Yesterday we shared with you at least one person’s opinion about how quitting the Big 4 is a little like leaving Ike Turner. If that name doesn’t mean anything to you, insert Jon Gosselin. Get it now?
As accurate as that may be (and certainly not a laughing matter), we can’t help but think there are other metaphors that you’ve heard that you might want to share here.
Of course there’s the proverbial pimp/whore relationship but that’s played. Get the team together and come up with something good. We’ve got E&Y tchotchkes to give away as prizes (don’t let that dissuade you E&Y peeps, we’ll come up with something).
We’ll give you a couple of options to work with:
1. Working in the Big 4 is like…
2. Leaving the Big 4 is like…
Annnd go.
Breaking News
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- Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: Cool It on the Scandals, Students Are Watching; Quarterly Reporting Proposal Overwhelmingly Opposed | 7.6.26
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Friday Footnotes: PwC Lays Off in Audit, KPMG Makes Back Office Cuts; AI Company Wants Guidance From the PCAOB | 7.10.26
Footnotes is a collection of stories from around the accounting profession curated by actual humans and published every Friday at 5pm Eastern. While you're here, subscribe to our newsletter to…
Activist Investor Tells CBIZ They Need More Acquisitions in Their Life
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EY Consultant Discovers One Weird Trick to Never Work in Banking Again, Or Big 4 For That Matter
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KPMG has released its AI Quarterly Pulse Survey for Q2 2026 and we're gonna have to be real with you, it's all over the place. Not the survey itself, just…
Beware This Hot New Scam: LinkedIn Job Hunt Takes a Sharp Detour Into Attempted Bank Emptying
Saw this post on r/accounting and while I know some of you feel a certain type of way about using Reddit for "content" it felt important to pass along to…
In New AI Guidelines, IRS Politely Suggests You Not Make Up Sources Like Deloitte Did
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Deloitte Made the Creepy Digital Librarian From The Time Machine But For Golf
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KPMG Redefines Excellence in the Age of AI By Using AI to Pump Out Dubious Citations in This Now-Removed Report
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Twitter Feed
Big 4 Firm With AI Quotas Unironically Explains Why AI Quotas Are Such a Terrible Idea in Latest Survey
Copilot cleans a spreadsheet in 90 seconds. Startups are building AI that acts as a "modular CFO." So what does AI actually change for the CPA, and what will clients expect three years from now?
@genemarks digs in, in his debut column for CalCPA: https://bit.ly/4wwW7oY
Activist Investor Tells CBIZ They Need More Acquisitions in Their Life
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Job of the Day: Ready to Roll Up the Sleeves at Fortress?
That’s part of the “skills required” for their Senior Accountant position that they just created. Since most of you are used to that sort of thing, landing this gig should be a snap.
Get the details after the jump.
Company: Fortress Investment Group LLC
Title: Senior Accountant
Location: New York City
Minimum experience: 5 years
Description: This is a new position reporting to the CAO of Fortress. The person will be exposed to the accounting, regulatory and business issues surrounding the company’s diversified investment portfolio.
Responsibilities: Assist the CAO and Accounting Policy Senior Manager with the oversight and documentation of the accounting policies of Fortress and its sponsored funds; Liaison with the controllers of the various funds on accounting, controls, and regulatory issues; Assist the CAO and Accounting Policy Senior Manager with accounting research/issues; Assist the CAO in the preparation of quarterly and annual financial statements; Prepare schedules for internal management reporting; Assist with various special projects
Required Skills: The ideal candidate will be a CPA and hold a BS Degree (or equivalent) and 5-8 years of finance accounting experience. Public company and/or private equity fund accounting experience is a plus.
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.
>75: Procrastination
Editor’s note: This is the latest edition of >75, our weekly post on questions that you have related to the CPA Exam. Send your questions to tips@goingconcern.com and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as possible. You can see all of the JDA’s posts for GC here and all our posts related to the CPA Exam here.
First of all, I have to give it to all of you little future CPAs of America, you REALLY know how to put things off until the last minute, don’t you?
I’m going to let you in on a tiny little secret: the exam never goes away.
Let me paint an “imaginary” scenario where CPA Review classes are starting in less than 48 hours. Classes have been on hold for over two months and suddenly, within this 48 hour period, there is a rush of panicked CPA exam candidates realizing they’ve got less than a day left to figure out a plan. Anyone else see what’s wrong with this picture?
I’m not talking about a handful of people, I’m talking about a significant chunk of you. You know who you are and you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So what is it? Do you believe that the exam will pass itself? Or if you put it off long enough somehow you’ll wake up one day a CPA? I hate to break it to you but that’s really moronic.
There are students in our classes that are 50-some years old. Think about that. They graduated 30 years ago and are STILL putting this stupid ass exam off. So don’t think you’re some hero of procrastination just because you let 18 months go by and started losing exam scores, you aren’t special.
The bottom line is this: it is all about what you want to do with your life. Do you really want to be a CPA? Then you’ll suck it up and finish. Don’t do it because your parents want it or your girlfriend wants it or it’s your grandma’s dying wish. You are only setting yourself up for a life of half-assed failure, misery, and disappointment.
Which is kind of like what you’re setting yourself up for with a CPA and a career in public accounting except + tchotchkes. Win* (I think).
Point is, stop. In the time it takes for you to come up with 1000 excuses, you could have already booked your exam and gotten through at least 150 MCQ. Yes, it sucks but guess what? You picked it. You can make it worse on yourself and be that 50 year old guy in the back of our Live class or you can just get through it and stop bitching.
/end rant. Do it.
*I’m obligated to say that because of my day job
If You’re Bored at Work, It’s Because You’re Boring
Although we know that the bulk of you have never been bored at your jobs, there may be a handful of you that think your jobs are bit well, dull. Why is that, ya think?
