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GoingConcern
April 21, 2010

A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertisers on Going Concern:

• Bisk Education

• Delta

• Sunshine Suites

If you’re interested in advertising on Going Concern, email us at advertising@breakingmedia.com.

Thanks!

Cuomo: Espada’s Looting of Nonprofit ‘Reprehensible’

Adrienne Gonzalez
April 21, 2010

In the largest nonprofit fraud case we’ve ever seen, State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr is getting it from NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for perpetrating a $14 million scam using his non-profit as an ATM. Ouch.

Soundview Comprehensive Community Development Corp., a Bronx-based health care non-profit, appears to be little more than a vehicle for Espada’s extravagant lifestyle and Cuomo doesn’t find any of it to be entertainment.

“Siphoning money from a charity would be egregious under any circumstances, but the fact that this was orchestrated by the State Senate Majority Leader makes it especially reprehensible,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Espada’s charity allegedly paid $100,000 for campaign literature, $80,000 on meals for Espada (including $20,000 for sushi – one of JDA’s weaknesses but hey, at least I pay for my own), vacations for the family and $2,500 a month for a co-op rental in the Bronx in which Espada supposedly lives. Double ouch.

If you’re into that sort of thing, you can check out the summons from the AG’s office here.

To date, Cuomo’s complaint is merely a civil one but he has left the door wide open for criminal charges against Espada and 19 others, including family members installed on the charity’s board. Taking a page from the Crazy Eddie fraud handbook, I see.

Espada also allegedly used the nonprofit’s corporate credit card to cover up to $450,000 in expenses that he’s now admitted may have been personal. Snicker snicker, everyone knows the corporate card should only be used for personal expenses if one is trying to fund an affair and hoping the wife doesn’t find out. Duh.

Because being a nonprofit looting Senate majority leader is hard work, Espada took the first 14 weeks of the year off and charged the paid leave to – you guessed it – Soundview. Since its board is packed with friends and family, they approved a $75,000 payout for personal expenses associated with this respite in a lump-sum payment at the beginning of the year.

Espada has responded by claiming Cuomo’s accusations amount to little more than a “witch hunt” meant to advance the AG’s political career. Whatevs.

Meanwhile, Espada’s Senate homies are praying for him. For $14 million bucks, he needs all the Hail Marys he can get, especially since the FBI and IRS raided the clinic this morning. Good luck with that.

KPMG
News

KPMG Got Fired by North American Savings Bank After Six Months on the Job

Caleb Newquist
April 21, 2010

Technically, if you count the days (based on the 8-K) it’s less than six months.

The reason? Without getting too wonky, it appears NASB wasn’t thrilled that KPMG challenged their valuation method of a real estate investment, Central Platte Holdings, LLC.

Klynveld had been engaged to audit the September 30, 2010 financial statements of NASB but things managed to get confrontational right off the bat as KPMG raised questions about the Company’s valuation methodology of Central Platte in its first quarter review.

This must have made NASB a little uncomfortable since KPMG’s methods might not paint as rosy as a picture and could have resulted in a restatement. Per the 8-K, “KPMG also informed the Company that if the investment was determined to be impaired, evidence existed which indicated that such impairment may have occurred in a prior period.”

Obviously the mere idea of a restatement was completely unacceptable for NASB but when KPMG requested that the Company engagement a third party appraisal, they really freaked. Either the bank didn’t want to pay for said third party’s services, or they were worried that the appraisal would show that Central Platte wasn’t worth squat.

Here’s What Big 4 Accountants Need to Know About the Current Job Market

Daniel Braddock
April 21, 2010

Ernst & Young’s red alert email that was shared by GC yesterday should not be taken lightly. Doesn’t matter where you work – your job is about to get harder.

Chances are your most recent busy season was relentlessly terrible. A year removed from rounds of cuts and going on two years with zilch for a raise, the masses at the Big 4 are getting antsy, as they should. It’s now or never. Raises are coming. People are leaving. What should you do?

Consider it professional osmosis – Remember high school science labs? Same theory applies to today’s financial services job market. In one Petri dish there are overworked and underpaid public accountants; the other has job openings and cash flow. It doesn’t take a lesson from your high school chemistry teacher (or me) to explain how this one works. The back offices of financial markets are increasing their numbers as investments begin to flow in again.

