
Promotion Watch ’22: Here Are the 37 Newest Marcum Partners
If the 2022 new partner class at Marcum looks unusually large, it is. Why? Because of all the Friedmans. The class of new partners includes professionals who joined the firm as part of Friedman LLP’s merger into Marcum less than a week ago, on September 1. Up until now, last year’s class of 29 new […]

Marcum Gives Employees the ‘Gift’ of Summer Hours on Fridays
During a town hall meeting on Tuesday in which the marriage between Marcum and Friedman was confirmed internally before the official press release was slapped on Marcum’s website in the afternoon, Marcum Chairman and CEO Jeff Weiner announced that it’s almost time for all those busy season morale-boosting pizza parties to be replaced by new […]

Rumor Mill: Two Top 35 Accounting Firms (One In the Top 15) Are In Merger Talks (UPDATE: Friedman and Marcum Merger Official)
[UPDATE on May 3] The news we broke last week (scroll down) came to fruition today, as the merger between Friedman and Marcum is now official. Here is the press release from Marcum: Leading national accounting and advisory firms Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) and Friedman LLP (“Friedman”) today announced that they are in advanced discussions related to a […]

Marcum Leads Public Accounting In Posting Awkward Busy Season Pizza Party Photos on Social Media
Marcum employees are living that public accounting busy season stereotype one slice of pizza at a time. We're in the final stretch of the #taxseason. Our Fort Lauderdale office took a much needed break and gathered for happy hour while enjoying pizza and beer. #marcumeverywhere #funatwork pic.twitter.com/QJx0VBxD2R — Marcum LLP (@MarcumLLP) April 5, 2022 It […]

How Did Crowe, Moss Adams, and Marcum Do In Their Respective 2020 PCAOB Inspection Reports?
If these inspection reports were like tests taken in a classroom, Crowe and Moss Adams would have received passing grades, while Marcum would have failed big time. Let’s take a look: Crowe The latest audit inspection results for Crowe show the 11th-ranked public accounting firm by revenue bombed 27% of the audits reviewed in the […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Marcum Is Jumping On the Mid-Year Raises Bus
Marcum Chairman, CEO, and Going Concern fanboy Jeffrey Weiner must be feeling extra charitable during this season of giving, as he’ll be putting a little something extra in Marcum employees’ stockings on Jan. 1, 2022. A tipster provided us with this email that Weiner sent to Marcum employees today, with “Mid-Year Salary Increases” in the […]

Promotion Watch ’21: Marcum Adds 29 New Chairs to the Big Kids Table
Big news from the Marcum camp today, as 17 men and 12 women will now be able to hitch a ride on the special partners-only bus. According to a media release, this year’s new partner class is the largest and most diverse class in Marcum’s history. The firm admitted 20 to the partnership in 2020. […]

Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q1 2021?
The SPAC bubble didn’t burst during the first quarter of 2021. Of the 407(!) initial public offerings in U.S. markets between Jan. 1 and March 31, 298 (73.2%) involved blank check or special-purpose acquisition companies, according to a new analysis from Audit Analytics. In total, the 407 IPOs raised nearly $134.7 billion—an increase of more […]

Here Are Two Contenders For the Biggest Turd of a 2019 PCAOB Inspection Report
Significantly screwing up half of your audits inspected by the PCAOB won’t get your firm included in the pantheon of worst PCAOB inspection reports of all time. RSM US beat that handily in 2017. BDO USA has had audit failure rates of 74% (2014), 67% (2016), and 65% (2013). Grant Thornton did a horrible job […]

Marcum Is Having a Bad Day on Social Media Thanks to a Rogue Senior Who Just Learned the F Word
Hey would you look at that, got some fresh drama to report. Just the thing to get this Monday officially started eh? A tipster informs us that drama is afoot over at Marcum LLP thanks to one naughty senior who tweeted some strong words to former Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka. We aren’t […]

Marcum’s Reopening of Offices Didn’t Even Last Two Months Before Everyone Was Sent Back Home to Work
Back in late September, we mocked celebrated the leadership of Marcum CEO Jeffrey Weiner who, pandemic be damned, told his troops that he wanted heinies in all seats at Marcum offices across the land on Oct. 1—even in New Haven, CT, where employees found out on Sept. 30 that one of their colleagues had tested […]

