Gotta’ question for you – How much does the economy weigh?
Can’t answer?
Okay. How ‘bout this – Does much does the economy weight today versus 1950?
Before you answer, consider that I just counted 220 books on the bookshelves in my office. I currently have 195 books on my Kindle.
Now, how much does the economy weight today compared to 60 years ago?
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Knowledge is the source of value and wealth Read More »
A few articles for your growth. Comp and Review reports under SSARS 21 and 19. Bake-your-own net income measures. Lunch money thief gets 5 years in prison and $1.8M restitution
1/7 – CPA-Scribo – SSARS 21 Reports – Preparation, Compilation, and Review – Charles Hall has a great post providing sample reports under SSARS 21. Gives the reports under SSARS 19 for contrast. You gotta’ check it out.
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More good stuff for auditors – 1/9 Read More »
Here are two articles of interest for accountants and auditors:
12/28 – The Accounting Onion – The Double Illusion of Financial Statement Comparability and Auditability: Through the Lens of Falling O&G Prices – …
More good stuff for auditors – 1/5 Read More »
Here are a few possibilities for the record level of settlements for bank in ’14: Wrapping up the legacy issues from the financial crisis. Regulators are getting serious about pushing big banks to improve their operations. Or maybe regulators just want more money. Or maybe banks are getting worse at obeying the law.
Some articles for you to ponder:
12/30 – Wall Street Journal – For Banks, 2014 Was a Year of Big Penalties – Here’s my interpolation of the fines and legal costs for the largest banks, as presented in the article’s graph:
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What is behind the record $56 billion in bank fines in 2014?Read More »
What is behind the record $56 billion in bank fines in 2014? Read More »
A few links and comments of interest to auditors: continued investigations of TBTF banks, get an engagement letter, and more on The Economist article:
12/9 – Guardian – Standard Chartered under pressure as US regulators relaunch investigation – …
More good stuff for auditors – 12/29 Read More »
How many failures in the smell test can you identify in this story, which was published by New York Magazine?
In a few years of trading*, a 17-year old* High School junior has cleared $72 million* in profits from a diverse strategy* of penny stocks*, oil futures, and mid-cap stocks. He owns a BMW and has already rented an apartment in Manhattan that his parents won’t let him live in*. He lives with his parents in the same place they’ve lived for a while*. To validate his story, a fact-checker looked at a* Chase bank statement* that shows a $72M balance*. The stock whiz now says he met with the fact-checker “for about 10 seconds” to view the one statement*.
Update, forgot this part: After one of the interviews, he was going to an appointment with some guy who wanted to give him* a $150M investment* to start a hedge fund* the day he turns 18*.
The whole thing was a hoax.
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I’m in the process of writing and rewriting a series of CPE courses on compilations, reviews, and preparation services. These courses will describe the changes made from SSARS #21, which is a major rewrite of the comp and review rules.
These courses will be a major overhaul of what I wrote three years ago for CCH.
Stay tuned for more info as the courses become available.
Here’s the courses on SSARS 19 I wrote or updated: …
CPE courses on SSARS 21 in development Read More »
The effective date of each section of SSARS #21 is for financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2015.
On a practical basis, for most accountants that means your clients with fiscal years ending December 31, 2015 will be the first set of reports for which you must apply SSARS 21. I have to simplify effective dates to keep them straight, so here goes: SSARS 21 applies for 12/31/15 balance sheets.
That means you will need to apply SSARS 21 for work performed in early 2016 on 12/31/15 financials.
Early implementation allowed
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Effective date of SSARS #21 and ideas on how to use the early implementation optionRead More »
Effective date of SSARS #21 and ideas on how to use the early implementation option Read More »
Yes, today is 12/13/14.
Turns out that will be the last time we see sequential dates until the next century. In January 2103 to be precise. That would be 01/02/03.
Couple of years ago we saw 12/12/12. Won’t see another one of those until 01/01/01 (that would be 2101).