Better than a tax refund – The job market for tax professionals will hopefully see its typical action this summer. According to a recent FINS article, interest in making a change is at an all-time high, “43% of tax professionals are hoping to change jobs when the economy evens out, according to a survey by the large U.S. finance headhunter Ajilon Professional Staffing. ‘That’s a large number — one of the largest numbers than we’ve seen in years,’ said Jodi Chavez, a senior vice president at Ajilon.”

Does this mean 43% of your staff is jumping ship? Hell no. The job market is warm not on fire. But it does mean that you should expect to see more “Farewell” emails like this one. If your buddies skip town in a similar fashion to that letter, please share with us.

What about this E&Y thing? Well…I don’t know. Desperate times sound like they’re wrapped up in a formal message with a $7,500 ribbon on top. KPMG made a similar request for advisory reinforcements a few weeks back but they didn’t go so far to make a public plea for external hires. The E&Y situation is probably not as bad as it’s being played out here at GC; it could be a pre-emptive move to protect the practice from layoffs. How bad is it really? We need to know. Get on the horn and tell us in the comments.

Accounting News Roundup: Arguments Against the VAT; PwC Donates $500k to Expand Diverse Talent Pipeline; Tax Documentary Needs a New Name | 04.21.10

Caleb Newquist
April 21, 2010

Conservatives and the VAT [TaxVox]
Howard Gleckman at TaxVox explains that the two main arguments that conservatives have against a Value Added Tax (“VAT”) is that 1) it will put trillions into the Treasury that liberals will spend with reckless abandon. Plus the American people would not realize that they were paying so much to the Feds and 2) that it’s “too efficient.”

Re: #1 he essentially says (and we agree) “how is this different than the current situation?” and Americans are already clueless about how much they pay in taxes:

Americans seem entirely unaware of how much they pay in income taxes. The Tax Policy Center estimates that a typical American remits less than a dime in income tax for every dollar he or she earns. Ask the next 10 people you see how much of their income they paid in taxes just a week ago and I suspect none of them will get it right.

As far as #2 is concerned, he cites the idea “tax law distorts economic decision making,” and explains that “the worst possible tax system is good because it will punish the economy to the maximum possible extent.” That is, some argue that a complex system prevents more wasteful spending (chew on that for awhile).

He concedes that it wouldn’t be a perfect system but in case you haven’t heard, our government has a revenue problem (yes, he says spending needs to be cut too) and raising income taxes is about as popular as Al Gore at an Oil Barons Ball.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Announces $500,000 in Grants to Expand Diverse Talent Pipeline [PR]
PwC will shell out $150k to Bryant University, The University of Southern California and Wake Forest University and $50k to Florida International University to help spread the good word of tax careers to minorities, “[The Universities] will use the funds for scholarships and hands-on career exploration programs for students from groups that have historically been underrepresented in the accounting field, including African-Americans/blacks, Latinos and Native-Americans.”

An Inconvenient Tax: Philadelphia Premiere! [Tax Girl]
While this looks like a moderately interesting documentary, the title is terribly unoriginal.

An Inconvenient Tax – Trailer from Life Is My Movie Entertainment on Vimeo.

Big 4
EY

Ernst & Young Pulls Its “We Are Las Vegas” Sing-a-Long (cry)

Adrienne Gonzalez
April 21, 2010

Editor’s note: Caleb is at some Si Se Puede rally with other pissed off Big 4 expatriates or something so I’m forced to bring you this news. Surely he’ll return shortly to continue keeping E&Y’s “Internet Reputation Team” in a job.

Earlier today, Caleb posted a pretty awful Ernst & Young sing-a-long that I unfortunately did not get to watch before it was pulled by – well duh – E&Y. Hope you saw it while it was up, I’m sure it was fabulously lame.

It appears they have a bit of a public relations nightmare on their hands but who can say?

Here’s another excellent Uncle Ernie flick, wonder how long it takes for them to pull this one?

Damn. That makes me want to be an auditor.

