Accounting

A long time ago, accounting supervisors really were slave drivers.

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits /

You think you have a rough manager or partner that’s hard to please….

Jacob Soll explains in his book, The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations, that in ancient Athens, around 500 years B.C. accounting and auditing was an integral part of the business and political world.

There were complex accounting systems that included public audits to create accountability. There were a number of staff working for the public treasurer to keep an eye on funds. Many people, including freemen and slaves were trained in accounting. However,

…

A long time ago, accounting supervisors really were slave drivers.Read More »

A long time ago, accounting supervisors really were slave drivers. Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 8/18

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits, Economics /

A few links and comments of interest to auditors. Trained investigators can’t read when someone is lying; too-big-to-fail/jail/govern is just too big; and update on lease accounting.

6/10 – FBI – The Truth About Lying: What Investigators Need to Know – Detecting lies, especially in high stakes interviews (like a criminal investigation) is far more difficult that interviewers and investigators realize. There are complex factors behind why people react they way they do. Not telling the truth is merely one of many causes. Vast interpersonal differences create more complications.

If you try to discern truthfulness during your auditing interviews, might be worth reading the article. Since trained pros can’t do it very well, us CPAs might want to reconsider how well we do at detecting liars.

…

More good stuff for auditors – 8/18Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 8/18 Read More »

Primer on fraud in local governments

2 Comments / Accounting, Audits, Books you might enjoy, Fraud /

If you work in a local government, are in leadership there, or provide audits in that sector, you really ought to check out Charles Hall’s book, The Little Book of Local Government Fraud Prevention.

I bought & read a copy a while back and really, really want to write a review of the book, but haven’t been able to pull together my thoughts.  (Sorry Charles!) It is a good read.

Until I pull together my thoughts, just know I believe you would benefit from reading the book.

…

Primer on fraud in local governmentsRead More »

Primer on fraud in local governments Read More »

Arriving soon at an e-retailer near you: Tragedy of Fraud, Insider Trading Edition – The fall from Big 4 audit partner to prison inmate.

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits, Books you might enjoy, Fraud /

Debut appearance of the cover, hot off the digital press:

 

tragedy-cover

 

My newest book is in the last stages of editing. Hope to move into conversion to e-book format soon. Will be released in the next couple of weeks.

As you know, I’ve been following the story of Scott London closely since the day the story broke. Mr. London was KPMG regional audit PIC for the southwest region.

He was caught passing inside information to his golf buddy. When confronted, he quickly confessed and plead guilty. He received a fourteen month jail sentence and is now a prison inmate at the Taft Correctional Institution.

You can now read of his journey from the lofty world of senior leadership to prison inmate in book format. The dozens of blog posts covering the story have been combined in chronological order instead of being spread all over the blog in reverse chronology. The posts have been edited slightly and the sequence changed a bit.

Available soon

The story of Mr. London’s fall will soon be available on your phone, e-reader, tablet, or other reading platform of choice. Will be available at the Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes stores.

Print copy will be available at Amazon soon after the electronic version is published.

Arriving soon at an e-retailer near you: Tragedy of Fraud, Insider Trading Edition – The fall from Big 4 audit partner to prison inmate. Read More »

We can finally bury IFRS convergadoption ™?

1 Comment / Accounting /

I believe the answer is yes.

At least that is the conclusion I draw from an article by Michelle Quah at The Business Times: Full convergence on accounting standards no longer achievable: IASB

The paragraphs visible in front of the paywall report that Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the IASB, said full convergence with the U.S.

…is no longer an achievable project.

IASB moved forward with their IFRS 9 on financial instruments without any agreement with FASB. The boards are going their own ways.

In the meantime, each country around the world can continue to pick and choose which parts of IFRS it wishes to follow.

…

We can finally bury IFRS convergadoption ™?Read More »

We can finally bury IFRS convergadoption ™? Read More »

What is the point of accounting? Providing economic history or predicting the future?

