Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
September 27, 2023

Vote

Going Concern March Madness: FIND your Final Four in The Ultimate Excel Bracket

¡Ay, caramba! Our field of 64 has funneled to the Final Four:
Keyboard Shortcuts: #2 Seed Ctrl-Z vs. Other Excel Features: #6 Seed Format Painter
Worksheet Functions: #10 Seed VLOOKUP vs. Data Analysis Tools: #12 Seed Filter
There’s only one more round before the final face off. Here’s how the strong have survived:

Going Concern March Madness: The Busy Season Survival Final — Booze vs. Excel, There Can Be Only One

Finally, the champions of the two Busy Season Survival regions — Food & Bevvie and Tech — will meet to crown the ultimate winner of GCMMBSSF&BvsT. It's been a memorable tournament unless you've been committed to Team Booze in practice as well as voting. From coffee's disappointing performance to an inspired run by Email to the exciting […]

Going Concern March Madness: Busy Season Survival — Food & Beverage vs. Technology, The Final Four

Well, we have our survivors from GCMMBSSF&BvsT. It's been quite a journey so far, and now we will crown the kings of both Food & Beverage and Tech in your quest to come out of busy season with your sanity intact.

So let's get to it. We're keeping the polls open until Friday at 1 pm ET so you can stuff the channels appropriately.

Going Concern March Madness: Busy Season Survival — Food & Beverage vs. Technology, The Sweet Sixteen

If you picked upsets in your NCAA Mens bracket and all the favorites in your GCMMBSSF&BvsT bracket, then you're in pretty good shape today. My hunch is that you went for the opposite strategy.

While favorites Excel and coffee had no problems and the wins by Bagels and Key Shortcuts were very satisfying, the loss by Someone Else's Hotpocket from the Freezer was devastating. DEVASTATING. 

Going Concern March Madness 2012: Is There Anything Cool About These Final Four Firms?

After two rounds of intense competition to determine the coolest accounting firm, we have come down to the final four. The Usual Suspects are long gone and the remaining favorite, Grant Thornton, was tattooed in the second round.  So who are we left with? What firms are desperately hanging on to be accepted as, not […]

Public Accounting Exodus Watch 2011 (Poll)

Earlier I attempted to give a BDO senior manager some perspective on the how to deliver the news that he was jumping ship. Oddly enough, a friend of GC also sent us this message yesterday:

Since this ‘Tis the Season’ for attrition, it would be interesting to see a survey on who is looking for employment beyond their current employ.

So since we like to get a feel for such things, we’re putting on a little poll to see how many people are grabbing life preservers. Vote in the poll after the jump and discuss the particulars in the comments.

Going Concern March Madness: Moss Adams, Rothstein Kass Battle for the Title of the Coolest Accounting Firm

Well, we’ve finally reached the championship match-up and it’s a battle of the coasts. , NJ-based Rothstein Kass will take on Seattle-based Moss Adams for what will no doubt be the crowning achievement for either firm’s busy season. Moss Adams disposed of their rumored dancing partner Grant Thornton while Rothstein dismantled McGladrey. Rehash over; let’s get to the bracket.


Will Rothstein be the ultimate Cinderella? Will Moss spoil the ball? Will Reznick Group mount a firm-wide attack on MA just out of spite? WTFK? But vote so we can wrap this up. If I have to look at another bracket in next 365 days it will be too soon. Poll is open until FRIDAY at 11:59 PT.

Presenting Going Concern March Madness: The Coolest Accounting Firm

Now that the Sweet Sixteen is set, the general consensus here at Going Concern is to take advantage of the combination of March Madness and the plight of busy season. Accordingly, we bring you the first ever edition of GC March Madness: Coolest Accounting Firm. Inspired by our sister from another mister, ATL, we’ve decided that we’re looking to the GC readers to determining which accounting firm is the coolest of the cool by way of a democratic process but utilizing the seasonally appropriate method of a bracket. We opted with the prestige rankings determined by Vault to determine the seeds because…well, Vault has a prestige ranking and if we tried to come with a similar list ourselves, there would be rampant speculation of bias that we’re not prepared to address (plus we’re pulling this together on fairly short notice). If you don’t like your firm’s seed – or your firm is shut out of the tournament altogether – we suggest you speak up in next year’s Vault rankings.

