Going Concern

Uncategorized

Our Attempt to Give an Outlook on 2010

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

As is the wont of many fine publications, we’ll take a moment of your otherwise 100% chargeable day to dispense our outlook for 2010.
Many stories that were big in 2009 will be again and some stuff will just come out of nowhere. Here’s our stab at what we think you’ll be reading about in this corner of the blogosphere:
• Layoffs – Will forced ranking continue or will we go back to the heyday when only new associates that ran naked through the hotel lobby at national training get let go?
• The return of raises? – We’ve already got one guarantee courtesy of Bob Moritz but what about the rest of usual suspects?

• The PCAOB’s fate – The SCOTUS decision could put an end to the Monday morning QBing.
• IFRS vs. U.S. GAAP – Despite our sincerest wishes, the debate about who will use what and when it will happen and who will overlook everything is far from figured out.
• Fraud – It’s a part of our lives. Accept it.
• The latest on the CPA Exam – Thanks to our resident expert, you will pass in 2010. Or maybe you won’t.
• Taxes – Whether it’s the IRS’s latest demonstration of efficiency or the latest attempt by Charlie Rangel to disqualify himself from his job, we’ll be sure you know everything worth knowing.
And of course we’ll be covering the latest rumors floating around your favorite firms. Whether it’s inappropriate use of email, the latest asinine cost-saving initiatives, the banishment of music, Tim Flynn’s whereabouts we’ll cover it.
Keep us updated by sending us tips and suggestions to tips@goingconcern.com and we’ll serve it up.

Deloitte

Let’s Go Over this Independence Thing One More Time

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

To be fair, Thomas Flanagan — having been a partner at Deloitte for 30 years — probably didn’t remember the day that his auditing professor covered independence. If you figure that Tom was in college in the late 1960s, it’s surprising that he remembers anything.

Also, as the vice chairman of the firm, his job was to remind people of their duty to remain independent of the firm’s audit clients. He didn’t actually have to be independent himself. What good is insider information if you’re not going to use it, amiright?

Deloitte had sued Flanagan in Delaware Chancery Court in October 2008 for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and breach of contract, saying the 30-year partner who had risen to vice chairman of the firm had secretly hidden trades in shares of Deloitte’s audit clients and lied about it to the firm.

“Because an auditor sells, at base, its independence and integrity, the firm relies heavily on the purported honesty and independence of its professionals,” Vice Chancellor John Noble, of the Delaware Court of Chancery, wrote in his opinion.
Deloitte said in its complaint that starting as early as 2005, Flanagan had made more than 300 trades in shares of Deloitte’s audit clients, including several clients for which he was Deloitte’s advisory partner.

Meanwhile, Flanagan specifically told the firm he was not trading in client stocks, which are restricted under the firm’s independence policies, according to the complaint.

Tom must have been a choir boy prior to getting the Vice Chair gig. How else could he have gotten to be such a bigwig if he wasn’t a poster child for integrity? Was he that good of a liar?

Never mind that for a sec. What’s really curious is why the hell a Vice Chairman needed the extra scratch. A comic book collection that would rival Nic Cage’s? Financing a business opportunity? A spendy wife/mistress/pool boy? If you’ve got any thoughts, discuss below and if this story doesn’t clear things up on independence, start crack the auditing textbooks.

Deloitte wins insider trading suit vs. ex-executive [Reuters]

Fraud

Grant Thornton Gets Fired (Again)

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

Grant Thornton is having a helluva time keeping audit clients happy. After getting axed by Overstock.com in November, GT has now been fired by headphone maker Koss after it was discovered — by AMEX — that the company’s former VP of Finance had been embezzling millions of dollars since 2005.

In an 8-K filed yesterday, the Company stated that its financial statements from the past three years should not be relied on:

The Company has now concluded that its previously issued financial statements on Forms 10-K for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2005 through 2009 and on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2009 should no longer be relied upon due to the unauthorized financial transactions.

A couple of commenters were debating this particular SNAFU over the Holiday break and while GT may not be responsible for discovering embezzlement, this is a perfect example of why small companies should not be exempt from Sarbanes-Oxley. As Guest 2 notes:

it looks like Koss will become the poster child for internal controls. The company clearly had to have deficient internal controls if the VP of Finance could use millions of dollars in company funds to pay her personal credit cards. We’re talking over $400,000 a month on average (if the $20 million figure is accurate) and that amount is clearly material to the company (i.e. that amount should not have gone unnoticed). My guess is that this will force all other small public companies to become full-pledged into 404 like the majority of public companies are.

We’d love to agree with Guest 2 but the simple fact of the matter is that Congress doesn’t give a rat’s ass about small companies complying with SOx. Most of the members have never even heard of Koss, especially since the company has a budget of around $0 for campaign contributions. Right now the only thing keeping the small company exemption at bay is the inability of Congress to move on financial regulatory reform, which is kinda sorta needed.

