Going Concern

KPMG

Rumor Mill: KPMG L.A. Layoffs, Maybe Dallas?

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

We’ve received multiple reports of layoffs that occurred last week in the audit practice of the Los Angeles office.
The numbers have been described as “a few” and the news has been “hush hush” making us wonder if these cuts were some unfinished business from either the August and September rounds.
There also have been rumors about additional layoffs in Dallas tax but we don’t have any more details than that.
If you’ve got any details for these layoffs or details for other cities, get in touch and discuss in the comments.

Announcements

3rd Quarter CPA Exam Results Are Rolling Out

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

Hot on the heels of our last post, a message from one elated reader:

I’m in Illinois and I just got my Audit score when I logged in this morning. (it was my final section and it was a pass so I’m done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Now get on that ethics exam! The results rolled out yesterday afternoon, so discuss your results in the comments. Pass, fail, whatever.

The JDA

>75: What am I Supposed to Do With This Ethics Exam?

Adrienne Gonzalez
November 20, 2009

Editor’s note: Welcome to latest edition of >75, our weekly post on a question 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.

If you are in an ethics exam state and trying to figure out how to pass it (first of all: fail), don’t worry, I’ve got some advice. An email from a reader who prefers not to expose his unethical-ness comes to JDA thusly:

I’m having trouble passing the ethics exam, I’ve failed twice. How can I pass it?

First of all, I’m going to ignore the fact that this question — by itself or to a casual observer not in public accounting — is pretty fucked up. You shouldn’t need help with this. I can understand needing an explanation on how to get your foreign degree evaluated (I still don’t quite get it) but this should be easy. However, for the purposes of this post, I’ll disregard that part.

For starters, the ethical thing to do would be a Google search on the ethics exam, not posting Craigslist ads offering to pay people to take it for you. But if you’re like most public accountants trying to get a license, you copy off of your coworkers. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. If I do, it probably means you’re not cut out for this line of work.

There are other things you can do. Some state societies of CPAs have resources like tips or even experts you can consult to help you. Again, this shouldn’t be hard, it’s supposedly your first mandate in public accounting.

It’s open book, there’s no timer and you can bring a weapon to wherever you’re taking the test (unlike the CPA exam itself). Why are you making such a huge deal out of this?
Abacus said the Wisconsin ethics exam, while being tough, just needed some diligence to get through. What’s scary about that?

If you absolutely run out of ideas, some ethics exams have a “Lifeline”. Here in California, if you bomb three times, you can call CalCPA’s Education Foundation and they might give you a hint or two along with three more chances to pass.

Give it enough time and understand the subtle nuances of the questions, don’t just try to barrel your way through it and you might pass this time. Good luck.

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 11.20.09

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

• Goldman Holders Miffed at Bonuses – And there’s bellyaching that GS is trying to pull a fast one by including temps to pull down the comp per employee. Sneaky. [WSJ]
• EBay completes sale of Skype – The auction block gets $2 billion and still retains a 30% stake. [Reuters]
• SEC Told to Improve Ways It Chooses Probe Targets – Eenie, meenie, miney, moe just won’t cut it anymore. [AP via NYT]
• US House Panel Approves A Toned-Down Accounting Proposal – After amendments, the final word on all things FASB remains with the SEC. [Dow Jones]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 11.19.09

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

• Don’t forget to submit your questions for our weekly CPA Exam post, >75.
• Pa. Woman Can’t Re-Sue Ernst & Young for $103M – Tragic conclusion. [ABC News]
• ‘Cheat’? I Don’t Think the Word Means What They Think It Means – Tragic ignorance.
[Tax Update Blog]
• Singer Aaron Carter Owes IRS Over $1 Million – Tragic boy. [Web CPA]
• Is Wall Street Comprised Of A Bunch Of Crackwhores Who Can’t Help Themselves, Crying Out For Help? John Mack Says Yes – Tragic whores. [DB]

Joe Francis to Declare Bankruptcy, Owes IRS $34 Million

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

Tragic news from the world of wholesome entertainment as Joe “Back to the business at hand of slapping women” Francis is allegedly going to declare bankruptcy tomorrow after receiving liens for nearly $34 mil.
Not such a good thing for Francis since he just hammered out a plea deal two months ago.
According to Tax Girl, that plea agreement, “requires him to resolve his outstanding tax issues. I mean, it is a resolution – but I’m guessing not so much what IRS had in mind.”
They certainly aren’t apologizing for this one.
Girls Gone Wild Founder To File Bankruptcy, Blames IRS [Tax Girl]
Other GC Coverage of Joe Francis:
SHOCKER: Joe Francis May Have Attracted Slimy Business People
Joe Francis Plans to Argue That Anything Related to Topless Girls is Deductible

Big 4

Will PwC and KPMG Reconsider Canceling Their Holiday Parties?

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

Doubtful! But with the news of sugarplums dancing in some Big 4 heads, we got to wondering if any of the offices of KPMG and PwC might reconsider the firm-wide kibosh on the Holiday jamma-lamma-ding-dong.
Maybe this would be a coup d’état of the highest order but we’ve heard of offices going rogue in the past, so it’s worth mentioning.
Perhaps we’re expecting too much but it seems possible that partners in your local offices could rally the troops by pooling together some of their own cash and springing for cheese trays a few kegs of Beast.
Partners, you wouldn’t necessarily have to let anyone use the bathroom (especially the new associates, we know how they overdo it). You could set up Rent-A-Johns in the driveway.
Because as it stands right now, it appears that Bob Moritz will only be handing out fresh undies, and Tim Flynn will argue that the Phil Mickelson sponsorship is the gift that keeps on giving. That may fly with some but certainly not all. Discuss your hopes for an eleventh hour fiesta in the comments.