Now, then. On with the bracket.


Obviously there are many compelling narratives here. Will the Big 4 be the Final 4? Will Rothstein Kass surprise everyone like they did in the premiere Vault Ranking? If McGladrey is victorious will they celebrate with punch and cake? So get your vote on and leave your thoughts on the match-ups or each firm’s chances (please consult your local bookie for actually odds) in the comments. And naturally, we’re rooting for underdogs in every single match-up (we’re looking straight at you, Reznick and BKD people)

The vote launched at 6 am this morning and it will close promptly at 11:59 pm ET on Tuesday. We’ll then update you with the winners at some point on Wednesday and then launch voting for the next round and so on and so forth. Voting for each match-up appears on the following pages. And don’t even think of skipping the match-ups that don’t involve your firm; A) that makes you a loser and B) you’re clearly working too hard.

Let’s get to the voting, shall we?

Starting with PwC vs. Reznick Group.

Next up is unfounded rumored GT merger partner Moss Adams and perpetual Fortune lister, Plante & Moran.

Moving on to aforementioned GT vs. CG.

Klynveld v. Crowe

The most interesting accounting firm in the world vs. the firm now known as EisnerAmper.

#1 in size taking on the up-and-comer.

Mickey G’s up against Julius H. Cohn

Finally we’ve got Lehman Brothers’s auditor vs. BKD.

Big 4 Violin Virtuoso Needs Your Help Winning a Trip Down Under

Because we’re more or less a family here at Going Concern, when someone needs our help spreading the word about anything from compensation news to winning a ski getaway, we’re happy to help.

Today’s accountant-in-need is Larry Chou (a partner who was desperate for a pianist, basically challenged his entire office to step up to the plate and, ultimately, had his prayers answered.

ANYWAY, as you can see, Larry has bigger fish to fry. Here’s his audition:

He also passed along some instructions just so you can get this ball rolling:

How do I vote?

1) It only takes 5 seconds! Between December 10-17 (inclusive), please follow the link below to watch my video and vote for Larry Chou (lchou008). You may have to scroll halfway down the page to get to my video.

http://goo.gl/xxdZs

(Note: You do NOT need a Youtube user account to vote. Just follow the link!)

I’ve voted…now what?

2) Vote some more! The voting period extends from December 10-17, and you can vote once every day. That means you can vote 8 times if you remember to do it every day. This competition is on Eastern time, so each “voting day” on Pacific time technically runs from 9pm to 8:59pm of the following day. Additional votes from the same user on the same day are thrown out.

3) Check out my Facebook group page or my Facebook fan page.

4) Spread the word! I’m going to need every man, woman, and child to get in on this. Tell your friends, your family, your significant other, your co-workers, your classmates, your barber, your gardener, and your waiter/waitress! Just kidding (but not really, I’m going to need all the help I can get).

Thank you for your support!!

Well. What are you waiting for? ‘Tis the season to help other people out or something or other.

(UPDATE) Accountants to Watch on Election Day 2010

~ Update includes the Michigan Governor’s race.

Here’s a rundown of some of the more prominent races that feature accountants. All of the polling information cited is the calculated average from Real Clear Politics.

Wisconsin – Republican Ron “There are two many lawyers in the Senate” Johnson leads incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold by approximately 7 points.

South Carolina – In the Governor’s race, Republican Nikki Haley’s tardy tax filings have not hurt her prospects as she leads Democrat Vincent Sheheen by approximately 11 points.

New York – Incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand leads Republican Joe DioGuardi by approximately 20 points. For those not familiar with DioGuardi, he is an Arthur Andersen alum who made partner at age 31, was the first practicing CPA elected to Congress and is the father of Kara DioGuardi (ask the person next to you if you don’t know).

