Going Concern

Uncategorized

BDO Seidman Waited to Change Their Name Because They Had a Really Special Birthday Coming Up

Caleb Newquist
January 8, 2010

When we saw the BDO rebranding story this week we were perplexed because we told you about this new effort to popularize the Global 6 in OCTOBER.
Come to find out that 2010 will mark the 100th birthday of BDO Seidman so there was no rush to change the name back on October 1 with the less-special firms because A) all the firm’s clients were already calling them ‘BDO’ and the change wasn’t really ness, and B) they couldn’t cancel all the festivities they had planned:

“The adoption of the single ‘BDO’ brand name reinforces our commitment to the BDO international network, even as we celebrate our firm’s centennial here in the United States,” said BDO (U.S.) CEO Jack Weisbaum in a statement. He acknowledged that many of the firm’s clients have been referring to the firm as BDO for years anyway.
BDO plans to conduct a year-long celebration of the firm’s founding by Maximillian L. Seidman in 1910, including historical podcasts on the firm’s intranet, a centennial video tracking the firm’s progress over the past century, and celebrations at the BDO Biennial and BDO Partner Meetings in November.

Gosh that does sound fun. We totally get it now.
Plus, the American firm still has to figure out how to pay $521 million to Banco Espirito. Going out at an even 100 years would put a nice cap on things.
BDO Seidman Rebrands as ‘BDO’ [Web CPA]

Career Center

Job of the Day: If You’re Lucky, You’ll Get Discounts at the Nike Store

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

Something a little unique for our job of the day.
Laika is an animation studio owned by Nike co-founder and Chairman Phil Knight that specializes in feature films, commercials, music videos, broadcast graphics and short films.
They are looking for a Head of Financial Planning and Analysis in Portland, OR. Get the details after the jump.

Company: Laika
Title: Head of Financial Planning and Analysis
Location: Portland, OR
Minimum experience: 5 – 7 years
Description: This person will be responsible for the management of all financial planning and analyses for LAIKA. The position will take the lead in collecting, summarizing, and interpreting financial data for LAIKA partnering with key stakeholders regarding their annual operating budgets and quarterly forecasts.
Responsibilities: Creating and maintaining all company budgets and financial projections including consolidated company projections, film ultimate P&L’s, overhead budgets across functional areas and two operating divisions; Prepare a range of film modeling analyses including creating film ultimate financial planning models for all LAIKA films; Prepare long range company projections under different production and performance scenarios; Work with distribution partners to develop reasonable and informed financial projections for released and soon to be released films; Prepare financial reporting for senior management and Board of Directors; Provide financial analysis supporting new and evolving business projects.
Required Skills: Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience; 5+ years in corporate financial planning or similar; film industry a significant plus; Significant and in-depth experience in financial model building and financial statement construction and analysis required; Experience creating primary quantitative analyses with proven ability to communicate and present the information in a summarized way to senior management.
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Fraud

This Is How You Spend Stolen Money

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

So you’ve been embezzling money from your employer for awhile and what’s a girl to do? Well you could spend it on your wedding but if you’re already hitched then it’s has to get blown elsewhere. Besides, the £470,000 that Joanne Kent stole is chump change compared to what Sue Sachdeva had on her hands:

• $225,000 at Karat 22 Jewelers.

• $1.4 million at Valentina Boutique a high-end joint in Mequon, WI.

• $20 million on artwork.

• $649,000 at Zita Bridal Salon, even though she was already married. Probably just wants to wear a gown to slob around in.

• $670,000 at Au Corant a Milwaukee-based fashion retailer.

• $4.5 million on credit card bills.

A decent haul although the new GT leadership can’t be thrilled to have this shopping spree land in their laps.

Btw, congrats to Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, the new auditors, on the pickup. We’re sure it’ll be a breeze from here on out.

Happy Birthday Natalie Gulbis!

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

Girl is 27 today so leave her some bday wishes in the comments.
It must be an extra special day since the RSM McGladrey and McGladrey & Pullen kissed and made up last month.
Plus, since the marketing campaign has been such an unmitigated success it might be nice for the reconciled firm to throw a little extra scratch her way. Happy Birthday NG.

Uncategorized

Busy Season Outlook: Open Thread

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

You may have noticed that the posting schedule here at GC has ran a bit longer the past few days. This is no accident. We were given a friendly reminder on Monday:

Caleb, this is busy season, I expect review comments an hour later for the next few months. That is all.

