Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

protests

Looks Like Deloitte Is Ditching Its Downtown Atlanta Office

Before anyone gets too excited, Deloitte isn’t going fully remote in Atlanta. Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Deloitte has not renewed its 260,000 square foot lease at 191 Peachtree according to loan documents reviewed by the Chronicle. It’s suspected that the firm is downsizing. Multiple sources with knowledge of the market say Deloitte is eyeing Midtown. […]

Accountants Behaving Badly: Of Course One of the Capitol Insurrectionist Dummies Is a CPA

The owner of McAuliffe CPA Enterprises in Mineola, NY, took a field trip down to Washington, DC, and decided it would be a good idea to join a bunch of other domestic terrorist doofuses in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 because they actually thought they could prevent Congress from confirming Joe Biden as […]

So How Much Work Did You Actually Get Done Today?

None like me, who was doomscrolling through Twitter all afternoon, or did you somehow, someway do something productive that was work-related? Stay well, everyone.

Grant Thornton’s Downtown NYC Office Still Has a Rat Problem

If Grant Thornton had any competitors, those competitors would be thrilled to see what's ongoing at Grant Thornton's downtown Manhattan office at 60 Broad. We wrote about the Teamsters' giant rat down there back in July but now we have photographic evidence. With bold print and underlining! Let's see what's going on: This makes us […]

(UPDATE) We’re Hoping EY Staff in NYC Went Home Before the Pro-Palestine Protest Started

The best part about this alert from the EY Security Director at 5 Times Square is that the protest was scheduled to start at 4:30 PM and the email went out at 3:21 PM. Hope you folks prepared in time! Everyone alright over there? Give us a holla and let us know you're OK. Update: […]

Big 4 Fears of Social Unrest in Hong Kong Were Totally Overblown

So, not only did fans of democracy have a successful protest in Hong Kong yesterday but the Big 4 — who felt compelled to take out an ad warning against assembly — were totally wrong about downtown festivities clogging up the center of business! OK, first of all, July 1st was a local holiday. So […]

Occupy PwC Dublin Wasn’t Even Trying

People aren't protesting like they used to. I mean, who has the energy anymore? Drum circles are EXHAUSTING. Then there's the pepper spray. Who needs that? Plus it's winter; Not exactly prime protest season in the northern hemisphere. Still, some guys in Dublin gave it a go today but it was a pretty sorry effort:  Up to […]

Wanted: Accountants for Large Protest; Organizational Skills and Experience with Anything Slightly Resembling a Expense Reimbursement Policy a Plus

As you may have heard, there is a number of mighty upset people occupying various streets around the country. By reading some of the signs being held by these occupants, it’s obvious they’re peeved about a number of things. With such a wide range of gripes, the crowds have gotten quite large and since many people sympathize with the protestors, lots of donations are being made by those passing by, usually in the form of cash. This, as any accountant worth their salt knows, can be problematic, as evidenced by this video:

As the protests have grown, so have the donations. And since protests aren’t exactly bastions of internal controls, the problem of tracking the money coming in and being spent has become quite a chore. That chore has fallen on one person named Victoria Sobel who is functioning as Occupy Wall Street’s “chief treasurer.”


There’s no indication that Victoria is an accountant and, oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of ready accountants amongst the occupiers, so the methods currently being used aren’t exactly robust. They started housing collections using “a large cooking pot covered in cardboard and duct tape” and gradually moved towards high-tech tools such as “donation buckets” and “a yellow messenger bag.” Despite these improvements, this system still needs some work Fortunately for Ms. Sobel, a person with some relevant experience recently turned up:

Then the first consultant, a certified public accountant sympathetic to the cause, came to help. Jo Ann Fleming […], who besides her accounting work has a radio show called Flash Talks Cash, sat down in a red tailgating chair next to three activists volunteering on the Occupy Wall Street finance committee.

Fleming heard a rundown of how the operation is working so far: Most of the money comes in through two donation buckets stationed at the ends of the park, where a steady throng of tourists and commuters is always passing by.

Teams of volunteers are split up into working groups for areas like food, sanitation and medical supplies, then spend the money on communal goods. Anyone who wants to be reimbursed for expenses has to get approval from a finance committee member before making a purchase. If it’s less than $100, they’ll sign out some cash, with orders to return with the goods and the receipt. If it’s more than $100, the purchase is supposed to be approved at a town meeting.

Once again, a CPA to the rescue! But since Ms. Fleming can’t quit her day job, she gave the best advice she could to the team on the ground:

After some probing, accountant Fleming determined the group needs to come up with a clear policy on how to get reimbursed for expenses. She suggested more frequent collection of the donation buckets, to avoid the temptation of dipping hands in—“cash is very troublesome.” And she urged them to create a spreadsheet tracking how much was received and paid.

More frequent collections. Clear, common sense policies. Spreadsheets. All excellent suggestions. But perhaps most importantly, Ms. Fleming recognizes when someone is doing the job of three people and is on the brink of cracking up (an important instinct in today’s accounting firms) so she gave Victoria some advice.

She turned to Sobel: “One woman can’t run the show. You’re exhausted; I can hear it in your voice. You need to delegate. You’re going to get burned out.”

Any double-entry experts that have some time on their hands and want to help the cause need to get downtown ASAP.

Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$ [NHI]