Marcum Reminds Employees That Client Deadline Work Won’t Get Done By Itself During the Holidays and Pandemic
Happy Thanksgiving week! Because Adrienne and I are going to be taking some much-needed time off later this week (and hopefully you guys are too), our posting schedule is going to be a little lighter than normal. But do you know whose workload isn’t going to be lighter than usual this week and in the […]

Marcum Has Positive COVID Case, Still Expects Employees to Come to the Office Bright and Early on Oct. 1
[Updated with additional information.] As I am writing this, it is 12:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 1. Happy first day of October, everyone. And happy return-to-the-office day for all of you Marcum capital market servants. Especially to the employees who work at the firm’s office in New Haven, CT. These poor folks still gotta come […]

Marcum CEO Wants to See Those Cube Farms Filled on Oct. 1 (UPDATE)
[Updated on Sept. 23 with additional information.] Thanks to two sources, here’s the email Marcum CEO, Chairman, and Going Concern bestie Jeffrey Weiner sent to employees on Sept. 14 about expectations for returning to the office: Stay-at-home orders were put into effect in March as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most businesses and schools […]

Promotion Watch ’20: Marcum Admits 20 to Partnership
Marcum Chairman and CEO (and Going Concern’s biggest fan, so we’re told) Jeffrey Weiner deified 20 new partners on Sept. 1. The class of 2020 is larger than last year’s class by four partners, so some obnoxious little virus wasn’t going to stop Weiner & Co. from handing out more golden tickets this year. Here […]

Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q2 2020?
Huh. Did you know there were 62 initial public offerings this past quarter? I didn’t. Then again, IPOs aren’t at the top of my “must keep track of” list with everything else going on in the world right now. But now that Audit Analytics has released its latest analysis on Q2 IPO auditor market share, […]

Marcum Not Yet Ready to Pull the Trigger On Mass Layoffs
While some accounting firms in its weight class, like Crowe, Baker Tilly, EisnerAmper, and Wipfli, have laid off somewhere between 3% and 10% of their staffs due to the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 crisis, Marcum hasn’t resorted to those measures. Yet. During a town hall meeting earlier this afternoon, Marcum CEO Jeffrey Weiner […]

Marcum Temporarily Going to 40-Hour Workweek, Except For You New York City Folks Who Are Not In Tax
If you need another example of why public accounting firms get a bad rap for being more concerned about dollar signs and clients than their employees, that they’d rather their capital market servants be billable than healthy—both physically and mentally—look no further than this email sent to Marcum’s New York City employees on March 19 […]

Marcum Is Finally Taking This COVID-19 Thing Seriously (At Least For This Week)
You can add Marcum to the ever-growing list of accounting firms that are temporarily going all remote because of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. But of course not until tomorrow; there’s a tax deadline to wrap up first. A tipster sent us the email Marcum Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Weiner sent to his capital […]

Which Audit Firm Got Fired the Most In Q4 2019?
It wasn’t a stellar fourth quarter of 2019 for the Big 4 in terms of winning new public company audit clients, according to Accounting Today’s most recent report on the newest data crunched by Audit Analytics. Deloitte and EY brought on four and three new SEC-registered audit clients, respectively, in Q4, but Deloitte also lost […]

Marcum Poaches Someone From EY and Issues a Press Release, Part I
In my mind, Gary Sturisky walked out of EY’s office in Miami, put all of his “Building a Better Working World” swag in a dumpster, stuck out his thumb, and was picked up by a Marcum bus, which drove him to the firm’s office in Fort Lauderdale where he worked happily ever after. Now that […]

Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q4 2019?
Our friends at Audit Analytics just released their analysis of the initial public offering auditor market share for the fourth quarter of 2019. But before we look at Q4’s results, let’s quickly review the previous three quarters’ IPO audit engagement leaders: Q1: Marcum 8 ($896 million raised) Q2: Deloitte 17 ($7.87 billion raised) Q3: EY […]

