Going Concern

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.02.09

Caleb Newquist
October 3, 2009

• The New CPA Exam, Layoffs, and the Top Twitter Feeds in Accounting – Get caught up. [FINS]
• Trustee Sues Four Madoff Relatives, Seeking $199 Million – For stupidity, mind you. [NYT]
• Jobs Vanish – Government numbers? Wrong? [Floyd Norris/NYT]
• Deadline for Small Co. 404 Audit Reports: June 15 – Why not? [CFO]
• The Fed Fighter: DealBook’s Ron Paul Interview – Fight all you want Doc. [DealBook]
• Anheuser-Busch InBev Nears Parks Deal – Whales to be let go? [WSJ]

Uncategorized

Moss Adams Admits New Partners, Campaign for ‘Global Eleven’ Next?

Caleb Newquist
October 3, 2009

How about some good news to end your week? Well, that is, if you’re a newly minted partner at the 11th largest CPA firm and the largest firm with HQ on the Left Coast:
Press release:

Moss Adams announces the admission of six individuals to the partnership in September and two managing directors. The firm currently has 250 partners, 52 of which are women or 21%. These figures emphasize the firm’s growth and continued acceleration of Forum_W, the firm’s effort to support efforts to attract, develop, retain and advance women.

All very impressive, and we congratulate the new partners on putting their asses on the line. ‘Global Eleven Accounting Firm’ doesn’t quite have the cachet we’re looking for. Maybe ‘Elite Eleven’*? Whatever, but we’re sure Moss Adams wants included in some sort of moniker. Leave your suggestions in the comments. Or start drinking. Whatevs.
*Read Moss Adams marketing people: You’ll never get to ‘Global’ anything until you get a logo out there that we can use for an image. Put it on Wikipedia for crying out loud. Crowe Horwath has an image. Get with it.

Uncategorized

Caption Contest Poll Results: E&Y at the Emmys

Caleb Newquist
October 3, 2009

Your winner after the jump:

“EY reimbursed me for this dress with the money that would have been used to pay your bonus“
With nearly 75% of the vote. A landslide of Iranian proportions. The rest:
• Two more Deal or No Deal rejects reenact their failed auditions for the cameras – 11%
• The sun never sets on a badass. – 9%
• To help lower the deficit, the Secret Service started selling ad space on the President’s “football” – 5.5%
Is money all you people care about?

The JDA

The PCAOB Wants to Know Which Superhero You Are… Later

Adrienne Gonzalez
October 3, 2009

What’s with the PCAOB being all up in everyone’s business? Is this the most effective way to tackle total financial failure or just more bureaucratic red tape?

The good news is that there may be some, er, technical difficulties in the implementation of the PCAOB’s latest move. But don’t think you’re off the hook just yet, they’ve got their little web monkeys all over it.

Journal of Accountancy:

The PCAOB postponed the effective date for registered public accounting firms required to report under its new rules to Dec. 31, 2009, from the previous date of Oct. 12, in order to resolve technical issues related to deploying the board’s new Web-based system for processing and publishing filings on the new forms, according to a news release.

Forms 1, 2, 3 and 4 must be filed electronically through that system.

The postponement will not affect the timing of the first annual reports required from registered firms, which will still be due on June 30, 2010, for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2010.

Under the new rules, approved by the SEC on Aug. 13, 2009, certain events– ranging from administrative matters such as changes in a firm’s contact information to more substantive matters, including certain types of legal proceedings against a firm or its personnel–that occur on or after the Dec. 31 effective date must be reported by a registered firm in a special report on PCAOB Form 3 within 30 days after the event.

Since the PCAOB appears to be on a roll, we have a few more suggestions for reports that they may find useful, while we’re on the mandatory reporting tip, and hopefully implementation of these won’t cause the PCAOB Internets to go all wonky:

• All management must submit weekly urine samples, and samples must be signed off by partners, who must also submit weekly samples.

• All new hires must complete Ropes Course team-building exercises, as well as sensitivity training. First years will also be required to watch the Gilmore Girls box set and will be required to submit hours dedicated to this to the PCAOB each month. No cheating, Golden Girls is not a substitute and firms who do not comply will be fined $25 for each DVD in the box set.

• Firms must report staff Facebook status to the PCAOB on a weekly basis, as well as what staff “likes” and the results of “Which Superhero are You?” quizzes. Twitter status updates from firm staff are optional reporting, and the PCAOB will accept public comment on this issue (via @ reply only) until December 31st, 2009.

If you have suggestions for more PCAOB mandatory reporting that will just make for more headaches at work, do let us know in the comments (and no, “shove it up your ass, PCAOB” is not a good suggestion, and frankly we’ve suggested that one already ourselves).

Big 4

(UPDATE) Rumor Mill: KPMG Compensation Discussions Starting

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

Your patience is unmatched, Klynveldians.
Rumor is that the Advisory practice in the Southeast region is having a conference call today (which is slightly more awkward than a voicemail) with all the non-exceptional managers and staff to communicate their banishment to compensation-Siberia. Our source indicated that this has never been done before, in case it sounds strange.
If you’ve got more details on this call or if you’re in another region and have details drop us a line. In the meantime, you’ll probably have to live with the official silence until at least Monday.
UPDATE, 4:02 pm: All right you guys. Sounds like it was a pretty awesome call. If you’re ~~not above~~ under an “SP5” you might actually get a pay cut and there’s no chance in HELL that you’re getting a raise. Also, apparently the HR rep phoned in from home and his dog was barking in the background which just crosses the line of appropriateness in all kinds of awesome ways. We’re picturing a pomeranian (can’t leave them alone, they eat the bloody furniture) but if we’ve got it wrong, please let us know.

