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Reznick Group’s New National Director of Tax Really Gets Around

With firms, anyway.
Joseph D. Mudd has been named Reznick Group’s new National Director of Tax, according to a firm press release. Prior to the new gig, he served as a partner and managing director with McGladrey’s New York Economic Unit Specialty Tax Services Practice. Before that, he was a partner at Ernst & Young, leading the Metro New York Area accounting methods and inventories practice, as well as the firm’s Internal Revenue Code 199 domestic manufacturing deduction practice (yes, apparently that’s a group). Before that he was with PwC. Before that, Andersen. Presumably, he’ll join KPMG next only to be snatched up PwC, thus bringing his career full circle (RIP Andersen). [Reznick Group]

Going Concern March Madness: The Coolest Accounting Firm – The Final 4 Sans Big 4

Now that we’ve reached the Final 4 without any Big 4 firms (all bounced in the first round), some of you may have lost interest in Going Concern March Madness: Coolest Accounting Firm. Well, that would make you a loser and anyway, we must press on! Face it, you’ll go for anything to distract you from the fact that you’re stuck inside whispering sweet nothings to Microsoft Excel while spring is slowly emerging outside. And it’s a pretty compelling Final Four anyway. Let’s take a look shall we?


So you’ll notice that we have the very interesting match-up between Moss Adams and Grant Thornton, the two firms that have subject of merger rumors (unfounded!) since January. Obviously the winner here will enjoy the upper hand in any future negotiations between the two firms, so anyone from either firm wishing to upset the leverage here would be wise to take a page from the Reznick Group strategy book.

Speaking of Reznick, we briefly mentioned the fact that their first round magic was nowhere to be found in round two. A tipster filled us in as to why:

I think the higher-ups were embarrassed by the public calling out and subsequent mockery in the comments, not a single other email went out about it – reminders about the competition or the beatdown they suffered at the hands of the commenters 🙂 Serious loss of billable hours that day too, everyone kept checking the site all day long for more comments, emailing and IMing each other about it.

So make a mental note – if your firm’s leadership has a thin skin and isn’t down with wasting a number of billable hours, the Reznick strategy may not be the way to go after all.

Moving on to the second match-up we have the perennial dark horse Rothstein Kass against McGladrey. Rothstein continues their hot streak in GCMMTCAF after their impressive performance in this year’s Vault rankings and McGladrey is…well, we’re pretty surprised to see McGladrey in the semi-finals, to be honest. Perhaps there are sweet incentives being offered internally but right now we haven’t been made aware of any such temptations. Anyway, McG has quietly made a run, so it makes for a decent showdown.

All right, enough with pleasantries. Let’s get to the voting. Polls close tomorrow night at 11:59 PT.

First up – GranMA

Cinderella vs. Mickey G’s.

Going Concern March Madness Update: Reznick’s Magic is MIA; Grant Thornton, BDO on the Ropes

Look gang, since too many of you are distracted with doing billable work to email us anything half way interesting, I’m guess I’ll just update you on the progress in Round 2.


The two highest remaining seeds – Grant Thornton and BDO – are looking defeat square in the face right now to their respective opponents – Crowe Horwath and Rothstein Kass. First round comeback kid Reznick Group is currently getting worked by Moss Adams which makes should make us all wonder what happened to the teamwork we saw in the first round. Perhaps they’re a one-trick pony?

Finally, in the least talked about match-up, Mickey G’s and Dennis Rader’s favorite firm (ideas for something better are welcome) look like they’ll be taking it down to the wire. There’s just over thirteen hours left to vote, so get the word out sooner rather than later (sorry Clifton Gunderson).

Going Concern March Madness: The Coolest Accounting Firm – Round 2

Okay people, after a crazy first round, we’re here to present round two of Going Concern March Madness: Coolest Accounting Firm. With all of the Big 4 sent home with their spreadsheets between their legs, the title is up for grabs, although it’s abundantly clear that Reznick Group isn’t taking this shit lightly (they did get their Indian office involved, after all).

With that setup, let’s check out the match-up href=”http://www.goingconcern.com/2011/03/going-concern-march-madness-the-coolest-accounting-firm-round-2/picture-8-11/” rel=”attachment wp-att-27437″>

As you can see, Grant Thornton is now the highest seed left making them the new favorite but judging by how things went in the last round, seeds are basically meaningless.

Voting will start tomorrow morning at 5 am PT tomorrow morning and will end at 11:59 pm PT (don’t ask, that’s just Vizu does) Friday night. Check back here tomorrow to start the voting but in the meantime, place your bets and discuss round 2 below. As always, check with your local bookmaker for actual odds.

