Turns out TPTB haven’t been able to parlay the information that you provided into world domination.
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UPDATE: We left out the part where we’re giving away a $50 AMEX gift card.
Breaking News
- Top 20 Firm Eide Bailly Gets on the Private Equity Train
- Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: PwC Gave Us a Reason to Mention GTA 6; The Bad KPMG Anecdotes Are Adding Up | 6.22.26
- Friday Footnotes: Deloitte UK Asks Nearly 200 Auditors to Please F Off; AI Chatbots Favored Over Actual Accountants | 6.19.26
In New AI Guidelines, IRS Politely Suggests You Not Make Up Sources Like Deloitte Did
The IRS sent out a bulletin yesterday and we're going to write about it because for once it's not about tedious tax stuff that our audience doesn't have the patience…
The Big 4 Model Might Be Cooked
For nearly 17 years now, this website you're reading has been meticulously documenting the accounting profession, Big 4 in particular and often through the lens of younger staff coming through…
Layoff Watch ’26: EY Trims Some Newbies in Audit
Seeing multiple posts about audit Staff 1s getting let go from EY this week, it's unclear how many are affected and if other service lines should brace for impact as…
Deloitte Made the Creepy Digital Librarian From The Time Machine But For Golf
Have you seen the 2002 movie The Time Machine? If you haven't then the reference in the headline isn't going to make a lick of sense. Lucky for you YouTube…
KPMG Redefines Excellence in the Age of AI By Using AI to Pump Out Dubious Citations in This Now-Removed Report
GPTZero, the folks who brought you this glorious takedown of an EY Canada report stuffed with completely made up sources, are back at it again and this time they've caught…
Top 20 Firm Eide Bailly Gets on the Private Equity Train
The private equity train may have slowed a bit in accounting but it's still choo-chooing along with another big deal coming on the heels of Crowe's $3 billion deal with…
Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: PwC Gave Us a Reason to Mention GTA 6; The Bad KPMG Anecdotes Are Adding Up | 6.22.26
Hey, here we are again at Monday. Guess we should get to it. In this news briefA Less Thrilling Transfer Pricing StoryThe Ghost of Tax Preparer Fraud PastWho Doesn't Want…
Friday Footnotes: Deloitte UK Asks Nearly 200 Auditors to Please F Off; AI Chatbots Favored Over Actual Accountants | 6.19.26
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…
Layoff Watch ’26: EY Trims Some Newbies in Audit
Seeing multiple posts about audit Staff 1s getting let go from EY this week, it's unclear how many are affected and if other service lines should brace for impact as…
The IRS Moves Atlanta Employees to an Office That Makes the Rat-Infested Office Look Pretty Good
If you've been keeping up with the news cycle (or if you caught last Monday's Monday Morning News Brief), you've heard about the situation down in Atlanta involving IRS workers…
In New AI Guidelines, IRS Politely Suggests You Not Make Up Sources Like Deloitte Did
The IRS sent out a bulletin yesterday and we're going to write about it because for once it's not about tedious tax stuff that our audience doesn't have the patience…
Deloitte Made the Creepy Digital Librarian From The Time Machine But For Golf
Have you seen the 2002 movie The Time Machine? If you haven't then the reference in the headline isn't going to make a lick of sense. Lucky for you YouTube…
KPMG Redefines Excellence in the Age of AI By Using AI to Pump Out Dubious Citations in This Now-Removed Report
GPTZero, the folks who brought you this glorious takedown of an EY Canada report stuffed with completely made up sources, are back at it again and this time they've caught…
KPMGers Are Maliciously Complying With The Firm’s AI Usage Requirements By Generating Fluff
On May 4, Business Insider published an article about KPMG's new AI dashboard. They've been publishing several articles in recent weeks about KPMG's AI initiatives actually, like the tax simulation…
Starbucks Kills Off Its Automated Counting AI Tool After Just 9 Months Because It Sucked at Counting Beans
While people outside of the accounting profession continue to smugly insist that accountants will be out of work in 12 months 18 months two years five years any day now…
Top Remote Tax and Accounting Candidates of the Week | October 16, 2025
Struggling to Find Remote Accounting or Tax Talent? We’ve Got You Covered.If your firm or internal team is having a tough time sourcing qualified remote tax and accounting professionals, you're…
Top Remote Tax and Accounting Candidates of the Week | October 2, 2025