Uncategorized

Something for the Office Gift Exchange This Holiday Season

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

We don’t know a damn thing about gemstones but we’ll go out on a limb to say that 10,700 carats is a lot. That’s the size of a “ruby” that E&Y has the esteemed pleasure of trying to sell, as the administrators of now bankrupt Wrekin Construction in the UK.
The stone was once valued around £11 million but turns out its worth closer to £100.
E&Y is now resorting to hocking this overpriced paperweight, that will certainly be re-gifted many times over, in Rock ‘n’ Gem Magazine in the UK and Colored Stone Magazine here in the Land of the Free.
Rare £11m gem becomes £100 rock [BBC]
Failed group’s £11m ruby ‘near worthless’ [The Daily Telegraph]

Career Center

Job of the Week: Yes. That Zagat

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

hire me2.jpg If you don’t have enough [insert anything] guides in your life, get yourself a job at Zagat, the mother of all guides to anything and then you’ll never have to wonder what to do ever again.
You may develop an annoyance, however, to all your friends asking for free copies.
Details, after the jump

Company: Zagat Survey
Location: New York
Title: Manager, Accounting
Responsibilities: Month end closing preparation; General ledger maintenance; Enter monthly journal entries and accruals; Account reconciliation and review; Account analysis; Supervise staff performing payroll, accounts receivable and accounts payable functions; Sales tax & Commercial rent tax preparation; Prepare quarterly commissions; Budgeting experience a plus; Supervisory experience
Primary Qualifiations: Bachelors degree; CPA required; Great Plains a plus; Proficient on Excel; Paychex payroll software knowledge a plus; 4-7 years experience acting in role
See the full description at the GC Career Center and check out plenty of other jobs on the main page.

Uncategorized

Creepy Accountant of the Week

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

No matter how good this guy was at preparing tax returns, we recommend finding someone else, if you’re in the Mesa, AZ area:

Jess Alan Skousen was arrested at his Mesa accounting business Wednesday for allegedly having illegal child pornography on his laptop computer
Mesa Police Department spokesman Ed Wessing sai [sic] Skousen, 40, was arrested after his wife found sexual images of children on his computer.

Ouch. The wife turned him in. Can’t say that we blame her.

Wessing identified Skousen’s business as Self Tax Preparation on Stapley Road. The pictures found on the computer include those of children between ages of 2 and 15, some in sexual poses, according to Wessing. The Arizona Corporation Commission lists a number accounting, tax and other businesses under Skousen’s name.

Eight year-olds, Dude.
Mesa tax preparer arrested on child porn charges [Phoenix Business Journal]

Big 4

Accountants Raiding Accountants Probably Makes for a Hilariously Awkward Scene

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

Jesus, that was fast. After Wednesday’s snoozer raids at the E&Y office in Hong Kong, Icelandic police have raided the offices of KPMG and PwC in Reykjavik, Iceland, according to the Daily Telegraph.
More, after the jump

Police have raided the offices of KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Reykjavik, seizing documents and computer data as part of an investigation into alleged criminal activity at three collapsed Icelandic banks…The office of Olafur Thor Hauksson, the Icelandic investigator charged with examining the collapse of
the three banks a year ago, confirmed that 22 policemen and six foreign accountants took part in the searches yesterday.

Six accountants? Whoa, this thing was way more serious. No coffee and bagel strategy here as it would have totally distracted the investigating accountants from their jobs.
Likewise, we doubt anyone was strapped for this raid. Especially the number crunchers. We can definitely picture them begging the police though, “C’mon, they don’t even have to be loaded. We’ll just leave them in the holsters. WE SWEAR.”
The most excitement that we can envision was some bean counter trash talk that may have escalated into open-hand slaps and flailing arms and legs. The real police, after enjoying this hilarious scene for a few moments, would have had no choice but to break up the nerd fight as it began encroaching on the investigation and other people’s personal space.
KPMG and PwC Reykjavik offices are raided by Icelandic police [The Daily Telegraph]

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 10.02.09

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

• Dunkin’ Donuts president quits – After Thursday’s success, he must have wanted to go out on top. [BBC]
• Strong dollar ‘very important’: Geithner – Not only that but we have to convince the world that we’re thrifty. Then we wouldn’t be Americans, would we? [Reuters]
• Heads Should Have Rolled at Raters: Congresswoman – Pols using hindsight for grandstanding? [CFO]
• CIT Discloses Its Restructuring Plan – “By simultaneously soliciting votes for a prepackaged bankruptcy alongside the debt exchange offers, the company is hoping to scare enough bondholders into supporting the out-of-court restructuring effort.” Run away. [DealBook]
• Don’t forget to vote in the poll for our Caption Contest. It closes at 3 pm EDT.

Review Comments

Review Comments | 10.01.09

Caleb Newquist
October 2, 2009

• Woods Becomes First Athlete to Earn $1 Billion, Forbes Says – Does that mean he can upgrade from a Buick? [Bloomberg]
• Global Convergence of Accounting Standards? In Whose Lifetime? – Jim Peterson’s take on the cat herding that is accounting rule convergence. [Re: Balance]
• Survey: Investors Want Enforcement, Not New Regulators – Oh? We thought vengeance was what they were looking for. [Compliance Week]
• Guess the Ken Lewis beard – Again, we picture the ZZ Top for KL. [FT Alphaville]
• Auditor-Small Issuer Controls Spats Seen – “Will smaller companies get along with their auditors when their internal controls get reviewed for the first time?” In short: No. [CFO]