Going Concern

Fraud

Ernst & Young Gives Going Concern Warning to Allen Stanford Liquidator

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

If you’re given the task of running down assets that are left over from a Ponzi scheme, you’d think somone would throw in a little something for the effort. That stolen money is going to find itself after all.

Well! Apparently this is not so, especially as it relates to UK recovery firm Vantis. Vantis has been scouring the Earth for any of the plunder left over from the Allen Stanford hide the $7 billion game.

Six months into it, Vantis can’t get paid for its treasure hunt services and now Ernst & Young has said that the firm’s very life is at stake if they can’t start convincing some people to pay up.

Among the excuses that Vantis is claiming are the fact that most of the assets in the U.S. have been frozen and that the U.S. liquidator Ralph Janvey doesn’t play nice.

But hey! They’re still confident everything will be hunk-dory, “The UK recovery firm said it remained ‘confident’ that it would be able to recover its fees ‘in due course’ but said the timing remained uncertain.”

So more or less you’re day-to-day, right? Welcome to the prestigious Club of Those Ripped off by Allen Stanford.

Vantis faces going concern threat over liquidation of Allen Stanford’s bank [Telegraph]

Salaries

Accounting Salaries Mapped by Region

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

Back again to decipher more of the data that you so graciously shared with us on our salary thread from December.

After noting that average Big 4 salaries and non-Big 4 salaries were essentially even, we now present the average regional salaries for you enjoyment or dismay:

• Mid-Atlantic– $88,831

• Northeast– $72,024

• Southeast– $56,000

• Midwest– $65,124

• Southwest– $73,185

• West – $64,706

Some analysis and the map, after the jump.

Surprisingly the Mid-Atlantic boasted the highest average salary based on the data collected. This was due primarily to two salaries that were reported from “JDs” working in “Washington National Tax.” The Mid-Atlantic average also included an Associate Director that reported a considerably higher salary than the average. If these three salaries are removed, the average salary is $76,254. which may be more in line with your expectations.

Another surprise that we saw was the higher than expected Southwest average salary. Again in this case, a brave Senior Manager in an advisory practice reported a much higher salary than most submitted. When this is removed the Southwest average comes down to $68,134, again, probably closer to what you would expect.

The Northeast, Southeast, and West all seem about right to us although we might have expected the West salaries to be a bit higher but then again we’re going with what we’ve got.

The map below shows how we grouped the states in the respective regions, with a few additional details on the regions.

Dennis Nally: Satyam Scandal Has Damaged PwC Brand

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

While kicking it in Davos, Dennis Nally had to have known that eventually he was going to have to answer questions about his mother of all nightmares, Satyam. Having just passed the one year anniversary of the cat being let out of the bag about, you know, totally bogus numbers, everyone is talking about it. In India.

CNBC India caught up with Nalls and considering everything that’s going down, DN doesn’t seem worried. He’s leading P. Dubs full steam ahead into India; there’s no crying over failed audits, “Without question the firm has had real challenges in India but that has not changed my outlook and view on the importance of India economy to global economic picture.”

Stoic; as he should be. Not that the firm hasn’t had to do a little damage control. But no worries; Dennis is a man with a plan, “We just need to continue to deliver, service our clients, respond to their needs, help them deal with their issues and challenges. If we do that and we do that consistently over a period of time the PwC brand in India will be as strong and as good as it has been in the past and where we want it to be into the future.”

Plus, this is a blip, an outlier, a rare occurrence, “Any one-off instance can do harm to your brand and that is the reality. Our job is to make sure we are doing everything and we have done a number of things in India to ensure that this would not happen again,” so there’s no cause for concern.

This isn’t Tiger Woods brand damage we’re talking about. It will all be a distant memory before you know it.

Satyam scam has hurt PwC brand: Global Chairman [Money Control]

Accounting News Roundup: SEC Budget Gets a Boost; PwC Wants More Audit Committee Disclosure; Madoff Ex-CFO to Sell New Jersey Home | 02.02.10

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

• Obama Seeks 12 Percent Budget Increase for SEC [AP via NYT]
Figuring the troops could use some help, PBO’s new budget will increase the Commission’s budget to $1.3 billion, including $419 million for new enforcement personnel.

