Sometimes it’s weird reading a story about the Civil War. It’s the same when reading about an audit fiasco.
People do the oddest things.
As the first major battle of the war shaped up near Manassas Junction, lots of people rode out from DC in their carriages. They brought along picnic baskets so they could eat as they watched the battle. Would be a fun afternoon outing with the children.
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Why auditing isn’t like reading a history book Read More »
Seth Godin has a new piece called “Post….“
If you read his article or my comments and don’t immediately understand the point, you are missing something that has serious implications for your future earnings.
He lists 14 things that are now in the past, such as: …
The rules have all changed Read More »
The rules for work have radically changed. The work world that existed when you started college, even if you graduated this spring, is gone.
If you are working, you need to take charge of your career and your reputation. This applies to brand new staff, experienced audit seniors, and especially partners. People at every level of employment need to absorb that lesson.
Jenna Goudreau summarizes 14 Rules of the New Marketplace That Millennials Need to Master at Business Insider. My only disagreement with her is that these rules apply to everyone at every level, not just millennials.
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(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)
Recent news reports indicate federal intelligence agencies are gathering up a lot more information than we knew. That data is available to undisclosed lists of unknown people and will be retained for a very long time.
So what?
Here’s just a few circumstances in which you might not want access to your data by a long list of unidentified persons from various federal, state, or local agencies who were granted access to various unidentified parts of the various databases: …
(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)
Update: The Old Reader back up at end of work day Thursday – that makes 1 1/2 days of the weekend and 4 workdays it was down.
Your tech provider may go off-line for an indefinite time. Another reason not to let your technology hold you captive.
The Old Reader went down around lunchtime on Saturday, 7-20, and isn’t back up just before lunch on Wednesday, 7-24. That’s four days – most of the weekend and one-half of a work-week. No public estimate when it will return.
Don’t be held captive by your technology.
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There is another teeming galaxy beyond that of the publicly traded SEC-supervised companies and their PCAOB inspected auditors.
Professor Tom Selling discusses the bickering between the AICPA and NASBA over FRF-SMEs in his post, The AICPA’s Financial Reporting Framework: How Low Should a Profession Go? He concluded:
NASBA, in so many words, is telling the AICPA that the FRF is beneath the dignity and responsibilities of the CPA.
I’ve been wanting to talk about the FRF-SME framework and some of the comments floating around. The post above, and my brief comment there, is the springboard to this:
What is beyond the SEC galaxy?
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That’s the question raised by Seth Godin in his 5000th post.
All knowledge workers have something worth sharing.
Mr. Godin’s biggest surprise after 11 years of blogging?
That more people aren’t doing this. Not just every college professor (particularly those in the humanities and business), but everyone hoping to shape opinions or spread ideas. Entrepreneurs. Senior VPs. People who work in non-profits. Frustrated poets and unknown musicians… Don’t do it because it’s your job, do it because you can.
Audit CPAs – …
Why isn’t everyone blogging? Read More »
Just got my copy of Look, Lead, Love, Learn: Four Steps to Better Business, a Better Life – and Conquering Complexity in the Process written by Bill Sheridan of the Maryland Association of CPAs.
Mentioned this book last night at this post.
Today only the price is $0.00. A bargain at $5. Even better at today’s price.
I’ve read the first 20 screens or so. Great stuff.
Starts with a pertinent quote –
You better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone.
– Bob Dylan
If you want a short read to help you cope with the massive change going on around us, check out the book. Grab it today so you can read it this weekend.
E-book to help CPAs cope with massive change available today free Read More »
I’ve mentioned the blog of the Maryland Association of CPAs quite a few times. Bill Sheridan has an e-book available at Amazon – Look, Lead, Love, Learn: Four Steps to Better Business, a Better Life – and Conquering Complexity in the Process.
Only five bucks and a far better price tomorrow, 5-17-13.
If you aren’t subscribing to their blog, you really should.
Here’s a quick description of the book: …
I’ve not seen much news lately on the alleged insider trading by former KPMG partner Scott London. Two articles of interest.
These two articles have different perspectives on how much responsiblity belongs to the firm. We need a long wrestle match with that question.
A pattern?
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(Cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
That we haven’t seen the full impact of IT is a comment I heard the first time a few years ago. That sort of made sense but didn’t really register. This blog is focused on sorting out that change. The idea that the technology revolution has barely begun finally clicked for me with a column by Matthew Yglesias – Why I’m Optimistic About Growth and Innovation.
A few industries have seen huge impact from technology. Think of book publishing, journalism, and music. Those industries have been turned upside down. I read a lot and listen to a bit of music so am quite attuned to those areas. The way everyone consumes news has been transformed. I regularly read dozens of blogs a day. They just appear on my computer screen with a mouse click or two. I’ve always been a news junkie, and my consumption has soared in the last few years.
However, as big as those industries are, they are a small part of the total economy.
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Impact of the technology revolution has barely begunRead More »
Impact of the technology revolution has barely begun Read More »
We know the price Mr. Scott London, former partner of KPMG is accused of setting for his integrity, honor, and reputation. The entrance price tag was several thousand dollars and added up to under $100,000.
Cumulative amount is allegedly $50K cash plus a watch with claimed FMV of $12K plus some concert tickets for his family, with asserted total around $70K or $90K.
That total allegation isn’t the real measure of his price. The starting point was a few thousand dollars in the first deal. If the story outlined in the criminal indictment is correct, that is the point his integrity was sold.
An old joke about your price
There is an old joke with many variations that goes something like this:
Man to woman in a social setting: “would you sleep with me for a million dollars?”
She indicated she would be willing to do so.
Him: “How about for $20?”
With great indignation, she said “Of course not! What kind of woman do you think I am?”
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What is your price? Read More »
I’ve been waiting to talk about Charles Hall’s post Sleeping with your Decisions until I finished some comments on a CPA who would have failed every test outlined by Mr. Hall.
Making decisions when there is a fairly obvious right answer or clearly wrong answer is easy. Unfortunately, lots of decisions we deal with aren’t like that.
You recall the newspaper test – how would this decision look on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? See these two posts for this month’s illustration of this test. Hint: seeing your picture on the front page of the WSJ, which was obtained by the FBI during covert surveillance, is an extremely severe fail on this test.
Another great test introduced by Mr. Hall is the good-night’s-sleep test. It is somewhat fuzzy as a test but still helpful. Consider this: …
Another handy question for decision making – will you sleep well?Read More »
Another handy question for decision making – will you sleep well? Read More »
My 7 posts dealing with the possible consequences about to drop on the head of Mr. Scott London as a result of his alleged insider trading have been combined into one page. You can read all the posts in one place by going to the top right corner of this blog, looking at the “Pages” section, then clicking the item “Consequences of insider trading incident.”
Or you can click here to get there directly.
Posts on consequences of insider trading are combined into one Page Read More »
A now-former partner of the LA office of KPMG, Scott London, is in boiling hot water for alleged insider trading.
Lots of news out. I will give a general overview. Lots more news will be out in the next few days, I’m sure.
Brief outline
He allegedly gave ideas about companies where he was the audit partner to a buddy at a golf club. The feds tumbled to odd trading patterns in said buddy’s portfolio and investigated.
The former partner hired an attorney before his first interview with the FBI and SEC. That’s a good move.
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Initial highlights of insider trading by KPMG partnerRead More »
Initial highlights of insider trading by KPMG partner Read More »