Tag: KPMG

Former KPMG Partner Wants a Job That Is Worse Than Being a KPMG Partner

I kid, I kid. There are plenty of KPMG partners who couldn’t be happier if they were PwC partners. ANYWAY, that’s beside the point. What is the point is that former House of Klynveld partner Leslie Coolidge is running for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ Sixth District. Why would a seemingly normal person CPA opt for a career in the dungeon asylum hellhole that is the House of Representatives? Well, she has her reasons:

“Like many of us, I have become increasingly dismayed by the apparent unwillingness of our current Congress to address the critical issues facing our country today,” Coolidge, 52, said. “As I watched the brinksmanship this summer as Congress actually considered letting our country go into financial default, I knew I could no longer sit on the sidelines. As a CPA, I can delve into and understand complex financial matters and create innovative solutions that make sense. In addition, much of my career was spent negotiating among parties with divergent views to find ways to successfully move forward, something Congress is not doing.”

An agent of change! A uniter, not a divider! All that crap! How could it go wrong?

Coolidge announces candidacy for Congress [NS]

A Few KPMGers Give Their Unqualified Opinion on Baby Poop

Yes, baby poop.

Apparently a few Kylnveldians recently got together to celebrate the upcoming birth of capital market servant spawn. Instead of the usual “pin-the-tail-on-the-obstetrician” and “figure out what kind of candy bar this is melted in the diaper” games most baby shower goers might be familiar with, the crew decided to get creative and make some onesies.

“I thought the KPMG outfit has so many underlying messages,” says the tipster, “For example: how creative we are when are spirits are not smashed, how many times our audits are as bad a verifying that poop is poop, etc. At least its cute!”

We call child abuse.

So Olympus Didn’t Tell Investors That They Fired KPMG After a Dispute Over an Accounting Matter, So What?

Once in awhile, management and their auditors don’t see eye to eye on things. If semi-well adjusted adults are involved, usually cooler heads prevail and differences are sorted out. On the other hand, if there are egomaniacs or individuals of Irish descent involved, then things can sometimes go badly. Not badly in the physical sense, mind you. Badly in the sense that auditors usually get fired. When that happens it usually raises eyebrows of investors and people start asking all sorts of questions. Luckily, footnote disclosures usually detail the dispute and everyone moves on. That’s precisely what didn’t happen at Olympus:

In May 2009, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the then president of the camera-maker and medical equipment firm, announced that the contract for its then auditor, KPMG, had ended and that another global accounting firm, Ernst & Young, would take over. Kikukawa made no mention of any row with KPMG, although Japanese disclosure rules require companies to notify investors of “any matters concerning the opinions” of an outgoing auditor. In a confidential internal document, Kikukawa wrote to executives in the United States and Europe, revealing that there had been a disagreement with KPMG which he did not plan to disclose to the stock market. “The release to be published today says that the reason of this termination is due simply to expiry of accounting auditors’ terms of office,” Kikukawa said in the letter dated May 25, 2009, which was written in English.

You may have recently heard that Olympus is in a bit of situation. They up and fired their new CEO after he was on the job for two weeks because he was asking a few too many questions. You see, Michael Woodford was of the opinion that the $687 million advisory fee the company was paying for to a firm assisting them with a purchase the company in the UK was a tad steep and wouldn’t keep [yapping motion with hands]. Mr. Kikukawa – who has a reputation as an ‘emperor‘ – didn’t care for that, so he and the Board of Directors told Woodford that his services were no longer needed, chalking it up to Woodford being a little too British.

Fast-forward to today’s news – The accounting issue in question – goodwill impairment – was related to the company, Gyrus Group Plc., Olympus purchased back in 2009. And who do you suppose gave Reuters the memo outlining the whole we’re-firing-KPMG-because-they-disagree-with-us-and-we’re-not-telling-anyone-about-it thing?

The confidential letter was given to Reuters by former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford who was ousted after just two weeks in the job on October 14 for what he says was his persistent questioning over the Gyrus advisory fee and other odd-looking acquisitions. Woodford says the letter was addressed to him in his role as head of Olympus Europe at the time and to Mark Gumz, then head of Olympus Corp America.

Apparently this is no big whoop as long as it’s not material and “the numbers add up” says an accounting professor who has ties to Olympus. Oh! In that case, I guess everyone should just move along.

Exclusive: Olympus removed auditor after accounting [Reuters]

KPMG Is Sorry for Not Sorting Through This Giant Charlie Foxtrot (aka MF Global) a Little Faster

Initially the House of Klynveld wasn’t worried about any MF Global clients getting their money back. Then yesterday we learned that plenty of people were pretty cranky, including one trader who thought the firm’s efforts so far were hilarious. Now, after a number of cranky phone calls and thousands of sternly-worded emails, KPMG is apologi[z]ing for all the “disruption” since they’ve been appointed as the administrator of MF Global:

“We are working with the companies’ staff to transfer client positions wherever possible. Where exchanges and counterparties have defaulted the company under their own rules, we have worked closely with them to try to optimise the outcome,” said Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG. “We understand the frustration among clients and market participants at the disruption that is currently being experienced and are sorry for the inconvenience this is causing. In relation to client assets and monies held by the company we are actively working to reconcile holdings and accounts in order to enable assets to be released as soon as possible.”

