Going Concern

Quote of the Day

This Could Easily Be a Member of Congress

Caleb Newquist
August 20, 2010

“We are grateful to the courageous taxpayer who came forward to notify the United States attorney’s office of a corrupt public servant.”

~ U.S. Attorney Todd Jones is really just referring to that IRS agent who needed $9,700.

Ernst & Young Risks Alienating Acrophobic Employees in China

Caleb Newquist
August 20, 2010

From Big 4 Blog:

Ernst & Young China is announcing the grand opening of its new office in China’s tallest building and premier location – Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) in the Pudong District of Shanghai. All of Ernst & Young’s 2,500 Shanghai people (of the 9,000 total China employees) will be one single location to help provide better services to clients and laying the groundwork for our further expansion in the China market. Prior to this, E&Y was in three different Shanghai locations.

Jim Turley managed to ignore the issue entirely saying, “Our confidence in the long term prospects in China is demonstrated in the investment in our business and our people. We currently have over 9,000 people in China, and will further grow our manpower with the business.”

News

Is Your Firm Cutting Fringe Benefits?

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

Last week we touched on the shockingly sensitive subject of charging time while traveling. You see, apparently it was (at one time) a-okay in some KPMG offices (Southeast) while in others, the mere idea of charging time while traveling was utter nonsense.

So that got one reader to thinking – what the hell else is being cut out these days?

Please consider a post related to fringe benefits. I’m curious in knowing whether the larger firms are allowing their employees to keep points for dollars spent on company credit cards. But there are other points programs (i.e., frequent flyer miles) and fringe benefits (i.e., gym memberships, cell phones, etc.) that may be declining on top of all of the poor raises.

Big 4 firms have been quite generous with the fringe benefits (e.g. elderly parent care, subsidizing public transit passes, etc.) and they make a point to remind you of it from the day you interview with the firm to the day you leave. However, since we’re living in unprecedented times, nothing is unheard of.

If your firm has recently gotten stingy on fringe benefits, from the vastly important (401k match) to the less crucial (discounts at Brooks Brothers) discuss or shoot us the details.

Three Important Filing Tips for Luddites

Joe Kristan
August 19, 2010

There is an immense body of law governing whether last-minute tax filings are timely. So often a cheap little postmark is all that stands between a taxpayer and tax catastrophe. With the IRS herding preparers and taxpayers towards e-filing, timely-mailed, timely-filed cases may seem like an arcane body of law, like piracy cases, but paper filing still has some proud hard-core holdouts, and sometimes only a paper filing will do. At the Tax Court, for example, where the website says “Initial filings, such as the petition, may be filed only in paper form.”

The tax law says that a tax return is considered timely-filed if it is mailed on the due date, but the shift to e-filing can make things awkward for paper filers. For example, few post offices still offer late April 15 hours for last-minute paper filers. Stepping into the last-minute filer void are authorized private carriers of tax documents, like FedEx and UPS. A proper shipping document by an authorized private carrier can document timely filing. That gives taxpayers new ways to meet disaster, as the Tax Court illustrated this week.

A California couple wanting to take the IRS to Tax Court had a July 20, 2009 deadline for filing their petition. They filed by FedEx, perhaps at a FedEx/Kinkos location. They generated a shipping label on their home computer with a July 20 date. But FedEx spoiled everything, as the Tax Court explains:

The petition, which was sent by FedEx Express (FedEx), was received and filed by the Court on Thursday, July 23, 2009. The envelope containing the petition bore two shipping labels. The first shipping label, which had been placed inside a clear plastic pouch adhered to the envelope, had been electronically generated by the sender using FedEx Ship Manager (customer generated label). The second shipping label, which had been affixed to the outside of the clear plastic pouch, had been electronically generated by FedEx (FedEx-generated label).

Of course the FedEx-generated label had a July 21 date. And that, says the Tax Court, is the date that counts, and our couple was out of luck.

So what does that mean to you?

• File electronically if you can. You get a nice electronic confirmation that you can beat up the IRS with, and you don’t have to worry about your valuable tax forms going awry.

