Dixon Hughes Goodman, a U.S. top 20 public accounting and advisory firm, is pleased to announce that Samit Shah has joined the firm as a Principal in the Transfer Pricing Services Group. Samit is based in DHG’s Atlanta, GA office and will focus on international tax services and global transfer pricing consulting projects for DHG’s clients.
Samit has more than 13 years of experience providing international tax and transfer pricing services for clients across a wide range of geographies and industries. In his new role with DHG, he will advise clients through transfer pricing documentation, planning, IP migration, cost sharing and controversy engagements.
“Samit’s experience leading global transfer pricing projects increases our capability to advise clients through complex cross-border transactions and transfer pricing regulations,” said Dennis Vick – Managing Partner of DHG Tax. “His leadership and technical knowledge will definitely be an asset to our well-established Transfer Pricing Services Group.”
Samit holds an International Master of Business Administration from the Moore School of Business at University of South Carolina with prior experience at the Internal Revenue Service and global accounting firms.
Samit Shah
Why are firms so vague in their press releases when they hire someone away from another accounting firm? Why not proudly name the firm you poached him from?
If I was in charge of writing this press release for DHG, I would have said:
Samit holds an International Master of Business Administration from the Moore School of Business at University of South Carolina with prior experience at the Internal Revenue Service. He also previously worked at global accounting firm KPMG. Before joining DHG, Samit was executive director of transfer pricing for global accounting firm Ernst & Young. SUCK ON THAT, EY!
I guess that’s why I’m not working in public relations.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Shah worked at the IRS for more than two years before joining KPMG in May 2005. He then fled KPMG in October 2006 and wound up at EY in November 2006.
The biggest job cuts will be felt among the higher ranks of the automaking giant. Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in an email to employees on Monday that “we will have reduced management structure by close to 20%.”
While accountants were not mentioned specifically in the numerous reports about the layoffs that were published yesterday (although layoffs in finance was mentioned by the Associated Press), a May 13 report in the Detroit Free Press confirming the pending job cuts did hint that accountants would be among the casualties:
Salaried workers in accounting, administrative support and other areas at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn are reportedly being let go, sources close to the situation confirmed to the Free Press. In addition, the information technology team in China has reportedly seen reductions.
It is not known how many Ford accountants were given pink slips. The Detroit News reported this morning that the first of 500 Ford salaried employees are expected to be notified in meetings today that they’re being let go.
Ford said in the U.S. about 2,300 jobs will be cut through buyouts and layoffs, according to the Associated Press. About 1,500 have left voluntarily or with buyouts, while another 300 have already been laid off.
Our favorite four-letter Big 4 firm is in danger of having to pay an eight-digit fine in the U.K. for dropping the ball on making sure Bank of New York Mellon complied with rules on keeping client assets safe.
Accounting giant KPMG should be fined 12.5 million pounds ($15.9 million) or more for misconduct over reports on Bank of New York Mellon Corp., a U.K. regulator said Tuesday. KPMG said the fine should be just a fraction of that size, at 1.4 million pounds.
The Financial Reporting Council’s request — and KPMG’s response — were outlined Tuesday at a hearing in London, where a tribunal will decide what’s an appropriate sanction for the case. KPMG, which has admitted misconduct, would get a 30 percent discount on the fine for cooperation with the regulator.
But before we get to KPMG’s response, let’s go back to this past September when KPMG and partner Richard Hinton admitted to misconduct after an FRC investigation into 2011 reports on client assets held by BNY Mellon and its London branch.
At their peak, the client assets held by the bank were worth more than £1 trillion.
In April 2015, BNY Mellon was fined £126 million by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority for failing to keep customer money safe during the financial crisis. And KPMG, as BNY Mellon’s auditor, was supposed to be responsible for reporting to the FCA in 2011 that BNY Mellon was complying with the FCA’s rules on client assets.
The FRC investigation, which began in June 2015, found that KPMG and Hinton “failed to give adequate consideration on whether the records of custody relationships maintained by BNY Mellon were compliant with certain rules.”