Virginia – Republican Keith Fimian (spent 7 years at KPMG) is in a toss-up race against Democrat incumbent Gerry Connolly in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

Michigan – Republican Gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder (Coopers & Lybrand alum who made partner in six years) leads his Democratic opponent Virg Bernero by approximately 17 points.

So it looks as though your bean counter brethren will win at least two three races (Haley, Johnson, Snyder) with one certain defeat and one that’s too close to call.

If we’ve missed any accountants-cum-candidates in a Congressional or Gubenatorial race, let us know below or shoot us an email and we’ll update the post. Now go vote.

How Dissatisfied Are Accountants? An Unscientific Poll

On Tuesday we shared with you an article from Crain’s that quoted executive recruiter (and maybe former astronaut?) Buzz Patterson, “I’d say the dissatisfaction index would probably be at a 10-year high, in the high 60s or low 70s,” with respect to the accounting profession.

If this statement is even remotely true, this means those of you just getting your chops are seeing the worst morale in a decade. We’re talking pretty flippin’ epic misery here. For those of you that have been around for years (or even a decade or more) is this really the worst time you remember? If you’re a veteran of the biz, share your perspective in the comments below.

Also, to get things rolling on this second-to-last Thursday of October, we thought it might be interesting to gauge the crowd here at GC. After the jump, pull the lever for your level of satisfaction with your job. Use these explanations as a guide: 5 – “Hand me a cigarette”; 3 – “Take it or leave it”; 1 – “About to go postal.”

Prop 19 May Not Be Such a Great Way To Bring In California Tax Revenues After All

While California legislators may be licking their lips at the thought of taxing marijuana – should California voters go all in on Prop 19 next month – a new RAND Corporation paper points out that the revenue impact on Mexican gangs could make much less of a bang than assumed by Prop 19 proponents.

The reasoning behind 19 is simple: California prisons are already packed with all sorts of shady individuals and locking up small-time pot dealers with murderers, gang-bangers and child molesters really only creates a criminal factory that costs our already broke state way too much money. Eliminating a large chunk of the criminality surrounding pot frees up correctional resources to put rverts and killers. So far that makes sense.

Legalizing marijuana also gives our sneaky little legislators the chance to tax the shit out of a multi-billion dollar business; they have already done this in cities like Oakland where pot dispensaries are limited and closely watched by TPTB to assure they get their cut. Implement this state-wide and maybe we won’t be so desperate to get into selling our stuff off and mailing out IOUs instead of actual money.

Or were we totally high when we came up with revenue estimates that promise $1 billion in extra cash for the state?


The RAND paper argues that California accounts for 1/7th of marijuana consumption in the U.S., much of which is grown, cultivated and sold here in the state. That isn’t money that will be taken out of Mexican drug traffickers’ pockets if Prop 19 passes as we Californians are already weed snobs and don’t smoke the Mexican garbage. What we have is a large black market subsidized by semi-legal pot funneled through dispensaries. Some locales tax it while others don’t under current rules and it appears as though Prop 19 leaves the same door flapping wide open in the breeze. Not exactly the big tax boom we’d hoped for.

Opponents argue that legalization of marijuana will actually backfire as the free market price of an ounce could drop to $38; great if you’re the one buying but not so great if you’re the one trying to make money off of your crop and now forking over taxes to the state.

Is there anything in Prop 19 that would actually require growers and buyers to bypass the underground market they have known for so long and give their share of taxes to the state? Not as far as I can tell.

Think of it this way: if the state suddenly started taxing soda at 10 cents a can and you knew a guy in your neighborhood who happened to be sitting on a stockpile of Pepsi, why on Earth would you go to the store and pay the additional 10 cents a can when you could simply unload a case or two from your neighbor at a lower price? The difference being there’s already a black market for pot and introducing consistent tax issues into the matter is certainly not the way to legitimize said black market.