Uncategorized

The Grant Thornton ‘Global Six’ Campaign Has Hit a Snag

Caleb Newquist
November 20, 2009

Grant Thornton’s global revenue results have yet to come out, however the Times Online is reporting lower UK revenues for the past fiscal year. This widens the gap between GT and Big 4 and possibly jeopardizes any hope of the ‘Global Six’ moniker making it into the mainstream.

This despite their ambitious efforts:

Two years ago, Grant Thornton unveiled ambitious plans to increase revenue to £500 million. It had just acquired RSM Robson Rhodes and appeared set for rapid growth. There was talk that it could close the distance on Ernst & Young and break the Big Four’s lock on blue-chip audit and advisory work.

This, as the Times notes, appears to be only a pipe dream now. They dish a little gossip about GT merging with E&Y which was de-nied pretty adamantly by the UK CEO, ‘That’s absolutely not true and I’ve no idea where it comes from.’
We really wish we could take credit for starting that rumor but alas, we can’t. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be the same if GT had to merge with someone. It is, however, worth speculating if any type of semi-mega merger would even be possible. We touched on this topic some time ago but that was for sport so we’re asking for serious speculation now.
If you’ve heard merger talk at any of your firms discuss — or just wonder aloud about which firms would/could/should get together — in the comments and feel free to opine on GT’s latest efforts in the Global Six campaign.
Grant Thornton slips further behind the Big Four [Times Online]

Uncategorized

Craptacular Caption Poll Reminder

Caleb Newquist
November 19, 2009

We’ve got a close race in the craptacular caption contest. Polls close tomorrow night at midnight, so you’ve still got plenty of time to vote if you haven’t already.

And if you truly think you’ve got worse digs than this, send us your photos, we’re curious as how sadistic clients can be when it comes to accommodating their auditors.

Deloitte

At the Deloitte Holiday Party You’ll Have to Mill Around While Trying to Avoid the Guy Mopping the Floor

Caleb Newquist
November 19, 2009

We have confirmed the comment that mentions the Deloitte Holiday parties going down in the lunchroom. According to our source, this makes two years running that D has thrown it down in the caf which was a step down from the epic ’07 rager at the Waldorf. It’s not that nice of a hotel anyway.
Personally, we were hoping that Barry Salzberg was going to encourage everyone chip in and build the location of this year’s festivities with their bare hands but it might be too late to get that project started. Maybe next year.

Obviously this is less than ideal because 1) it’s definitely not a full bar and 2) instead of catering you’ll have to choose between what you think is salisbury steak and chicken a la king.
As far as atmosphere, we will admit that this is less touristy than TOTG but still. And what about the poor saps in Parsippany? Training rooms A – C? Jesus. Nothing better than crushing beers in the room where you were introduced to the FASB Codification.

That Apology from the IRS? Yeah, Not Going to Happen

Caleb Newquist
November 19, 2009

If you’re a bigshot at the IRS there are a lot of things that you don’t have to do. For one, you don’t really have to meet anyone’s expectations. For another, you don’t have to worry about delaying plans just because some practicing CPAs have some silly concerns.
The latest perk of being Doug Shulman? Not having to apologize to anyone.
TaxProf Blog:

The Tax Court yesterday ruled that it lacks jurisdiction to order the IRS to apologize to a taxpayer. Caldwell v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-169 (Nov. 18, 2009):
The part of Caldwell’s motion which we characterize as a “Request for Apology” asks that we require the IRS to enter into the record “a written apology to the Petitioner, signed by the Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service” …
…
The IRS objected to the Request for Apology on the ground that Congress has not, through section 7430 (relating to administrative or litigation costs) or otherwise, authorized us to grant such relief. [Fn.3] We agree.

There you have it American Taxpayer. Under the law, the IRS doesn’t have to apologize to anyone, despite the evidence that they should probably be apologizing constantly. Going forward, if you want an apology, run down a Republican member of the House of Representatives.
Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Order IRS to Apologize to Taxpayer [TaxProf Blog via Tax Update Blog]

The Holiday Spirit Is Alive and Well at Ernst & Young

Caleb Newquist
November 19, 2009

After a rough week of layoffs at E&Y we’re glad we can bring you some good news out of the Ernstiverse. After our reports back in September that the New York office that there was going to be no Christmaskah festivities, the FSO practice has had a change of heart:

Not only are the partners in FSO encouraging you to have a cup of cheer, they’re helping out a financially troubled New York institution.
We reached out to one source in FSO who had these thoughts:

I think for the most part people are very surprised we are having a party, and there is definitely a mixed feeling. Most would rather have gotten a raise, but apparently we got a great deal from Tavern so if there are no raises we might as well have a party!!

Since we don’t have many details at this point, important questions remain: A) Are you going? B) Open bar or GASP beer and wine only? C) Will there be dancing? D) If so, will Jim Turley be there getting his (rumored) $6 million man groove on?
Photos please, especially when he’s doing the sprinkler dance. Keep us updated with the details.

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