Marcum’s Microcap Conference Seemed Like a Great Event for Auditor Independence Violations
In the storied history of auditor independence violations by PCAOB-registered accounting firms, Marcum broke the rules in a rather unique and spectacular way: it publicly advocated its audit clients as investment opportunities. The PCAOB was probably giddy writing and sending out this press release on Sept. 10: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board today announced […]

Promotion Watch ’19: Marcum Adds 16 New Partners
While Major League Baseball teams expanded their rosters on Sept. 1, Marcum expanded its partner roster on Sunday, calling up 16 men and women to the big leagues. This year’s new partner class is by far the firm’s largest since 2010. The only one that comes close is 2017’s 13 promotions. Let’s take a look […]

Which Firm Topped the Big 4 in IPO Audits in Q1 of 2019?
2019 is supposed to be a record-breaking year for initial public offerings. At least that’s what the experts have been telling everyone. Barrett Daniels, Deloitte’s national IPO services leader, said the IPO market in 2019 “could end up being historic,” while Jackie Kelley, EY Americas IPO leader, said “this is going to be the best […]

How Did the Big 4 Do in Snagging New SEC Audit Clients in Q3?
Answer: Nowhere near as good as Marcum, which brought 30 new SEC audit clients onboard during the third quarter—21 of which were former clients of GBH CPAs, a Houston-based firm that merged with Marcum in July, according to Accounting Today. New York-based Marcum ended the quarter netting 22 new audit clients, more than twice its […]
Marcum LLP Proudly Launches Interactive Same-Sex Marriage Map
They said it loud and proud in a press release yesterday: The map enables users to view the status of same-sex marriage unions in individual states by hovering their computer cursors. A pop-up chart for the highlighted state reveals a variety of data, including whether same-sex marriage or rights similar to marriage are recognized in […]
Marcum Has Some Doubts About American Apparel’s Ability to Continue Selling Gold Lamé Leggings
Bad news for Dov Charney’s hipster retail paradise as Marcum – who replaced Deloitte last summer – has issued its auditor’s opinion with the language that no one likes to see.
But before we get to that, if you take a quick glance at the balance sheet you’ll see that the company barely has enough money to keep the lights on as their working capital is a measly $3 million (current assets of $216 million, current liabilities of $213 million). This shockingly bad number is mostly due to the $138 million in revolving credit facilities the company has included in its current liabilities. The company is also shows an accumulated deficit of over $73 million in its equity section. APP also bled over $32 million in cash from operations, according to its cash flow statement. All this bad news has lots of people talking about bankruptcy and that doesn’t touch the thirteen (that’s Gawker’s count, I only saw twelve) ongoing lawsuits against the company. Plus there’s the subpoena the company received from the U.S. Attorney General for SDNY last August over their auditor switcheroo.
We could go on and on but you get the pic. Here’s the final paragraph from Marcum’s opinion in APP’s 10-K:
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has incurred a substantial loss from operations and had negative cash flow from operations for the year ended December 31, 2010. As a result of noncompliance with certain loan covenants, debt with carrying value of approximately $138.0 million at December 31, 2010, could be declared immediately due and payable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company has minimal availability for additional borrowings from its existing credit facilities, which could result in the Company not having sufficient liquidity or minimum cash levels to operate its business. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plan in regard to these matters is also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.
Obviously the bad news is that investors are really spooked but the good news is that there could be a serious fire sale on hoodies and t-shirts in our future. Silver lining!
Accounting Firm Merger Mania: Marcum and Stonefield Get Together
Marcum continues its shopping spree, picking up Stonefield Josephson after picking up UHY’s New England offices back in the spring.
Stonefield, which had offices in San Jose, Walnut Creek and San Francisco, as well as three others in Southern California and one in Hong Kong, merged with Marcum LLP and was rebranded MarcumStonefield.
Terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Founded in 1975, Stonefield had 150 employees in its seven locations. Now, Marcum has more than 1,100 employees in 21 offices, most of which are on the East Coast.
American Apparel Subpoenaed Over Auditor Switcheroo
American Apparel’s downward spiral continues as Bloomberg reports that the company has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney for the SDNY over the company’s “change in accounting firms.”
If you’re just l started with Deloitte quitting as the auditors of APP late last month. At that time, Deloitte warned that the ’09 financial statements may not (read: definitely are not) reliable and that they were getting the hell out of Dov.
