Going Concern

Career Center

Job of the Week: S&P Needs Help Getting Things Back on Track

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

hire me2.jpg Or at least give it your best shot. Rating agencies have received their fair share of the blame for the mess we’re in so some fresh blood is in order.
S&P needs an Associate Director – Financial Planning and Analysis. You.

Company: Standard & Poor’s
Location: New York
Title: Associate Director – Financial Planning and Analysis
Description: The Associate Director – Financial Planning & Analysis is responsible for providing financial analysis and support to the Standard & Poor’s Structured Finance Ratings team. The position provides financial support to the Director, Finance and VP, Finance in the US including the preparation of budget and medium range plans for individual cost centers.
Responsibilities: Identify, track, and disseminate information on environment and industry trends; Perform special in-depth analysis on an ad hoc basis; Report and track Global Insurance trends and produce forward issuance estimates in conjunction with BLs/RPLs; Direct the centralized planning function for Structured Finance Ratings, ranging from more conceptual to the more task-oriented; Prepare internal and external presentations; Develop central components of monthly management reports; Advise line operations and development personnel in the identification, research, evaluation and presentation of specific recommendations to senior management on new products and business opportunities; Provide timely flow of the full range of strategic and environmental planning information and analysis
Skills Required: An MBA with a concentration in Finance or a CPA, as well as a minimum of 4-7 years experience in business planning and development functions and/or management consulting; Highly developed research and analytical skills
See the full description at the GC Career Center and check out all the other great jobs at the main page.

CalCPA Is Doing About Everything It Can to Motivate You to Reactivate Your CPA

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

The California Society of CPAs understands that some of you are lazy. You don’t work for a company that provides enough CPE (and the cheapskates won’t send you to Vegas for a week) and self-study is out of the question, so your license becomes inactive.
So CalCPA is trying to get you back on the fast track to active status by offering the CPA Active Pass.
This will allow you to get the “inactive” from behind those precious letters and you can wear all of your CPA attire again without having to explain that you’re technically not an active CPA. Details-shmetails.
The CPA Active Pass allows you attend 80 hours of live CPE courses including webcasts, which is the real bonus so you won’t even have to leave your house.
No more excuses people.
CalCPA Helps Inactive California CPAs Reactivate [Web CPA]
Earlier: Arnie Signs 150-Hour Rule for California

KPMG

Someone Is Letting KPMG Employees Handle Firearms

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

Judging by everything that has gone on in the past few months, we can’t emphasize enough how dangerous this could have been. Video after the jump.

Some Atlantans Get to be a Cop for a Day [Fox 5 Atlanta]

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 10.23.09

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

• Bernanke Calls for Action on Reform – Ben is kindly reminding everyone that maybe we should try to make some regulatory changes since, you know, the world almost ended. [WSJ]
• The pyramid principle – Small banks are not doing so hot. [The Economist]
• Critics: Executive Pay Cuts A Sop To Taxpayers – Campaigns are starting people, progress will have to wait. [NPR]
• Man Pleads Guilty To DWI In Motorized La-Z-Boy – Doing anything with a BAC of 0.29 is probably illegal. [AP via NPR]
• Bank claim that is out of this world – Dalton Chisholm has to present additional evidence today in order to give him a prayer at becoming the first ever billion-trillionaire. [BBC]

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.22.09

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

• The Code is 23! – Happy, happy. [Tax Update Blog]
• Accounting Firms Succeed Despite Economic Slump – “CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, surveyed 100 U.S. accounting firms and found that even in a contracted economy, none of the firms have lowered their rates.” [Web CPA]
• Microsoft Tries to Lose ‘PC Guy’ Image With Windows 7 – Hodgman. We warned you. [Bloomberg]
• Is $5,500 Golf Cart Credit Emblematic of “Tax Policy in the Age of Obama” – WSJ op-ed criticizing the President’s policy? The horror. [TaxProf Blog]
• Fraud Reported in Program to Help New Homebuyers – “Some claims were filed for children as young as 4 years old.” [NYT]

SHOCKER: Volunteer Tax Preparers Have High Error Rates

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

Forty-one percent per a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report. Luckily, the TIGTA has suggestions:

TIGTA recommended that the IRS analyze the accuracy of returns prepared at individual volunteer sites to identify patterns and concerns on which to focus education, training and accountability. The report also suggested that the IRS improve the intake sheet that is used at the start of the tax prep process to include questions based on new tax laws and filing status, and improve the reviews of intake sheets and returns completed at volunteer sites.

The TIGTA anonymously sent auditors to volunteer testing sites which seems pretty unfair. If those sneaky bastards had reviewed the tax returns instead of Monday morning quarterbacking the volunteers maybe there would’ve been less mistakes. Just a thought.