In addition, KPMG and Hinton “failed to undertake sufficient audit procedures to support the opinions set out in the 2011 client asset reports made to the FCA,” the FRC said last September.
The FRC and KPMG couldn’t agree on what sanctions should be imposed on the firm, so that decision will be made by a disciplinary tribunal.
OK, back to today’s tribunal hearing, where the FRC said KPMG should have to pay a record fine of £12.5 million because KPMG’s conduct was “truly exceptional.” KPMG’s response: WHAT? We ain’t paying that.
The FRC’s proposed fine is an “extravagant” and “gargantuan” penalty, and the misconduct involved in the BNY Mellon case was unintentional and didn’t involve any criminality, KPMG lawyer Bankim Thanki said at the hearing.
So, we await the tribunal’s verdict. The largest fine ever levied by the FRC was £10 million (reduced to £6.5 million) to PwC for botching the audit of retailer BHS, which eventually went belly-up. My gut tells me the tribunal hands KPMG a fine somewhere between £10 million and £12.5 million.
At first glance “continuous testing” sounds like some horrible plan to further torture America’s future CPAs by requiring a grueling, never-ending cycle of testing and retesting throughout their career. As fun as I’m sure that might be for the sadists who oversee the exam, I assure you, that’s not what this is.
They’ve been talking about it for years, but if I’m being honest, I thought it was one of those “hey, this would be cool, we’re looking into it” sort of things that sound promising but rarely come to fruition. Sort of like flying cars and me sticking to deadlines when I promise Jason I’ll write an article at 8 a.m. instead of staying up all night playing video games. But nah, they actually did it. Color me impressed.
Here’s the deal. Hopefully beginning June 2020, NASBA will roll out continuous testing which means not only more convenient CPA exam scheduling but wait for this next part.
According to the revised Rule, when system changes have eliminated the need for test window limitations “a Candidate can retake a Test Section once their grade for any previous attempt of the same Test Section has been released.”
Although it may not seem like that big of a deal on the surface, this is probably one of the biggest changes in testing I’ve seen since I started working in CPA review a whopping 12 years ago. In fact, it’s the only significant change in testing and scoring I can say I’ve ever seen, as any significant changes that have occurred on my watch involved test structure and content (moving written communication out of REG, AUD, and FAR, for example). So yeah.
As far as I can tell, NASBA began seriously considering (read: working toward) continuous testing just a year ago, so to see them go from “hey, maybe we should do this” to “we’re getting ready to do this” in just two years is impressive for sure. Let’s be real, this is the accounting profession we’re talking about, change happens in tiny increments when at all, certainly not rocketing forward at the speed of new iPhones.
We’re excited to see how this all turns out but caution y’all getting your expectations too high ahead of the actual implementation. As my mother always said, keep your expectations low so you’re pleasantly surprised when things work out rather than be wildly disappointed when they don’t. Or something.
Don’t get out those orange prison jumpsuits just yet for former KPMG partner David Middendorf and former PCAOB inspections leader Jeffrey Wada. The two men are asking a Manhattan federal court to throw out their wire fraud convictions or grant them a new trial, saying the government didn’t provide enough evidence to support the guilty verdict and didn’t prove they acted willfully, according to Law360.
David Middendorf
A jury on March 11 convicted Middendorf, former national managing partner for audit quality and professional practice at KPMG, on three counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while Wada was convicted on two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, for their roles in an information-stealing scheme in which PCAOB insiders fed KPMG executives secret plans on which of the Big 4 firm’s public company audits the regulator would be inspecting.
Their legal fight continues to center on their belief that the lists of which audits of KPMG’s would be inspected by the PCAOB are not considered “property” under the wire fraud statute; therefore, their wire fraud convictions should be tossed, according to a Law360 report.
In Wada’s words, the lists are “intangible features of the PCAOB’s regulatory mission.”
However, prosecutors strongly disagree:
“The evidence showed that the inspection lists had significant value to the PCAOB, that the PCAOB considered the information to be confidential, and that the PCAOB took steps to treat the information as confidential,” prosecutors said.
