Explain this to me: If the objective of Sarbanes-Oxley was ultimately to restore investor confidence in the US capital system, then what fucking difference does it make whether a company has a market cap of $60M or $1.3B? OK…I get that it costs a disproportionate amount of [...]
So Overstock.com decided to issue an unreviewed/unaudited Q3 10Q Report to the SEC and concurrently give the big Fuck Off to their external auditors, Grant Thornton. It’s not every day that you see Friedrich Nietzsche quoted in an SEC filing. Amen. Let me start by saying [...]
Alright, CFO.com, you’ve satisfied your requirement to pander to your internal audit constituents. This article touts the benefits of implementing a Continuous Controls Monitoring system through the feel good success story of Talecris Biotherapeutics, a $1.4 billion provider of injectionable medical treatments.
Every once in a while you come face-to-face with something that makes you question all that you know about life, career, and happiness. An event or piece of knowledge impacts upon you with such force that it leaves you altered in your state of understanding…and changes [...]
You know…some things should be understood at a summary level before you leap off the building to explore the physics of flight. Like building a bridge. Or, say...brain surgery. Undertaking endeavors such as these is a very complex process, to say the least.
[...]
Here’s the headline:
Accounting Irregularities may be on the rise in U.S.
WTF??!! Zales. Appollo. KB Homes. Huron. BPP. Madoff. HCA. Captain Obvious to the rescue!
Look, if your time is even remotely valuable to [...]
From the land of tea and crumpets, we get this article about a PwC staffer that was fired from his job and decided to shoot off a nasty little email to all of his coworkers and bosses…and apparently this email has [...]
Thank you New York Times, for putting us in our place with this fine article. It shows a genuine understanding of the singular root cause of our current economic environment, which is clearly accountants. Not greed or politics or anything like that...that's just silly.
Read [...]
For your viewing pleasure/torture...
The International Accounting Standards Board’s oversight body (The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation) has proposed a series of changes aimed at providing better governance. Here is the release…Pay particular attention to bullet point #5, which reads:
Change the name of the organization to [...]
New post up at Going Concern
At a joint meeting with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) SEC Chairman, Mary Shapiro, said that the SEC is considering creating a “Fraud College” to train staffers on how to [...]
I wrote a little piece for the folks over at Going Concern. Check it out...
Harris Interactive recently published their annual list of the most prestigious occupations, as perceived by the obviously mal-informed public being led astray by' [...]
And so you might ask…how can Robert possibly tie Kelly Freakin’ Clarkson into the wide world of accounting? But God hath smiled down upon us today my friends…stand back and avert your eyes…cause it’s about to get crazy up in here…
Haven’t you heard? Haven’t [...]
OK…so I know this story is a little dated…but fuck it…when I become aware of a truly inspiring and kick ass story…I have no choice but to pay homage to it. You might have trouble figuring out why I’m talking about this on AccountingNation.com, but be [...]
In my experience, accountants and auditors out there in the working fall into two major buckets;
Those that are content performing their daily tasks in perpetuity and eager to punch out when the brontosaurus whistle blows, and Those that strive for continuous improvement and are trying [...]
Alright…so I know that the whole Madoff saga is old hat by now….but Harry Markopolos, the whistleblower who was responsible for sparking the SEC investigation, was just recently named the CFE of the Year by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners at their annual Fraud Conference [...]
Now if that title doesn’t jump out and grab you….you need to reach down and check your pulse. I’ve clearly reached the extent of my creative prowess when I start writing blog entries about payroll auditing….at least I’m aware of it…which is, as they say…half the battle. Which half I’m [...]
As we start to see some evidence of PCAOB oversight actions ( See Audit Problems Found at BDO & Grant Thornton), I can't help but question the legitimacy of the oversight structure. Remember that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was created by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of [...]
And for the third straight day...my prior post is still on my mind??? If you can't wear bathing suits at a company-sponsored pool party event...where does it stop? Maybe you shouldn't work out in front of coworkers either. Perhaps the sight of you running or lifting weights in something other [...]
So yesterday I was reading through the Wall Street Journal and an article called Overexposed: Surviving the Corporate Outing by Christina Binkley caught my eye. And honestly, I’ve been wrestling with the tenets of the article ever since. Essentially, the author quotes some lady [...]
Read this article…long and short of it is that this PwC accountant is suing her employer for treating her like a whore (not my word..just repeating the article) and dashing her dreams of becoming a Partner.
(I believe that this is the picture of said "whore"...again...not [...]
In order to understand what I’m going to talk about, read this article from Business Week entitled How Good is Your Audit Firm? It’s a little painful at three pages long…but what the hell else do you have to do [...]
I consider myself to be fairly up on current events and topics…especially when they pertain to the worlds of accounting and finance. But I gotta be honest with you; this one caught me by surprise. I happened to notice an IFRS article on our Controller’s desk and [...]
So…. I’m casually wasting some prime minutes of my day surfing through the internet, trolling for something interesting to keep me awake and I happen by the heading “Cubicle Graveyards Disrupting Office Harmony”. Catchy Title…what the hell…I’ll click on it I [...]
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!
Finding the perfect candidate to join your accounting or audit team can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. As with any group of professionals, not all candidates are created equal. Subtle nuances in experience, personality, character, etc., can [...]
By its very nature, the job of an accountant or auditor is often times very technical and dynamic. Unfortunately, those same jobs can also be very dull and iterative. Performing month-end close procedures or executing a work program for the fifth time in as many years [...]
You just can’t make this stuff up. According to this 