So, c’mon guys; I know it’s been over 72 hours but please bear with them.

KPMG apologises over MF Global disruption [FT]

KPMG Has Traders in Stitches

One anonymous independent trading client of MF Global said “It’s a joke. I don’t know what’s happening to my positions and when I’ve tried to contact KPMG all I’ve been told is that I can send an email to which I get an automated reply.” [FN, Earlier]

MF Global Owes CNBC More Money Than PwC

As you may have heard, MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. You may have also heard that for some strange reason, MF owes CNBC about $845k and change. Turns out, that is more money than it owes to PwC ($312,598), Alvarez & Marsal Tax Advisory Services ($65,000), The Siegfried Group ($30,000) and KPMG ($10,000) combined.


The bright side for P. Dubs is that they got most of the $12 million that they charged the company with last year. Of course if the shareholders take this bankruptcy as well as Lehman’s have (not to mention the NYAG and the State of New Jersey), then that really doesn’t serve as much consolation.

MF Global Bankruptcy Filing [via DB]

PwC Wasn’t About to Let October Pass Without Announcing Their Latest Talent Acquisition From KPMG

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that PwC has made KPMG it’s own personal farm system for partners and directors. It seems that P. Dubs follows all the talent out there and then simply calls the men and women up when they’re ready for the big leagues. We’ve noted four press releases put out by PwC announcing appointments of partner/directors that were brought over from the House of Klynveld. And who knows how many other, non-PR worthy partners, have also joined Team Autumn. Trust us, it’s happening; we hear things.

ANYWAY, in today’s Daily Grind newsletter, I wondered if PwC would take the opportunity of All Hallow’s Eve to pull a trick on KPMG, announcing that yet another partner or director had recently joined up with P. Dubs. My wonderment was largely in jest but I guess I’ve misunderestimated the scamps in PwC’s communications department:

Eric Israel, who joins PwC as a managing director, is a former KPMG managing director and that firm’s US advisory practice leader on climate change and sustainability. He has more than 25 years of experience with KPMG where he began his career in the Netherlands as a Chartered Accountant. Later, Israel moved into sustainability consulting where he has focused his work for nearly 14 years. Israel has global experience in sustainable development concepts and application, finance and sustainability assurance, climate change and carbon consulting & verification, business research and development, as well as knowledge management and corporate governance. He also has participated in the work of organizations such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Consortium and the AICPA’s and CICA’s joint Sustainability Task Force.

Israel co-founded KPMG’s Global Sustainability Services practice and wrote KPMG’s first Sustainability Audit Manual. He received his BA in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He will be based in PwC’s New York office.

In other words, Izzy is was KPMG’s Global Sustainability practice. He wrote the audit manual for crissakes! Of course since he’s just a co-founder, that hopefully means that his fellow co-founder is still around. At least until he/she gets their own press release.

PwC Gives KPMG a Break, Appoints Insider as New Head of U.S. Tax

I guess it was funny the first four times (and that doesn’t count the chumps that don’t get press releases) but for the extra special positions, P. Dubs must prefer to keep things in house.

Mark J. Mendola has been named as PwC’s U.S. Tax leader and a vice chairman of the firm. He will also serve as a member of the firm’s U.S. leadership team and the global Tax leadership team. Additionally, he will be responsible for the network of Tax practices across the Americas, including Canada, Mexico and South America.

For those keeping close tabs on this sort of thing, MJM joined PwC in ’86, no doubt inspired to join the tax practice thanks to the efforts of the Gipper & Co. He joined the partnership in ’98 with no indication that he strayed to the HoK. Word on the street is that KPMG is pretty bent out of shape over the competitive poaching, so PwC must be backing off. For now, anyway.

[via PwC]

Layoff Watch ’11: KPMG Asking for ‘Voluntary Redundancies’ Down Under

From the land that brought you Michael Andrew:

KPMG is to push ahead with a round of voluntary redundancies following a slowdown in merger and acquisition activity. The privately-held firm launched the cost cutting program this week, offering voluntary redundancies and part-time working options for its 5000 Australian-based staff.

[…]”We’re seeing a tough, uncertain, challenging and patchy market,” KPMG’s Australian chief executive officer, Geoff Wilson, said yesterday. But he declined to say how many staff would be affected by the shake-up. “While we’re experiencing year-on-year growth, we’re seeing some softening in that growth. [We are trying to] create flexibility in response to the patchiness we’re seeing in the market,” he said.

Crikey. I guess by “create flexibility” Mr. Wilson means, “Your work-life balance is going to get a whole lot easier.”

