Accountant Won’t Be Taking a Walk in the Woods Anytime Soon
James Hammes, who spent 6 years on the lam walking the Appalachian Trail, pleaded guilty earlier today to wire fraud. The judge warned him that she could impose a maximum sentence of up to 20 years, although his plea deal should result in less time. Either way, it'll be more than enough time for him […]
Accountant Hiding on the Appalachian Trail Has the Mugshot to Prove It
If you were an accountant accused of making off with about $9 million of your employer’s money, I can think of few places better to hide than the wilderness. Allegedly, that’s what James Hammes did after he was confronted by […]
Did an Ernst & Young Partner Get Demoted for His Anti-Facial Hair Stance?
In the past week, we have received several tips about an Ernst & Young OMP who was recently demoted to a less-BSD position. While that's the reality, we're certain that any internal messaging took quite a different tone with the partner in question ("PIQ") "transitioning to a client facing role" or some other euphemism for […]
Here’s a Video of Grover Norquist Getting Fastidious About His Beard, Juggling
We know a lot of things about Ronald Reagan soldier boy Grover Norquist. He doesn't care for colorful language. He's one of those bluetooth guys. He's willing to sacrifice all our grandmothers for the sake of keeping marginal tax rates low. But what about the real Grover you ask? You know, the guy who haunts […]
Mark Weinberger Is the Future Ernst & Young CEO. You Shut Up.
Yesterday we broke the news of Mark Weinberger jumping into the big Black and Yellow chair when Jim Turley steps down next year. It's pretty big news for E&Y as JT has been running the show since July 2001. With all his fancy schmancy credentials, there's no question that Mark is up for the job […]
A Young Accountant’s Beard Makes for a Hairy Career Situation
Today's advice column started off with the subject "Accountants with beards." My first thought was "damnnnn that'd make a great Tumblr," one that could rival the creeps at Messages from Match and the political poignancy of Kim Jong-un Looking at Things. WE COULD TAKE OVER THE WORLD. But…then I continued reading. Wait. This is about an otherwise qualified […]
The Beards Grown for the Tax Season Fail to Impress
Last week we told you about the Traphagen & Traphagen tradition of skipping on the facial hair hygiene for all of tax season. Sorry to say, but we were a little disappointed:
While we (and most likely all of you) had something more along the lines of ZZ Top envisioned, it’s more of a lumberjack look. We’ll give them credit for throwing appearance to the wind for 3+ months but we were hoping for some freakishly long beards and/or imaginative looks. Take note for next year people.
One Firm’s Tax Season Tradition Ignores the “Beards Are Kept Trim” Mantra
All firms realize that tax season is a grind and put up with various silly/downright stupid traditions for the sake of employees’ morale. There’s no work/life balance to speak so concessions are made. In anticipation for the annual tradition that is tax professionals raging on April 15th, FINS has compiled a few interesting traditions that are carried on by various firms. The idea, however, that men are walking around the office sporting the Grizzly Adams defies comprehension.
For you purists of the white collar world, facial hair makes you ill. The sight of five o’clock shadow is downright repulsive and anyone that isn’t shaving at least daily (except for the flesh-colored beard types) will not be dealt with a swift manner.
Unless of course you work at Traphagen & Traphagen CPAs LLC where the tradition of tax season beards goes back 40 years. At that length, it may precede any NHL playoff tradition of funky facial hair, “”At the close of business, they’ll troop into a conference room and together shave the beards they’ve been growing since the end of January.”
As you might expect there are client requests to send the remains to the IRS but unfortunately the partners don’t honor these requests.
We Are…ParenteBeard
We know you’ve been anticipating the new name of the merged firm of Parente Randolph and Beard Miller like it was the most recent offspring of Bragelina and we’re happy to report that the two Pennsylvania firms have finally made their decision.
The new firm, which was officially born on October 1st, will be known as ParenteBeard, LLC. Sadly, we were pulling for simply “Beard”, if for no other reason, in honor of Ken Lewis’s sporting of facial hair to work, but what the hell do we know about naming firms? Web CPA quotes their reasoning:
“We selected the name ParenteBeard after considering the collective strengths and attributes of both firms and the significance of this combination,” said [CEO, Bob] Ciaruffoli in a statement. “Our new name honors our histories, while positioning the union as one firm, ParenteBeard.”
Still not convinced about the choice but maybe we don’t know the whole story. Perhaps there’s a serious case of pogonophobia among the top brass. If you’ve got better suggestions for the new firm’s name or discuss your own fear of beards, chinstrap or otherwise, discuss in the comments.
Parente Randolph and Beard Miller Merge into ParenteBeard [Web CPA]