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Pondering /

That is the underlying question raised by Prof. Charles M. C. Lee in a speech he gave which is summarized in an article at the Stanford graduate school of business website: Charles Lee: Why Fair-Value Accounting Isn’t Fair.

Let me help you stretch your brain. After writing this article, mine hurts. (Okay, okay, I hear you saying it doesn’t take much to strain Jim’s brain.)

The professor’s full speech is here. I read the first third of the paper, up to the point he starts talking about stock valuation theory. Good stuff.

One sentence summary from the article: …

What is the point of accounting? Providing economic history or predicting the future?Read More »

What is the point of accounting? Providing economic history or predicting the future? Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 7/2

1 Comment / Accounting, Audits /

A few links and comments of interest to auditors. No more discussions of Mr. London or scofflaw banks for the day, so here is some accounting stuff.

6/8 – Boston Globe – The vanished grandeur of accounting – Early on in the history of accounting, the double entry stuff created accountability for the rulers and aristocrats. Did you know that once upon a time rich people who could afford to have an oil painting made of themselves would often put their ledger books into the pictures, to show they were knowledgeable about accounting?  Later, paintings of high-ranking public officials would include ledger books to show they were open and accountable. Check out the article for a different and entertaining history of accounting. At one time, accounting generated huge increase in transparency and accountability.

5/1 – Re:Balance – Big Data: Can the Regulators Handle the Big Challenge to Big Audit – …

More good stuff for auditors – 7/2Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 7/2 Read More »

Free class on how nonprofits record contributions

Leave a Comment / Accounting /

Learn About Revenue Accounting for Nonprofits on April 25 is the announcement from Sift Media about a good overview of how to account for revenue in a charity. The course is Key Accounting and Reporting Issues for Nonprofits No. 2: Revenue Accounting.

The course is free and will be offered April 25 at 2:00 Eastern. Runs for one hour, thus you can get one hour CPE.

I read through the handout for the course. This will be a superb class those who are new to the nonprofit community.

It will be a good review if you are quite experienced. I have a fair number of years working the NPO community, yet still enjoy this type of class for two reasons: First, it reinforces what I think I know. Second, I frequently find some little tidbit that escaped my attention or that I’d forgot about. Thus it is quite helpful. That, by the way, is the reason I always read the annual risk alert updates. You should too.

Looks to be a great course. I’ve gone through two classes from this instructor. He does a great job.

Oh, did I mention it’s free? And an hour of CPE?

Free class on how nonprofits record contributions Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 4-2-14

2 Comments / Accounting, Audits /

A few links and comments of interest to auditors. A ridiculous suit against a Big 4 firm, reminder on confirmations, a Big 4 partner on his way to jail, and three articles on whether PCAOB is exaggerating the severity of inspection results.

3/31/14 – Jonathan Weil at Bloomberg View – Go Ahead, Blame the Accountants – In a tweet pointing to the article, Mr. Weil wonders what is happening to him, what with defending a Big 4 accounting firm. The lawsuit from failed MF Global Holdings against their auditor, PwC, is a source of some amusement when the details are considered. MF Global accuses PwC of causing MF Global to violate GAAP.

…

More good stuff for auditors – 4-2-14Read More »

More good stuff for auditors – 4-2-14 Read More »

FDIC sues 16 big banks claiming manipulation of LIBOR

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Other stuff /

The FDIC filed a suit against a host of big banks claiming they manipulated the LIBOR rates thus harming 38 banks that were taken over by the FDIC.

Included are lots of names you’ll recognize: Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group,  HSBC, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, and RBS. They also included the British Bankers’ Association which owned and managed LIBOR.

Even a few hours after the news broke, the reports I’ve read are only a couple of paragraphs long. Not much background. Here’s a few articles to read, if you wish:

The case is 14-cv-01757, Southern District of New York, in case I want to look it up later.

FDIC sues 16 big banks claiming manipulation of LIBOR Read More »