In addition to the feds generous appropriation, the Commission is also budgeting for $1.7 bil in fees from new stock registration for 2011. Mary Schapiro seemed pleased saying that the truckloads of budget dollars will “do a great deal to help us keep pace with the continuing growth of the markets and provide necessary resources to support important regulatory initiatives in 2011.”

Whether or not $3 billion is going to save the sinking ship will remain to be seen although the “throwing money at the problem” solution seems to be in full effect.

• We need more disclosure from audit committees: PwC [Accountancy Age]
Someone had to say it! PwC seems to have had enough of the give, give, give action they’ve been doing and would like a little transparency sent their way courtesy of the audit committee.

In a submission to the UK’s Auditing Practices Board P. Dubs “believes there should be new disclosures which articulate the principles that audit committees apply in deciding whether the auditor should provide non-audit services.”

It’s not good enough that you won’t engage us for non-audit services, we want to know why! It’s important that we know. And for those of you that feel that non-audit services undermine independence, you simply don’t have all the facts, and therefore should BTFO.

• Madoff’s Ex-Finance Chief to Give Up NJ Home [NYT]
Frank DiPascali, not so much a CFO as he was a really good liar, has agreed to sell his home in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The feds will being doing the honors and it will come with all the appliances, furniture, etc. which probably makes for a decent deal. This is possibly where one would insert a Jersey Shore reference but we don’t know anything about the show other than most people on it aren’t from New Jersey. Happy hunting.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day: Extra Kisses from Washington | 02.01.10

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

“Even in Washington, where we throw around trillions of dollars as if they were Hershey’s Kisses at Halloween, these numbers take your breath away.”

~ Howard Gleckman, editor of TaxVox, on the numbers in President Obama’s 2011 budget.

Uncategorized

The Government Accountability Office Does a Great Job, Says the Government Accountability Office

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

We don’t envy anyone working at the GAO. Telling Congress how badly they spend money and then telling the whole world about it (even though no one listens) sounds like a pretty thankless job.

So the fact that the GAO gave itself an “A” on its performance review shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Who else was going to the give them the performance review? Plus if you’re regularly known as the “Taxpayer’s Best Friend” then we think you can be trusted with the honor system.

In fiscal year 2009, GAO met or exceeded all of its performance targets by, for example, identifying $43 billion in financial benefits–a return of $80 for every dollar GAO spent–and over 1,300 improvements in laws and government programs and operations. The rate at which GAO’s recommendations were implemented by federal agencies or the Congress was 80 percent, and over two-thirds of the products issued contained recommendations. During fiscal year 2009, the GAO met or exceeded all of its performance targets and made recommendations that resulted in “over 1,300 improvements in laws and government programs and operations.

To be perfectly honest, that does sound pretty damn impressive. Trying to make any sense of the ins and outs of the federal government isn’t something that we would wish upon our worst enemy.

If you’re still skeptical of the GAO stellarness, you’ll be happy to know that it was recently ranked #2 in the best places to work in the federal government. Now before you dismiss this silver medal, this isn’t some hack job put out by Fortune; this is something that is only issued every two years, by the Partnership for Public Service. We’re not saying that it would be difficult to rank so high on such a list but it’s got to be worth something.

Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009 [GAO.gov]
Best_Places_to_Work_2009

Career Center

Who Has Advice on Picking a Subgroup in a Big 4 Tax Practice?

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

We received a request from a young reader who got an email for their start date this summer and now needs some help picking a subgroup.

“ I am trying to decide between pass-throughs, C-Corps, and Consulting/research/writing.“

Personally, our take is to remember some of the people that recruited you. If you felt like you would enjoy working with a particular person that you met during that process, start there. Shoot them an email asking them about the practice that they work in, what the work is like, what are the pros, cons, etc. Chances are they’ve spent time in other practices, so you ask for their opinion on those as well.