Governor Schwarzenegger has already signed a bill into law that makes possession of less than an ounce an infraction ($100 fine) while SFPD cops are already taught to ignore casual pot smoking on San Francisco streets (just like everything else they ignore including defecation and rampant dysfunctional drug use) so why 19?

I don’t have an answer for that. On the surface Prop 19 seems to be a no-brainer but like any other piece of California legislation, it’s all in the implementation and I don’t believe our state can pull off the tax revenue payday they are banking on should California voters vote yes on November 2nd.

Or maybe all the stoners will stay home and get high on Election Day instead, having already decided this is a bad idea and not at all what it seems to be at first glance.

Today in Hot Accountants: “B-Tag” Thinks First Date Sex Is Skanky, ‘I Love You’ Is a Compliment

Yesterday we threw up some accountant student eye candy courtesy of Cosmo’s Bachelor Blowout.

Thanks to Above The Law Managing Editor, David Lat, we’ve discovered even more gratuitous accountant chestiness for those interested.

This time the young man’s name is Tripp Davis and he’s representing Mississippi. Tripp has a few real-world years under his belt so this may be his last chance at superficial fame and fortune.


Some select details on the man who was a Tripp long before a time when we knew who the Palins were (God, we miss those days):

His buddies call him: “B-Tag, because I’m big, tall, and goofy!” [switch a couple letters around and you’ve got yourself something else interesting]

Relationship style: “I won’t date a girl unless I can see myself marrying her down the road. Then I jump into it.” [That’s a Southern Man for you.]

Melt-his-heart words: “I think ‘I love you’ is the best compliment a guy can hear.” [We’ll give him the benefit of doubt here.]

Sex on the first date: “Skanky” [Obvious lie.]

Girls going commando: “Sexy” [Is there another answer to this question?]

Do you manscape? “Yes.” [See our previous comment.]

Okay, so Tripp is a tall Southern gentleman and we’ve got the young Missouri college student. Since we can’t get ahold of Carl’s transcripts or Tripp’s performance reviews, we’ll have to go purely on looks. Judge away.

Mississippi Bachelor 2010 [Cosmopolitan]

Hot Aspiring Accountant Loves to Listen, Manscapes, Needs Your Votes

Whenever we can, we like to sex things up around here. Sometimes it can be difficult but fortunately, this is not one of those days.


This young chap is Carl Koenemann he’s representing Missouri in Cosmo’s Bachelor Blowout and he just happens to be studying the debit and credit trade.

A few swoon-worthy details on Carl: 1) He plays guitar and writes songs; 2) He craves being told that he’s a good listener; 3) He’s perplexed by a woman who thinks he should be able to read her mind; 4) Affirmative on the manscaping question.

Now some ignorant hack at the Riverfront Times thinks that young Carl is “throw[ing] all [his hottness] away to become a buttoned-down bean counter” but that is just one blogger’s shitty opinion.

We think (and we’re sure you agree) that there’s plenty of room for hot men and women in the accounting field. Not that we’re suggesting that Carl completely dismiss his chance at eating disorders or a career in reality TV but we’re sure he’ll have campus recruiters from all Big 4 firms drooling over him, so his career will be just fine.

Missouri Bachelor 2010 [Cosmopolitan]
Carl Koenemann: Manscaping, Accountant Wannabe Needs Your Vote for Sexy Man Contest [Riverfront Times]

Ron Johnson Would Like to Be the Second Accountant in the U.S. Senate

Because God knows 57 lawyers is far too many and Russ Feingold just happens to be one of them.


As you may be aware, this is the second relatively high-profile race where an accountant and lawyer face off that we’ve covered. In the South Carolina governor’s race tax-tardy accountant Nikki Haley is facing special-interest whore Vince Sheheen. We should also note the the Senate race in New York between incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand (lawyer) and Joseph DioGuardi (accountant) but so far it’s been fairly boring unless DioGuardi happens to make an issue out of Gillibrand’s hotness.