Former APP auditor Marcum – for reasons unbeknownst to us – went back to their old client to try and help them straighten things out. Here’s the latest from the “preliminary results” for the second quarter, while thetardy 10-Q remains elusive. These prelims (i.e. a wild stab?), that were filed today warn that things are likely to get worse before they get better:
Potential Restatement of previously issued financial statements
Effective July 22, 2010, Deloitte resigned as our independent registered public accounting firm. On July 26, 2010, we engaged Marcum as our independent registered public accounting firm. On July 28, 2010, we reported on a Form 8-K that we had been advised by Deloitte that certain information had come to Deloitte’s attention that if further investigated may materially impact the reliability of either Deloitte’s previously issued audit report or the underlying consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Deloitte has requested that we provide Deloitte with the additional information Deloitte believes it is necessary to review before any conclusions can be reached as to the reliability of the previously issued consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 and auditors’ report thereon.
Depending on the outcome of this review, a restatement of our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2009 could be required. Any restatement may subject us to significant costs in the form of accounting, legal fees and similar professional fees, in addition to the substantial diversion of time and attention of our Chief Financial Officer, our other officers and directors and members of our accounting department in preparing and reviewing the restatement. Any such restatement could adversely affect our business, our ability to access the capital markets or the market price of our common stock. We might also face litigation, and there can be no assurance that any such litigation, either against us specifically or as part of a class, would not materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or the market price of our common stock.
But that’s not all! The company discusses a few more issues, “We are subject to regulatory inquiries, investigations, claims and suits. We are currently defending one wage and hour suit, one sexual harassment suit and responding to several allegations of discrimination and/or harassment that have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state counterpart agencies.”
At that point, the filing finally gets to the problem du jour:
In addition, in connection with our previously disclosed change in auditors, on July 30, 2010, we received a grand jury subpoena from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for the production of documents relating to the circumstances surrounding the change in our auditors. We have also received inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding this matter. We intend to cooperate fully with these requests and any related inquiries.
If consider all that, plus the fact that the company is spending cash like Pacman Jones at a strip club and that they’re likely to be in noncompliance with a major debt covenants at September 30th, it’s no surprise that the stock is off even more than when Deloitte first quit as auditors.
American Apparel Drops After Receiving Subpoena on Change in Accountants [Bloomberg]
10-Q [SEC]
Deloitte Resigns as American Apparel Auditor; Hotness of Engagement Team Presumably Not an Issue
So for those of you that aren’t too fashion conscious, you probably don’t the name Dov Charney. He’s the Chairman and CEO of American Apparel and you’d be hard pressed to find something in one of his stores that qualify under your firm’s dress code.
Nevertheless! AA is a publicly traded company and is subje ities laws as everyone else. Last year they opted to drop Marcum as their auditor for Deloitte. One year later, the firm has apparently had all they can stand of AA because they resigned today, citing possibly unreliable financial statements for 2009, sending the company’s stock reeling.
The 8-K has the usual language that you would expect from a typical auditor/client break-up but here are the gory details for those you that enjoy that sort of thing (citations omitted and extra fun stuff is bolded):
During the period from April 3, 2009 through July 22, 2010, there were no “reportable events” except that (i) in Deloitte’s report dated March 31, 2010 (which was included in the 2009 Form 10-K) on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009, Deloitte identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting related to the control environment and to the financial closing and reporting process, which are further described under Item 9A in the Company’s 2009 Form 10-K, and advised that the Company has not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009; and (ii) Deloitte advised the Company that certain information has come to Deloitte’s attention, that if further investigated may materially impact the reliability of either its previously issued audit report or the underlying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009 included in the Company’s 2009 Form 10-K. Deloitte has requested that the Company provide Deloitte with the additional information Deloitte believes is necessary to review before the Company and Deloitte can reach any conclusions as to the reliability of the previously issued consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009 and auditors’ report thereon.