Since there are plenty of seasoned Big 4 tax gurus out there, help the soon-to-be new associate out. Advice along the lines of, “You’re screwed, they all suck,” and “Stay in school as long as you can, the real world is a bitch,” while grounded in some truth, is not what your future associates are requesting.

News

Grant Thornton to Close Greensboro, NC Office

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

We’ve received multiple tips informing us that Grant Thornton’s Greensboro, North Carolina office will be closing in the spring after busy season has ended.

Greensboro has approximately 35 professionals in all three service lines although our sources indicate that many tax professionals were laid off late last year in anticipation of the closure. Greensboro currently functions as a satellite of the Charlotte office which houses the support professionals.

What’s not known at this time is whether the office will become virtual, similar to the setup that Ernst & Young arranged for its Greensboro office other whether it will be an outright closure.

We contacted Grant Thornton for comment and had not heard back from them at the time of this posting.

If you’re familiar with the situation in Greensboro and have more information, get in touch with us. We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more.

Career Center

Job of the Day: Moody’s Needs a Senior Internal Auditor

Caleb Newquist
February 2, 2010

Moody’s needs a senior internal auditor to help keep their internal controls tip-top.

The position requires 3 to 5 years of experience and requires some both domestic and international. Check out more details for this position after the jump.

Company: Moody’s

Title: Senior Internal Auditor

Location: New York

Minimum experience: 3 years

Responsibilities: Plan and execute financial, operational and SOX audits of Moody’s ratings and analytics businesses in accordance with the internal audit plan and departmental & the Institute of Internal Auditors standards; Develop a complete understanding of Moody’s ratings and analytics business, current accounting, compliance and operating policies; Assist Internal Audit management with defining and updating the annual and long-range internal audit programs based on associated financial, operating and compliance risks;

Execute internal audits with the following responsibilities: Plan and communicate the detailed audit scope; Supervise & develop staff auditors; Oversee 3rd party internal audit professionals; Ensure timely completion of audits; Communicate all aspects of audit results / findings timely from the closing meeting to the final audit report; Assist with updating Internal Audit policies and procedures based on changes within the profession.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting with approximately 3-5 years experience; A combination of Big 4 Accounting firm and private industry experience is preferred; CPA required; Ideal candidate will have an understanding and experience of a global organization and a strong knowledge of GAAP; Ability to travel 20% (domestic & international); Proficiency in financial system is a must – PeopleSoft Financials highly desirable.

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

The JDA

How to Charge the Client: Killing the Billable Hour with VeraSage’s Ron Baker

Adrienne Gonzalez
February 1, 2010

I’ve long wanted to track down VeraSage’s Ron Baker and pick his brilliant brain; at last, JDA had the opportunity to steal a few minutes with the man credited for killing the billable hour.

In his 15-some years crusading against the ridiculous measurement of “time” as a performance gauge, Ron has made quite a few steps in the right direction. Seven to ten percent of 90,000 firms have moved away from time sheets and toward “value pricing”, with 1,000 or so firms eliminating the billable hour completely. While he admits it’ll be a cold day in hell when the Big 4 follow suit, he’s encouraged by the momentum.

“There is a change and it is coming from customers,” he says, “[unfortunately] the billable hour has survived many recessions.” The rigid “that’s how it’s always been” structure of public accounting, specifically, doesn’t seem to be taking the idea well. “They’d rather be precisely wrong than approximately right,” he says of major accounting firms trapped in the billable hour vice.

Encouraging value pricing in pay structures is a slow process, he says, equating the movement to that of Germ Theory in the 1800s. It was hundreds of years from the time “contact contagion” was theorized to the time it was generally accepted in medicine and eliminating the antiquated pricing structure of employee incentive won’t go down without a fight either.

Billed as “a think tank dedicated to promulgating and teaching Value Pricing, Customer Economics, and Human Capital Development to professionals and businesses around the world,” VeriSage seeks not to revolutionize business but improve it.

“You don’t let your surgeons pierce ears,” says Baker, meaning value pricing implies a company’s best soldiers will be dispatched to serve their respective battalions. In simpler terms, employees are paid results, not for how long they’re sitting in a chair. And in an uncertain economic environment, aren’t results what matter above all else? I’m not sure it could be much simpler.