Is it that you’re surrounded by rubes that can’t possibly appreciate your brilliant insight? Is it because the work you’re shuffling around is for amateurs and you should be promoted to the HMFIC to straighten the place out?
Or maybe it’s because you’re boring. Yes, yes, we realize that’s impossible but Bloomberg has something on it, so there must be something to it.
According to Susan Cramm, you’ve got only yourselves to blame for three reasons:
• You’re on autopilot – Staring at the same spreadsheets week after week, month after month, you’re bound to get bored.
• Your energy level is less than impressive – That Chipotle you inhale everyday doesn’t help.
• You’ve become a conformist – You’ve accepted the notion of “that’s the way things are done here”. Even it that “way” is done piss-poorly.
The solution? Cramm says you need to mentally fire yourself and act like you’re a newbie again. In other words, have a really awkward conversation with yourself (not a stretch for some of you), then observe the interns and take their lead. Apparently, nothing will improve your boring self more than embracing that go-getter attitude again. Great, that’s not annoying.
Vote on your boredom level below and if you just woke up from a nap, change thee ways.
Call Off the 2010 Tony Awards, We’ve Got Your Winner Right Here
Way back in August we told you about the unimaginable: accounting fraud on the stage. For those of you worried that the British production of Enron wouldn’t make it to the States, we have BIG NEWS for you.
Enron begins previews on April 8th and opens on April 27th at the Broadhurst Theatre and we’re sure it will sweep the Tonys come awards time. That is, if KPMG doesn’t screw up the count.
For you theatre junkies, you’ll be happy to know that Norbert Leo Butz has been cast in the role of Jeff Skilling. NLB is best known for his roles in Wicked, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Is He Dead? The rest of the cast has not yet been determined but we’re still pulling for Hugh Jackman in the role of David Duncan.
The preview for the British version appears below and — GASP — mark to market is mentioned. So for those of you that aren’t so culturally inclined, maybe this will been enough to pique your interest. See you at the show.
Preliminary Analytics | 01.08.10
• Order for UBS to release client data judged unlawful – Swiss Bank secrecy law were broken says a court in neutral (still, right?) land. [Reuters]
• Sarkozy proposes ad tax on Google – What happened to taxing the stupid? [FT]
• Fully Played Out? – “Can we assume that the downturn is fully played out, especially in light of reports and other evidence that people are (still) altering their behavior (e.g., spending less and saving more) in response to what’s going on around them?” [Financial Armageddon]
• Overstock.com Staves Off Bankruptcy With ‘Hillary Clinton Nutcracker’ – For $37, they’ll throw in a Bill Clinton corkscrew. [Gary Weiss]
• Good News for the Young and Unemployed &ndsah; Your Moms still love you! Plus the job market might be turning around. [The Atlantic]
Review Comments | 01.07.10
• KPMG Lists Top 10 Priorities for Audit Committees – Fire Grant Thornton and hire KPMG? [Web CPA]
• Kumar Pleads Guilty in Galleon Case – Anil Kumar says he got $1.75 million for his inside dish from Raj. [WSJ]
• FASB Finalizes Changes on Consolidation, Equity – Subtopic 810-10 updates FAS 160, Noncontrolling Interests in…oh to hell with it. [Compliance Week]
• Cell Phones are Good for Your Brain – Gab away. [The Atlantic]
Quote of the Day
From a soon to be ex-Ernst & Young SA:
Being employed by a big 4 is like being in an abusive relationship. You know its bad for you but its still kind of addictive.
Right on the money? Dead wrong? Addictive like salt & vinegar potato chips or addictive like the stuff that’s in Rush Limbaugh’s medicine cabinet? Discuss.
Be Nice to the Interns
Word on the street is that the winter interns have arrived at KPMG which makes us think they’re out in force all over the country.
If you’ve got a new intern at your beck and call, tell them how much you appreciate them in the comments and then send them the link (telling them in person isn’t necessary).
If you’re a new intern, tell us how things are going. Is your SA sending sexually explicit emails to strangers from your computer yet? Is it everything BusinessWeek says it would be or are you getting the taste of busy season already?
Whatever your thoughts, do share and try to stay under control at the welcome happy hour.
Earlier:
Love Me, Love Me…Say That You Love Me…Critiquing The Positive Intern Hiring Trend
Grant Thornton Loses Its Fire in Letter to the SEC
Despite getting all bent out of shape in their earlier statement:
“The fraud was apparently conducted by a longtime, trusted senior financial executive who was hired and supervised by senior management,” a Grant Thornton spokeswoman said Tuesday. “The company (Koss) did not engage Grant Thornton LLP to conduct an audit or evaluation of internal controls over financial reporting. Establishing and maintaining effective internal control is management’s and the board’s responsibility.”
Grant Thornton is less enthused in their letter to the SEC:
We have read Item 4.01 of Form 8-K of Koss Corporation dated January 4, 2010, and agree with the statements concerning our Firm contained therein. We have no basis to agree or disagree with the statements and conclusions in Item 4.02(a), some of which were not disclosed to Grant Thornton LLP prior to receipt of this filing.
The only thing we read here that might be a dig at Koss is “some of which were not disclosed to Grant Thornton LLP prior to receipt of this filing.” If this is intended to be the firm’s version of the finger — straight up, at you Koss — the passive-aggressiveness is at a level that even impresses us.
At least in the Overstock letter the firm flat out called Pat Byrne and his company liars. This latest opportunity to lay the smackdown on a client in a regulatory filing seems to have been squandered.
BDO Seidman Waited to Change Their Name Because They Had a Really Special Birthday Coming Up
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]
Job of the Day: If You’re Lucky, You’ll Get Discounts at the Nike Store
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.