Going Concern

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 10.12.09

Caleb Newquist
October 12, 2009

• Stanford wins ruling in battle over fraud case defence – Court ruled that Stan can use proceeds from a corporate insurance policy to pay for his defense. Can we get on with the circus trial now, please? [FT]
• A Case Pitting Spin Against Fraud – “How far can Wall Street firms go to put a positive spin on bad news?” Used car salesmen should probably pay attention. [WSJ]
• BofA urged to seek external chief executive – Big institutional investors want fresh blood and not the next KL. [FT]
• Citi fined amid tax crackdown – $600k for derivatives that were partly designed to avoid taxes is supposedly going to scare other banks into compliance. [FT]
• Iceland Shrinks 8% as Prices Increase 11% in Deepest Recession – “The stock market has lost 97 percent of its value, and more than 780 companies have buckled under the weight of foreign currency loans as the krona plunged.” So, that’s not good. [Bloomberg]
• Improving your credit vs paying down debt – Americans can’t win. [Felix Salmon/Reuters]

Announcements

GC Weekend: We’re with You in Spirit

Caleb Newquist
October 11, 2009

We’re not going to pretend like there aren’t people working today. With a major deadline just four days away we’re sure some of you have had to watch your favorite gridiron match ups or playoff baseball courtesy of some piss-poor “real-time” updates. We’re sorry. That sucks
But hey, since you’re in the office, semi-concentrated on work, you might as well take a short survey that’s going to help us learn more about you and give you a chance to tell us what you like and dislike about GC.
And you’ll have a chance to win a $100 AMEX gift certificate so that could make working this weekend all worthwhile.
Okay, we apologize for that. Thanks for participating.

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.09.09

Caleb Newquist
October 10, 2009

• GC October Survey – A chance for a $100 AMEX gift certificate people. Get on it.
• $100 million settlement for bankrupt Phila. lender – American Business Financial Services is bankrupt. Now the trustee wants BDO to pay $962 million. Ouch. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Internal Audit Staff Hit Hard by Recession [Web CPA]
• Corporate bully of the day: Hertz – Audit Integrity called out Hertz. Hertz sues Audit Integrity. That’s mature. [Felix Salmon/Reuters]
• FASB Finalizes New Revenue Recognition Rules – Yes, the wait is over. [Compliance Week]
• Tax Consequences of President Obama’s Nobel Prize [TaxProf Blog]

Uncategorized

Obvious Sign of Fraud: You’re Having Sex with the Client

Caleb Newquist
October 10, 2009

In case you young auditors thought you needed to have highly acute senses to detect fraud at your clients, you’re dead wrong.
Best thing you can do is immediately become skeptical if you find yourself trying to figure out the best posish for the client’s office supply room:
More, after the jump

“These auditors from the Big Four accounting firms are usually single kids just a few years out of school. What do kids in their 20s think about all the time? Sex,” said [Sam] Antar, who was at the center of a multi-million dollar fraud 20 years ago.
So Antar would pair “cute hot female” employees with male auditors as part of his distraction strategy. “In effect, I was a fraudster, matchmaker and pimp,” said Antar, who avoided jail time by working with the U.S. government, and now advises government agencies and businesses on avoiding accounting fraud.

As we’ve covered, the opportunities for accountants to get some action can be few and far between so this strategy makes perfect sense.
This will put many of you in a very difficult situation. We really wish the best for all you of in the getting laid department especially when it involves someone that would ordinarily be way out of your league.
But you may have to decide: Do you uncover the next diabolical Ponzi scheme or do you totally cave to the irresistible charms of the guy that looks way too much like Chace Crawford?
Who would it take for you to overlook a few million in misappropriated funds? Discuss in the comments.
Financial fraud — accounting for criminals [CNN]

Big 4
Video

Since When Do They Let Accountants on CNBC?

Caleb Newquist
October 10, 2009

What were these guys really saying? Other than accountants are NOT to be blamed for anything. Discuss. And for crissakes Jim, learn how to tie a Windsor knot.

Tax
Video

Method Man Hasn’t Spoken to His CPA in 3-4 Years

Caleb Newquist
October 10, 2009

NBD.

Also: TaxProf Blog and DB.

The CPA Exam: It’s Too Late Now

Adrienne Gonzalez
October 9, 2009

It’s October which means CPA exam candidates have about 7 weeks left to sneak in one more exam part before the end of the year. If you’re like most candidates, you blew off this entire year with excuses or got disappointed by failing scores early in the year and haven’t given the exam much thought since. Well you better start because you’ve got about 1,248 hours until the final window of the year is closed.
Sometimes procrastination pays off but in this instance, the exam will never get easier and you’ll never get through it if you keep putting it off.
Continued, after the jump

Typical prep time for the sections is as follows*:
BEC – 64 hours
AUD – 80 hours
REG – 96 hours
FAR – 132 hours
With 1,248 hours remaining until the December blackout, you should easily be able to fit in FAR, right? Wrong. If you’re working fulltime, lets just take out 50 hours a week, leaving you with 898 hours. But you’ve got to sleep, right? So if you get 6 hours a night, that leaves 580 hours. Well hell, you could prepare for two sections in that time, couldn’t you?
Not so much. Do you think you’re the only one who waited until the last minute?
The lesson for next year? Schedule early. Chances are if you’re trying to fit in one more section before the end of the year, you will not be able to sit at the Prometric test center of your choice, or may not be able to get the time/date that you desire. Well, that sucks for you, so hopefully you remember that for next time.
If you don’t start studying now, you’ve probably blown it for the year and should just wait for the first window of 2010. Remember the CPA exam isn’t like college, you can’t just stay over-caffeinated for a weekend and cram everything in that you need. Think of the information like a fine wine, it’s got to ferment in your brain to be useful come test day. Your brain learns best in layers anyway and without the foundation, you’re going to get tricked by the easiest MCQ simply because you don’t have the background on each concept.
Otherwise it will be November before you know it and you won’t have cracked a single CPA Review book between now and then. Trust me on this one, kids, start early and start slow. I’m trying to help you.
*Time based on video lectures and AICPA recommendation of 2 – 3 hours of self-study MCQ/sims for every hour of lecture but we’re sure you’re all Einsteins when it comes to this stuff so it’s probably less.

