Accountants Edge Out Car Salesmen, Personal Trainers in the Dating Pool: Survey
For some unbeknownst reason, Xero surveyed 3,500 people in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand about their "attitudes and perceptions of accountants and bookkeepers." As if they were going to discover something other than this: Professional stereotypes about the accounting industry are alive and kicking, with a new global survey from Xero revealing that […]
Going Concern Presents: Missed Connections for CPAs
Inspired by a recent New Yorker post filed under Shouts & Murmurs about missed connections for a-holes, we wondered what a special MC section dedicated to public accountants would be like? You know, all those unexpressed desires and dreams of trysts between team members. Or maybe just a special place for people who get aroused […]
What’s a Single, New-to-DC, CPA-to-Be Girl to Do?
Ed. note: Stuck in a career that is on the road to nowhere? CPA flunk streak got you down? Want to march in boss's office all Costanza-like but not sure it's the right thing to do? Email us for advice and if things don't work out, you have full permission to blame Adrienne. Hey GC (probably […]
Autocorrect Claims Randy Accountant as Latest Victim
It’s really the ALLCAPS that makes this awkward text interaction with the accountant embarrassing.
The creepy part about “that was not meant for you” is that it implies that “If anything changes please call MESOHORNY” was meant for some other individual out there. It also likely means that at some point, this accountant used MESOHORNY in a text interaction. We can only imagine in what context.
Keep it classy out there, kids.
[via Damn You, Autocorrect]
Grant Thornton Employee Curious If Fellow Accountants Are Sleeping with Partners, Propositioning Colleagues
Let’s start off with a little anecdote:
I work at GT and recently a male associate began dating a newly named female partner. The associate has since put in their two week notice, most suspect due to his newfound sugar momma who’s divorced with 3 kids, or to give him more time with his other girl. It was recently revealed he not only likes older ladies but hit on a guy at national training offering up “favors.”
Apparently, at the training, the associate repeatedly asked another guy to go to his room with him during a game of pool. Since he was making no progress here, he flat out told his fellow pool player what acts he would like to provide.
Well! That’s quite a busy accountant. J��������������������rying to sleep up the ladder and offering up “favors” that may or may not include a pool cue and/or an 8-ball gag. Sexual activity aside, our tipster is curious as to just how…curious some of you are:
I was wondering if you could start a thread/story about office romances and open it up for comments to see just how alternative some accountants/cpas are. I wonder if this sort of thing is normal, or if society is just changing quicker than I am noticing.
Wait, are you asking if sex is normal? Or if accountants having sex with each other is normal? OR if accountants swinging both ways or engaging in other adventurous activity is normal? I’ll save you the trouble and answer all these questions: “Duh,” “HELL YES,” and “It depends.”
It’s been widely discussed around these parts that a situation that includes: accountants, working long hours, after-work booze will inevitably lead to some accountant sex. Whether you care to engage in sex with another accountant is largely a question of convenience and/or if you’re really interested in someone who’s also an accountant.
As for adventurous activity, you probably all remember Annabel McClellan, a former Deloitte employee accused of insider trading, who prior to her legal troubles, was developing a mobile app called “My Nookie” that basically amounted to Facebook for swingers. There was also the blind item we ran earlier this year about a partner whose fondness of exotic hookers landed him in divorce court. Oh! And then there was the PwC partner in Houston who allegedly made a move on an associate at a happy hour. Can’t forget that one.
As for juggling a divorcée partner with another girl and then offering BJs to a colleague at national training – it’s really hard to say how widespread this type of behavior is. Most accountants barely have enough game (or time) to get one person in the sack, let alone juggle two and then try to explore their bi-curiosity. Plus, are you aware of any of your co-workers that are bisexual or bi-curious? From the phrasing of your question, I’m guessing no.
Let’s not forget that you’re working in a very conservative industry and those in the business that do like a little swing party or simply swing both ways would probably prefer to keep those activities on the DL. Luckily for all of you, GC is the type of place where you can speak about the all the fun you’re having freely.
So, then. If you’re the “alternative” type, as our tipster asks, please elaborate. Do you keep it purely outside the office? Do you look for similarly interested accountants at your firm? Are you open about it or is the culture at your firm a little behind the times? If you prefer not to comment, email us your story (with details!) and we’ll handle the rest.
Here Are the (Unconfirmed) Details on the Milestone Award for Newly Promoted PwC Senior Associates
As you may remember, we detailed PwC’s new compensation structure back in spring to much fanfare. There were lots of details but one that sounded especially interesting were the “Milestone Awards.” These are awards given to newly promoted Senior Associates, Managers and Senior Managers/Directors. Specifically for SAs, a “highly specialized individualized offsite training that will help the new seniors make decisions about their careers. This will last for 12-18 months as they adjust to their new roles and held in an offsite, marquis location.”