Struggling to Find Remote Accounting or Tax Talent? We’ve Got You Covered.If your firm or internal team is having a tough time sourcing qualified remote tax and accounting professionals, you're…
Top Remote Tax and Accounting Candidates of the Week | September 25, 2025
Struggling to Find Remote Accounting or Tax Talent? We’ve Got You Covered.If your firm or internal team is having a tough time sourcing qualified remote tax and accounting professionals, you're…
Top Remote Tax and Accounting Candidates of the Week | September 18, 2025
Struggling to Find Remote Accounting or Tax Talent? We’ve Got You Covered.If your firm or internal team is having a tough time sourcing qualified remote tax and accounting professionals, you're…
Top Remote Tax and Accounting Candidates of the Week | September 4, 2025
Struggling to Find Remote Accounting Talent? We’ve Got You Covered. If your firm or internal team is having a tough time sourcing qualified remote tax and accounting professionals, you're not…
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The Big 4 Model Might Be Cooked
Here Are Tax and Audit Salaries at Top 25, Top 300, and Regional Firms
Recruiting firm Brewer Morris has released its 2025 US CPA salary guide and should you want to read the whole thing you can request it from them here. Perhaps you,…
Friendly Reminder Not to Work Yourself to Death For This Profession
Saw this on the bird app yesterday and thought its message would be worth passing along what with 20 days remaining until April 15 and nerves as strained as ever…
Accounting Firm Abruptly Nopes Out of Tax Season Early (UPDATE)
Ed. note: An earlier version of this article's headline stated the sheriff is investigating. The Alexander County Sheriff's Office informed us they are not investigating, only fielding calls from the…
This Deloitte Office Has Eliminated Trash Cans at Desks to Make Staff Get Up Off Their Asses
Boston Business Journal wrote an article about Deloitte's new office in Boston and for some reason they chose to lead with this: You won’t find trash cans at the desks…
The IRS Decided to Troll Tax Pros For 10/15
We realize the decision to run maintenance on IRS systems likely isn't made by anyone who understands deadlines but surely someone who does could inform the IT department of these…
Top Remote Accounting Freelancers: February 3, 2024
Looking to staff up for a season or hire a freelancer for a project? Accountingfly is ready to partner with you! Gain full access to a pool of highly skilled…
10 Essential Project Management Principles for Accounting Firms
Every accounting firm struggles with project management, with smaller practices that are rapidly expanding taking the brunt of the damage. As your firm adds new clients, takes on more work,…
6 Ways Email is Secretly Destroying Your Accounting Firm
Email: The word itself sounds innocent, doesn't it? Kind of like "snail mail," but faster, sleeker, and without the slimy trail. But don't be fooled—email is secretly a sinister beast,…
Don’t Grow Your Accounting Firm Out of Business! Break Up With These Unscalable Practices Now
Business growth is always a high priority for accounting firms, especially small-to-midsize practices. Take care, though, because growth can be a double-edged sword. If your firm expands too quickly or…
Rumor Mill: PwC Is Pretty Sure That No One in Assurance or Tax Will Be Laid Off
Bob Moritz, the U.S. Chairman, is trying to calm everyone down, as an email has been sent to the troops letting them know that it’s unlikely that there will be layoffs in the Assurance or Tax practices. We haven’t been able to track down a copy of the email yet but that’s the gist.
While this is good news, we would be more comforable if the email would have read something like:
“We’re absolutely, 100% sure that no one in Assurance and Tax will be laid off like we just did in Advisory. Write it down. No one. Not even you, guy that dicks around in the cubicle by the window so that he can see everyone approaching. Your utilization is in the crapper but it’s cool. You’re safe.”
Or he simply could have just added the photo to the email so everyone would feel better. Nothing says, “trust me” like a fresh pair of P. Dubs tighty-whities, amiright?
Another KPMG Shake-Up
Following up on our earlier reports of leadership changes in several cities, — as well as the Southeast region — the Charlotte Business Journal is reporting that John Switzer now sits in the big chair of KPMG’s Charlotte office.
Swizter ascended to the new gig after serving as the managing partner of the Cleveland, Louisville, and Lexington offices.
