Going Concern

Job of the Day: Peak6 Investments Needs an Assistant Controller

GoingConcern
July 30, 2010

Peak6 Investments is looking for an experienced accountant to join their team in Chicago as the Assistant Controller.

Qualifications include a Bachelors Degree in Accounting, at least five to seven years of experience with two years in a senior role required, CPA and experience with Dynamics GP are strongly preferred.

Company: Peak6 Investments, LP

Title: Assistant Controller

Location: Chicago, IL

Responsibilities: Perform assigned monthly, quarterly, and annual general ledger closing and reporting processes; Perform journal entries and complex account reconciliations including identification and remediation of all issues in compliance with audit requirements; Assist the Controller in operational and transactional processes impacting the financial statements, including closing/reporting, cash, intercompany expenses and accounts payable; Prepare income statement and balance sheet packages and related comprehensive analysis for variances and trends; Participate in the internal and external audit process; Collaborate with teammates and management to identify, design, and implement process improvements and policies for greater efficiency; Actively participate in improvements to and recommendations for company outsourced systems impacting financial reporting and processes; Communicate with and advise business leaders within your given business unit; Understand and apply regulatory business rules to accounting procedures; Ensure that adequate internal financial controls exist in the business to safeguard company assets and limit risk; Participate in and lead ad hoc projects as needed.

Qualifications/Skills: 5-7+ years of progressive accounting experience with at least 2+ years in a senior role; Bachelor’s degree in Accounting required and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensing strongly preferred; Prior Broker Dealer or similar industry experience preferred; Experience with Dynamics GP software is preferred; Minimum 5 years experience with automated accounting systems in a customer service, high volume, deadline driven production environment is required; Strong analytical ability, including expert level MS Excel skills, and perseverance to solve problems with high attention to detail; Strong month end close experience; Ability to professionally interact with employees and management; Extensive knowledge of general ledgers.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Why Would E&Y Download 100 Million Facebook Profiles off BitTorrent?

Caleb Newquist
July 30, 2010

Good question! In case you didn’t hear, someone – his name is Ron Bowes – created a “crawler” (resident tech expert Nick told us it’s “a bot that has directives and algorithms based on known patterns in a webpage it ‘visits’ a webpage and pull information from selected places in that structure.”) that pulled data on 100 million Facebook profiles.

Since it only pulled the data that was publicly available, you could claim that this is NBD as Nick told us, “[A]ll the crawler did was collect it and put it into a single place, presumably in a format that is searchable and very ordered.”

And Engadget agrees, “There’s nothing illegal about any of this, of course — we put our information out there into the public forum that Facebook is, after all — but there’s still something creepy about the idea of someone torrenting our profile.”

What may be even more creepy is that lots of corporations – including E&Y – are downloading the data.

Nick told us that any corporation could have done this anyway but since someone else did, these companies figured, “why the hell not?” and downloaded the data. But E&Y? Maybe it’s just some back office guy stalking ex-girlfriends, as Gizmodo suggests, or Zitor collecting names for future abductions but it certainly makes you wonder.

So much so, we emailed E&Y spokesman Charlie Perkins to ask him about it (and if nothing else, we may have introduced him to a new website!) but we haven’t heard back and we don’t have our hopes up.

Major Corporations Are Downloading Those 100 Million Facebook Profiles off BitTorrent [Gizmodo]

CPA Exam

This Is Your Final CPA Exam Chat Reminder…

Adrienne Gonzalez
July 30, 2010

Save August 3rd if you don’t already have plans, yours truly will be over at CPA Exam Club (brought to you by our friends at CPAnet) for a nice little chat about the CPA exam. Just some of the things we’ll we covering:

• 2011 exam changes: what you need to know, what’s changing and what you really should stop worrying about
• Exam strategies (especially around the 2011 changes): which parts to take in which order and why
• Study plans: how to make one and how to stick to one
• Hipster fashion tips for what to wear to Prometric
• Whatever else YOU come up with

In order to participate in the hour and a half chat you have to first register at CPA Exam Club and RSVP for the event. If you aren’t already on the site, it’s a great resource for candidates and a way to share tips and tricks, exam experiences and of course commiserate with your fellow future CPAs. Registration is free.

If you have questions that you’d like me to address during the chat, leave them on my profile page or go ahead and email me and I’ll do my best to address.

I have already agreed to be A) super nice and B) more helpful than usual so if you’ve been reluctant to submit your CPA exam questions here because you’re afraid I’ll yell at you (I probably will), here’s your chance to get an answer to any and all of your exam inquiries without getting snapped at. Get to it!