Career Center

Job of the Week: Lions Club International May Even Let the Gents Grow Out Their Manes

Caleb Newquist
October 9, 2009

hire me2.jpg The lion. King of the jungle. They’ve even got a club. Sorry, there’s no liger club. We checked.
Lions club needs an accountant. A CPA even. This could be you.
Details after the jump.

Company: Lions Club International
Location: Chicago
Description: This position provides overall accounting and financial support to our Foundation.
Responsibilities: Compiling and analyzing financial information; account reconciliations, report generation and the preparation of financial presentations for upper management; preparation of budgets and forecasts, preparation of supporting schedules for annual reports, Form 990 and related state tax filings. Supervises one staff member. Ideal candidate will have experience in general accounting with tax exposure.
Skills Required: Bachelor’s degree; 3+ years accounting experience (public accounting experience preferred); CPA preferred
See the full description at the GC Career Center and a gig with a non-profit organization named after an animal doesn’t get you excited, go to the main page and find your next temporary dream job.

Uncategorized

CPAs Rank #6 for Best Jobs in America

Caleb Newquist
October 9, 2009

Don’t have enough corporate magazine lists in your life? Didn’t think so. CNN/Money’s Best Jobs in America dropped this morning and lo and behold, CPAs come in at #6.
Seem high? Maybe. CPAs did only receive grades of ‘C’ on “Benefits to Society” (you don’t keep people from dying) and “Low Stress” (‘C’ seems generous).
Also, CPAs only rank in the top ten in “Flexibility” but still managed to sneak into the top ten overall.
Continued, after the jump

Dubious, right? Money still makes their case:

Businesses began stocking the payroll with CPAs after major accounting scandals earlier this decade, and a host of new corporate accounting rules going into effect soon should ratchet up demand further.
Government agencies are also hiring CPAs, to monitor how well companies are complying with the new regs. Add inevitable changes to personal income tax rules and you have a pretty recession-proof profession.
“Unless Congress does away with taxes, we’ll always have work,” says CPA Lisa Featherngill of Winston-Salem, N.C. Some 33,000 independent CPAs also work for themselves, typically as tax preparers.

Debunk:
1. Scandals early in the decade? What about present scandals? Lotta good hiring all those CPAs did.
2. Remind us which agencies are doing a bang up job keeping companies in line with regulations?
3. Oh, and regardless of the certainty of taxes, this happens.
Maybe we’re overreacting. Perhaps they’re pointing out that if you’ve got a CPA, that gives you options (get crackin’ non-CPAs). Regardless of what Grant Thornton’s latest survey says.
So, if you’re a CPA and you’re happy, clap your hands. And discuss the list and why (or why not) being a CPA kicks so much ass.
Best Jobs in America [CNN/Money]

Announcements

GC October Survey

Caleb Newquist
October 9, 2009

All right people, it’s gotten to the point where we need to know some things about you. TPTB kindly ask that you take a short, perfectly harmless survey.
Your participation is strongly encouraged because 1) you get to tell us how you really feel and B) we asked Chuck for a favor and he’s agreed to track down those of you that don’t play ball.
Personally, unless you’re Natalie Gulbis, we’re not interested but we don’t call the shots around here. Oh, and if you participate, you have a chance to win $100 AMEX gift certificate, which sure beats the hell out of a sharp stick in the eye.
We appreciate your participation.

Mary Schapiro Would Never Support Low Quality Global Accounting Standards

Caleb Newquist
October 9, 2009

Whether Mary Schapiro was just craving Toblerones right out of the factory or just needed to cool off after head butting the staff involved in the Mark Cuban case to get them fired up, the Chair of the Commission is over in Basel, Switzerland letting some other Schape-types know that she’s 100% behind “a global set of high-quality accounting standards.”
That’s great and all but why do we keep hearing the phrase ‘high-quality accounting standards’? Maybe it’s our wild imagination but is there a back room somewhere filled with bizarro accountants devising a plan to develop “the biggest set of piss-poor global accounting standards you could possibly imagine”?
Is that why the convergence will take so long because there are opposing forces with their own agenda? We all want quality accounting standards M. Schape unless you’re not telling us the whole story.
SEC seeks common goal for accounts [FT]

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 10.09.09

Caleb Newquist
October 9, 2009

• GM Expected to Seal Hummer Sale – $150 mil. Totally worth it. [WSJ]
• Bernanke Ready to Tighten When Recovery Sufficient – Don’t rush the man, you impatient twerps. [Bloomberg]
• FDIC questions Citi management review: report – ‘Cause, you know, they almost destroyed the WHOLE WORLD. [Reuters]
• 34 Banks Miss TARP Dividends and Almost No One Notices – AIG, CIT, and Bancorp are the top three slackers. Thanks guys. [Naked Capitalism]
• In Surprise, Nobel Peace Prize to Obama for Diplomacy – Glenn Beck’s hysterical dismissal of the legitimacy of the award in 3…2…1… [NYT]

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