We now have a few unconfirmed (due to circumstances beyond our control) details for you for this “training” including the “offsite, marquis location”:
• Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, CA (near Long Beach/LA)
• 4 days long
• For New Senior Associates promoted July 2011
• Not a training/all about fun and celebration
• Gift to new senior associates (all lines of service)
• Monday huge celebration dinner
• Small groups of 10 people
• External experts on personal finance, wellness, nutrition, etc
• Nightly fireside chats with partners
• Adventure-style activitiesWeeks
1) Nov 14, 2011
2) Dec 5, 2011
3) Dec 12, 2011
4) May TBD 2012
5) June TBD 2012
Fireside chats? Like the kind with FDR? For your sake I hope Bob Moritz and/or Dennis Nally drop by for the fun, although don’t forget that Nally is done with hot yoga, so DON’T BOTHER ASKING.
And doesn’t the Terranea Resort look pleasant? It’s in California not surprisingly, since P. Dubs has had NOTHING BUT TROUBLE from the clowns in Florida. There is golf, a spa, ocean view dining, etc. etc. Here’s the photo and video gallery if you need more visuals. Of course this kind of romantic setting is perfect for romantic interludes that will allow PwC to perpetuate any incestuous master race of capital market servants they might have.
ANYWAY, it’s our understanding that these details are to be released later this month but we thought you’d like a sneak peak. Discuss your thoughts and/or envy in the comments.
America’s Hottest CPA Goes on Reality TV Looking For Love
Do you guys remember Tripp Davis? Last year, this number-crunching Southern gentleman from Mississippi made Cosmo’s Hottest Single Bachelors List, calling first date sex skanky and girls sans chonies sexy. Our kinda man.
Anyway… Judgmental hater and bad Photoshopper that I am, I made the mistake of publicly rre angle at which his stunningly perfect abs appeared to be cut in the photo Cosmo used. It took a few hours of staring to figure it out but I finally saw that it was just a weird camera trick (part pose, part flowy white shirt they stuck him in) and word is Tripp has been a pretty loyal reader of Going Concern since. Yay kismet (and forgiveness)!
So when he recently got in touch to tell us about his latest adventure, we absolutely had to share it with you all.
What happens when you put 10 “city” guys and 10 “country” guys in a house to battle for the affection of one gorgeous bachelorette? Well, you get Sweet Home Alabama, which debuted last week on CMT. What does this have to do with Tripp’s perfect swimmer’s abs? Well because he’s on the show, obviously.
Raised on fried chicken, turnip greens and grits, it’s no wonder show producers reached out to Tripp to get him on the show after spotting him on Cosmo’s list. He’s actually looking for the love of his life (how cute) and says he won’t date a girl unless he can see himself marrying her down the road. Some of his opponents include a tobacco farmer from Tennessee, a Hollywood financial adviser, a Birmingham bartender named Tribble (first, not last, bitch) and – wait for it – one of Snooki’s ex-boyfriends who calls himself a singer/musician. This ought to be good.
Now I’m not easily swayed by southern manners and ripped abs but I have to say I was charmed by Tripp in our brief phone call for this post. So he may just have a shot to win the heart of Devin Grissom – a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa – if he can warm this salty Fedbasher’s cold black heart.
Check out our boy Tripp (he’s the one bawling at 1:55) on the show, which you can catch on CMT Thursdays at 9pm (8 Central).
Sweet Home Alabama: Thursday’s 9/8c on CMT! from Sweet Home Alabama (CMT) on Vimeo.
We hear the show includes lots of drama (surprise), douchebaggery and even a fight over the grill. Everyone knows you don’t mess with a man’s meat. Just sayin.
Tripp sums up the plot in words somewhat like this:
City guys are more interested in what they can buy the girl and showing their wealth, it’s all about the bling. They are defined by who they have dated. Country guys are more about who they are and their character, that shows through. Money shows through for city guys.
Good luck, Tripp, we’ll be rooting for you. Seriously. We’re pretty sure “reality star” wasn’t one of the manufactured scenarios many of you fell for when you were seduced into public accounting (much like work-life balance and prestige), which is why our hot little CPA friend here works for an unnamed private firm. Think about that next time you’re having a reality crisis, this guy is off chasing a chick. On teevee.
“It was such an amazing experience!” [Devin] says to a fan. “I’m a lucky girl … All of the guys on the show were so great,” said chick says on Facebook.
Someone has to blaze a trail with his sizzling fried chicken abs, it might as well be this guy. The accountant stereotype has been rewritten in recent years, not everyone is a WoW-playing, Dorito-eating shlub who doesn’t know what business casual actually means. Some are, yes. Some are also ripped. And, uh, on a reality show.
(UPDATE) Ernst & Young Auditor Area Man Takes His Crush for Co-worker Ernst & Young Auditor to Craigslist Missed Connections
Don’t you just love missed connections? Maybe you’re more of a casual encounters person but there’s something to be said for someone that is experiencing such infatuation that dropping a post on Craiglist seems like the best thing to do. Of course, it’s another thing entirely when you are infatuated with someone at work and you conclude that your best way to tell them that they are the most beautiful creature on Earth is by posting on missed connections. Apparently, UPDATE: some dude crushing on an Ernst & Young auditor did just that.
