Over the weekend we received an email that basically confirmed our suspicions that many of you were working over the weekend. Considering the time of year, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that hours are starting to pile up and you’re spending at least one hour a night deciding where you’re ordering take out from.
We received word over the weekend that tax groups at KPMG PwC all the major firms are working like crazy already in anticipation for the September 15th and October 15th filing deadlines.
There have also been whispers among some in the tax practice at KPMG that layoffs may occur after the deadlines due to large number of idle hands that will be around after the deadlines pass.
Tax associates out there, let’s know what your hours have been, what you’re hearing about post-deadline layoffs, and where you don’t want to get take out from ever again.
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PwC Tells Remote Tax Staff to Get Their Butts Into the Office
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In a Final Rule, Dept of Education Is Unswayed By the AICPA’s Strongly Worded Letters About the Meaning of Words
The end of the ‘Always Available’ professional
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Accounting Firm Abruptly Nopes Out of Tax Season Early (UPDATE)
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Preliminary Analytics | 08.10.09
• Paulson’s Calls to Goldman May Have Tested Ethics – “During the week of the A.I.G. bailout alone, Mr. Paulson and Mr. Blankfein spoke two dozen times, the calendars show, far more frequently than Mr. Paulson did with other Wall Street executives.” Paging Representative Waters. [DealBook]
• Textbooks Offered for iPod, iPhones – “A provider of subscription e-textbooks for college students is making its 7,000-plus titles accessible on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod Touch as interest heats up in the digital-textbook arena.” [WSJ]
• States End Up Losers in Gambling Pullback – Now, everyone loses! [WSJ]
• Expert: Madoff Victims May Wait 15 Yrs. For Full Payout – “…some non-wealthy clawback subjects paying $50 to $100 a month in an installment plan.” [New York Post]
• Even sex tough to sell in this recession – BAIL-OUT! BAIL-OUT! BAIL-OUT! [Greg Burns/Chicago Tribune]
Going Concern Weekend: Your Weekend Plans
The summer weekends are running out people. So what are you up to? BBQ? Beach? Baseball?
10-Q’s? TAX RETURNS?
Here’s an email we received late last night:
Check out one accountant’s plans, after the jump
I am working both days this weekend. On top of that, I had to work (although not explicitly enforced) on a holiday. The problem is upper management says all these things about maintaining a healthy balance at work but in reality it can never be realized. They say to eat your lunch in peace but they also say do a boat load of work by the end of the day. No sane human can even take an hour in the middle of a day to do such a thing. The duplicity is beyond annoying. Shitty management across the board. Nothing is sacred to these people except for the revenue generated from a bunch of stupid clients.
Sounds like a party. Are you working this weekend? Let us know what’s going on at tips@goingconcern.com. If you know someone that is working this weekend, pass this along so we can get the scoop on how much fun they’re having.
10-Q’s are due Monday, Corporate tax deadline is just a month away, sleep is becoming optional but GC is here for you. Let it out. You’ll feel better.
Review Comments | 08.07.09
• Don’t forget to join our group on Facebook!
• Enforcement push gives SEC image boost Let it be known that we still think very lowly of the SEC. [FT.com]
• Ethics Panel Clears Dodd in Countrywide Refinancing If only Chris Dodd had that Angelo Mozilo glow there might have been more of an obvious connection. [Bloomberg]
• A Defense of Bank of America’s Chief FTW Ken Lewis! [DealBook]
• Former Rabbi Charged in $35M Tax Fraud Scheme 3,300 tax returns using the names of prison inmates. [Web CPA via TaxProf Blog]
• D.C. Circuit Slams IRS, Opens Door to Billions of Dollars Telephone Excise Tax Refunds [TaxProf Blog]
Madoff CFO to Be Charged
Frank DiPascali, Bernie Madoff’s CFO Number-Maker-Upper is going to be charged in connection with some money gone missing. DiPascali has agreed to skip the grand jury and get down to business, according to Bloomberg, indicating that he might flip. DiPascali seems to be taking a cue from another pseudo-bean counter who’s only plausible defense is stupidity.
U.S. to File Charges Against DiPascali, Ex-Madoff CFO [Bloomberg]
Your Token IRS/UBS Update
In, oh for the love of God make it stop, news, Judge Alan Gold has allowed the IRS and UBS more time to hammer out a deal over 52,000-someodd names of American account holders.