Baker knows he’s got his work cut out for him but yours truly is 100% behind the idea. As a person who can tear up in one hour what five people can’t even accomplish in two, I get it. Boy do I get it.

Lucky for those who choose to accept what Ron is selling, he’s also a brilliant business mind. Knowing that Michelle Golden may have potentially criticized his website, he chose instead to hire her as a consultant. Genius! (Disclaimer: JDA loves Michelle Golden and isn’t just saying that because she doesn’t want to get torn up on her website – her “Accounting Blog list” is the most comprehensive I’ve ever seen.) She sits on their Board so she gets it. Excellent!

Want more JDA? Check out all of her posts for Going Concern here.

CFOs

Florida CFO: Office Supply Czar will Oversee Paper Clip Exchange

Caleb Newquist
February 1, 2010

Of course! It didn’t even occur to us that Florida CFO Alex Sink would be far too busy running for Governor to oversee the new CFO Depot. Accordingly, as is the rage in politics these days, there will be a Office Supply Czar to overlook this little treasure of savings.

Not only does the video below inform us of this new critical position in the Florida government, the exact number of paper clips that were counted is made known: 402,419.

When you think about it, the appointment of a czar is a natural progression in the bureaucracy. If there is a specific problem (e.g. an overabundance of paper clips) appointing one individua to get on the problem like stink on a monkey is the best way to address said problem. The creation of a committee, while tempting, has run its course. Why appoint a team of 10 – 12 individuals to talk about a problem when you can get one person (with the appropriate qualifications) to make the solving of the problem their sole purpose for being on Earth?

Uncategorized

The CPA’s 12-Step Program For Winning New Business

GoingConcern
February 1, 2010

Avi Dan is President & CEO of Avidan Strategies, a New York based consultancy specialized in advising professional service companies on marketing and business development. Mr. Dan was previously a board member with two leading advertising agencies and managed another.

CPAs have made great strides in the art and science of sales and marketing in recent years but the profession still has a long way to go in adopting robust business development practice. Many firms barely weathered the storm of 2009, but a celebration may be premature. 2010 is likely to be as tough, and perhaps even tougher as clients cut back on expenses. Smart firms are reviewing their marketing plans and planning ways to generate new business in a weak economy.

That is the first step – make sure that you have an effective and comprehensive plan, including cost projections, strategies and person responsible for each. Here is a twelve point checklist for an effective sales plan:

• Cultivating business from current clients is the low hanging fruit. They are already pre-disposed toward you. Just ask them for more business.

• Even resumptions from formerly-lost clients should be considered especially if the loss was not performance relation but for objective reasons, such as a merger.

• Emphasize cross-selling in your firm by getting all senior team members involved in the sales effort and make sure that client/industry knowledge is shared effectively.

• Public speaking on specific topics related to your target prospects. Good old-fashioned word of mouth is still the best new client leads. “Cascade” the speeches into white papers and articles to expand their impact.

• Simply asking clients for referrals of specific types of prospects/assignments among their friends and professional collegues.

• Qualify prospects before investing time with them. Be selective about setting up an appointment on the initial contact and determine valuation of prospect relationship to assess if they are worth pursuing.

• Consider replacing less profitable, time consuming, and unappreciative clients with clients that are a better fit with your objectives as a firm.

• Conduct a “gap analysis” and focus on specific targeted niches: high quality, profitable prospects, and develop a case as to why your experience and expertise is relevant.

• Focus on growth industry with good long-term potential of growth.

• Use relationships with spheres of influence: referrals by attorneys and bankers who reach across companies.

• Use the right people for marketing and prospecting. Not every one is comfortable selling.

• Focus relentlessly on relationship building: aggressive involvement in trade associations and the community; conduct seminars for clients and prospects; cultivate the press including the prospect’s trade press.

To be really successful, you must sell your services. You must generate leads and convert them into paying clients. And the recent Great Recession calls for a significant rethinking of sales and marketing strategies.

While the market for professional services continues to grow, so does the number of firms and individuals competing for that business. In other words, to really succeed means to differentiate yourself from others.

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