Okay, a few notes:
1. For a lot of reasons, personal and professional, there’s no way I can say anything to you. – What exactly are the “personal” reasons? You can’t speak in coherent sentences? You have awful body odor? You’re actually a serial killer? As for “professional” reasons, we all know that auditors are banging auditors all over the place (SEE UPDATE BELOW), so if you’re simply saying that this can’t happen because it’s against your professional morals then fine but other people around you are getting busy and you will not.
2. I can’t believe you don’t hear that all the time. You probably do. – You’re right. She probably does hear it all the time. But not from anonymous people on the Internet.
3. I wish I could tell you and not come across as a sleaze! – You’re not “coming across,” broski. You’re already there.
This was posted in NYC (expired now) so maybe we can track this guy down and help him with his game.
UPDATE:
After reader input and discussing it with my partner in crime, it’s clear that this is a client leering at the E&Y auditor and AG and others are postulating that our Craiglist creeper is either married or in a committed relationship. If this is the “personal reasons” he spoke of, it’s far less interesting and funny than some kind of social anxiety disorder that renders him a stuttering love-sick fool. But it does begs several societal questions among them: 1) does posting a missed connection constitute cheating? or 2) do we applaud his self-control (until he gets home of course). Discuss.
Woman Insists She Didn’t Rip Off PwC Because She’s a Bad Person But to Hide the Fact That She Was Having an Affair with a Married Partner
When banging your boss, there are certain precautions one must take to ensure that the affair is not discovered. In the case of Angela Tilling, who was jailed for £33,000 in expenses fraud, she claimed “her behaviour was an attempt to prevent John Minard’s wife spotting suspicious payments on his credit card.” Mr. Minard admitted that he had sexual relations with that woman (that’s what I keep hearing in my head) but denied that they had “full intercourse.”
Of course smut isn’t the only part of this story. We learn that Angie reportedly “conned” P. Dubs into spending “£50,000 celebrity appearance at a Christmas party in a bid to boost her popularity,” among other expenses that weren’t kosher. You see, it appears that Angela wasn’t too good at making friends, so she threw around a bunch of the firm’s money so people would think she’s the bee’s knees.
“Some of the money was used to provide entertainment for others because what this lady craved was the respect of others.
“She liked to be the centre of attention, providing days and nights out. She is a lonely lady who bought the friendship and affection of people with whom she worked. It was not salted away for a rainy day.”
The court heard Tilling falsely claimed £2,183 expenses for a 47-head staff lunch at Birmingham’s Hotel Du Vin on December 7, 2004 and £2,146 for a company hotel conference in June 2005.
She blew a strict £25,000 budget when organising the company’s Christmas party on December 22, 2005, fraudulently transferring two £29,375 payments to cover a celebrity guest’s £50,000 appearance fee.
Tilling also falsely claimed a £15,000 payment by lying that she had paid the sum as a deposit to secure the guest, who the prosecution and booking agency refuse to name.
She was also paid a further £5,581.25 in bogus expenses on October 17, 2006 and £3,706 in June that year for Solihull College support staff.
In December 2007 she fraudulently claimed £2,225 for 60 theatre tickets at Birmingham’s Hippodrome – another company outing she organised.
It was all for love.
PricewaterhouseCoopers PA jailed over expenses fraud [Telegraph]
How Are You Celebrating the End of Busy Season?
I’ll tell you how I’m celebrating – continuing my successful string of years not celebrating. Adrienne? She’s experimenting with home remedies for a stomach flu. But never mind our problems, you guys have somehow survived the January to April stretch without going nuts, assaulting someone and successfully avoiding awkward sexual advances (the latter two sometimes happening at the same time). That means you deserve to celebrate; whether or not that’s on company dime is another question.
Back in the KPMG days, I attended a pretty good throw-down at the Central Park Boathouse for the Financial Services group but that was in the spring of 2008 when the Bear Stearns embers were still hot and everyone who worked on the Citi still thought they worked for a great client (that’s what I was told, anyway). In 2009, end of busy season soirees were a much more muted with individual team celebrations because the world had basically just ended.
Last spring it sounded like it was more of the same. Nothing too out of control and individual teams were left to celebrate how they saw fit. Of course with a successful fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 looking good, firms may be ready to jump into the ostentatious end of busy season blowout parties once again. Maybe your partner(s) is/are taking you to Peter Luger’s; maybe it’s an intimate evening at the his/her home where some entertainment will be provided (hopefully from inside the firm). Or maybe it will just a drinks and awkwardly dancing the night away. We can’t possibly know since we don’t get invited to such things (at least officially), so discuss your plans, send us your invites or come up with your own ideas about how to best celebrate getting your life back.