Anyhoo, similar to those two races, the ballot in Wisconsin will appear as follows:

Accountant (R)
Lawyer (D)

So as voters, when faced with such a choice, should we assume that the accountant running for office is family values type that believes in cutting taxes and reducing spending (with no intent to do so) and the lawyer is a spineless tax and spend type that fails to accomplish anything even when they have the political power or leverage?

Wisconsin is doomed.

Lawyer, Accountant Slam Each Other’s Professions in the South Carolina Governor’s Race

Forgetting about politics for a second – the gubernatorial race in South Carolina has gotten personal as the camps of Nikki Haley (R) and Vincent Sheheen (D) sling mud at each other’s chosen profession.

Sheheen isn’t impressed with Haley’s tardiness on paying taxes saying, “I think it’s particularly problematic that she would not pay her employee withholding because that money really belongs to the employee. … For somebody who claims their accounting skills are a reason why she should be elected governor, I think that’s particularly disturbing.”


Sheheen goes so far to say that Haley is completely out touch with South Carolinians who have to pay taxes and eat, something that Nikki Haley presumably does not do, “I think she’s just out of touch with regular people in South Carolina who do pay their taxes and do have to buy food and put it on their table.” Maybe the Haley family just eats their meals over the sink; it’s not entirely clear.

Haley’s camp fired back, citing Sheheen’s snakey-ass lawyer ways:

Haley’s campaign fired a broadside at Sheheen this week, noting that he was endorsed by The Injury Board Blog Network, a national group of personal injury attorneys. It noted that Sheheen, a lawyer, voted to weaken a tort reform bill in 2005.

“The entrenched special-interest network of trial lawyers and personal injury attorneys is circling the wagons for Vince Sheheen,” said Haley’s communications director, Rob Godfrey.

But guess what?!? Vinny Sheheen is a-okay with that. He’s a successful lawyer, not some two-bit accountant-cum-tax dodger, “I hope everybody endorses me. I’d rather have a successful lawyer as my governor than an accountant who doesn’t pay her taxes.”

Obviously, both these candidates are complete losers and our friends in the Palmetto State are going to end up with a shitty new governor. But that’s the way our country works so let’s see what you think. If you had to choose between these two clowns:

Sheheen blasts Haley over taxes [Charleston Post Courier]

KPMG Ireland Associate Pleads with U.S. Counterparts to Help Him and His Bros Win Ski Getaway

The good ole US of A is always here to help its friends in times of need (whether it’s right or wrong is another matter completely). This reverberates all the way down to the multi-national companies that enjoy expansive networks in the U.S.

Getting to the point: from the mailbag:

I (along with EVERY associate and senior associate in the US) got this email this morning from some idiot staff in KPMG Ireland asking us to vote for him to win a vacation courtesy of Coors Light. I’ve never heard of this guy but apparently thinks he knows all of us well enough to ask us to vote for his stupid beer vacation.

I kid you not — he actually looked up every associate and sr associate distribution list for every region/office and practice. He’s listed as a “Trainee” in the global address book under KPMG Ireland FS Audit (whatever that means). This idiot needs to be taught some email common sense…


But when matters of utmost importance – such as a winning a ski getaway to British Columbia – there is only one place to turn…The United States:

Hey everybody!

Me and 2 friends have entered a competition to win a free ski trip to Whistler, Canada. It just depends on who gets the most votes in a week. If you could follow the link and vote for us I’d really appreciate it.

http://www.coorslight.ie/destination/profile/cde76g7p

It only takes about 10 seconds and no registration / email needed. You just enter your D.O.B to enter the main site (or any DOB that makes you over 18) then just hit the ‘vote for us’ tab on our profile –
Ri-Skii Business. If you can forward this to some friends or contacts in your different offices it could really help to put us out in front!

Thanks!

Here’s the plea from the Ri-Skii Business page:

Idiot? Or sheer genius? We’ll let you debate that one. In any case, help the dudes out and go vote. They’re just looking for the next adrenaline rush.