Headphone maker Koss fires auditor after firing VP [Reuters]

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 01.05.10

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

• Carlo di Florio Named Director of SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations – Somewhere a CPA wrangler is bellyaching. [SEC Press Release]
• Domino’s CEO to Step Down – David Brandon is stepping down in 30 minutes or less to become athletic director at Michigan. [WSJ]
• Dozens of Names Shifted to No-Fly List – Including everyone with the surname “Smyth”. If there’s no “i”, you can’t be trusted. [WSJ]
• IMF study links lobbying by US banks to high-risk lending – “Powerful American banks spending lavishly on lobbying are more likely to engage in high-risk lending and their shares have performed less well than others, a groundbreaking study by the International Monetary Fund has found.” [Guardian]
• Moving on Up: Getting a Raise – No one wants a repeat of last year. [FINS]
• Kraft sweetens Cadbury offer as Nestle drops out – The $16 bllion being offered for cream eggs is deemed as ‘derisory’ by the Brits. Apparently they’re looking for something in the nabe of a gazillion. [Reuters]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 01.04.10

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

• Turbotax Timmy? Dancing Helio? Let’s Pick the 2009 Taxpayer of the Year! – There’s also the guy that said hookers were medical expenses. [Tax Update Blog]
• Tax Consequences of Extreme Philanthropy – Rick Warren’s reverse tithing sounds confusing. [TaxProf Blog]
• Levin apologises for $164bn AOL deal – It was just arguably the worst merger ever, it’s not like it brought down the entire economy or anything. [FT]
• CBIZ, Mayer Hoffman McCann buy South Florida firm – MHM functions as the audit arm of CBIZ and took the attest portion of Goldstein Lewin & Co. while CBIZ took the non-attest portion. [Kansas City Business Journal]
• Open Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission: Conflicting Disclosures by Overstock.com Reveal Improper Audit Opinion Shopping – Sam Antar points out the gory details behind the Overstock.com/Grant Thornton blamestorming. Guess whose pants are on fire? [White Collar Fraud]
• H&R Block settles nationwide IRA lawsuit – Not such a good day for H&RB. [Reuters]

IRS Sticks It to Amateur Tax Preparers

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

Any tax preparers out there that got their stripes by virtue of an 8 hour course in the basement of a church will have to start hitting the books. Today, the IRS announced that it is putting a stop to all the amateur 1040 jockeys out there by issuing new requirements for all paid tax preparers.

The new requirements came after complaints from taxpayer rights’ groups who wanted stronger oversight over the industry. Apparently there are too many “tax professionals” that can’t tell the difference between a W-2 and a sack of doorknobs.

WSJ:

[S]tarting in 2011, all paid tax preparers will have to register with the IRS and include a unique identification number on any returns they prepare. Preparers will be given three years to pass a competency exam in either individual or small business taxation.

Attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents will not be required to pass the competency tests. They will remain subject to the requirements of their respective licensing bodies.

But the exams and new annual, continuing education requirements will impact likely hundreds of thousands of preparers, from employees of chain preparation firms like H&R Block Inc. and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. to mom-and-pop storefronts that offer tax preparation as one of several services.

Three years to pass an exam? Even the dimmest of CPA Exam candidates manage to finish in 18 months. Also, we’re curious as to what diabolical plot the H&R Blocks and Jackson Hewitts of the world will devise in order to speed their professionals into compliance.

Regardless of the shortfalls, Doug “Don’t expect me to apologize” Shulman said that the new requirements were ‘long overdue’. He also said that the Service will be forming a task force to look into determining the accuracy of tax prep software for possible future standards over that industry.

One thing is for sure, somewhere Doug’s boss is asking his friends if they know any good CPAs.

IRS to Boost Oversight of Paid Tax Preparers [WSJ]

Uncategorized

CPA Poll: Are You Securities Licensed?

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

TPTB, in their never-ending quest for world domination, have requested the CPAs out there to answer the following harmless question. Your help is appreciated.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Uncategorized

Jeremy Newman Has Had It

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

So much so that he wrote a letter. The BDO ~~International~~ Global Coordiation CEO and infrequent blogger sent his letter to the Financial Times today in response to previous letters to the FT that unequivocally placed the blame for the financial apocalypse on accounting rules.
Newman, who strikes as the mild-mannered sort, comes as close to telling all the haters out there, “OH, HELL NO” as one might expect:

Sir, It is unfortunate if people are persuaded that accounting rules are to blame for bad lending decisions and poor investments (Letters, December 29). Banks, and other financial institutions, needed injections of monies from governments (and others) because they lost money and were short of cash – not merely because of accounting issues. Inadequate bad debt provisions, if such was the case, may have resulted in unduly large bonuses being paid but it was not the bonuses that created the cash shortages – it was the poor lending decisions that resulted in such bad debts. Equally, accounting rules did not result in companies overpaying for acquisitions – it was the poor investment decisions that resulted in a decision to overpay.