Hat tip to the following tweeter: …
Fun dates. Posted on 12/13/14. Read More »
Gotta’ love the drawing of a seated Doberman with a wondering look on his face as he stares at a trail of muddy feline paw prints. Staring around helpless are three other dogs. The befuddled watchdog has a tag labeled “PwC” in case you hadn’t yet caught the point.
The previous drawing was of an overfed cat in a three-piece suit helping himself to a bag of cash from a safe as four dogs snoozed in front of the safe. Said dogs have a tag identifying each as a member of the Big 4.
If you are an auditor, you really should get a fresh cup of coffee and check out The Economist’s discussion of The dozy watchdogs. Will let you see what non-accountants think of the profession (not too much) and the job the big firms are doing (not so great).
Yeah, there is a problem
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“The dozy watchdogs” – Deep discussion in The Economist on the state of audit professionRead More »
“The dozy watchdogs” – Deep discussion in The Economist on the state of audit profession Read More »
The SEC Chief Accountant had some comments in a speech today that reduces my worry that IFRS converadoption ™ may resurrect from the dead.
Check out Remarks before the 2014 AICPA National Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments – The SEC Chief Accountant, James Schnurr spoke to the AICPA conference.
I don’t know how to read between the lines of a prepared speech from a senior official. My simplistic reading of the comments suggests that he has been asked to look at the IFRS issue again to see if there is any way to move forward or else close the door completely.
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IFRS adoption likely to stay dead Read More »
A few links and comments of interest to auditors. – The corpse of IFRS is looking more like a vampire. There are little muscle twitches, suggesting it isn’t fully dead.
12/3 – Edith Orenstein at FEI Daily – SEC Chief Accountant Has Fourth Alternative on IFRS – The Chief Accountant is considering a fourth option, following the options of 1) surrendering all standard setting authority to IFRS, 2) giving option to everyone to file with IFRS, and 3) ‘condorsement’, aka convergadoption ™ .
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More good stuff for auditors – 12/5 Read More »
In case anyone is interested, jail time is over for Bryan Shaw, the golfing buddy and inside trader buddy of Scott London, formerly CPA, formerly partner at KPMG, currently resident of federal housing on the coast of California.
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Bryan Shaw released from prison on 11/28/14 Read More »
Those big banking disasters won’t go away. Ripple effects keep showing up, this time from breaking money laundering rules.
A number of US soldiers wounded in terrorist attacks while in Iraq have sued a number of banks for their role in facilitating the money transfers to fund the attackers.
This ties in to the money laundering fiasco of banks allowing Iranian businesses, government, and individuals to access the U.S. banking system in spite of a U.S. ban on doing so. Some of my previous posts in this tag.
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Ripple effects from banking fiascos – 2 Read More »
Apparently it is not yet universally believed that adopting IFRS for the U.S. is a horrible, fatally flawed concept that would harm the U.S. capital markets. I’ll mention yet another catastrophic flaw in the concept after a few jokes at the expense of IFRS.
First, some indication there is still a heartbeat in the otherwise decaying corpse.
I hope there’s still not hope for convergadoption ™
Mentioned before that the New SEC Chief Accountant {is} Weighing Switch to Global Accounting Rules – The new chief accountant is reviewing past work at the SEC on IFRS.
On November 6, the Wall Street Journal reported he hopes in a few months to have “movement” on the issue. Didn’t give a hint what direction he thinks the agency should go.
Professors Paul Miller and Paul Bahnson discuss IFRS at length in their article, IFRS in the U.S.: The opera star has already sung (free registration required).
In the article, they explain that SEC chair Mary Jo White said she thought IFRS adoption might be a good idea in a meeting with the FAF.
A heaping helping of ridicule
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IFRS adoption: Yet another fatal flaw and a heaping dose of ridiculeRead More »
IFRS adoption: Yet another fatal flaw and a heaping dose of ridicule Read More »