Vault Survey: 47% of Accountants Have Had an Office Romance
Are you missing out on some manufactured romance today? Wishing you had that special someone in your life so you could finally show off your handmade greeting card talents? Just wishing you could break the dry spell? Look no further than the cubicle next to you! Our friends as Vault, being acutely aware that today is the mother of all manufactured romantic days, have released their annual Office Romance Survey and this year’s results found that 59% of the 2,000+ people surveyed have participated in an office romance.
Now, we all know plenty of people that have decided to dip the pen in the company ink and during busy season when people are spending night and day with each other the desire to nibble on a love newton is especially tempting. But surprisingly, the number of accountants that admitted to an office romance was not nearly as high as you would expect, with only 47% saying they handled a co-worker’s assets.
Now, if that number seems a little low maybe it’s because there is a rule of three effect going on here but there’s really no way to tell. A few more details from the Vault survey:
• “[If you] felt uncomfortable because of co-workers’ intra-office romantic relationships”: 27% – “Yes”; 73% – “No” – Way more of “They’re cute together!” as opposed to, “Get a room!”
• “Felt that a co-worker gained a professional advantage because of a romantic relationship with a co-worker/superior”: 36% – “Yes”; 64% – “No” – Sleeping your way to the top must not work like it used to. Or maybe it never did.
• “Based on your previous experience in an office romance, would you participate in one again?” – 71% said “Yes” – Um, yes, the sex was worth it.
• Fourteen percent dated a supervisor while 30% dated a subordinate. – Title is good for something!
• Nearly 22% of respondents had “a tryst at the office.” – With a cleaning woman? On the desk? Should I not have done that?
• Twenty-one percent have an “office husband/wife.” – No sex involved here; just like a real marriage!
• Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said their company has an official policy regarding work relationships while 28% don’t know if their company has one. – Or choose not know.
• Thirty-six percent have known a married co-worker to have an affair at the office and 18% have known a married or seriously involved co-worker who had a romantic liaison while on a business trip for the company. – “Known” as in, “I’m pretty sure because just based on the way they’re acting, they’re definitely getting it on”? Or walking in on a break-room make-out session?
So Happy Valentine’s/Singles Awareness Day! Discuss your workplace romance adventures (the more awkward, the better) in the comments and try to get your beloved something a little less cliché (red roses, again?) or self-serving (Victoria’s Secret) this year.
Will You Find Love This Busy Season?
The following post is republished from AccountingWEB, a source of accounting news, information, tips, tools, resources and insight — everything you need to help you prosper and enjoy the accounting profession.
Looking for love in all the wrong places? Many workers turn to the once taboo office pool in search of companionship, and the search appears to be paying off. More than a third of workers (37 percent) say they have dated someone they worked with over their career; 18 percent report dating co-workers at least twice in their career. Additionally, 30 percent report they went on to marry a person they dated in the office. This is according to CareerBuilder’s annual office romance survey of more than 3,900 workers. Of those who have dated in the workplace, one-in-ten say they have dated someone at work within the last year.
Some workers are dating those above them on the office ladder. When it comes to dating higher ups, women were more likely than men to date someone above them in their company’s hierarchy. One third of women said they have dated someone who holds a higher position in their organization; 20 percent of men report they have done the same.
“Workplace relationships no longer carry the stigma they once did, as 65 percent of workers said they aren’t keeping their romance a secret. However, it is the responsibility of the individuals to understand company policy and make sure they adhere to it,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Especially in this economy, workers are spending more time in the office, and the lines between working and socializing are being crossed. Workers need to keep it professional under all circumstances, though, to ensure that the quality of their work is not negatively impacted.”
Some workplace relationships may have their beginnings in current workplace crushes. Eight percent of workers currently work with someone whom they would like to date, with more men (11 percent) than women (4 percent) reporting they would like to do so.
Twelve percent of workers reported that their relationships started when they ran into each other outside of work. Some other situations where Cupid’s arrow flew between co-workers include:
• Happy hour
• Lunch
• Working late at the office
• Company holiday party
• Business trip
Haefner offers the following tips for workers who may want to spark a workplace romance:
• Know your company’s policy on office dating: While some companies may have a formal policy, others may not have anything at all. Make sure both parties in the relationship are aware of potential rules or consequences.
• Social media – office relationship friend or foe?: Before you start posting pictures and status updates about your newfound coupledom, it may be better to inform your co-workers or boss in person. That way, there is less chance for gossip or speculation.
• Keep the relationship out of the office: Do your best to maintain professionalism and not let the dating issues affect your performance or others on the job.
The survey also showed the repercussions of workplace romance, with 6 percent of workers saying they have left a job due to an office romance.
Here’s a Visual: A 64 Year-old Accountant in Bed, Naked, with a Madame, Surrounded by Cash
In Britain, of course:
A respected accountant who turned his home into a brothel was caught in the act when police swooped and found him naked in bed with his Chinese mistress, surrounded by money.