The government pointed to trial testimony that the lists took thousands of hours of employee time to create. PCAOB employees testified that the lists were kept secret and they were made to agree to an ethics code that prohibited leaking confidential info.
Middendorf’s and Wada’s legal teams have said their clients’ cases are similar to Cleveland v. U.S., in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state and municipal licenses, such as those for alcoholic beverages, that have not yet been issued don’t rank as “property” under federal mail fraud laws; therefore, an applicant can’t be prosecuted for mail fraud for obtaining a license through deceptive means.
But according to Law360, the judge in U.S. v. Middendorf et al, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, had already shot down that argument from the defendants last July in a ruling on a motion to dismiss the case, when he said “while the licenses in Cleveland were not property before they were doled out …, the confidential PCAOB information that the scheme targeted was property before it was leaked.”
After Middendorf and Wada also claimed that the government’s evidence was insufficient, prosecutors pulled out some evidence from the trial; for example, Middendorf telling Thomas Whittle, former national partner-in-charge for inspections at KPMG, who testified against Middendorf during the trial, to “get that list” from a PCAOB insider (most likely Wada), according to Law360.
Middendorf, 54, and Wada, 43, are expected to be sentenced in August.
Back in July 2016 when I was working at AccountingWEB, I remember an SEC press release coming across my virtual desk announcing that Wesley Bricker had been named interim chief accountant. I remember thinking, “Wait, what happened to James Schnurr? He had just spoken at some accounting conference, somewhere, about something, it seemed.”
The July 21 press release said:
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Wesley R. Bricker has been named the Commission’s Interim Chief Accountant responsible for the activities of the Office of the Chief Accountant as James V. Schnurr, current Chief Accountant, recovers from a serious bicycle accident.
“Wow, that sucks,” I mumbled to myself. “I wonder what happened?”
James Schnurr
Well, now we know.
According to two recently published reports out of Florida, Schnurr and his wife went on a bike ride near the couple’s home in Jonathan’s Landing in Jupiter, FL, one day in April 2016. Schnurr was riding behind his wife but didn’t see a pole, or stanchion, that was on the bike path and painted beige to blend in with the surroundings.
Schnurr broke his neck when he crashed into a pole he couldn’t see and that was placed in the path without permits and in defiance of decades-old rules established by traffic engineers, said his attorney Gregg Schlesinger.
Paralyzed from the chest down, the former professional basketball player who became a wildly successful businessman can no longer feed himself, much less work, Schlesinger said.
According to a South Florida Sun Sentinel report, Schnurr sued the homeowners association overseeing Jonathan’s Landing and Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club Inc. in August 2016. He claimed the organizations erected two stanchions “which constitute physical obstructions to cyclists” on the bike trail but failed to provide pavement markings, signage, or other warnings of “their hazardous nature.”
Upon striking one of the stanchions, Schnurr “was ejected from his cycle and hit the ground, causing him significant and permanent injuries,” his complaint stated.
He was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, according to reports.
Well just last week, a Palm Beach County jury awarded $41 million in damages to Schnurr, who officially retired from his job at the SEC in November 2016 due to his injuries. He took over as SEC chief accountant in October 2014.
However, the jury determined that Schnurr, the HOA, and the golf club were all responsible for the crash, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The association was 45 percent negligent because if failed to notify Schnurr of the dangerous conditions while the golf club’s 5 percent negligence contributed to Schnurr’s loss, injury or damage.
Schnurr was found to be 50 percent negligent. The jury awarded Schnurr $4,800,000 for past hospitalization, medical and nursing care; $12 million for future hospitalization, medical and nursing care; $750,000 in lost previous wages; $3.5 million for lost future wages; $10 million for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life; and $5 million to cover those more pain and suffering in the future. In addition, Schnurr’s wife Christine was awarded $5 million for loss of her husband’s “comfort, society and attention.”
The HOA is mulling whether to appeal the jury’s decision.