Accounting News Roundup: Mazars Would Like to See More Competition in the Audit Market; Citi CFO Settles with SEC; Colbert on Tax Cuts | 07.30.10

Caleb Newquist
July 30, 2010

Auditors don’t know the meaning of ‘competition’ [FT]
In a letter to the Financial Times, David Herbinet, the UK Head of Public Interest Markets for Mazars, takes issue with the notion (he says ‘puzzled’) that there is robust competition in the audit market, “Figures calculated from the most authoritative research available – the Oxera report that first spurred examination of the issue – show that a FTSE 100 auditor can on average expect to remain in place for an eye-watering 48 years and their FTSE 250 counterpart for 36 years. When the research was conducted more than 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 audits had not been subject to tender for at over, 97 per cent of current FTSE 350 audits are held by just four firms. If this represents fierce competition I would not like to see a stagnant market.”

Facebook Said to Put Off IPO Until 2012 to Buy Time for Growth [Bloomberg]
“Facebook Inc. will probably put off its initial public offering until 2012, giving Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg more time to gain users and boost sales, three people familiar with the matter said.

Facebook would benefit from another year of growth absent the added scrutiny that comes with a public listing, instead of holding an IPO in 2011 as investors speculated, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Facebook doesn’t discuss share-sale plans. Still, Zuckerberg, who holds board control, could push for a stock sale at any time, they said.”

U.S. Financial System Still at Risk, Says IMF [WSJ]
Get RIGHT out of town. “The International Monetary Fund says the U.S. financial system is “slowly recovering,” but remains vulnerable to crisis, in part because Congress and the administration have failed to streamline a regulatory system marked by turf battles and overlapping responsibilities.

‘We asked many times why bolder action could not be undertaken,’ said the IMF’s Christopher Towe, who oversaw the agency’s first broad review of the U.S. financial sector.”

SEC Charges Citigroup and Two Executives for Misleading Investors About Exposure to Subprime Mortgage Assets [SEC]
That includes former CFO Gary Crittenden who agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.

Colbert on the Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts [TaxProf]

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Fox News

Layoff Watch ’10: PricewaterhouseCoopers Cuts 500 in Internal IT

Caleb Newquist
July 30, 2010

Bay News 9 out of Tampa reports that PwC is cutting 500 jobs in its IT practice and quotes firm spokesman Jon Stoner:

“PWC is making these changes as part of a thoughtful, strategic plan that will allow the firm to best serve its clients,” he said. “The firm is one of the largest private employers and recruiters in the U.S. and as we make these changes, we are simultaneously increasing the number of jobs in other areas of the U.S. firm. All impacted employees will be encouraged to apply for other open positions at PWC.”

The report says that the 500 cuts is out 1,100 total, the majority of which were in Tampa. People got the word on Thursday afternoon including, “They haven’t been notified of any sort of severance package, but the company felt it was important to give the workers a heads-up and the time until the end of the year to apply for other open positions.”

Our contributor Francine McKenna writes that not only is this “an unprecedented press release” (an accurate statement if we’ve ever heard one) but that the number of layoffs is rumored to be closer to 800, “The additional 300 professionals are those who will not be offered an opportunity to apply for jobs with the rumored outsourced services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).”

This is latest major move by PwC in Florida market. Back in March we reported on PwC closing their tax practice in the nearby Orlando office. According to the email we obtained, the practice closed on May 3rd.

If you’ve been affected by the layoffs in Tampa or know more details around these cuts, get in touch and discuss these developments in the comments.

PricewaterhouseCoopers cuts 500 jobs in Tampa [Bay News 9]
PricewaterhouseCoopers Cuts Hundreds of Internal IT Professionals [Re: The Auditors]

Quote of the Day

It’s Been Awhile Since Charlie Rangel Had a Bad Day

Caleb Newquist
July 30, 2010

“Sixty years ago, I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea and have said that I haven’t had a bad day since. But after today, I may have to revise that statement.”

~ Rangs had a helluva run. Not that it’s any consolation.

Industry

Despite What the IRS Says, This Guy Needs Your Help Raising $2 Million

Caleb Newquist
July 30, 2010

Hinn says he accumulated the deficit in the past few months because offerings at some international appearances did not cover expenses.

Hinn’s reputation as an advocate of prosperity gospel has attracted millions of followers but has also drawn criticism from lawmakers and watchdog groups.

He is one of six televangelists who have been targeted by federal lawmakers investigating compliance with IRS rules for nonprofits.

Hinn has said on his website that external auditors ensure his compliance with IRS regulations and that in 2008, 88 percent of the money he collected was spent on ministry.

For starters, can someone tell the Hinnmeister that external auditors’ word doesn’t mean shit? Second, try shopping for your clothes somewhere other than the David Copperfield consignment store and maybe you won’t have trouble covering your expenses.