Which Big 4 Firm Is Getting Extra Anxious to Sign Off on Audit Reports?

In this morning’s roundup we linked to the Accountancy Age story that reported the Audit Inspection Unit in the UK found that “Auditors have also been accused of altering documents before handing them to regulators and putting cost savings ahead of quality,” but also “The report also found some cases where partners signed audit reports before the audit was complete.”

Obviously this is no good but since the report was relevant to the FTSE 100 (and the report doesn’t name names), we just figured that this was just a blanket statement about the Big 4. However, over at FT Alphaville, Tracy Alloway shared a clipping from the report that got a little more specific:


“This issue appeared to be more prevalent at one major firm.” Okay! So one firm has a few extra partners that have itchy trigger fingers. This obviously begs the question of “which firm?” If you prefer to play the numbers, here’s the latest breakdown of the FTSE 100 we can find: PwC – 41; KPMG – 24; Deloitte – 20; E&Y – 17 (we realize the numbers don’t add up to 100, take it up with Accountancy Age).

But this is America, so we’ll put it to a vote:

Accounting News Roundup: UBS Deal Hits a Snag; More Clifton Gunderson M&A Activity; Governance Prep Is Big Hurdle for Companies Going Public | 06.08.10

Primaries to Watch From Coast to Coast [WSJ]
There are eleven states that have primaries going on out there today so get out there and pull the lever for someone.

Swiss-US deal on UBS delayed by lower house snub [Reuters]
UBS still owes the IRS 4,450 names of clients as part of the deal that the U.S. reached with Switzerland re: tax evaders with UBS accounts. Small problem – the deal is hung up in Switzerland’s parliament, after the lower house of Switzerland’s parliament rejected it.

Why is this political jockeying even happening? Since the name naming is a big no-no in Swiss secrecy law, the parliamentary approval became necessary after a Swiss court blocked the transfer of the information in January. The names for retracted smackdown has an August deadline but if it is not met, the Swiss risk the the launch of a new tax case against UBS by the United States.


Clifton Gunderson Merges With St. Louis’ Humes & Barrington [Clifton Gunderson]
Clifton Gunderson has obtained St. Louis-based Humes & Barrington, in an deal effective June 1. The H&B staff of 53 will join the 7 partners in adding to the 1,900 professionals at CG. This acquisition was in addition to the purchase of Stockton Bates that we mentioned last week as well as the purchase of BKD’s Merrillville, IL location.

Corporate Governance is Top Challenge for Companies Considering an IPO, KPMG Survey Series Finds [KPMG PR]
Improving governance is biggest challenge as 64% of the companies surveyed looking to make a public offering listed it as a top challenge along with developing a robust business plan (40%) and preparation of financial track record (36%).

Jefferson Wells aligns with Baker Tilly Mexico [Milwaukee Business Journal]
Milwaukee-based Jefferson Wells has aligned with Baker Tilly Mexico to expand its operations in that country and the the Central America region. This marks the fifth expansion for JW in twelve months and is the first into Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Legal Pot in California Won’t Change Much, Other Than the Taxes Of Course

Legalization of gay marriage didn’t go over very well in the Golden State but come November, my fellow Californians and I will be deciding whether or not we’re up for taxing the hell out of the chronic to save our state’s sad fiscal sitch with an estimated $1.4 billion in revenue a year by making marijuana possession legal. According to the bill, an ounce would bring in $50 in revenue .

Now, we’re not promoting huge grow rooms in grandma’s Pomona basement but the law would allow an ounce for personal use (some of you might question that amount as a tad large) and for anyone over the age of 21 to have 25 square feet of plants growing in their residence.


As is, California is pretty loose with the definition of “medical use” and if you’ve ever been to Venice Beach, you already know that pot has been a big business round these parts since Proposition 215 made medicinal use legal. Everyone from depressed shlubs to Mr Magoo-sighted grandmas can head to the cannabis club for their medicine and some smart cities like Oakland already tax these sales.