UPDATE:
Since I have no plans to get up extra early, I’ve added the polls to the post but you won’t be able to starting voting until tomorrow morning. I realize that many of you will stay up all night and refresh until voting begins but I need my beauty sleep.

The comeback kids vs. the left coast kings (or queens).

Team purple vs. a murder of Crowes.

The most interesting accounting firm in the world (but the coolest?) takes on Arnold Rothstein’s firm…oh, wait…not really, that guy fixed baseball games.

Rounding out with Mickey G’s and BKD.

Reznick Group’s Upset of PwC in GCMMCAF Was a Team Effort

In collegiate tournament basketball, a #16 seed upsetting a #1 is virtually unheard of. The only time it has ever happened was the Harvard Womens squad upsetting Stanford in 1998. It has never happened in the mens tournament. But in the Going Concern March Madness: Coolest Accounting Firm bracket, superior athletes, coaching and luck do not matter. Like most things in accounting, it comes down to numbers.

Late yesterday, PwC’s lead over Reznick Group completely vanished. I speculated to my parter-in-crime that based on the sheer volume coming out of the Virginia/Maryland region that it had to be some sort of a concerted effort on the part of Reznick Group. Turns out I was right; more right than I could possibly know.


This email went out to all Reznick Group offices. Yes. All.

And here’s the victory lap/dancing on PwC’s grave:

We knew America would land with Reznick Group accountants being the coolest bean counters around. With the underground movement of getting clients, family and friends to help vote along with a huge push from our India employees motivating a billion voters, hard to stop the Reznick Group momentum.

Bring on the next contender!

So for the firms left – this is what you’re up against. I’m not suggesting that you should undertake similar efforts but that’s because I have to remain neutral in this regard.

It should be noted that based on the numbers accumulated by Vizu, it appears very few Reznick people bothered voting on any of the other match-ups. This isn’t exactly the kind of participation we had in mind but since most of RG is probably new to the site, we’ll let it slide. The question now is whether this amounts to a “Reznick win” or a “PwC loss.” Please discuss. We’ll updated you with the match-ups for the second round later today and the voting rolling tomorrow.

Accounting News Roundup: Geithner Supports Obama Tax Policy; Reznick Group Announces Principal Promotions; What’s It Cost to Be the Boss? | 08.03.10

Geithner defends Obama policy on tax cut extension [AP]
“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday it would be ‘deeply irresponsible’ for the Obama administration to support a wholesale extension of Bush era tax cuts, including breaks for the wealthy.

Geithner said in a nationally broadcast interview that President Barack Obama strongly believes those reductions should be retained for the ’95 percent’ of taxpayers with individual incomes under $200,000 a year and families below $250,000.”

Bank of America, KPMG Settlement With Countrywide Investors Wins Approval [Bloomberg]
“Bank of America Corp. and KPMG LLP’s $624 million settlement with investors in Countrywide Financial Corp. led by New York pension funds won initial court approval.

U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles ruled today on the accord. A fairness hearing will be held on final approval for the settlement, first announced in May.”

Snooki Tanning-Bed Protest Splits Sin From Taxes [Bloomberg]
“[P]eople don’t like government moralizing. If there’s one thing people dislike even more than taxes, it’s being told what to do.”

So does that mean that Alabama is imploring reverse psychology?


Reznick Group Promotes Four New Principals [Business Wire]
Reznick Group promoted Dan Fox and Renee Matthews in Bethesda, MD, Eric Jones in Sacramento and Daniel Worrall in Atlanta are the big winners.

Accounting & Consulting Group acquires Roswell’s Miller & Associates [New Mexico Business Weekly]
“With 95 employees overall, Accounting & Consulting Group is now the third-largest accounting firm in the state. Headquartered in Albuquerque, it has offices in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs and Roswell, and has a member firm office in Lubbock, Texas. The firm specializes in audit and financial reporting, tax compliance, business consulting and trust and estate planning.”

Becoming the Boss Can Cost Plenty [WSJ]
“When starting a business on a tight budget, a single spending gaffe can spell disaster. For this reason, experts in entrepreneurship recommend taking precautions, such as doing research to identify potential hidden fees, focusing only on necessities and setting aside emergency funds.”

SAP Business ByDesign 2.5: time to invest? [AccMan]
Dennis Howlett gives the lowdown on the “general availability of SAP Business ByDesign 2.5,” which means that it is available for any to purchase. Dennis reports that starter packs for as few as ten users are available for CRM, ERP and PSP.