As we mentioned, this has spooked plenty of people, including Ed Yruma an analyst at KeyBanc quoted by Bloomberg in a letter to investors, “The company has struggled since its IPO with both its internal controls and its ability to file SEC filings on a timely basis. An ability to file SEC filings on a timely basis has been an ongoing issue.”
Back to the superficial. Dov Charney is, what you might call, a character. Here’s a brief chat we had with Nick, Breaking Media web developer and occasional contributor to our sister site Fashionista:
me: When i say the name
Dov Charney
your response is…
Nick: LECH
PERV
You only need to snoop around the web briefly (e.g. here, here, here) to pick up what Nick is referring to.
Deloitte’s letter to the SEC is brief and makes no mention about the plethora of models not wearing pants or Dov judging the young auditors’ hot or not-ness, so that likely wasn’t part of the problem. Anyhow, AA ran straight back to Marcum who might be more comfortable with, what we imagine to be, an interesting work environment.
8-K [SEC]
American Apparel Falls After Deloitte Resigns as Accountant [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]
Marcum Officially Announces Purchase of UHY New England Locations
Marcum officially announced its take over of the UHY Advisors locations in New England that we mentioned last week.
We can only assume that the 150 employees at new Marcum offices passed the due diligence with flying colors. According to the press release, the new locations will make 15 total for Marcum with over 950 total employees and 117 partners.
Marcum LLP Expands Practice into New England
Members of New England Practices of UHY Advisors and UHY LLP Join Marcum
April 16, 2010, New York, NY- Marcum LLP, one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the nation, announced that it has acquired the New England practices of UHY Advisors and UHY LLP effective April 16, 2010. Marcum will now have offices in three of New England’s major business markets – Boston, Massachusetts, and New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut.
The members of the New England practices of UHY Advisors and UHY LLP who are joining Marcum have a 30-year history in the New England market providing audit, tax and business consulting services in the construction, high technology, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, not-for-profit and higher education arenas. Marcum LLP, with its outstanding reputation at the national and regional levels, has strong service niches in SEC registrants, alternative investment partnerships, family office services, business valuation, bankruptcies and receiverships and services for the government and public sector.
“Expansion into the New England region increases Marcum’s presence in the Northeast and offers our clients greater resources and new areas of expertise,” stated Jeffrey M. Weiner, Managing Partner of Marcum LLP. “The new locations tie in directly with our growth plan and will help us meet the changing accounting, tax and consulting needs of our clients.”
The entire 150 plus team from the New England practices of UHY Advisors and UHY LLP will join Marcum. With this latest development, Marcum now has more than 950 professionals, including 117 partners, in 15 locations throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts and Grand Cayman.
“The members of the New England practices of UHY Advisors and UHY LLP are looking forward to the growth opportunities this transaction will bring in New England and beyond,” stated Anthony Scillia, who will serve as Managing Partner of Marcum’s New England Region. “Marcum’s geographic footprint, devotion to technical excellence and extensive range of professional services will bring added value to our existing clients and increase our ability to serve new clients in the New England area.”
Marcum Purchasing UHY New England Locations, Tax Quizzes to Be Given?
Web CPA is reporting that Marcum, the firm best known for quizzing potential employees, is purchasing three offices of UHY Advisors (Boston, Hartford and New Haven) effective April 16th.
The addition of the three locations would make fourteenfifteen total for Marcum, who currently only has a Greenwich office in New England. After the deal is closed, UHY Advisors will have fourteen locations well.
No financial details were reported but it is reported that all the UHY employees will be retained by Marcum, pending the successful passing of a rigorous quiz given in a room with no windows, air conditioning and a one hour time limit.
A Marcum spokeswoman declined to comment and a message with UHY was not immediately returned.
Marcum to Buy UHY Offices in New England [Web CPA]
Hit the Books Before Interviewing at Marcum
If you ever get an interview at Marcum, we suggest you break out whatever textbooks you have left, find some stimulants and cram the night before:
[My friend] had some crazy ancient partner interview her and he was talking to her and asked what her favorite grad class was and she told him one…so he wrote down 3 problems gave her code sections etc. and said i’ll be back in an hour and walked out and she was left there alone to solve them. He came back in and said i give this a B+ and then they offered her a position.
Or you could just ask the Accountant of the Decade to develop a new review course.