“Respected accountant” Leslie Baleham received a year in prison after his house effectively became a brothel that managed to serve 400 men during a three-month stakeout, according to a report in the Daily Mail. How would an otherwise mild-mannered accountant get tangled up in such a mess? Love, of course!
The court was told that Baleham had been ‘smitten’ with his younger woman – who was a main figure in running the brothel.
Adrian Reynolds, prosecuting, said: ‘Never was the relationship between sex and money more clearly to be seen.’ [Ed. note: Oh, British wit.] The pair, who ran the brothel for two years, had a joint bank account and had paid in £57,000 – including £7,000 he had made in rent. Harry Bowyer, mitigating, told the court that Baleham was not involved in the day-to-day running of the brothel, and was effectively just a landlord. He said: ‘Baleham felt he was having a relationship with her. Now he feels he has been used by her. He is now divorced from his wife.’
Arrested in bed with a madame called Ping Ping, the ‘respected’ accountant who turned his home into a brothel [Daily Mail]
Former Deloitte Employee and Burgeoning Adult-themed Mobile App Entrepreneur Annabel McClellan Appears in Court, Sans Husband
Hard to believe it’s almost been two weeks since we mentioned alleged insider trader/justice obstructer/swinger app developer Annabel McClellan but time sure flies when you’re facing criminal charges, amiright?
Annabel made an appearance in criminal court yesterday but sadly, her husband and alleged insider trading conspirator, Arnold, was nowhere to be seen. You could probably conclude that someone has to watch the kids, since no one in Pacific Heights is interested in being associated with the couple at this point.
[O]n Tuesday, Annabel McClellan was very much alone in court. Previously, she surrendered her British passport and posted $250,000 bail. If convicted of the obstruction of justice charge, she could face five years in prison. Potential damages in the SEC case could exceed $90 million.
Nanci Clarence, Annabel McClellan’s attorney, told U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup that she would need several months to adequately review the documents that U.S. federal prosecutors have handed over. As of Tuesday, the number of documents stood at 47,000.
While it’s pretty unlikely that My Nookie, the aforementioned mobil app that appears to be a Wheel of Position Fortunes, gets much attention in the documents, we can always hope. The fact that this will keep the McClellans tied up in court for months and maybe years to come, goes without saying but Ms. McClellan’s attorney – acting in her client’s best interest – opted to go there:
“This is a fairly complicated matter,” Clarence explained to Judge Alsup, who will also be presiding over the related SEC case against both McClellans. Additionally, Clarence said, there are “very extensive parallel proceedings in the United Kingdom. That proceeding [will] generate its own extensive discovery” of evidence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Reeves, who is prosecuting the case, did not object to the delay.
As everyone agreed on April 5 as the next court date in the case, Alsup addressed McClellan, dressed all in black, who had stood quietly before him for the duration of the hearing, saying, “Ms. McClellan, welcome to the court. See you back in April.”
*Photo: Drew Altizer Photography via The Bay Citizen
University Officials Not Impressed with Accounting Professor’s Demonstration of “First in, First Out”
Since many of you are current or former accounting students, you undoubtedly, at one time or another during your depraved days running around the quad, had the thought creep into your mind, “What would happen if Professor Johnson decided to drop trou in the middle of class while discussing accounting for bonds?”
Unfortunately for students at Kennesaw State University, they now know the answer to that question:
Raymond Devaughn Taylor, 57, is accused of taking off his clothes during a class he was teaching, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the AJC. […] Taylor, who worked in the business department on a contract basis, taught an accounting class during the fall semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to the class schedule posted on the university’s website.
“He will not be teaching again at KSU,” interim Provost Ken Harmon told the AJC.
Now, why this particular professor thought that pulling a Brett Favre on the entire class was a good idea is not entirely clear, as this particular method of impressing a target of your lust many years your junior has an abysmal track record. But as we alluded in the headline, maybe this was a unique teaching method on display. Or then again, perhaps students were showing their lack of interest and rather than scream and yell, Taylor figured this would hold the student’s attention better. OR simply, in the words of Cosmo, “Maybe uh, it needed some air. You know sometimes they need air, they can’t breathe in there. It’s inhuman.”
The theories are endless, really. Yours are welcome below and for the love of everything good and uproariously hilarious, if you were in this class, email us immediately.
[h/t TaxProf and The Summa – neither of whom would ever do such a thing]
Insider Trading Charges Throw a Wrench into Former Deloitte Employee’s Plans for Sexy Mobile App
[caption id="attachment_22306" align="alignright" width="260" caption="Drew Altizer Photography via The Bay Citizen"][/caption]
Having a nice Friday evening, Going Concern faithful? Wonderful. Ordinarily, we would leave you to your weekend activities but something came to our attention that simply couldn’t wait.