There was supposed to be a deal today but then the judge said the 10th would be fine. Now the 12th is the date and if that doesn’t work, then they have until 17th. OH to hell with it. Who needs a drink?
U.S. and UBS Get More Time to Reach a Deal [DealBook]
Michael Jackson’s Doctor is a Deadbeat
We have failed again to avoid deceased King of Pop news. Turns out the doctor who is suspected of providing Jackson with drugs that may have killed him is also is a tax scofflaw.
Dr. Conrad Murray is facing a $20k tax lien to the State of California, who, we’ve heard, needs the money. It was filed nine days before Jackson died which will likely add to the batsh!t crazy conspiracy theories surrounding his death.
Michael Jackson Doctor Faces Tax Lien [Web CPA]
Colonial Bank Shouldn’t Make Any Late Summer Plans
So all that fuss over at Colonial Bank? Accounting irregularities, natch. According to Reuters, “Colonial BancGroup Inc (CNB.N) said it faces a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) related to accounting irregularities at its mortgage lending unit, and the struggling lender warned it may be put under receivership.”
The SEC is also taking a peek at the bank’s participation in TARP. Book cooking for taxpayer funds may have its poster child. Top notch, Colonial. Top notch.
Colonial BancGroup faces criminal probe, FDIC action [Reuters]
The FDIC May Have to Seize Itself
Editor’s note: Adrienne Gonzalez is founder and managing editor of Jr Deputy Accountant as well as regular contributor to leading financial/investment sites like Seeking Alpha and GoldmanSachs666. By day, she teaches unlicensed accountants to pass the CPA exam, though what she does in her copious amounts of freetime in the evening is really none of your business. Follow her adventures in Fedbashing and CPA-wrangling on Twitter @adrigonzo but please don’t show up unannounced at her San Francisco office as she’s got a mean streak. Her favorite FASB is 166.
In honor of Bank Fail Friday, let’s take a look at our doubt over the FDIC continuing as a going concern. Sure, we know it’s technically a government agency and therefore not subject to the same sorts of worries as public companies but there is certainly something brewing here.
We are not in the business of auditing the financial statements of the FDIC, even if they provided such information. Frankly, if they did, we really aren’t equipped to analyze said statements. Be that as it may, you don’t need to be an expert to see that the FDIC is in a whole shit ton of trouble (yes, that is our qualified opinion).
More, after the jump
Remember Colonial Bank? Surely Sheila Bair has been up late since the news broke on Monday that they’d cooked their books, or something about TARP fraud (though the bank never received TARP funds after that TBW deal for $300 million fell through Friday). Maybe it was undercapitalization? Who keeps track of these things?
Anyway, the point here is that the FDIC well has run dry and there’s no magically conjuring up a Treasury line of credit. While Congress has offered up a $500 billion “line of credit” to our friends at the FDIC, that money technically does not exist. (Psst: hate to break it to Congress but yours truly is only a tad concerned that there may be trouble in the bond market ahead).
I’m no mathlete but this should be fairly simple to understand:
Colonial has about $25.5 billion in assets, while the FDIC has about $13 billion remaining in the fund. According to Sheila’s math, new FDIC fees levied against Too Big to Fail will net the fund about $27 billion this year. To put this into perspective, the FDIC lost $33.5 billion in 2008 to cover 25 bank failures. Add it up, as we’ve had 69 bank failures in 2009 to date. Carry the 1 and I believe we arrive at the following figure: the FDIC is screwed.
Like I said, someone might want to check my numbers but it doesn’t look good.
I could also point out that perhaps the FDIC should have chosen the “proactive” route and collected insurance premiums for the last 10 years instead of assuming the good times would last forever but again, not my jurisdiction.
Disclosure: the author has long since diversified her “investments” in the First National Bank of Her Mattress, thankyouverymuch.
Bob Herz is the Most Dangerous Man in America
According to Reuters columnist, James Pethokoukis, that is. JP argues that the FASB’s most recent attempt to go balls to the wall with mark-to-market will endanger the economy:
“What if an upgraded mark-to-market standard forced slowly healing banks to set aside huge sums to cover paper losses and further crimp lending? Not FASB’s problem.” He also argues that the FASB is motivated by the ideology around transparency as opposed to “practicality and experience”.