Televangelist Benny Hinn asks for $2M in donations [AP]

CFOs

Will Governments Finally Recognize Their Fiscal Responsibility?

GoingConcern
July 30, 2010

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

If you live or work in New York City you know how the subway can be both a blessing (when it runs on time) and a curse (when it doesn’t) or for reasons that on Wednesday became clear: fare hikes.

If you don’t live in New York you can appreciate why the agency responsible for public transit, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is having such a difficult time making ends meet. At the top of the list is compensation and benefits costs, which account for two-thirds of the MTA’s $12 billion operating budget for 2011.

The MTA says its health care costs are going up about 9 percent annually-which is actually in line with national increases. The challenge for a public agency of course is that it is locked into contracts with its heavily unionized workforce. Making changes is not easy.

The plan the MTA put forward Wednesday was to enter in what it called “net zero” contracts with its unions-contracts in which any raise would be “paid” for by givebacks in productivity, changes in work rules or increased contributions to health care benefits. The unions took exception to this proposal but no one doubts that the compensation structure of government employees needs to come in-line with their private sector counterparts. Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic nominee for governor, has made reforming this imbalance part of his platform.

Debt service aside (and the MTA’s debt service totals $1.8 billion this year, growing to $2.5 billion by 2014), the MTA, like so many government entities throughout the country, has long term health care challenges ahead. Its health care retirement obligation totals $1.4 billion growing to $1.7 billion by 2014. While the MTA continues to pay enough into its retiree health care fund to pay for its current retirees’ health care, the authority, citing this year’s cash-flow problems, will not pay $57 million this year into a fund for future obligations.

The Great Recession has helped bring the issue of government post-retirement obligations to light. As government revenues shrink and obligations grow, taxpayers sense an inherent injustice between their own grim retirement prospects and the assurances given to public sector workers. Subway service cuts and fare hikes are only meaningful if they address the long-term problems rather than enable government to deal with short term crisis.

Cuomo is banking on this public displeasure, as is the MTA. Next year the MTA’s contract with its largest union is up for renewal. The transit authority will be able to test whether it has public support for changing the way the state entity does business with unions. Bringing government into the 21st century by reducing health care and other post-retirement obligations will be good for taxpayers and for businesses, including those with heavily unionized workforces.

Deloitte

Deloitte Resigns as American Apparel Auditor; Hotness of Engagement Team Presumably Not an Issue

Caleb Newquist
July 29, 2010

So for those of you that aren’t too fashion conscious, you probably don’t the name Dov Charney. He’s the Chairman and CEO of American Apparel and you’d be hard pressed to find something in one of his stores that qualify under your firm’s dress code.

Nevertheless! AA is a publicly traded company and is subjeities laws as everyone else. Last year they opted to drop Marcum as their auditor for Deloitte. One year later, the firm has apparently had all they can stand of AA because they resigned today, citing possibly unreliable financial statements for 2009, sending the company’s stock reeling.

The 8-K has the usual language that you would expect from a typical auditor/client break-up but here are the gory details for those you that enjoy that sort of thing (citations omitted and extra fun stuff is bolded):

During the period from April 3, 2009 through July 22, 2010, there were no “reportable events” except that (i) in Deloitte’s report dated March 31, 2010 (which was included in the 2009 Form 10-K) on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009, Deloitte identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting related to the control environment and to the financial closing and reporting process, which are further described under Item 9A in the Company’s 2009 Form 10-K, and advised that the Company has not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009; and (ii) Deloitte advised the Company that certain information has come to Deloitte’s attention, that if further investigated may materially impact the reliability of either its previously issued audit report or the underlying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009 included in the Company’s 2009 Form 10-K. Deloitte has requested that the Company provide Deloitte with the additional information Deloitte believes is necessary to review before the Company and Deloitte can reach any conclusions as to the reliability of the previously issued consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009 and auditors’ report thereon.

As we mentioned, this has spooked plenty of people, including Ed Yruma an analyst at KeyBanc quoted by Bloomberg in a letter to investors, “The company has struggled since its IPO with both its internal controls and its ability to file SEC filings on a timely basis. An ability to file SEC filings on a timely basis has been an ongoing issue.”

Back to the superficial. Dov Charney is, what you might call, a character. Here’s a brief chat we had with Nick, Breaking Media web developer and occasional contributor to our sister site Fashionista:

me: When i say the name
Dov Charney
your response is…
Nick: LECH
PERV

You only need to snoop around the web briefly (e.g. here, here, here) to pick up what Nick is referring to.

