Adrienne Gonzalez
August 17, 2010

It’s a valid question and we haven’t answered it yet so let’s give it a shot, shall we? Here’s the specific reader inquiry:

I graduated in 2008 with an accounting degree, but I’ve not really pursued anything in accounting since then. Without talking too much about my personal life, I’ll just say I had better opportunities.

Anyways, I’m considering getting back into public accounting, and I plan on beginning taking the CPA exam in 2011, after busy season. If I order a CPA review course, will that be enough, or should I spend some time reviewing my books/notes from college?

Yeah, we’re with you on the “better opportunities,” be that foaming lattes or harvesting certain medicinal plants (depending on your state, of course), so let’s forget about what you’ve been doing since you graduated and focus on the task at hand: passing the CPA exam.

As we’ve told you plenty of times, it’s always best to knock the exam out as soon as you graduate since you likely still have some sort of study habits left over from college and aren’t yet tied down with family and a career but things don’t always work out that way for whatever reason. That’s fine, my professional experience has actually been that those who take some time off after school do better once they do start to tackle the exam simply because they are older, wiser and usually slightly more dedicated than a 22 year old fresh out of college. No offense to the dedicated 22 year olds out there, of course.

But please, whatever you do, don’t bother with your college textbooks. Chances are your cheap, lazy and overworked accounting professors used the same textbooks year after year while the CPA exam changes twice a year. Sure debits still went on the left even in 1903 but keep in mind the CPA exam isn’t necessarily a test of how good of a CPA you will be but a comprehensive skills test that identifies your shallow knowledge of a broad range of subjects. Think of the exam as a lake 15 miles wide but only an inch deep; some of your college texts may delve into some areas in detail that aren’t really tested on the exam or they could skip entire areas completely, especially since you graduated just as the economic crisis was hitting. Things have changed since then and with international standards hitting in 2011, the chances are even lower that these areas were covered in school.

For you, the best thing to do is find a review course that will help refresh your knowledge based on what you learned in school but also give you a general outline of topics that you may have forgotten or never covered when you were in college. I know it’s called “review” but a good review course can teach you as if you have no prior accounting experience whatsoever… assuming you do remember which side to stick the debits on.

Skip the textbooks and spend your time focusing on a review product that will give you exactly what you need to pass the exam. Good luck!

Accounting News Roundup: Big 4 Firms Looking to Cash in on Climate Change; GM Is Back from the Dead; The End of Fan and Fred? | 08.17.10

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

Barclays in Sanctions Bust [WSJ]
“Barclays PLC agreed to pay $298 million to settle charges by U.S. and New York prosecutors that the U.K. bank altered financial records for more than a decade to hide hundreds of millions of dollars into the U.S. from Cuba, Libya, Iran and other sanctioned countries.

Monday’s settlement agreement of criminal charges is an embarrassment for Barclays, which became a major player on Wall Street by snapping up the collapsed U.S. operations of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008 and has been trying to burnish the U.K. bank’s reputation on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean as a good corporate citizen.”

Cashing in on cleantech [The Guardian]
“While E&Y claims to be the first to set up a practice specifically for cleantech, in recent years PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, KPMG and E&Y have all launched dedicated practices for sustainability and climate change.

Steven Lang, who leads the cleantech division in the UK and Ireland, recently explained the attraction to Business Green: ‘We’ve seen major amounts of capital flowing into clean energy and clean technology and governments increasingly want to use the sector as a driver for international competitiveness.

‘The drivers are there for this to be a major growth area over the next five years.’ “

GM IPO filing expected Tuesday [Reuters]
It’s like you never left, GM. “General Motors Co has completed the paperwork for an initial public offering, and timing of its filing with the U.S. securities regulators rests with the board of the top U.S. automaker, sources familiar with the process said on Monday.

The initial prospectus, expected to be for $100 million, is likely to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, two people said, asking not to be named because the preparations for the IPO are private.”

IASB details recruitment process for Tweedie replacement [Accountancy Age]
“In a newly created section of the IASB website, the body has outlined the process it has followed since September 2009, as it searches to replace chairman Sir David Tweedie, who steps down in June 2011.

Among the documents is a letter sent to the European Commissioner’s office on 3 December, 2009, from Sir Bryan Nicholson, who has led the IASB’s recruitment process.”

Woman due in court for pie attack on US Sen. Levin [CT]
“A woman accused of hitting U.S. Sen. Carl Levin in the face with an apple pie during the Armed Services Committee chairman’s constituent meeting in northern Michigan is due in court.

Twenty-two-year-old Ahlam M. Mohsen of Coldwater will be arraigned Tuesday. She is being held without bond after being arrested Monday on a felony charge of stalking, and misdemeanor counts of assault and disorderly conduct”

Apple?

Facebook Partnership Is Proven by $3,000 Check, Lawyer Says [Bloomberg]
“The western New York man suing over claims he owns 84 percent of Facebook Inc. has a copy of a $3,000 cashier’s check his lawyer says is proof of a contract with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg.

The purported 2003 check is made out to Zuckerberg and dated three days before Paul Ceglia claims the two men signed a contract, according to the attorney. That agreement, Ceglia said in court papers, entitles him to control of the world’s biggest social networking website.”

Conference To Debate Future Of Fannie, Freddie [NPR]
Euthanasia seems like a good option here.

Charlie Gasparino Suggests That Erin Callan Should Be Shaking in Her Designer Boots

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

“At least part of it is focused on the March 2008 capital raise where they went out and did a preferred deal. Erin Callan made some very positive bullish statements about Lehman. About how the nature of its finances would mean that it did not need more capital and three months later Lehman Brothers needed more capital and then came the decline of the firm.”

~ The Fox Business Correspondent/Ace Reporter insists that an announcement is “imminent.” That’s what the rumor mill says anyway.

(UPDATE) Compensation Watch ’10: More Deloitte Results Lag E&Y, PwC

Caleb Newquist
August 17, 2010

From the mailbag:

Managers in the Northeast for Deloitte had their compensation call today, raises for [audit] senior promotes (2nd year to 3rd year) are confirmed at 5 to 9 percent, depending upon rating. 1st year to 2nd year are 2 to 5 percent, depending upon rating. Experienced seniors are 4.5 to 6.5 percent with bonuses from $3k to $7k depending upon rating.

This is materially flat year over year for Deloitte. Although they are giving bonuses and raises to experienced seniors which did not happen last year.

So this is similar to the news from the Midwest we reported on Friday which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the country who may have been hanging on to a sliver of hope for PwC/E&Y-esque numbers.

Discuss and keep us updated.

UPDATE, August 18th: This just in:

Confirmed on audit senior compensation webcast this morning:

Base salary increase for New Managers by Rating:

1 – 24%
2 – 23%
3 -18%

Base salary increase for Experienced Seniors by Rating:

1 – 9%
2 – 6.5%
3 -4.5%
4 – 0%

Bonus for Experienced Seniors by Rating:

1 – 7k
2 – 5k
3 – 3k

Base salary increase for 1st to 2nd year staff:

1 – 5%
2 – 3.5%
3 – 2%
4 – 0%

Base salary for new hires will not change from prior year.

Annnnd discuss.

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