Some of you may not realize this but pot is essentially legal in San Francisco anyway. I’ve never heard of cops asking for a prescription if you get busted toking on a blunt in the FiDi (hey, work is stressful) and the rumor is that the SFPD has actually made it an unofficial policy not to hassle pot smokers as long as that’s all they’re doing.

So if you’re smoking a joint on the street, you’re fine. If you’re smoking a joint AND killing someone or smoking a joint AND not wearing pants, you might have some trouble but for the most part, you can trot around town puffing away without having to worry about getting hassled. Of course, driving under the influence is still illegal so I would not recommend puffing away from behind the wheel, no matter how lax the locals are towards the green stuff.

The state seems divided equally on the issue, with the LA Times reporting that a recent poll left the state split 49/41, with 49% in favor of the legislation. Listen, if it’s between legal weed and paying $989 to register my car, I’ll take the weed tyvm.

So? Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em and if you don’t got ‘em, feel free to tax ‘em. Get used to the sin taxes, it might be the only way to bring my fine state (and others in equally dismal fiscal situations) back from the brink of financial Armageddon. And if that doesn’t work, at least we’ll be too high to notice.

Adrienne Gonzalez is the founder of Jr. Deputy Accountant, a former CPA wrangler and a Going Concern contributor . You can see more of her posts for GC here.

Just When You Thought You Were Out…

Return.jpgThere comes a time in every unemployed person’s stint as Costanza where you consider going back to the job you just quit. Or maybe you got canned but now they’re reaching out to you through the alumni network just to let you know how great you are nd dang, we sure miss ya.
The BBC was asking around about employment prospects in the new year and lo and behold, they interviewed Keith Dugdale, director of global recruitment at KPMG. Amongst other ramblings, Mr. Dugdale put it out there that KPMG is maybe thinking about asking you some of you to come back:

One thing KPMG is looking at is the notion of rehiring former workers to make use of their experience.
“We are putting a lot of effort into alumni activities,” Mr Dugdale says.

Oh sure, maybe the BBC is reading into it too much but it does make us wonder how many of you would consider going back to an employer that you left because of [insert reason]. Not because you’re desperate (well maybe you are) but perhaps you decided the grass wasn’t greener after all or you’ve got streak of forgiveness in you that you didn’t realize or you told them they had to beg — like get on your knees and beg and tell me you can’t live without me! And I want an iPhone. No! Two iPhones! — and…they did. Maybe we’re broaching the unthinkable but somehow we think some of you might miss the old digs and would jump at the shot to go back. Kindly satisfy our curiosity.

Your CPA Success Is Paying Peter Olinto Back in Ways He Couldn’t Have Possibly Imagined

Thumbnail image for olinto_cpa.jpgThere are seven days left in the year decade and, so far, the bean counter that has made the biggest mark in the last ten years for you has been Peter Olinto.
The man that bludgeoned mnemonics into your gray matter day after day, week after week, during the Aughts is taking a commanding lead into the final week of voting.
We’re keeping the poll open until the very last minute so if your candidate is lagging (TF needs to start calling his fellow sweater vest club members) jump back to the poll and make your voice heard.

Accountant of the Decade Poll

Stella_rocknrolla.jpgPicking nominees for Accountant of the Decade was not an easy task and we hope we’ve presented you with some appropriate nominees. If you don’t like the any of them then you should’ve been more vocal during the nomination process.
Or put another way: piss off.
Personally, we would have nominated Stella but we vowed to let the people speak on this matter and not allow our personal preferences to cloud the democratic process.
The nominees are as follows:
Peter Olinto — CPA; JD; Rival of P. Diddy; CPA Exam Maven; Lover of mnemonic devices.
Tim Flynn — Chairman of KPMG; Servant of capital markets; Part-time caddy to Phil Mickelson; Full-time sweater vest buddy to Phil Mickelson.
Tim Gearty — CPA; Infrequent Tweeter; CPA Exam Maven; Kicks it with Bob Herz on boats.
Andy Fastow — Enron CFO; Book cooker; Asshole (so we hear); Inmate #14343-179.
David Friehling — Former partner at Friehling & Horowitz; Bernie Madoff pal; Worst auditor ever; Inmate #TBD.
Now vote.