• If you must paper-file, Registered Mail or Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, are still the best deal in town. They’ll generally be cheaper than a private carrier, and that hand-stamped certified mail postmark has the same effect on IRS agents as sunlight on Dracula.

• If you find yourself at FedEx/Kinkos late on April 15, make sure the clerk knows that you need them to stamp it before midnight. If you use private delivery, be sure to use the proper street address, as the private carriers can’t deliver to post office boxes.

Otherwise, you might find yourself trying to reach Jiffy Express.

News

California Controller All But Guarantees That the State Will Issue IOUs Again

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

As the State Controller of California, John Chiang arguably has one of the worst jobs on Earth. Public service is a fine calling and working for the Terminator probably has its moments of awesomeness but he still presides over one of largest fiscal nightmares you could possibly imagine.

For starters, it doesn’t help when you overshoot tax revenues for the month of April by $3 billion. Plus, you’re dealing with a state legislature that is probably incapable of agreeing on what ocean serves as the border of their state.

So take that and a bunch of other stuff that’s not really worth rehashing, you get this, “[W]ithout a new spending plan that closes a $19 billion shortfall, the state would run out of money by late October. ‘We will run out of money if everything remains the same,’ [Chiang] said in an interview.”

Of course the state Assembly’s Republican leader, Martin Garrick, finds this to be a load of crap since what it comes down really is your political party “[He] didn’t represent the fact that it is his party’s own lack of leadership that have led to these delays.”

Look, we’ve all accepted the fact that California is the brokest-ass state of the union and is completely inept when it comes to doing anything about it. Sure New York is a pathetic loser that manages to embarrass itself on a regular basis and most of the rest of the states out there leave a helluva a lot to be desired but Cali really outdoes everyone on a regular basis. This will make two years straight of issuing IOUs at the expense of citizens and yet the diaper-wearing California reps do nothing.

If Whitman gets in there, her first act as Guv could be to auction them off one by one (or just list them all as “Buy It Now” for $1). Of course the take wouldn’t be nearly enough to fix the budget but at this point a symbolic gesture will do.

California Faces Prospect of Issuing IOUs Again [WSJ]

Job of the Week

Job of the Week: SAS 70 Solutions Needs Senior Auditors

GoingConcern
August 19, 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.

Fraud

Release of Satyam Founder Ensures That No Progress Will Be Made in the Investigation for the Foreseeable Future

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

We’re getting used to this.

Chances of a speedy resolution to l’affaire Satyam receded on Wednesday with the Andhra Pradesh high court granting bail to the company’s founder and former chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, freeing, albeit temporarily, the last of the accused in a corporate fraud that came to light in early 2009 with Raju’s confession and whose magnitude has since doubled to a claimed `14,000 crore.

Raju’s release is a setback for India’s federal investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is yet to produce him in court in person. Arrested on 9 January 2009, Raju has been undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.

On 16 August, he retracted his confession in the trial court by responding in the negative to questions posed by the court about the fraud. The burden of proof for Raju’s fraud now rests with CBI. And now, he is out on bail—for two sureties of `20 lakh each.

India’s minister for corporate affairs Salman Khursheed insisted that Raju’s release would not “hamper the ongoing investigation”.

Satyam case weakens with Raju’s release [Live Mint]

Former Ernst & Young Partner Still Getting Screwed By Mistress He Gave Insider Tips To

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

Former E&Y partner James Gansman could finally be done paying for all his bad decisions. Web CPA reports that Gansman has settled with the SEC over his insider-trading-for-sex activities. You may recall that Jimbo received (and is currently serving) a one year and a day prison sentence back in February for his efforts.

This settlement with the SEC will set him back $250k but his mistress – who admittedly cheated on him and then testified against him – seems to have gotten a better deal.

The final judgment to which [Donna] Murdoch consented further orders that she is liable for disgorgement of $339,110 together with $64,943.52 in prejudgment interest, but, based on her demonstrated inability to pay, waives payment of disgorgement and prejudgment interest and does not impose a civil penalty.