Earlier in the week, we told you ��������������������, the former Deloittians who were charged with insider trading by the SEC. Arnold and Annabel were giving tips to Annabel’s sister, Miranda Sanders, and her husband, James, who traded on the information. The SEC alleges that the scam amounted to approximately $23 million in gains for everyone involved.
For all intents and purposes, Arnold McClellan probably was your run-of-the-mill tax partner at Deloitte until he opted to use his insider knowledge to make some money for himself and his in-laws. Likewise, you might expect that Annabel was just a humdrum Deloitte employee who landed a partner (he’s 13 years her senior) who got involved in a insider trading scam. But someone sent us a link to a report in the Bay Citizen that informs us that she had a very interesting venture in the works.
You see, Annabel left the firm (exactly when, is unclear) after working in the London, San Jose and San Francisco offices and presumably was ready to be a stay-at-home mom. When that became monotonous, she and a friend figured they would take their interest in knockin’ boots to launch a mobile app called “My Nookie.”
The website for the app has been taken down but the Bay Citizen was able to get a lot of the details:
The “about” tab for McClellan’s website details a vision for a new kind of social networking site:
My Nookie
Friends love to talk about sex and My Nookie is the app your sex life and social life can’t be without. Journal and rate your partners and sexual encounters. Share sexperiences with your closest friends, take sexting to the next level and relive your rendezvous with those five star partners.
Fun and tasteful with activity illustrations, My Nookie is fully loaded with features to flirt, play, tease and share. Feeling adventurous? Shake your phone and dare to try something new. Keep it handy on your iPhone because you never know …..
Features:
• Detailed diary of your sexual activities with date, partner, location, ratings and notes
• Partner contacts with profile, including photo, rating, activities performed, notes and tally
• Sex activity illustrations and descriptions, with the option to add your own
• ‘Shake It’ feature which suggests an activity to try
• Personal profile with ‘nookie’ summary
• Share all or some of your entries, partners, and profile
• Send a sexy invite to a partner or potential partner with alluring pictures
• Email, text or call your partners right from the app
What happens in My Nookie stays in My Nookie with optional pass code lock and discreet mode.
The Bay Citizen reports that My Nookie isn’t available in Apple’s app store (frankly, we’ll be surprised if passes Steve Jobs’s sniff test) but they have some screen shots (examples are on the following pages).
Unfortunately, now that Annabel has legal troubles to contend with, the Citizen reports her partner in the My Nookie venture, Milly Hanley, has taken over the project entirely. Arnie’s lawyer stated that he wasn’t involved with this venture while Annabel’s counsel simply stated that My Nookie was unrelated to their involvement and referred the Citizen back to Ms. Hanley who claims she can’t recall how she met Annabel.
The story around the McClellans is even weirder the more we poke around. Andrew Ross quotes a source in the San Francisco Chronicle:
“While they’ve been described as socialites, they’re definitely not at the top of that heap. I think a more apt description is they were attempting to scale the social heights.”
According to a report Wednesday in the online Bay Citizen, “in recent weeks, citing vague legal troubles, the couple had told friends that they were considering moving their family, which includes two school-aged sons, to South Africa.”
Perusing around a little bit more, Annabel’s Facebook page seems pretty locked up (definitely not accepting new friends) and we found the blog “My Nookie” which has the same feel as the mobile app and was started by “three friends in our 30s and 40s,” the third woman possibly being Jeanette Harris, who, the Citizen article states, hosted a benefit last year with the other two women.
From the blog’s “About Us” page:
We’re three friends in our 30s and 40s who realized that somewhere between meeting our husbands and getting married, we clammed up when it came to talking about our sex lives. MyNookie.com is where we can open up about everything we’re thinking about when it comes to sex and sexual health. And it’s where you can turn to for creative solutions and accurate information—because sex is too important to feel like you’re missing out.
Sure sounds like it could be our three amigas, doesn’t it? So with these developments, this story has gotten exponentially more interesting. We invite anyone with knowledge about the situation to email us and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more. Oh, and be sure to leave your thoughts on the app in the comments. Ms Hanley is probably looking for feedback.
(UPDATE) Area Man Searching for Accountant Addicted to Love
~ Update includes the spartan’s response to our request for comment.
No. Seriously.
Reportedly at LaSalle and Erie in Chicago. Yes, we’ve emailed Victor. No, we haven’t heard back.
Sayeth Vic:
Thank you for your help Caleb! Its just amazing how many people are pitching in to help find one person. Everyone except for the one person who left a comment on your site (even though it was kind of funny). If you hear anything on the interwebs about this girl let me know! I’m thinking there is a 50/50 chance she has seen this and is highly unimpressed. Oh well you have to try.
Unimpressed? Hardly dude. It’s fate (or something).
[via @retheauditors]
The Guy Responsible for Informing Us About Christine O’Donnell’s Pubic Hair Was an Auditor at the Federal Reserve
We’re just catching up to this little twist in the story so keep your pieholes shut. Plus, it’s election day, making it completely appropriate.
