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June 5, 2023

When accounting goes unaccounted for

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PwC Chair Basically Threatens AI Will Replace You If You Don’t Come Into the Office Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: PwC Names Names in Tax Scandal; ‘Your Own Everest’ | 6.5.23 Friday Footnotes: More Bad News for PwC; Firm Leader Says AI Will Get People Back in the Office | 6.2.23 Bonus Season Is Not Looking Good at the King’s KPMG Promotion Watch ’23: EY Promotes 966 to Partner, Missing Last Year’s Record of 1033

Cube farms

PwC

PwC’s New ‘State-of-the-Art Facilities’ in Detroit Will Encourage Enhanced Collaboration, Observation of Awful Eating Habits

by Caleb Newquist

Never mind that "state-of-the-art" and "Detroit" don't often collide in the same sentence; what's important to note here is Managing Partner David Breen's description of the new "open floor plan": "We're building out the space to leverage the firm's new model of office design, which includes a modern and open floor plan to enhance team […]

Deloitte

Deloitte’s New San Francisco Office Will Be Cooler Than Yours

by Caleb Newquist

Sayeth San Fran managing partner Mark Edmunds.


He told the SF Business Times, “The cool factor will be very high,” so maybe we’re taking his statement slightly out of context. Presumably, “high cool factor” not only means that there won’t be tight security on bathrooms and they’ll allow pictures in your respective cube but it sounds as though there will be a faux-Starbucks available and a theater so you can listen to Barry Salzberg talk about diversity in surround sound.

The new office — nine floors in San Francisco’s newest office tower — represents not only a change in address, but an evolving philosophical transformation in how Deloitte serves its clients. Instead of private sanctuaries where partners retreat to pore over financial statements, the new environment will be all about collaborative spaces, Starbucks-like cafes and enclaves with the latest video conferencing technology. There will be a theater-style “learning center” that can hold groups of up to 200.

Deloitte recalculates headquarters [SF Business Times (partial subscription required)]

News

Disappointing Accounting Firm Trend: Managers Sitting in Cubicles

by Caleb Newquist

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?

Uncategorized

Pictures of the Day: One Idea to Help Keep the Utilization Up

by Caleb Newquist

As you well know, it’s key for all of you to stay as fully utilized as possible this busy season, and sometimes little things make all the difference.
A reader provided us with the following idea:
bathroom23.jpg
The strategically placed marker board will come in handy when all those great ideas pop into the grey matter.
bathroom3.jpg
Or you can just memorize Giants statistics.


bathroom10.jpg
Say what you will about the impracticalities of this set up but at least you won’t have to chase down a key.
We strongly encourage you to submit any chicanery that you might cook up this busy season. We’re here to help you stay sane.