KPMG calls for redundancies amid slowdown in mergers [SMH via Francine McKenna]

Let’s Get to Know KPMG’s New International Chairman, Michael Andrew

Yesterday we learned that new KPMG International Chairman Michael Andrew doesn’t think too highly of second-tier accounting firms. Sure, they might have fancy ad campaigns, or offer Starbucks cards for being tattletales but could they audit a global bank? No. Hell no. Rubes. According to Andrew, those firms are “quite lazy” about investing in their businesses which means you couldn’t trust those audits as far as you could throw them.

But perhaps that wasn’t the best introduction for the man replacing Tim Flynn (who is, frankly, irreplaceable). Luckily, in addition to the FT piece we mentioned yesterday, there was also a much longer profile of MA that will give you a better idea of the man who has to fill T Fly’s shoes.


For starters, being the chair of an international accounting behemoth can be a quite the harried job, it’s important that Drew be afforded the quickest transport possible:

Holding court in a hotel at London’s Heathrow airport, Michael Andrew is boasting about how easy it is to get from his desk to the runway back home in Hong Kong. “I basically walk out of the office and they guarantee me to be sitting on the plane in 45 minutes,” he says.

The new chairman of KPMG International is not trying to rub salt into the wounds of harried air travellers in the UK and US. Rather, the 55-year-old Australian is explaining why he recently became the first head of a major global accounting network to be based in Asia.

And since he is based in Asia, this should put everyone on notice that the House of Klynveld isn’t caught up in the old world thinking of being centered in New York or London like other firms:

The bosses of KPMG’s three bigger rivals – PwC, Deloitte and Ernst & Young – are all based in New York or London: “We are trying to say we are a much more globally balanced firm.”

Okay, so PwC had over $29 billion in revenue. And Deloitte’s results were nothing to sneeze at. Even E&Y managed to put up a decent number. But do their respective Chairmen reside in the eastern hemisphere? I think you know the answer.

But just because he is the new Chairman of one of the largest accounting firms on Earth, you might expect that Drew is caught up in the high-flying lifestyle of a rockstar accountant. Sure, he golfs like the rest of you but that shouldn’t give you the wrong idea about Mike:

Mr Andrew’s hobby of racehorse breeding suggests he is more unbuttoned than the stereotypical accountant, even though three of his horses are called Discretion, Tactfully and Chatham House – the latter a reference to the famously off-the-record UK forum. But Mr Andrews himself is certainly willing to make punchy comments.

That’s right. This means stomping through shit. Bossing stable boys around. Firing trainers when necessary. Clearly, he’ll get down in the mud if he has to.

An accountant betting on Asia [FT]

Burned Out KPMG Associate Looking to Extend Stay in Public Accounting Purgatory with Another Big 4 Firm

Ed. note: Have a question for the career advice brain trust? Email us advice@goingconcern.com.

Dear GC:

I am an associate working for KPMG. During the past 13 months of my career here, I’m just tired of using their outdated office technology, audit tools (an electronic audit system that was made in 2010 when all other big 4s started at least 5 years ago), unfriendly people culture (politics and white-eyes), and stingy meal reimbursement ($14 for dinner). I often work really late hours (utilization rate more than 180%), at the year-end review, I am really unhappy for the rating and raise they gave me.

But still, I want to work in public accounting for the next 2 to 3 years. My question is, do Big 4 recruiters share their employee’s review? Does a recruiter at DTT/EY/PwC know what the employee’s performance is at KPMG (maybe a call to his/her close-friend in KPMG to find-out)? Also, while I’m choosing my next target, which Big 4 has better people-culture so that I will be motivated to work hard for the 2 or 3 years?

Thanks,

An Escaping Klynvedian

Dear Soon-To-Be-Escapee,


Oh, the woes of a being a first year associate: you think the hours/pay/bennies can be substantially better at another firm in your area, but really where you’re at now is oftentimes par for the course. Yes, the audit tools at KPMG are antiquated compared to the others (to their credit: they’re desperately playing catch up now), but with the other areas of complaint I doubt the GC crew has much sympathy for you. Your $14 Per Diem rate is not a KPMG decision but rather based on rates set by IRS. As someone who has traveled extensively for my firm (and uses the IRS rates), I’ve never had a problem ordering in or dining out within the rates set for any given city. Hellz, you could live on $14 a night in NYC if you had to (street meat, anyone?). On to your other concerns:

1. Hours – going to be bad wherever you are. 180% chargeability bad? I don’t know. Talk to anyone you know at the local offices of your competitors and ask about their busy seasons. Also ask if they’re hiring.

2. Unfriendly culture – I think we can all agree that this is different for every office, for every firm, for every city. Best way to find a better one is to look around.

3. Sharing employee reviews – it’s unlikely that one HR professional will call up his/her counterpart at your firm and inquire directly about your reviews. However, they will most likely ask that you provide copies of past reviews before making you an offer. This is a legitimate request and you should be prepared to cooperate. Based on your expressed concern, I’m going to guess that your reviews are not that…great. If this is the case, be prepared to explain any average/less than review points made by your manager(s).

GC’ers – who has some advice for our fleeing first year? Hit up the comments below.