Schnurr, 67, who is now a quadriplegic, is currently living in a rehabilitation facility in Connecticut, and even though he just got PAID, the money will be quickly consumed by his medical needs, attorney Thomas Angelo, who also represents Schnurr, told the Palm Beach Post.
The crazy thing is, the poles were installed at one intersection of the bike path, where Schnurr’s crash occurred, to protect bicyclists because a car had been seen using the path as a shortcut, according to the Palm Beach Post.
For those keeping score at home, there are 16 newly minted partners and four new principals in the class of 2019.
Dave Stende
“This incoming group of partners and principals has proven to be innovative and well-equipped to lead,” said Dave Stende, Eide Bailly managing partner and CEO. “They are passionate about serving our clients and living the Eide Bailly culture. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for them as partners of the firm.”
Auditor shopping has made the news a little more than usual of late, with high-profile companies like Fitbit and Goldman Sachs in the U.K. both kicking PwC to the curb in favor of a fresh, new set of eyes. Then there’s General Electric, which might end its century-old relationship with KPMG after this year.
While specialty equipment maker AZZ Inc.’s engagement with BDO USA wasn’t even one-tenth as long as GE’s with KPMG, it decided the time was right to look elsewhere.
AZZ’s audit committee dismissed BDO USA LLP and replaced the Chicago-based auditor with Grant Thornton LLP. AZZ said it informed BDO of the dismissal last week.
AZZ’s move comes after two years of accounting difficulties. The company delayed filing its fiscal 2019 and 2018 annual reports and had disclosed separate material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting of revenue in both years.
On Thursday [May 30], in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AZZ said that BDO included “adverse opinions” on the effectiveness of the company’s oversight of financial reporting contained in the auditor’s assurance reports. The dismissal wasn’t over disagreements with BDO’s accounting and auditing principles and practices, AZZ said in the filing.
Then why did AZZ drop Bravo Delta Oscar? Fees? I don’t have any figures to back this up, but I can’t imagine hiring Grant Thornton was because AZZ was bargain hunting. AZZ CFO Paul Fehlman told CFO Journal the company was planning to hire a new auditor before AZZ filed its most recent annual report, adding, “It’s always considered best practice to do a rotation to refresh the auditor relationship.”
So this must be a decades-old relationship with BDO, right? Not really. I reviewed AZZ’s 10-Ks and found that BDO has been its auditor for only about 10 years, back when BDO was known as BDO Seidman, replacing EY at the time.
I’m just spitballin’ here, but you’re telling me the fact that AZZ had to restate its financial results for the 2017 fiscal year, as well as quarterly periods ended May 31, 2017, and Aug. 31, 2017, to correct errors it made by applying the wrong accounting treatment to certain contracts within its energy business didn’t play a teensy-weensy part in its decision to drop BDO? Is it wrong that my B.S. detector went off?
AZZ disclosed that it had previously engaged GT on advisory services related to the company’s adoption of new accounting standards for revenue recognition and leasing, and tax advisory services related to tax compliance and optimization. And by the looks of it, AZZ CEO Tom Ferguson is a big fan of the Purple Rose of Chicago.
“Previously we worked with members of the GT team on matters relating to revenue recognition, leasing, and tax issues. Our experience was truly outstanding. Selecting GT as our independent accounting firm is based on our belief that they will deliver timely, high-quality audit services while understanding the complexities of our business.”
The Southeastern Conference hired international accounting firm Deloitte to conduct a review of its football officiating, reacting in part to what Commissioner Greg Sankey called the intense, often opinionated view of referees by the public and media.
Sankey said conversations began in September about ways to examine officiating and find ways to better communicate with the public about the overall quality of the work done by referees at a time when scrutiny and criticism has never been more pervasive. He said the SEC was not responding to a particular problem and does not consider the review an audit. He did not disclose how much it cost.
Here’s what Deloitte will be tasked with in its assessment of the SEC’s football officiating program, according to Accounting Today:
Conduct stakeholder interviews to review officiating program strengths, enhancement opportunities and perceptions.
Perform statistically based data analytics from game play-by-play reports and officiating review results to identify trends and potential outliers.