The problem, as we see it, with this argument is that JP sees mark-to-market as an inconvenient rule considering the circumstances that the economy is under. That very well may be but we would ask, what the hell is the alternative? “Massaging” the rules every so often, as he puts it? So making the rules less principled when they are inconvenient is the solution? Accounting rules are not written so that we can change them when they don’t work in our favor.
Make no mistake, we’re not crazy about the current system as it exists. GAAP continues to look more and more like the U.S. Tax Code, so the FASB’s sloth-like attempt to develop a “principles system” is promising encouraging something. Mark-to-market is the best reflection of that something. The idea that tweaking of the rules under duress is an acceptable form of determining the direction of financial reporting is what drives accountants f’n berserk.
America’s Most Dangerous Man? An Accountant [James Pethokoukis/Reuters]
Firm Watch Ranking and Wrap-up
So here’s our little wrap up on the firms we covered this week. Pretty difficult to figure out who’s really got it the worst out there, as every firm seems to have its own skeletons. God knows that we’ll continue to dig through as many closets as we can find in order to keep you all informed, especially as we approach the fiscal year ends for raises and bonuses (or lack thereof) and the incoming new hires get razed.
See the rank /em>
Taking a Beating
1. PwC – On top of everything that PwC is already dealing with, rumor has it that this year’s new hires got their starting pay cut but it’ll be spreading over the next 24 months to ease the pain. PwC is, for the lack of a better comparison, the Goldman Sachs of the accounting firms. They’re always going to take the most heat and be scrutinized the most. So with that in mind, they top our first ranking as the firm that seems to be taking the most serious beating.
2. E&Y – Judging by the comments, sounds like E&Y has had the most significant layoffs. Somehow the firm still finds the cash to throw a monster international rager for interns. The Lehman Brothers lawsuits haven’t really even gotten started. Our suggestion: Sneak down to Orlando and party on the company dime while you can.
Bloody but Somehow, Still Standing
3. BDO – BDO has got to figure what to do about the $520-odd million they owe Banco Espirito. Considering the fact that they won’t be getting help from the International Firm Global Cooperative, this may be a hell of a problem. Other than the TTT comments, BDO-ers aren’t saying much. Get your friends that work there to spill their guts here.
4. KPMG – Rumors of another reduction in force in October, forced PTO, teams are short staffed. We would like more info on those cell phone chairs please. The Radio Station troops are doing a lot of belly aching, which we love, that’s what were here for. Keep it up Blue! Obviously, the big risk here is the New Century lawsuit which includes the “we’re going to piss everyone off” quote. Considering the pace of these lawsuits, we’ll be talking about it well into next decade.
Maintaining
5. Deloitte – Deloitte, while canning plenty of people, partners not sharing the love and losing some big clients, does not have any major litigation pending that we can see so they fall near the bottom of our list at this point in time. Oh sure you could say that Parmalat is out there but does anyone give a damn? They make extra long-shelf-life milk. That’s a fraud in it’s own right.
6. Grant Thornton – Sounds like G to the T is able to keep their layoffs pretty quiet but they possibly have had it the worst. Keep enlightening us with those details. Refco is out there but those guys were cheats, liars, and thieves. A public defender could get you out of that. However, the biggest strike we see against is trying to squeeze into cool kids club with the coining of “Global 6 Accounting Organization”. Nice try GT.
So there you have it. P. Dubs and E&Y take the top two spots in our very first Firm Watch ranking. Radio Station and BDO have got serious issues to work and Big D and GT seem to fall to the bottom of the ranking by having less bad issues than the other firms.
Give us your thoughts. Reshuffle completely? Any more tips? Send them to tips@goingconcern.com. We’ll do the firm watch every so often as big events unfold. In the mean time, keep sending us tips, dirt, and ridiculous emails that inform you about paper clip rationing and the such.
Rumor of the Day: Comp and Bonus Pools at Big 4 Seriously Depleted
We’re not trying to ruin your Friday but at the very least, this might encourage some of you to get your drink on a little earlier than planned.
Rumor received late last night that a Big 4 CEO was asked about compensation and bonuses at some grin n’ grip and he responded that the compensation adjustment and bonus pools for all the Big 4 firms was going to be down 90%.
This fits together nicely with the rumors of freezing and/or cutting pay that have been going around. Okay, now try to get some work done or figure out where you’ll be having that three martini lunch.