Murdoch will probably still see some jail time but this just has to burn the Gansman up. Unless he’s found Jesus or something.

Former E&Y Partner Settles Insider Trading Charges for $250,000 [Web CPA]

Accounting News Roundup: EisnerAmper Partner: GM Balance Sheet ‘Stronger’ Ahead of IPO; KPMG Moves on From New Century, Countrywide; No Bookie Needed for Betting on Grades | 08.19.10

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

GM’s balance sheet draws praise ahead of IPO [MarketWatch]
“Peter Bible, partner-in-charge at accounting firm EisnerAmper LLP, said General Motors is now carrying a much stronger balance sheet than its predecessor, based on the company’s initial public offering filed late Wednesday. ‘Their debt-to-equity ratio looks handsome,’ Bible said in an interview. ‘This thing has gotten restructured quite a bit. GM’s health care liabilities have fallen significantly. As I look at the balance sheet, it is much healthier.’ “

Move to converge just exported crisis [Re: The Auditors]
KPMG has put two major lawsuits behind them – Countrywide and New Century. One major difference between these two cases was that New Century had a bankruptcy examiner’s report while Countrywide did not.

Judge Denies Online Religious Group’s Bid for Church Status [WSJ]
A virtual “church” gets denied the whole “church” thing.

For the rich, ’tis better to give than wait [Reuters]
“With U.S. taxes almost guaranteed to rise next year, the rich have a rare opportunity to distribute some wealth and preserve their fortunes.

A weak economy has led to razor-thin interest rates and beaten-down valuations, which make giving less costly for and potentially more rewarding to heirs. Moreover, the U.S. government is widely expected to rein in a popular tax-avoidance scheme.

‘This is a golden era for shifting estates and giving assets away,’ said Bill Fleming, a financial planner for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hartford, Connecticut. ‘If you have an estate plan, keep going: Uncle Sam soon will be back in your pocket.’ “

Wager 101: Students Bet on Their Grades [WSJ]
“The website attracted wagers by 600 students from two colleges last year, said Mr. Gelbart and co-founder Steven Wolf, graduates of Queens College. This month, the site expanded to let students on 36 campuses—including Harvard, Stanford and Brigham Young University—place bets. More than 1,000 new bettors have signed on.

Lisa Lapin, a Stanford University spokeswoman, said school officials were ‘appalled’ when they learned Stanford students could place bets on their grades, adding, ‘the concept of betting on academic performance is contrary to academic development.’

Lance Miller, a finance major at the University of Pennsylvania, says the criticism misses the mark. Mr. Miller, with a GPA of 3.6, won about $80 on two $40 bets that he would earn A’s in business courses.

‘We’re acing classes to make money—isn’t that what they call a win-win?’ said Mr. Miller, 20.”

Facebook’s Places Feature Lets Users Share Their Whereabouts With Friends [Bloomberg]
“Services that help Web users share their whereabouts and find nearby friends could generate as much as $4.1 billion in annual ad sales by 2015, according to Borrell Associates. The features can help marketers more easily target customers — say, by reaching shoppers when they’re close to making a purchase.”

Quote of the Day

And If Only American Apparel Hadn’t Burned Through All That Cash, They Could Have Made Bigger Campaign Contributions

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

“If it weren’t for the immigration bust by the Obama administration, the company would have been OK this year.”

~ “[A] source close to American Apparel” quoted in the Post obviously isn’t familiar with the company’s debt position.

News

Promotion Watch ’10: Rothstein Kass Names Four New Principals

Caleb Newquist
August 19, 2010

Jeff Kollin, Camille Asaro, Frank Attalla and Navin Sethi come on down!

Asaro and Kollin rep the New York office, Attalla in Roseland, NJ and Sethi gets the nod in San Fran.

Ms. Asaro and Mr. Attalla are members of the Rothstein Kass Financial Services Group. Mr. Sethi, a tax Principal is a member of both the Financial Services Group and the firm’s Commercial Services Group. Mr. Kollin has been named Principal and Head of the Financial Services Advisory practice within Rothstein Kass Business Advisory Services, LLC, a Rothstein Kass affiliate. Rothstein Kass simultaneously announced the promotion of Rich Sumida to Senior Director at Rothstein Kass.