Craptacular Caption Poll Reminder

We’ve got a close race in the craptacular caption contest. Polls close tomorrow night at midnight, so you’ve still got plenty of time to vote if you haven’t already.
Thumbnail image for crapper.jpg
And if you truly think you’ve got worse digs than this, send us your photos, we’re curious as how sadistic clients can be when it comes to accommodating their auditors.

Caption Contest Finalists: Auditing Is Craptacular

Who knew servants of the capital markets could be so creative? Since democracy is alive and well here at GC, it’s about time to get the vote on this one going.
Thumbnail image for crapper.jpg
Here are the finalists:

A. If you think that’s bad, you should see where the prior year work papers are kept.
B. You think this is bad, the intern’s desk is inside the bathroom.
C. The audit staff showed the client who is boss by blocking entry to the restroom until the accountants provided the requested PBC’s.
D. Don’t think the .05% raise was the only benefit to becoming a senior manager.
E. In retrospect, the auditors realized that they shouldn’t have expressed so much concern over where the client was going.
F. Upon their arrival to their workstation, the audit team quickly understood the reasoning behind the under-accrual for utilities expense for the months of January through March.

Problem of the Day: Do You Quit Your High-Paying Job with the Idiot Boss?

Thumbnail image for lumberg1.jpgThe BBC reported last week that 49% of workers in the UK would leave their jobs if it meant working for someone that didn’t make bad decisions.
As we’ve noted, the Brits seem to be less hung up on money than us but that still doesn’t mean you wouldn’t leave for less money if you could get away from that boss who can fuck up a cup of coffee not to mention every decision that affects your work directly.
So we have a simple question for you. Under normal circumstances, would you leave your high paying job if it meant you didn’t have to work for an idiot boss?

Hump Day Reminders: Polls and CPA Exam Question of the Week

Thumbnail image for RL-Stine-and-kids_350.jpgWe think it’s important to remind you that voting ends tonight at 11:59 PDT for our two polls from Monday:
Caption Contest Poll: KPMG Scary Stories
Satisfied with Your Salary?
So jump over and vote in both the polls. We’ll give you the results tomorrow.
Also don’t forget to submit your questions to us for this week’s CPA Exam Question of the Week. You can submit your questions to [email protected] through tomorrow. Anything received on Friday will be considered for next week.

Satisfied with Your Salary?

unsatisfied.jpgThis is the last thing we thought we would see: No grumbling from accountants over pay freezes.
Maybe our number crunching friends across the pond are less hung up on money but Stateside “No grumblingis, at the very least, debatable.
We figured getting a comparison poll was in order. So, continuing the theme of election day, we’ll ask you to vote again, this time on how you feel about your current salary. Feel free to elaborate in the comments.

Caption Contest Poll: KPMG Scary Stories

It’s election day after all. Vote for your favorite caption. You have until tomorrow night, 11:59 PDT to vote.
Thumbnail image for RL-Stine-and-kids_350.jpg
Finalists after the jump.

Caption Contest Poll: E&Y at the Emmys

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for E&Y_emmys.jpg
All right, we’ve waited long enough. We had to do a little paraphrasing due to character limits but you get the gist. You’ve got until 3 pm EDT on Friday to vote. Get it done, after the jump.

What Does Labor Day Mean for You?

Since it’s Friday for some of you, we’ll squeeze in a participatory exercise today.
The lucky ones are MIA until Tuesday or farther out. Others of you will not see the outdoors, your homes, or loved ones at all. The rest fall in between. This, all while trying to comply with your firm’s needs. We’d say, “vote early, vote often” but considering some of the attitudes out there, we’re only allowing one vote per person. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
Vote, after the jump