This appears to be another restructuring switcheroo as Switzer’s predecessor, Paul Chapman, will be “[taking] a new role, serving some of the firm’s largest audit clients.”
As prestigious as that sounds, we’re inclined to believe that the bigwigs decided some fresh blood was needed in Ken Lewis land.
If you’ve got any news on freshly minted grand poobahs in your office, kindly pass along the details and feel free to speculate on the progress of the restructuring in the comments.
KPMG names managing partner [Charlotte Business Journal]
Thanks to This Week’s Advertiser
A quick word of thanks to this week’s advertiser on Going Concern:
• Verizon Wireless
If you’re interested in advertising on Going Concern, email us at advertising@breakingmedia.com. Thanks!
Facing Writs, Ex-Grant Thornton Partner Bolts Hong Kong
A former Grant Thornton partner in Hong Kong is facing two writs from clients that total $12.1 million, according to the Financial Times.
Gabriel Azedo was reported by Grant Thornton Hong Kong*, after the allegations were made, to the HK commercial crime bureau for ‘inappropriate’ conduct.
Of course, when we hear “inappropriate conduct” we automatically imagine something lewd but alas, it’s about money:
Angela Gardner, a Hong Kong resident, is suing Mr Azedo and Senning International, registered in the British Virgin Islands, for breach of contract and breach of trust and demanding $9.8m. Grant Thornton is not mentioned in this suit.
Arthur and Betty da Silva, prominent local racehorse owners, have filed a writ against Mr Azedo and Grant Thornton Hong Kong seeking an account of trust assets allegedly held on their behalf by the defendants.
Mr and Mrs da Silva are demanding the transfer of “all such trust property” to them or restitution of not less than $2.3m.
On October 20, GTI realized that this guy was a liability, reported him to HK Fuzz and promptly terminated their relationship with him. Gabe, “a pillar of the city’s financial establishment”, was on GT’s global leadership board as recently as October 21, although he had not technically been a partner in the firm since 2008.
Oh so mysterious, Mr. Azedo. What were you doing over there in HK? The FT, being the bastions of journalism that they are, tried reaching him for comment but sounds like he’s is on the lam.
Although it doesn’t seem to be much more than a headache for GT — for now — we’re happy to see something out of the firm aside from another visit from the press release elves.
Ex-Grant Thornton partner faces writs [FT]
*Everybody knows that the offices are independent of each other right? The global firm is just something they say. Sort of like “Global Six Accounting Firm”. Which, for the record, was not mentioned once in this article.
Big 4 Alumni Watch: Ex-KPMGer Wants You to Please Yourself (or Someone Else)
When considering your next professional move, do you take the time to ponder all the options? Oh sure, controller, technical accounting manager, CFO all sound nice but do they really get you excited about your work?
If you answer yes, then stop reading and return to Forbes.
Former Klynveldian, Matt Thomas is the co-founder of La Coquette a website for sex toys, paddles, handcuffs and other adult accessories. Unlikely as it may seem for an ex-Big 4 type to get into the business of sensual delights, he clearly is a master of utilizing critical thinking skills:
“sex has always sold – and we thought there was a gap in the market for really good quality products.”
Hear that? ‘A gap in the market for really good quality products’. Have you been able to find something that can provide eight hours of 24k bliss? How about leopard nipple tassels? Crystal handcuffs? Didn’t think so.
Plus, that device that you’ve dreamed about that plugs into your iPod and provides magical pleasure to the beat of JT? Dream no longer. The Naughtibod Vibrator will only set you back £46 and batteries are included.
Suffice to say, the man is far more interesting to talk to:
“It is a brave new world,” he laughs. “At dinner parties and weddings I used to tell people I was an investment banker and that would be that. Now, they’re hanging onto my every word!”
Although we understand Matt’s excitement about his newfound popularity, it can’t be that hard to keep someone’s attention if you’re carrying around a picture of a Shiri Zinn Minx vibrator. Call it a hunch.
