Photo Source Back in the summer of 2005, I joined the team that audits PwC the Firm, itself. I was thrilled. Although I was giving up being on my own and spending most of my time on Mexico and South America, I was joining what I thought at the time was a world-class firm, I […]
New chief of BDO challenges Big 4 BDO International could be a “credible challenger” to the Big 4 accounting firms, according to its new head. Jeremy Newman, newly appointed chief executive of the company, told the Financial Times that he sees a large opportunity in the market but that becoming a fifth tier to the […]
re: The Auditors has been feeling a little under the weather the last few days, and therefore less inclined to write. This morning, just as I was starting to feel a little better and ready for some warm oatmeal and apple juice, I saw this story in the Financial Times. It was enough to send […]
I’m starting to get interesting emails, from folks who may or may not have their own agenda, but who certainly know more about some things than I do. A little while ago, after writing about the BDO litigation, I received an email from someone who had quite a bit of information and very strong opinions […]
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” -Aristotle Although I usually agree wholeheartedly with Jonathan Weil, I […]
Next stop, lawsuit. Did KPMG already sign off on the pre-conversion financials? Déjà – Deloitte? Ace Hardware finds accounting shortfallLikely will have to restate 5 years; calls off plan to convert to for-profit Ace Hardware Corp. discovered an approximately $154-million shortfall on its books while preparing to convert from retailer-owned cooperative to a for-profit corporation […]
Given all that’s at stake for BDO in the Banco Espirito Santo (BES) judgement, and everything else on their mind it’s a wonder any court considers an agreement like this worth the paper it’s printed on… $19M deal struck to settle Suprema suit The former auditor of failed cheese company Suprema Specialties and several others […]
Breeden Wins! Now he’s got to deliver. Breeden to join board of H&R Block Richard Breeden, the former SEC Chairman turned hedge fund manager, has won his proxy contest against the management of tax preparer H&R Block. While official tallies of the shareholder vote have yet to be confirmed, it appears that Mr. Breeden and […]
Some folks never learn. Or maybe they have learned – how to deflect attention and keep doing what they want to do, in spite of the obvious need for change and new blood. One of the first posts I wrote, almost a year ago, was about the connections between Computer Associates, (or CA as they […]
Senator Charles Schumer has a lot of nerve. He also has a strong belief that the US public is naive and gullible. At best, it’s comical that Senator Schumer is demanding action on the sub prime crisis from the accounting firms. After all, they pay him to protect their interests, not the other way around. […]
Neil McIntyre, CA-in-Waiting and Canadian boy-wonder blogger, wrote a post recently called, Sucks To Be Seidman. Neil is feeling this crisis personally and, if his picture wasn’t so darn cute, I would worry he was verklempt. Reasonable assurance is neither reasonable nor assured. Discuss. Neil says: “By now, the verdict in the BDO Seidman lawsuit […]
…Because that’s where the money is! (Interestingly, he was shot by one of his own gang…) For the US Department of Justice, it’s getting to be like shooting fish in a barrel. But how quickly they’ve decided not to prosecute the firm. Is this how it’s going to be from now on? Does it have […]