Volunteer Tax Preparers Have High Error Rates [Web CPA]

The SEC’s Education of the Public Now Includes Video Games

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

Just when you thought the SEC had run out of good ideas, investor.gov comes along and just blows your mind all over again.
Nevermind Mary Schapiro’s surprisingly pleasant welcome and tips on how to avoid fraud. The Money Game page is where the real ingenuity comes into play.
Moneytopia takes a while to load, which obviously serves as proof that this latest method of educating the public has caught fire like no one could have expected.
Except for the Commission that is. Lucky for us, Schape & Co. had the foresight to realize how popular Moneytopia would be and allows you to play Bust Out while you wait.
When the game finally loads (after our horrendous score of 600), Moneytopia takes a stab at our earlier suggestion regarding financial statements, using cartoons and make believe wealth and connections to explain how to be not only a better investor but an honest investor. Like we said, another bullseye.

Uncategorized

We’d All Appreciate It if Grant Thornton Got Involved in a New Lawsuit

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

Grant Thornton just isn’t able to shake Parmalat, the freaky-ass extended-life milk company. Parmalat appealed the latest dismissal of its lawsuit against GT and Bank of America that accuses the two companies of helping set up phony transactions so “insiders could steal from the company.”
Parmalat’s Chief Milk-Magician, Enrico Bondi, is obviously not satisfied with the $100 million that he twisted away from BofA and will continue to hassling both companies until long past the expiration date on his product.
Parmalat appeals BofA, auditor lawsuit dismissals [Reuters]

Uncategorized

Employee Satisfaction Survey: GC Edition

Caleb Newquist
October 23, 2009

In the spirit of what appears to be survey week, we’re honoring requests to do our own survey. Plus we’ve been inspired by some questions that we’ve seen in the comments.
We’ve presented a few questions for you to answer, after the jump. Feel free to add your more appropriate “D” answer to any of them. We also encourage you to keep submitting your questions with multiple choice responses.

Question 1 – I feel that I am recognized for my performance:
A. Too frequently by ass-grabs.
B. Not frequently enough by ass-grabs.
C. I prefer to not be recognized for my performance because I don’t like anyone talking to me and if I have one more conversation with one of these idiots I’m punching that idiot in the face.
Question 2 – Leadership’s communication:
A. Is jamming up my inbox to the point that I can’t locate my porn newsletters.
B. Is helpful when I’m having trouble vomiting.
C. Would be much more tolerable if it was a show tune sung by Hugh Jackman.
Question 3 – I feel that my compensation:
A. Is about as fair as getting kicked in the genitals on a daily basis.
B. Is appropriate if I had not finished high school.
C. Makes my friend, who delivers newspapers, laugh.

Uncategorized

Grant Thornton Survey: Financial Statements Are Still Too Complex for the Average Shmo Investor

Caleb Newquist
October 22, 2009

That’s right! Way too complicated. GT’s survey states that 73% of the finance bigwigs surveyed believe financial statements are too complex for the average investor to understand. That’s bad because even more respondents (82%) said that financial statements should “be prepared to meet the needs of the average investor”.
Strangely, this survey’s respondents, “CFOs and senior comptrollers”, are directly responsible for the still-too-confusing financial statements. Unless, of course, everyone that responded to this survey already has easy-to-understand financials and thus, is thinking, “NMFP”.
Also, average investor is not explicitly defined which doesn’t help us put the survey in context. So we’ll put it out there that if “average investor” is anything remotely similar to the “average American”, the solution to this whole problem may be to get Fisher-Price and reality TV producers involved.
Nearly three-quarters of senior financial executives say financial statements too complex for investors [Press Release]

Career Center

Face It. Your Resumé Probably Needs Work

Caleb Newquist
October 22, 2009

One way or another, lots of you are looking for jobs. The problem is that many of you have pre-tay, pret-tay, pre-tay similar work experiences. So how do you get your resumé to stand out without attaching ~~nude~~ glamor photos?
FINS has some tips including that may give you an advantage on your pavement pounding competition including:
• The Basics – If you’ve got letters behind your name, put that at the top. Don’t slip it in as an afterthought.
• Demonstrate How Skills Apply – If you’re a badass at anything, don’t be shy. SOX 404, tax planning, M&A, whatever your speciality, make it known.
• List High-Value Experience – Mention how you explained accounting for derivatives to all your clients. Don’t mention nightmare inventory counts.
Head over to FINS to see all their tips including a before and after example resumé. Oh, and DON’T. DO. THIS.
Foot in the Door: The Perfect Accounting Resume [FINS]

KPMG

Rumor Mill: KPMG Wants You To Stop Smothering Your Kids

Caleb Newquist
October 22, 2009

Klynveldians, what are you doing today at 2 pm? Nothing? Here you go:

As we continue to observe National Work & Family Month during October,
KPMG will host a national MSO from Lifeworks entitled Being an Involved
Parent: How Much Is Too Much? on Thursday, October 22, from 2:00 p.m. –
3:00 p.m. ET.
This special session is designed to help parents:
§ Understand the traits of overly involved parents
§ Learn the long-term consequences of over-involvement
§ Identify strategies for raising self-reliant, resilient children
§ Find a balance of involvement that will help children ultimately become
independent adults.
If you’d like to join us for this session, be sure to sign up today!

Don’t have kids? No worries. This will load up your queue of excuses for why you’re working late after you enter parenthood.

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