U.S. Companies Should Beware of “Ambiguous” Auditor Rotation in Europe
Damn you, globalization, all this stuff was so much easier when we shopped at mom and pop stores, salted our own pork for the winter and conducted business in wampum while avoiding dysentary and snake bites. But oh well, time must go on… As we know, the PCAOB has back-burnered auditor rotation in the U.S. […]
McGladrey, Grant Thornton, BDO Will Break into Big 4 By 2019, Says Guy on Twitter
People say a lot of crazy things on Twitter. I know I have. But this guy just said the craziest:
After an Afternoon of Thank Yous, the SEC Has Approved the PCAOB’s 2014 Budget
In case you missed the thank fest that was today's SEC Open Meeting, the PCAOB showed up to get its 2014 budget of $258.4 million approved by the Commission after everyone went around the room and thanked one another for their hard work for capital markets. Repeatedly. Chairman Jim Doty validated the $12.8 million increase […]
Maybe Now You’ll Take the Opposition to Auditor Rotation Seriously
It's fair to say that accounting firms are conservative organizations. That is, they prefer that things in their world remain more or less the same and when extremely rare and unforeseen events occur that mandate change, it be carried out with as little disruption as possible and on their terms. NBD, right? The PCAOB, […]
PCAOB Member Jay Hanson Repeats His Belief That Auditor Rotation Is Not Gonna Happen
The Brits can do whatever they want; Mr. Hanson has a story and he's sticking to it: Having reviewed the comment letters and feedback from the round table panelists and others, it is clear to me that there is little support for mandatory audit firm rotation. As I noted in my statement when we issued the […]
The PCAOB Chairman Is Still Talking About Auditor Rotation
Generally speaking, there are two camps when it comes to the idea of auditor rotation or "term limits" as some like to call it. There is the camp that sees it as an area worth exploring as part of a larger conversation around auditor independence and objectivity. And then there is the camp that does […]
KPMG Chairman: Auditor Rotation Is a ‘Terrible Idea’
It's more or less understood by everyone, with a few exceptions, that pursuing mandatory auditor rotation is a giant waste of time. There has been much discussion of the issue — from the hallowed walls of a PCAOB open meeting to the slums of the Going Concern comment section — and while there has been […]
PCAOB Member Jay Hanson Can’t Imagine a World with Auditor Rotation
On Monday, PCAOB Chairman James Doty gave a speech where he mentioned, among other things, that "auditor term limits" was something the Board would consider in order to "protect the auditor's independence." Undoubtedly, this was disheartening news to auditors who count themselves as the Big 4 variety because they've gone on record to voice opposition and […]
Auditors Will Be Happy to Know That Term Limits Are Still on the Table
In a keynote speech at the AICPA's National Conference on SEC and PCAOB developments, Chairman Jim Doty passed on the opportunity to mention extremely recent developments and instead focused on things like the importance of independent auditing to "our economic success" and audit firm culture and the PCAOB's current initiatives. In fact, Mr. Doty doesn't mention […]
Survey Surprises Surveyors After Finding Support for Auditor Rotation
In a recent survey of public companies assessing views on Sarbanes-Oxley a decade after its adoption, Protiviti also asked companies what they think of the PCAOB's recent suggestions that mandatory rotation might improve auditing. Nearly half of all survey respondents agreed that rotation would have a positive impact. Among large accelerated filers, Protiviti said 47 […]
Congressional Members Seem to Have Their Orders Re: Auditor Rotation
You may remember that last Wednesday I put my grown-up clothes on and attended the PCAOB's open meeting on auditor rotation. It was a good discussion (relatively speaking) and I got chat with some pretty smart people. I can't work a room of old white men like Adrienne (few can), but Chairman James Doty seemed […]
Happening Now: Live-Tweeting the PCAOB Auditor Rotation Open Meeting
If you have absolutely nothing to do this afternoon and were unable to book a flight to DC in time to sit in on the fantastic PCAOB independence and auditor rotation meeting happening NOW, Colin is live-tweeting from @going_concern all afternoon. If you are looking for snarky, possibly unnecessary criticism of Big 4 (+ GT) […]
PCAOB Is Giving You a Second Chance to Tell Them How Much You Love the Idea of Auditor Rotation
Yesterday, Monday Morning Auditor that everyone loves to hate, the PCAOB, announced that they would be having an open meeting on March 21-22 that will focus on auditor independence and rotation. Sorry! I meant auditor term limits. Anyway, there are going to be several big names on various panels including Paul Volcker, Harvey Pitt, Arthur Levitt, […]
Almost Everyone Thinks Mandatory Auditor Rotation is an Awful Idea
Back in August, the PCAOB issued a concept release on audit firm rotation and invited anyone who had the time and/or energy to comment on it (as did we). In the wonky little corners of the accounting blogosphere, there was strong opposition to rotation from Jim Peterson and Francine McKenna (although their reasons differ from your […]
Did Ohio State Dump Deloitte for PwC Over Colors?
Sounds like CFO Geoff Chatas and state auditor Dave Yost wanted to figure a way around a 15-year limit but it was to no avail, “Ohio State CFO Geoff Chatas said Yost discussed with him the possibility of letting Ohio State be the first to stick with the same audit firm, but the school opted to put the contract out for bid.”
A likely story. If you ask me, this has everything to do with the fact that Deloitte’s main color is blue while PwC has opted for slightly more appropriate hues.