Well! Since we’re always with you in spirit, we’ll be happy to oblige this request.
We failed to mention it in our outlook on Tuesday since we figured it was understood that the new year marks the beginning of the end of your lives for the next 3ish months.
Then we remembered that it has been prophesied by many of you that this particular busy season will be the worst in recent memory due to layoffs and the ongoing (?) exodus.
So we present you with our busy season open thread. Discuss whatever you like. Will it indeed be the worst ever or will you dominate as usual? For some of you, it’s your first busy season. Are you soiling yourself from all the horror stories or have you found the right drug cocktail to keep you both focused on your work and oblivious to time passing? Go.

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 01.07.10

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

• Geithner’s New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure – “AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008.” [Bloomberg]
• Climbing the Finance Ladder: Landing a Promotion [FINS]
• Canadian Police Seek Man Accused of Ponzi Scheme – According to the SEC, the self-dubbed, “Chinese Warren Buffet” sent a letter to investors admitting that he was running a Ponzi scheme. That was easy. [AP via NYT]
• Economic Consequences and the Political Nature of Accounting Standard Setting – “For decades it has been taught in every graduate accounting program in the country that accounting standards have economic consequences. As a result, I contend it is natural and predictable that competing economic interest attempt a political solution to proposed accounting standards.” [The Summa]
• Accounting rules over M&A spread confusion – IFRS 3 is disappointing many. [FT]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 01.06.10

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

• U.S. regulators undecided on Ticketmaster deal: sources – Maybe because they’ve been turned to the Dark Side. [Reuters]
• Yes, that morale problem is as bad as you think – Snap out of it people. [CFOZone]
• New Clarity on Contingent Liabilities – Crystal. [CFO]
• Kansas May Need 16 Weeks to Refund Paper Tax Filings – Remember what we said about expectations. [Web CPA]
• Schwarzenegger Asks for More Funding – Arnie is blaming the Feds for the state’s $20 billion budget shortfall. [WSJ]

For the Last Time: We Don’t Expect Much Out of the IRS

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

We’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth stating again: are everyone’s expectations for the IRS unreasonable?
The National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, has released her annual report to Congress and it points out (among other shortcomings) that the IRS provides “unacceptable” customer service.
Sigh. Need we remind everyone that we’re talking about the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? This is not Nordstrom’s where you can snap your fingers and another pair of gabardines appear.
Oh sure, maybe the Service is lowering its expectations: “[T]he agency’s goal is to connect 71 percent of callers to a real person, down from a recent high of 87 percent in 2004,” but doesn’t that seem reasonable for the IRS? Are we missing something? Is there some other dimension where the IRS is revered for its efficiency?
IRS Too Busy to Talk to 3 in 10 Who Call for Help [AP via ABC]
National Taxpayer Advocate Report.pdf

Uncategorized

Nightmare Client of the Day: Lady Gaga

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

As you are all aware, there are some hella-suck clients out there for accountants. Demanding clients, unorganized clients, asshole clients, etc.
Then there are the clients that just don’t give a damn about how much money they may be throwing around.
Today’s example is none other than Lady Gaga and the nightly extravaganzas she puts on.
For some reason LG strikes as the sort of client that would show up with all her receipts in shoeboxes but in her case, there would be hundreds of shoeboxes and they’d all be fabulous.

The ‘Bad Romance’ singer – who describes her stage show as “ostentatious and over-the-top” – is making a heavy loss every night she performs on the North American leg of her ‘Monster Ball Tour , which has so far overspent by £2m (€2.2m) even though every concert is sold out.
The massive costs have been run up by her elaborate stage design, costumes and props, including the giant bath she used while making a promotional appearance on UK TV talent show ‘The X Factor’.
A source said: “The concerts are losing money hand over fist because they’ve spent a fortune on pricey costumes, technical equipment and elaborate set designs. She spent £500,000 (€550,000) on one stage alone.
“But Lady Gaga gets what Lady Gaga wants. Her wardrobe is huge and she wants to shock – and that costs serious money.”

There are many — including our friends at Fashionista — that say the woman is an “utter genius” and that genius simply cannot be denied.
Fair enough but accountants, being the practical creatures that they are, would not stand for such irresponsible behavior. From the sounds of it however LG’s accountant seems to accept the notion that the woman is an artist, bottom line be damned.
If you’ve got ideas on how to keep her spending under control, we’re all ears but personally, if she walked up to us (sans pants naturally) we’d have a helluva time saying no.