Deloitte’s letter to the SEC is brief and makes no mention about the plethora of models not wearing pants or Dov judging the young auditors’ hot or not-ness, so that likely wasn’t part of the problem. Anyhow, AA ran straight back to Marcum who might be more comfortable with, what we imagine to be, an interesting work environment.

8-K [SEC]
American Apparel Falls After Deloitte Resigns as Accountant [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]

Compensation Watch: Deloitte Advisory Can Expect ‘Substantial’ Salary Increases

Caleb Newquist
July 29, 2010

From the mailbag:

Just got off an “All Hands” call for Deloitte Advisory (not Audit). TPTB said to expect “substantial” base salary bumps for staff and seniors, but that they are moving toward a “base+bonus” structure for managers and up. As such, the bulk of the increase in salary pool will be to staff/seniors.

I dont know what that means – it would sure be nice to see 12-15% percent, but I dont think that is being too realistic. Whatever the case, I doubt there will be bonuses for staff/seniors like you saw at PwC. They bandied about a “$36MM” number a couple times, but that is really irrevelant without a discussion of the distribution.

People are sure giving a lot of credit to PwC. Maybe firing out of the gate was a way to put pressure on everyone else but don’t forget, not everyone at PwC is thrilled with their compensation season.

We aren’t expecting official word out of Deloitte for awhile but in the meantime, feel free to speculate on ‘substantial’ and keep us updated.

Job of the Day

Job of the Day: BlackRock Needs a SAS 70 Associate

GoingConcern
July 29, 2010

BlackRock is looking for an experienced professional to fill an associate role concentrating in coordination and oversight of SAS 70 reports.

The position requires 3-8 years experience and a CPA license or CPA in progress is preferred.

Company: BlackRock

Title: Associate – SAS 70

Location: New York

Description: BlackRock has professionals dedicated to the production and delivery of internal control reports (Service Organization Reports or SAS 70 Reports) to clients. These individuals actively work with the business, including groups such as client relationship group, portfolio management, business operations, legal, compliance and technology, as well as the external service auditor. In this SAS 70 coordination and oversight role, the group is able to provide an organized and effective approach to documenting and testing controls with the business and service auditors. On a regular basis, this group provides status updates and discusses SAS 70 related hot topics with senior management within the firm. This group also works very closely with other control disciplines, such as the Sarbanes Oxley team, Internal Audit, Technology Risk Management and Operational Risk. A successful candidate in this role will develop strong relationships across BlackRock, while developing a broad understanding of the products and services offered by the Firm.

Responsibilities: Assist in the coordination and delivery of multiple SAS 70 Reports globally; Work with the business and external service auditor to enhance report content, update report details and provide relevant testing documentation to the service auditor; Support the implementation of a coordinated SAS 70 approach by participating in walkthroughs with key business resources, recommending potential control enhancements and conducting follow-up in preparation for the annual SAS 70 reviews; Assist in the day-to-day follow-up with service auditors during their fieldwork to ensure projected timelines and budget stay on-track; Assist in the distribution of SAS 70 reports based on requests from clients and prospective clients; Demonstrate knowledge of professional standards/practices and apply knowledge in performing work; Effectively communicate both internally and externally to build positive relationships and understand key aspects of services provided to clients.

Qualifications/Skills: Bachelors degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA or CPA in progress preferred; 3 – 8 years of prior work experience; Strong project management, organizational and interpersonal skills; Possess a strong internal drive and motivation for continuous improvement; Possess a high degree of integrity and confidentiality, as well as ability to adhere to both company policies and best practices; Ability to manage multiple priorities successfully within a deadline-driven environment

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Salaries

Compensation Watch: McGladrey < McDonald's?

Caleb Newquist
July 29, 2010

One unhappy Mickey G’s employee would like to get something out there:

Now that salary adjustments have been communicated to employees, many are griping at McGladrey – and for good reason.

More than a few people are grumbling about the recent golf signings and ridiculous sports marketing platform as well as the fact the company spent money on a 144-foot cake, but only gave thousands of people 1 to 3% raises.

Combined with the fact that no one got raises last year, and with inflation, rising costs of benefits and everyday living expenses, well, many employees are not too happy about this slap in the face. Let one thing be said, if you are not looking out for yourself with this company, then you are doing yourself a disservice. The company doesn’t care about you, they only act like they do.

The great place to work platform is BS – it’s a marketing crock.

McGladrey? Heck, I’d rather be McLuvin and at work at McDonald’s…they treat employees better.

Earlier:
Compensation Watch: McGladrey Promises That the Good Times Will Keep Coming
Compensation and Promotion Watch ‘10: Discussions at McGladrey Starting Soon; Forced Ranking in Effect?

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