Ex-Banker Tries His Luck with Sex Toys [City AM]
Preliminary Analytics | 11.10.09
• Why Paper Receipts Won’t Die – Tax return preparers wouldn’t have any shoeboxes jammed with them dropped off on their desks anymore. It’s sad to imagine that. [Idea of the Day/NYT]
• FDIC’s 20% Shorter ‘Merit’ Reviews Preceded Banking Failures – “At least three U.S. banks failed in the past year after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deemed them healthy enough to qualify for a program that reduced the time examiners spent on reviews by at least 20 percent.” [Bloomberg]
• Deal to Buy Sun Meets Opposition From EU Although, those pesky Europeans are a little more curious about Oracle dominating the database universe, it won’t necessarily put the kibosh on the deal. In other news, Larry Ellison likes boats. [WSJ]
• Bear Trial Jurors Ask for Evidence and Day Off – Doing your civic duty includes observing federal holidays. [DealBook]
• Madoff’s Crap Sold Off in “Garage Sale” Victims Benefit – Including a Mets jacket and post-it notes. [JDA]
Review Comments | 11.09.09
• Cadbury Sneers at Kraft’s Hostile Bid – Cadbury is not about to accept such a ‘derisory’ offer of $16 billion. [WSJ]
• Not Music to Most People’s Ears – Rats are invading your city. [Financial Armageddon]
• AIG Will Be Able to Repay Fed Loan, Moody’s Says – It’s fair to point out that Moody’s also said that AIG was AAA. [Bloomberg]
• Economists Seek to Fix a Defect in Data That Overstates the Nation’s Vigor – Federal data is bupkis? The horror. [NYT]
Jim Quigley Couldn’t Wait to Tell Everyone That Deloitte Will Be the New Auditor of Satyam
Jimbo obviously had ants in his pants and he couldn’t keep it to himself because after saying it’s a ‘done deal’ he admits, “The company is the one who would make the announcement. So I ought to be more cautious in terms of not speaking for them. We are prepared and ready to step into that role.”
Oh. So maybe JQ is talking out of school but he backpedaled nicely. We understand your excitement Jim but we also know that discretion is in order. Next time though, just throw caution to the wind. In fact, if it strikes you, don’t be afraid to mention how PwC screwed the pooch and their attempt to weasel out of the whole thing is a travesty.
Deloitte says will be auditors for Mahindra Satyam [Money Control]
CPAs Can Be Heros Too
CPAs clients’ have high expectations. Not only do you have to provide timely, exceptional service, you never know when your client might go off the deep end. And we’re talking your typical, frantic phone call, going off the deep end. We’re dealing with ‘My life is over, I can’t go on’ deep end:
[Barry] Schimel recounted how one of his clients was suicidal, so they spent 10 hours driving around talking about the clients’ problems until he got the client back home and safe. He believes the job of the accountant is to make the client successful and more profitable. “Your role is to turn obstacles into an opportunity for clients,” he said.
Not only does Schimel have clients that are in personal distress, he also has some that got the short end of the stick in the smarts department:
Another client was a trash-hauling company that didn’t know it was being charged extra at the dumping station because its drivers remained inside their trucks while the load was being weighed. Once Schimel’s firm pointed this out, the supervisors soon made sure their drivers got out of their trucks, lightening the scales.
This Schimel guy might be our personal hero. A CPA that literally saves lives and doesn’t rub their clients noses in shit when they do something stupid. Who knew this was even possible? Young CPAs, this is your idol.
How to Be a Hero to Clients [Web CPA Debits & Credits]
Caption Contest Reminder: We’re Feeding the Pig, Just Quit Freaking Us Out
If Orwell had written an allegory of capitalism, we’re sure his vision would have included Benjamin Bankes.
Jump over the original post to leave your caption for Ben’s appearance at the New York City Marathon. We’ll take submissions through the end of the day tomorrow.
Rumor Mill: PwC Tax Practice Eyeing Utilization
We’ve received a tip that human resources for PwC has made calls to staff saying “the lead partner [of the] group is reviewing everyone’s utilization numbers one person at a time.”
This is occurring in at least one industry group in the New York tax practice. Although our source stated that it was not unexpected for utilization to be scrutinized, it seemed unusual for a lead partner to be examining so many individual utilization numbers. Then again, PwC isn’t really known for a transparent performance review process.
Since the forced ranking trend seems to be in full effect, this could be the new standard operating procedure. The timing also seems dubious in the wake of (or during) last week’s layoffs in the advisory practice.
If you’ve recently been informed that your utilization rate is getting a close eye (and this comes as surprise) or if you know of the motivation behind such close inspection, email us at tips@goingconcern.com.