It’s pretty clear that J. New is sick and tired of everything being blamed on accounting rules and he figured writing a stern (but cordial) letter to the FT was the best way to draw the line in the sand. While that might have some effect, we would invite him to cut loose (read: go completely ape shit) on his blog to tell those IFRS haters what they can do with their pointer fingers. If you want us to read a draft JN, we’re here for you buddy.
Poor business decisions were behind losses [FT]

California CPAs to be More Ethical Starting in 2010

Caleb Newquist
January 5, 2010

The California Board of Accountancy is ringing in the New Year with some increased requirements for California CPAs including additional ethics training to maintain an active status.
With so much unethical behavior in the world today, the CBA figured a few more hours of CPE will straighten you all out:

CBA president Manuel Ramirez said the regulation changes are part of an increased focus by the CBA on ethics and education. “I believe the newly approved continuing education requirements are an important step to increasing the CBA’s consumer protection mandate, while also reestablishing CPAs’ reputations as one of the most ethical professions in the country,” he said in a statement.

Not only will California have the most ethical CPAs in all the land but the CBA is jumping on the transparency bandwagon by broadcasting its future meetings via webcast. This will “give both consumers and CBA licensees a ‘window’ into important issues and how decisions are made.” Prior to this ‘window’, anyone wanting to observe a meeting had to attend — GASP — in person. One can safely assume that the CBA’s decision was partly due to realizing that webcasts would save them the embarrassment of A) a near empty meeting and B) those in attendance snoozing through the whole thing.
California Toughens Requirements for Accountants [Web CPA]
Other California CPA News:
CalCPA Is Doing About Everything It Can to Motivate You to Reactivate Your CPA
Arnie Signs 150-Hour Rule for California

Career Center

Job of the Day: Get Started on that Resolution Now

Caleb Newquist
January 4, 2010

For those of you that punched the “Find a new job” button on our resolution post, this will help you get started. Even if you indicated that want to do less work in 2010, you may want to do less work at a new job.
Get details for an Accounting Analyst position at BlackRock in San Francisco, after the jump.

Company: BlackRock
Title: Accounting Analyst
Location: San Francisco
Minimum experience: 2 – 3 years
Description: The Accounting Analyst is engaged in the accounting, analysis and reporting of securities lending and cash management revenues. This includes securities lending rebate and fee settlement with counter-parties (securities dealers and brokers). In addition, the Analyst will create analytical and performance reports as needed. The position will be in communication with accounting personnel from other securities brokers and will work closely with GIMG Securities Lending’s Trading and Operations.
Responsibilities: Prepare rebate and fee statements and settle with counter-parties; prepare and process journal entries; analyze, research and reconcile accrual variances; prepare and distribute relevant management reporting analytics
Required Skills: College degree (BS/BA) preferably in Finance/Accounting/Business; strong computer skills, including Oracle, OFA (Oracle Financial Analyzer), and advanced Excel
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Uncategorized

For Those of You Not Already Walking on Water

Caleb Newquist
January 4, 2010

Many of you have promised promised promised to stick with your resolutions this year and we think that’s admirable. Personally, we think you’re all fine the way you are but we understand that lots of you are perfectionists.
Whether it’s more appropriate use of work email or actually billing the hours you work, you’ve probably got some resolutions in mind. If we’ve nailed yours below, pull the lever or if you’ve got other ideas on how you’re going to be more kick-ass in 2010, share in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

The JDA

Apparently the Fed Needs More Money

Adrienne Gonzalez
January 4, 2010

Editor’s Note: Want more JDA? You can see all of her posts for GC here, her blog here and stalk her on Twitter.
I know, the headline stunned me when I read it the first time too. First via James Turk, I had to stop and look at that for a second. Don’t they make it? How could they possibly need it?
Initially, the Fed called this proposed deposit facility a component of its “exit strategy” (the existence of which, much like Sasquatch, is still up for debate), insisting that by creating an interest-bearing drain for banks’ funds held at the Fed, it could clear out some of the money sloshing around in the system.

Although they also believe asset sales to be an option, I’m still not sure who the hell they are expecting to buy these bonds (unless they’re willing to take a loss, and knowing the Fed that’s not too likely) so stay tuned.
I believed this whole interest-bearing deposit facility nonsense was really just a Bad Bank for Dirty Fed money but it’s actually the Fed begging for deposits, so I guess I was wrong. But why, then, would they paint this as an exit strategy?
From the Turk piece:

The US government needs ‘deposit currency’ – or ‘electronic’ currency, to put it into Mr. Bernanke’s terms – so that it can pay its bills by check or wire transfer. Payment for goods and services by deposit currency are made through the banking system, and nearly all commerce in the United States is conducted in this way. So where will the Federal Reserve get enough deposit currency to enable it to continue purchasing US government debt?

In 2008, “public debt” was considered to be $9.9 trillion dollars or 70.2% of GDP. By 2009, that number had ballooned to over $12.9 trillion dollars, nearly 91% of GDP. Even more disconcerting? This is using governmental accounting rules which — as any of you who have ever worked in government can attest to — don’t necessarily coincide with GAAP logic.
Let’s not forget that a large chunk of this debt is owed to the Fed itself (for some reason) perhaps because inflation isn’t bad enough and we somehow should pay them more for the convenience of having printed money and payment systems.
I’m not 100% on what’s going on here but it’s beginning to look awfully suspicious.

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