Researchers Shockingly Discover That If You Pay Low Level Grunts More, They Do Better Financial Reporting
A new working paper from Stanford Graduate School of Business professors Christopher Armstrong, John Kepler, and David Larcker, and Shawn Shi, Ph.D. ’23, of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business has found a connection between how well low-ranking accountants are paid and the quality of their work. This is a new area for […]
Someone at Eide Bailly Has a Thing For Feet
Remember back in the early 2010s when firms were giving away iPads? Apparently this is what you get when you go to recruiting events nowadays: Anyone gotten anything good at events lately? Or are we still doing fat highlighters and Post-it flags?
RIP, Paul Sarbanes
Pour one out today for your homie, Paul Sarbanes, because a lot of you just might owe your gainful employment to him and Michael Oxley, who passed away in 2016. Here are some excerpts from the Washington Post obit today about the former Maryland Democratic senator: Paul S. Sarbanes, who as a young Maryland congressman […]
The PCAOB Hates Meetings As Much As We Do
Going Concern staff has historically not been fond of meetings. Caleb hated them. Adrienne doesn’t like them because that means she has to wake up before noon. And I don’t particularly care for meetings either. They’re usually a waste of my time. According to our friend Francine McKenna at MarketWatch, the PCAOB seems to be […]
KPMG Is Thankful for SOX
I was kinda wondering about this myself, but I figured the answer would be no. From Tammy Whitehouse of Compliance Week: KPMG is under fire in the U.K. for diminishing audit performance, particularly in connection with the collapse of British construction firm Carillion. The firm has reportedly advised its partners internally that it would halt all […]
Controllers Say AI and Blockchain on the Cusp of Transforming SOX Compliance
When asked whether artificial intelligence and blockchain will play a role in accounting and finance teams’ Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts in the near future, Brian Christensen said, without hesitation, “Absolutely.” “The question is, how far down the road is that?” said Christensen, executive vice president of global internal audit and financial advisory at consulting firm Protiviti. […]
Controllers Talk About the Paths They’ve Taken Toward SOX Compliance
As we approach the “sweet sixteen” of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act later this summer, corporate controllers provided some perspective on how SOX compliance efforts have changed with the times and what challenges they continue to face. “I’ve seen quite a few SOX changes through the years and improvements to internal controls since the original COSO framework was […]
SOX Approaching Teens, Behaving Accordingly: Survey
That is, taking up a lot more of companies' time and money: Nearly 13 years after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the money and time spent to comply with its disclosure requirements continue to increase for companies, according to a new survey. Sixty-seven percent of the 460 audit executives and professionals polled by the […]
How Internal Controls Will Keep You Safe From Velociraptors
Like any normal kid growing up in the early nineties, I harbored an unnatural obsession with Jeff Goldblum’s body (of work), including perhaps Goldblum’s finest moment (aside from his unquestionably riveting performance in Law & Order) as Dr. Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park. Yeah. I’d seen the movie and read the book about a thousand […]
CAQ-Commissioned Study Finds Reasonable Assurance Somewhat More Reasonable These Days
We're sharing the following with you not because we think it is a sign that both clients and their auditors have cleaned up their acts but it is a perfect example of how dangerous data can be in the wrong hands. Let's take a look at the results of the work done by Susan Scholz, […]
Grant Thornton Was Into Sarbanes-Oxley Before It Was Cool
When you think of hipsters, Ed Nusbaum probably isn't the first guy who comes to mind. But in a recent piece for Harvard Business Review, Nusbaum reflects on his humble beginnings working for his dad's hardware store and how Grant Thornton was ahead of the curve on SOX before there was even a curve to […]