A Massive Scandal, the Likes of Which the Accounting Profession Had Never Seen, Got KPMG to Consider Outside Directors
In an effusive, buzzy word salad published in Accounting Today, KPMG Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie announced that the firm would be adding independent directors to its board. Why, might you ask? I’ll let Lynne tell you unabated: In today’s complex and fast-moving global business environment, successful organizations regularly reassess their mission and responsibilities to […]
KPMG Drops an Annoying, Dysfunctional, Possibly Corrupt Client
An editorial from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel has some wonderful details about the fallout between KPMG and Broward Health, one of the largest health systems in the country. Broward announced on Monday that KPMG was resigning as auditor. This came about, according to the Broward chairman, due to a misunderstanding: In a Friday letter to the […]
Study Suggests That a Brodeo of Directors May Be More Prone to Restatements
Here's a sign that a board of directors resembling a Guys Night Out at the Tilted Kilt could be a problem: New research shows that firms with at least one woman director are significantly less likely to restate quarterly or annual earnings than are companies with an all-male slate of directors—40% less likely, researchers […]
Five Questions with Norman Marks
Norman Marks is an “evangelist for GRC” (that’s governance, risk management and compliance for those of you that can’t do a Google search). He is a CPA, a chartered accountant and vice president, governance, risk, and compliance for SAP’s BusinessObjects division, and has been a chief audit executive of major global corporations for more than 15 years.
He blogs at the IIA website and keeps a personal blog on governance, risk management and internal controls. He is also the contributing editor of Internal Auditor’s “Governance Perspectives.”
If you read a few Norman’s posts you’ll understand his passion for internal audit, GRC and helping companies find solutions for these issues. Simply stated, Norman is one of the good guys and is doing more than his fair share to help take on the challenges in these areas.
Why should accountants read your blog?
My blog is for anybody with an interest in monitoring events and sharing views around governance, risk management, and internal audit. Accountants are more than people who maintain the books: they are businessmen and women interested in advancing and protecting their organization. That makes them natural leaders in each of these areas.
What are your three must-read accounting blogs and one must-read non-accounting blog?
I read the occasional business blog (aren’t all the better so-called accounting blogs really business blogs) when the topics are interesting. Certainly reTheAuditors by Francine McKenna is interesting. But I really enjoy Mike Jacka (an auditor/humorist) and Richard Chambers, President and CEO of the IIA.
A good accounting blogger is…
Not somebody who writes about (yawn) accounting, but about the accountant’s role in business and advancing the success of his or her organization.
The biggest issue facing accountants today is…
Will the inevitable court cases around Lehman and the principle of ‘fair presentation’ change the nature of external auditing, so that compliance with the rules of US GAAP is no longer sufficient?
Best accounting firm we’ve never heard of (and why they’re great)…
The firm that John Cleese worked in Monty Python (accounting is not boring). Seriously, though, the best accounting firm is the one that puts the interests of its customers first and foremost, consistently performs quality work, exercises fine judgment, provides sound and valuable advice, and sets fees that are reasonable by eliminating unnecessary work and recognizing that fees should not rise faster than wage inflation. You have never heard of them, because I have yet to see them. Sorry, sad, but true.