Quote of the Day

Lehman Whistleblower on Ernst & Young’s Reaction to His Letter

Caleb Newquist
April 21, 2010

“They certainly didn’t support it. On the Repo 105 issue, they knew about it; they did not appear to know that the number was so large.”

~ Matthew Lee, the Lehman Brothers whistleblower, in testimony today.

EY
Video

Elvis Fails to Make Ernst & Young Singalong Less Awkward

Caleb Newquist
April 21, 2010

Any thoughts on this? The swaying needs work, that’s for sure.

[Source]

News

Layoff and Exodus Watch ’10: Grant Thornton Chicago and New York Seeing Movement

Caleb Newquist
April 21, 2010

Two weeks ago, we heard that Grant Thornton’s Cleveland office started their layoffs a little earlier than what on might expect that was followed by an emergency meeting that the content of which is still a mystery.

Now we’ve received word on Chicago and New York who are rumored to be having layoffs and some quitters respectively.

From a Chipman Blog Reader:

I work in audit at Grant Thornton and have heard through the grapevine that offices are trying to keep staff. With the job market improving, it seems like other offices are looking to see if staff/seniors voluntary leave before making any final decisions pre-promotion day. Chicago has let go a partner and 2 senior managers in the audit practice and rumors are swirling of a few staff reductions, which seems crazy given that the current A1 class and the incoming class are so small. For other offices, national is working to roll out a benefit plan practice similar to what Chicago has to help keep staff busy during the summer months but it looks like this is not moving quickly enough….[T]he GT wire is that NY saw 10+ individuals put in their notice recently.

We left messages with both the Chicago and New York offices, neither of which have been returned.

An accountant close to the situation indicated that the partner and senior manager layoffs are part of those mentioned by Stephen Chipman back in January.

At that time, SC said that many of those partners and senior managers were already being notified, so since these most recent cuts knew that this day was coming, it was awfully generous of them to stay on for this busy season (we’re guessing there was money involved).

As far as the the staff situation in Chicago is concerned, cuts at the staff level do seem crazy if the classes are small. Meanwhile, although some attrition in New York was probably expected, at this point, it’s not clear whether 10+ leaving in mid-April is a lot or a little. Keep us updated.

News

The FASB Punts Repo Accounting to the SEC

Adrienne Gonzalez
April 20, 2010

It’s not surprising that FASB’s Bob Herz was called to submit comment on the House Financial Services Committee’s hearings on Lehman – more specifically, Public Policy Issues Raised by the Report of the Lehman Bankruptcy Examiner – and it’s even less surprising that Herz stated that the FASB will be ready when the SEC is to alter repo accounting rules should this be, you know, a big deal going forward.

As many of you already know, the FASB has a history of taking a reactive stance to accounting issues during the financial crisis (case in point: mark to market) and repo accounting is no exception. Sort of like the SEC cracking down on Madoff-esque Ponzi schemes after Madoff, it defeats the purpose as financial criminals very rarely repeat techniques that have already been uncovered and prosecuted. But oh well, showing up late to the party is still showing up and proves FASB is at least paying attention.

Herz’s testimony reinforces FASB’s position as standards setter, not regulator. Working with the SEC will allow the regulators to put together a case for accounting standards that could address repo accounting should the SEC discover it is widespread among financial firms but for now, FASB will be sitting back and waiting to see what the SEC comes up with.

As it turns out, FASB isn’t nearly as reactive as it appears on the surface: plenty of guidance already exists for handling these transactions and perhaps had Ernst & Young been looking hard enough, they would have easily found something amiss.

Said Herz:

When developing the guidance for determining whether a company maintains effective control over transferred assets, the FASB noted repo transactions have attributes of both sales and secured borrowings. On one hand, having a forward purchase contract is not the same as owning the asset. On the other hand, the contemporaneous transfer and repurchase commitment entered into in a repo transaction raises questions about whether control actually has been relinquished. To differentiate between the two, the FASB developed criteria for determining whether a company maintains effective control over securities transferred in a repo transaction.

Control? Is that was this about?