Hard to believe that it was just last Thursday when the anonymous first-hand account of a sexless one-night stand with Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell was published over Gawker, grooming details included.
Aside from Christine O’Donnell’s stance on masturbation, witchcraft and her inability to assign anyone to fill out a postcard for her nonprofit organization, we could have done without this particular exposé. An anonymous douche probably thought he would make off with Gawker’s ‘low four figure’ sum and he would be an anonymous anti-tea party hero.
The Smoking Gun immediately was on the case to identify the pube peeker in question and it really didn’t take much effort on their part, as they came to a pretty solid conclusion late on Thursday after speaking with the author’s former roommate, Brad Kursiko:
While Kurisko refused to out “Anonymous,” some online activity this evening may point to the author’s identity. Shortly after his last phone conversation with a TSG reporter, a single name disappeared from Kurisko’s list of Facebook friends.
The man with whom electronic ties were abruptly cut is Dustin Dominiak, a 28-year-old buddy who attended Albion College with Kurisko. Records show that Dominiak has previously shared a Philadelphia address with Kurisko. One online posting reports that Dominiak, a Michigan native, has worked as an auditor at the Federal Reserve in Philadelphia.
TSG finally got Kurisko to confirm Dominiak as the blathering broheim, thus providing him with the unenviable distinction of being “that guy who wrote about Christine O’Donnell’s pubes.” Especially if she manages to pull off the huge upset today.
But more interestingly this whole story has only reiterated our contention that the sex lives of accountants (and by extension, auditors) is completely random and scattered. This particular encounter – Senate candidates and their grooming habits; Philly Fed auditors that will do anything for a buck – might be the apex of the theory.
On The Trail Of “Anonymous,” Christine O’Donnell’s Sex-Free Pal [TSG via DI]
Local Man’s Brief Big 4 Experience, Stick-Shift Driving Abilities, Lead to Niche Accounting Firm
John Finn worked at KPMG in the early to mid-90s. He got into the field because he loved accounting. John discovered what many Big 4 types discover which is the job “involved more travel and schmoozing than it did accounting.” Since he wasn’t feeling it, he jumped ship in ’95, moved to New York and decided to get into showbiz. He landed his first gig doing the books for a film called Sleeping Together and since he could drive a standard transmission, he got to buzz around in the equiptment truck.
It turns out, that John’s marginal experience (three years) in Big 4 turned out to be way – WAY – more than most “accountants” in the movie business:
While he began his solo career with only three years of accounting experience under his belt — none of it in film accounting — inexperience turned out not to be an issue in the industry. “What I found out was that most of my peers were not trained as accountants,” he says. “They were failed screenwriters who really wanted to be in the business. I had a leg up on them because accounting was second nature to me. If you polled the accountants in the business, I would say that nearly half don’t have accounting degrees.”
Word must have gotten around about a real-life accountant doing the books for movie projects and in 1998, he founded JFA, Inc. to handle the expanding empire. That empire also includes IndiePay, a payroll software company that he founded to deal with the ‘archaic’ bookkeeping that was rampant in the industry.
On top of all this, John is in a band, Pispoure’, and wrote a song about how much he loves accounting. The song plays on a loop over at JFA’s website and before you assume that this another accountant failing miserably to exhibit any musical ability, it should be noted that he’s actually a decent songwriter. Anyone that comes up the lyric, “In order to get laid, you must impress our filing clerk,” is a natural talent in our book.
Leaving Big Accounting Firm for Hollywood [The Street.com]
A Friendly HR Reminder: The Workplace Is Not a Dating Service
Yes, your calendar is correct. Sir Caleb asked me to post on Whisky Wednesday. Fill up your glass, kick back in your chair, and let’s do this, shall we?
An area that I want to address is a topic that is otherwise whispered about or downright ignored by most engagement teams at accounting firms – dating in the workplace. For the purpose of this post, we’re going to let “dating” stand for anything from a one night stand to full fledge monogamous relationships. When done correctly and professionally, there is nothing wrong (from a legal or career perspective) with dating a co-worker. However – at least from my observations – the majority of cases do not fall under this description.
Sleepin’ your way to the top; shacking up with the enemy; earning an Encore award; shagging the secretary; deserving an early promo. Whatever you want to call it, getting drunk and hooking up with a coworker falls into a grey area. And by grey area, I mean the “what the hell were you thinking” area. I suggest treading lightly.
Why it happens – Birds and bees conversation aside, I’m talking about why so many accountants hook up with one another. On paper, it makes sense – similar backgrounds and interests, close and frequent exposure to one another, the lack of time to spend with others outside the office, and of course your campus recruiting department did a kick-ass job when “randomly” selecting resumés. Sure, your associate seems like a catch – but whom have you compared him/her to? Your manager? The mailroom staff? Security!? Come on. Your firm is not Match.com or the Casual Encounters section of Craigslist.