Compare SEC officiating program procedures and standards to industry norms from collegiate and professional sport leagues.
Meet with members of the SEC’s officiating staff to seek their input on adaptations that may enhance officiating performance.
Evaluate the SEC’s assessment and accountability standards for officials.
Anyone who is a fan of the NHL knows that hockey players rarely call each other by their first or last names. They call each other by their hockey nicknames.
There’s really no rhyme or reason for how hockey players get their nicknames. But usually, you get your hockey nickname by either adding “-er,” “-y,” “-zie,” or “-s” to the first syllable of your last name or sometimes the first syllable of your first name. Some also just go by their initials. For example:
Chicago Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are called “Tazer” and “Kaner,” respectively.
San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns is known as “Burnsy.”
Montreal Canadiens center Andrew Shaw is called “Shawzie.”
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella is known as “Torts.”
Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick went by his initials “JR.”
So, if Going Concern staff went by our hockey nicknames, I would probably be “Brammy” and Adrienne would be “AG.”
Now, you’re probably wondering what the point of this article is. Well, last night while I was playing NHL 19 on Xbox, I got to thinking: What would be the hockey nicknames of the Big 4 CEOs?
Why was I thinking about this? Two reasons (other than I have no life):
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins is tonight.
When I saw the press release about Viel, I started to think about what his hockey nickname would be. I mean, even though he’s a native of Australia, he’s lived in Canada for the past four years, currently in Toronto, so by now, Viel has to have become a jaded and disappointed Maple Leafs fan, right?
So, would his hockey nickname be “Viels?” Meh. How ’bout “Vielzie?” That’s better: Anthony “Vielzie” Viel. But apparently he already has a hockey nickname. He’s known within the firm as “AV.” And he’s called by his initials several times in the press release, including in a statement from Deloitte Canada Chairman Duncan Sinclair, whose hockey nickname has to be “Duncs.”
“We believe AV is the right choice to lead the next chapter of the firm’s remarkable and 161-year long story as one of Canada’s largest businesses. He is an impactful, passionate and innovative leader who disrupts the status quo in pursuit of bold and focused growth. AV is committed to elevating our people, our clients, our communities, and our country.”
But what about the Big 4 CEOs in the U.S.? Let’s speculate as to what their hockey nicknames would be, starting with probably the biggest hockey fan among them.
Doughtie, who became the second woman to lead a Big 4 U.S. firm when she took over as KPMG CEO in 2015, likes her golf. You can often see her palling around with walking KPMG billboards Phil Mickelson and Stacy Lewis at KPMG-sponsored PGA or LPGA tournaments or events.
I have to believe that because she works in New York City, Doughtie roots for the New York Rangers during the NHL season, or maybe she’s a Washington Capitals fan because she grew up in Powhatan, VA?
We really only had two options for Doughtie’s hockey nickname: “Doughts” or “Doughy.” It’s gotta be “Doughy,” right? Right.
We usually call Ucuzoglu “Joe U.” on this site because, well, Ucuzoglu is a helluva last name. But it’s really not a good hockey nickname.
There weren’t many good options for a hockey nickname for Joe U., so we’re gonna go with “Ucuzy.” That’s a good one. You can just hear Brad Marchand of the Bruins saying in a post-game press conference, “Ucuzy made a great pass to me, and I buried it.”
I thought that maybe we could give him the hockey nickname of “Carms,” and that really wouldn’t be a bad one. But I kind of liked “DeeSibs” a little better. It’s a little more unique, given how his last name is spelled and pronounced.
If you want to expand hockey nicknames to CEOs outside of the Big 4, you could go with Joe “Adamsy” Adams of RSM US and Wayne “Bersy” Berson of BDO USA. It’s a little more difficult to come up with a traditional hockey nickname for Grant Thornton CEO Mike McGuire, so we think “McG” would work fine.
Feel free to come up with your own hockey nicknames for other people in the accounting community and put them in the comment section. Also, let us know if you’ve got the Blues or the Bruins winning the Cup. I’m not a big Bruins fan, but I hate the Blues, so go Boston, I guess.