Career Center

Job of the Day: The OC Is Calling

Caleb Newquist
January 7, 2010

If we knew anything about reality TV maybe we would throw in a quip about Laguna Beach/The Hills/whatever the hell those shows are called nowadays but we don’t. The allure of weather that isn’t Biblical should be enough pique your interest.
Check out the details for a Pricing Manager position at PIMCO in Newport Beach, CA after the jump.

Company: PIMCO
Title: Pricing Manager
Location: Newport Beach, CA
Minimum experience: 2 – 5 years
Description: PIMCO Pricing is primarily responsible for oversight of security valuation of PIMCO’s mutual funds and private trusts advised and administered by PIMCO. The group works closely with third-party vendors (fund accountants/administrators, custodians, auditors and security pricing vendors) that provide services to the funds/trusts.
Responsibilities: Interact with the pricing vendors in order to price additional securities PIMCO owns; Communicate daily inquiries to appropriate internal departments; Manage various projects related to process improvements, procedures and systems development; Maintains current knowledge of domestic and foreign securities markets and monitors effects on funds and pricing and valuation procedures; Develop reports for PIMCO funds, the Boards, Legal, and Portfolio Management
Required Skills: Candidate will have two to five years of professional work experience in mutual fund operations, broker/dealer back-office or mutual fund auditor. Solid understanding of operational controls, processes, procedures.
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

The JDA

The Fed on Glass-Steagall; Me on STFU, Fed Boys, We Got This

Adrienne Gonzalez
January 7, 2010

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig is a voting member of the FOMC this year and apparently he got my note.
He is charging into the year as a cheerleader of long-dead regulation and ending TBTF. This is a song and dance we’ve seen from the Fed about a bazillion times now. Just because regulation is my shit doesn’t mean I’m entertained in the least by this.

WSJ:

A top U.S. Federal Reserve official said Tuesday it’s necessary to consider how banks considered too big to fail can be broken up so they no longer pose a systemic risk to the U.S. economy.
“Beginning to break them, to dismember them, is a fair thing to consider,” Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig told a panel at the annual meeting of the American Economics Association.

Well if insisting too big to fail is too big to continue isn’t enough, maybe Hoenig’s declaration of “bring back Glass-Steagall!” will make the panties drop?
Nope.

“We’ve got to start somewhere — and size matters,” Hoening said, calling for rules to address the problem that are simple and easy to enforce.
“We’ve got to strike while the iron is hot … but we must also do it right,” Hoenig said, adding there was a “chance” that new rules could be passed this year.

I’m going to go ahead and resist the easy joke here.
So? Should commercial banking and investment banking once again be absolutely distinct from each other?
I think if we’ve learned anything from this crisis it’s that the lines are blurred; accountants should know finance, finance professionals should know accounting and Christ, no one let the quants near the securitization models again. I have seen a noticeable increase in bankers, CFOs, etc pursuing CPA licensure since 2007. I can’t tell you numbers (if I did I’d be making them up) but a lot more of them call and the line is no longer as definitive as it was.
Our rules need to change. It’s not that we should bring back Glass-Steagall, it’s that two new guys need to write one hell of a regulatory bill that redefines our financial system as we know it and slap their names on it.
The financial system we’ve got sucks and if we don’t do that, Fed guys like this will keep yammering on about interest rates they never plan to raise and popping future bubbles.

Fraud

What Are You Prepared to Do to Make Your Dream Wedding Happen?

Caleb Newquist
January 6, 2010

Okay ladies, we’re aware that some of you have the wedding fever. You want the string quartet, doves flying out of the house of worship, driving away in a Bentley while you leave your new hubby’s ex on her knees sobbing her stupid little head off. We get it.
What we don’t get is the lengths that a few of you are willing to go to make this super magical day happen.
Enter Joanne Kent, a 26 year old accountant who embezzled £470,000 from her employer. £50,000 went to bankroll her wedding, including £37,134 for the cliff-top hotel. That didn’t include the cost of the flowers, cars, and fireworks on the beach (all crucial).
And she would have gotten away with it had she not produced an American invoice that was in pounds rather than dollars. The poor girl was sentenced to two years for her little stunt and will likely have to pay the loot back. What’s not clear is if the guests will be demanding their gifts back.
Accountant stole £470,000 for wedding and luxury life [Telegraph]
More Theft for Necessities:
Accountant Steals from Toys ‘R’ Us, Buys Hookers Bentleys

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