Son of the Kass (presumably, the firm is 50-ish) takes the mic:

“The collaborative culture at Rothstein Kass has ensured that our professionals are able to continually enhance their skills and expertise throughout their careers. Our ‘one-firm, one-floor,’ philosophy remains a cornerstone for our success. Staff at all organizational levels gain invaluable experience working side-by-side with seasoned industry veterans in support of our clients. The companies we serve, in turn, benefit from the continuity, proficiency and knowledge that result from our ability to hire and retain superior talent across practice areas and office locations,” said Steven A. Kass, Co-CEO and Co-Managing Principal of Rothstein Kass. “Camille, Frank, Navin and Jeff are engaged, insightful and dedicated members of the Rothstein Kass team, and have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities during their time with our firm. On behalf of our entire organization, we would like to congratulate our new Principals on their achievements and thank them for their contributions to our success.”

Not much to add here other than 1) congrats to the new RK principals and 2) the “one-firm, one-floor philosophy” could have really helped a certain Crowe Horwath partner.

Big 4

Let’s Discuss: Big 4 Merger Rumors

Caleb Newquist
August 18, 2010

We have the luxury (and giddy pleasure) of receiving more crazy ass emails than the average Tom, Dick or Harriet (see: PwC Houston Partner). Some of the stories turn out to be true, some turn out to be rumors. That’s just the way things go.

One reoccurring rumor that continually keeps us guessing though is that of a mega-merger among a Big 4. Frankly, we take a agnostic approach to these rumors (that’s probably shocking for some of you) but they never fail to pique our curiosity. You can drop us a line with your wild-ass theory about tri-firm merger between KPMG, Moss Adams and Baker Tilly to form MGMT but we can probably debunk it with a couple of emails and phone calls. Plus, the firms will deny ’til they die on any of these rumors anyway.

EisnerAmper is a perfect example.

They played coy with rumors around their merger for about a week and didn’t roll out the BIG NEWS until Monday when they could issue their boilerplate press release on cue (the video was a nice touch, however).

Lots of accounting firms are looking to grow through combinations or purchases in this impotent economy (WeiserMazars, Marcum & UHY, hosts of regional combos) but are the Big 4? Our intuition says no but the rumor mill provides us with whispers of talks occurring between the largest firms.

It’s not completely unheard of for the largest firms, as is evidenced by McGladrey’s purchase of Caturno & Co. that C.E. Andrews was so excited about in his interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s. Also, Barry Salzberg told the Journal that Deloitte is actively looking (granted, it’s for the consulting practice) but these are small potatoes.

No, the stuff we hear about has a Big 4 firm going with a second tier firm to either leapfrog other Big 4 firms or to inch closer to them. The difference between PwC (#1 in global revenues) and KPMG (#4) is around $6 billion. Depending on how aggressive a firm wanted to be in its merging efforts, the gap could be close quickly or a new #1 could be crowned.

But forget about revenues and the auspiciousness of the being the biggest firm for a second. Can a Big 4 firm realistically merge in a second tier or top 10 firm successfully? Never mind the logistics of office location, files, people etc. What about culture? What about service methodologies? The mere thought of matching up those pieces is a mind job for the people that actually have to deal with them. The bigwigs at the top might play off the problems that such a transaction would create for those in the trenches. Make adjustments would take years.

But it’s been done! Coopers & Lybrand and Pricewaterhouse in ’98 being the most recent. KPMG and E&Y tried it in ’97 and failed so it’s unlikely that the idea of another huge merger doesn’t cross people’s minds every once in awhile.

So let’s talk this out. Are these rumors completely unfounded or are is it understood that there are talks ongoing? If they are rumors, where the hell do they come from and what’s the motivation to spread said rumor? People in the know are encouraged to bestow wisdom in the comments and get in touch with us. And if you’re a vet from a merger of any size, share your thoughts on the experience and how your firm handled it.

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