Regardless, FASB is prepared to offer even more guidance on the matter should current guidance not be sufficient to make sense of future contracts that could be used in a fraudulent manner. Of course, the financial criminals have likely already discovered a new, innovative way to hide liabilities or stash nasties off-sheet but instead of looking for those, the SEC will be working closely with FASB in the future to prevent another Lehman. History always repeats itself but, sadly, financial crimes rarely do. It appears our friends at FASB never got that memo.

Source: Discussion of Selected Accounting Guidance Relevant to Lehman Accounting Practices

Ernst & Young Needs You to Beg Your Friends to Work at Ernst & Young

Caleb Newquist
April 20, 2010

Maybe beg is a stretch but the Banking & Capital Markets (they had non-Lehman Brothers clients, you know) practice needs more people ASAP.

The following email is from a partner in the FSO practice requesting recipients to get three to five of their friends to drop whatever they’re doing and join Uncle Ernie’s Army:

Hello Everyone,

Please review the following notice regarding Employee Referrals. The success of our Banking & Capital Markets practice is dependent upon the quality of our people and our ability to grow. In order to reach the goals we have put forth this year, we will need to significantly grow the size of our Practice. A key driver to that growth is Employee Referrals. I would like each person in the practice, from Staff through Partner/Principal, to come up with 3 to 5 qualified referrals who you believe would be strong additions to our practice and help contribute to our growth and success. In addition to submitting them through the Employee Referral Program website, please send the candidate’s name, contact information, resume (if you have available) to our Recruiter, [redacted].

Thank you very much for all of your help and hard work!

Does anyone that just finished up busy season even have 3 to 5 friends/acquaintances outside the firm? Anyone that was your friend prior to the beginning of the year probably assumed that you’re dead.

Anyway, here’s the original plea for Ernsters to play recruiter that includes a nice little bonus if your friend/acquaintance/frenemy makes the cut:

Your help wanted to fill critical job openings within the FSO Assurance Practice
Employee Referral Program

The Employee Referral Program encourages and generously rewards you for recommending great people to Ernst & Young. Over and above the monetary awards, we believe the ultimate satisfaction of making a referral comes from the very real difference you can make for your friends, as well as for Ernst & Young. Here’s a great opportunity for you to help a friend or acquaintance, Ernst & Young and yourself — all at the same time!

The Assurance – Banking & Capital Markets practice is looking to immediately fill positions (Experienced Staff and Seniors) in the areas listed below. You could receive a generous referral bonus (up to $7,500!) by suggesting someone you know who you think would be a good candidate and a great EY team member. All referral bonus award information is listed on the EY Employee Referral Program website below.

Banking & Capital Markets (New York, Boston, Stamford)
Asset Management (New York, Boston, Stamford)
Insurance (New York, Boston)
On-Call Advisory/FAAS (New York) *openings at Senior and Manager levels

To make a referral for one of these positions, please visit the EY Employee Referral Program website at http://chs.ey.net/Referral.

Through the referral program, you make can make a real difference for someone you know, for Ernst & Young and for you. We know for a fact that our very best hires are referred to us by our current people. So, please think about who you know that might make a great addition to our team.

Whether this means that the markets mentioned will avoid layoffs this summer remains to be seen. Happy hunting.

Career Center

Job of the Day: Bloomberg Needs an Accounting Manager

GoingConcern
April 20, 2010

Bloomberg is looking for someone to assume a leadership role in its Media Accounting Group.

This group oversees the credit, billing, collections, cash application, AR reporting and analysis for all of the company’s media products

The position requires 3 to 5 years of supervisory experience and is located in New York.

Company: Bloomberg

Title: Media Accounting Team Leader

Location: New York, NY

Description: A leadership role within the Media Accounting group whose responsibilities include Credit, Billing, Collections, Cash Application, AR Reporting and Analysis for all Bloomberg media products (Television, Radio, Online and Print).

Responsibilities: We are looking for a hands-on manager with experience in the Order to Cash process (Credit, Collections, Billing, Reporting, Reconciliation). This person will be expected to supervise the work of others while at the same time performing day-to- day job tasks in a fast paced open environment. AdMarc billing system and DART ad server experience preferred.

Qualifications: A degree in accounting is required; Possesses thorough accounting knowledge; 3-5 years of supervisory experience within the media industry.

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

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