People talk – Newsflash of the day – your co-workers are a bunch of gossip mongers. Again, some of this is due to the “work is my life” mantra. Gossip flies around larger engagement teams when cliques are prevalent – do yourself a favor and head it off from the start of things – DON’T HOOK UP WITH SOMEONE FROM YOUR ENGAGEMENT TEAM. If you absolutely must “keep it in the accounting family,” try a different practice. (Didn’t you hear? Internal audit advisory services is saturated with hotties.) But really, avoid associating yourself with this kind of gossip. As time goes on and people get promoted and shuffled around, you never know who you’re going to be working with. Avoid the guaranteed awkwardness.
It can hurt your career – I’m not saying this is common, because it’s really not. It’s not ethical, but when it comes time for reviews, managers and partners are human. Non-work related factors – like sleeping your way around the block – can have an impact.
If you’re going to date someone from work…keep both of your careers in mind. Be honest with one another, and talk about things. A lot of factors can come into play – what practice lines you’re in, the possibility of working together, and long-term promotion paths are just a few. When marriage becomes a realistic possibility or you are unsure of how to proceed at any time, speak to someone in HR. They can help you better understand your firm’s HR policy and how it relates to your particular situation.
But for you horned up co-eds out there, listen up. Next time you’re out sipping the alcoholic Kool-aid at a partner sponsored “bonding event,” think twice before downing your drink remnants and hopping in a cab with the second year with the nice eyes. You’ll thank me the next morning when you don’t walk in wearing the same peach schnapps stained shirt you had on the night before.
Have a personal experience or bit of advice you want to share? Email me or comment below.
Quote of the Day: Auditors in Love | 02.10.10
“[If I Were An Auditor] tells the story of two auditors (would-be auditors) in love, who view their relationship through the lens of accounting and auditing.”
~ Edith Orenstein, editor of the FEI Financial Reporting Blog on the rom com created by her and many others in Second Life (just in time for St. Val’s).
Disappointing Accounting Firm Trend: Managers Sitting in Cubicles
Sorry for the downtime today, we’ll make it up to you over the weekend. Promise.
It’s no secret that staff professionals working in public accounting are urged to “stay until manager” for all kinds of substantive reasons that we won’t get into here.
The attraction of being promoted to manager has many superficial benefits including being called a “manager”, having “manager” on your business cards, and getting an office rather than slumming in the cube farm.
With the reconfiguration of some offices however, your dream of getting an office with a door and possibly a window may be dashed as more and more managers, senior managers, and — GASP — even some directors are living life in the grey squares.
Now while this development is most certainly a direct slap in the face of everything public accounting represents, our understanding is that it is not spreading around like H1N1. It depends on the city you’re in, your practice, and possibly your coolness factor.
But if you are in one of the unlucky few in could be much, much worse if more firms follow the lead of E&Y Jericho and go the no-décor-will-be-allowed route (God help you if they lock the bathrooms too). How will these managers be able to appropriately express themselves? Oh! And how on Earth is a manager supposed to get some action during busy season? Cubicle sex is not happening. Christ, how will they live?
Obvious Sign of Fraud: You’re Having Sex with the Client
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]
Trying to Decipher the Awkward and Scattered Sex Lives of Accountants
The blog Energized Accounting asks if accountants make better lovers. Now before you all squawking about how you’re an animal in the sack, let’s try to be realistic about this question.
First of all, this makes the assumption that accountants are getting laid in the first place. This is mostly farcical for a couple reasons: A) Lots of accountants have to choose between sleeping and eating already because of the hours they work. You throw in boot-knocking and some excel wizards are going to start starving to death; and 2) Unofficial statistics have shown that seven out ten accountants have no game. You may not know who you are but your friends do.
So based on that, 30% of you are getting some action. And since there is a rampant proclivity to date co-workers (which we will exclude for this exercise) among accountants that narrows it down to about 5% of accountants having sex with non-bean counters. As we mentioned, you’re working most of the time so where the hell is this hot sex happening? We’re thinking that national training sessions might be one spot, where you’re picking up prosties or random hot townies in whatever strange city you happen to land in? Accountants treat national training like Vegas so pretty much anything goes but what about the other 51 weeks in the year? Is that what is going on at those two hour lunches? Do some client locations have rooms set up for this like a swing-joint? Try to enlighten us without making a scene.
FASB Overseers Hope That Motley Crue-ish Tour Will Help Win Some Fans Back
The Financial Accounting Foundation (“FAF”) trustees are going on a tour that will certainly rival the amount of groupie tail that Motley Crue was getting circa late 80s.
“The Financial Accounting Foundation trustees, who oversee the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), will meet with small closed discussion groups of investors, auditors, academics and regulators in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C., as well as with the FASB’s standing advisory groups.”
It’s pretty clear that the FAF has the intention of spreading their seed knowledge around the country in order to win back some cred for the FASB.
FASB overseers to seek input on new strategic plan [Reuters via Accountancy Age]