Browsing Reddit the other day for interesting accounting topics as one does when one has written nearly 3,000 posts over a span of 10 years on the subject, I came across this. I have to say, it’s not every day I find some dusty old corner of the industry that’s new even to me but here we are.
Huh. Makes sense. I mean, rockstars and athletes get their own halls of fame, why not accountants? Certainly there are those individuals who make genuine contributions not only to the profession but to the art of capital markets protection, right?
The Accounting Hall of Fame was established at The Ohio State University in 1950. Its first inductees were George Oliver May, who you can thank for putting forth the bright idea to require audits for publicly-listed companies, Robert Hiester Montgomery, a high school dropout who co-founded what is now PwC, and William Andrew Paton, founder of the American Accounting Association and recipient of the ultra-rare Outstanding Educator of the Century award for the 20th century.
As of 2018, 97 people have been inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame. Wikipedia has the entire list, the most surprising part of which is that many inductees have their own pages to dive into.
In 2017, the American Accounting Association took over the Hall of Fame from OSU. Currently, the Hall of Fame Committee is made up of voting members (electors), nonvoting members (exofficio members from AAA staff and The Ohio State University, and an AAA Board of Director’s liaison). The electors currently consists of the six members of the transition team. Four are past AAA presidents; (two of whom are Hall of Fame members), two are Hall of Fame members from practice.
Selection to the Accounting Hall of Fame is intended to honor and recognize distinguished service and contributions to the progress of accounting in any of its various fields. Evidence of such service includes contributions to accounting research and literature, significant service to professional accounting organizations, wide recognition as an authority in some field of accounting, advancement of accounting education, and public service. A member must have reached a position of eminence from which the nature of his or her contributions may be established.
Think folks like Elijah Watt-Sells (1952), Arthur Andersen (1956), Bob Herz (2012), and Sir David Tweedie (2013). Four more new inductees will join them at the annual AAA meeting this August, including the first African American to join Beta Alpha Psi and “the father of cost accounting,” along with the Hall of Fame’s fourth woman and a prominent researcher.
Ch-ch-changes are coming at the top of CohnReznick, as partners at the top 15 accounting firm this week elected David Kessler as CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2020.
David Kessler
Kessler will succeed Frank Longobardi, who has been CEO since October 2015. Longobardi will remain at the firm until he reaches CohnReznick’s mandatory retirement age in January 2021, he told Accounting Today.
An employee of New York-based CohnReznick for almost 34 years, Kessler is currently managing partner for the firm’s real estate practice, responsible for directing strategies and overseeing operations for the affordable housing, commercial real estate, construction, and tax credit groups.
The firm’s partnership probably felt Kessler would be a good choice to take over the corner office because he is also “actively involved” with CohnReznick’s advisory, assurance, and tax practices, according to a press release. Kessler is also a member of CohnReznick’s Executive Board.
Frank Longobardi
Kessler previously served as the co-office managing partner of the firm’s office in Bethesda, MD, where he is based.
“I am honored to be chosen to lead CohnReznick and look forward to supporting the growth of our people, providing world-class service to our clients, and having a lasting positive impact on our communities. My goal is to build upon Frank’s outstanding leadership by continuing to distinguish CohnReznick as the firm with an inclusive environment to foster the careers of our people while providing state of the art solutions to help our clients achieve their vision for their businesses.”
Last December we learned that the Big 4 firms across the pond sacked nearly 40 partners (probably all men, although we don’t know for sure) within the past four years for inappropriate conduct, such as sexual harassment and bullying, seven of whom had worked at KPMG. But KPMG evidently sided with a male partner who was accused of bullying last year, and two longtime female partners at the firm had enough.
Two of KPMG’s high-flying female partners have quit their jobs in response to the way the Big Four accounting firm has dealt with concerns about alleged bullying by a senior male partner in the UK.
The departures have caused shock and dismay among staff at the firm, which has already faced a bruising period following a series of accounting controversies that have sparked criticism of its culture and values.
Maggie Brereton
FT identified the two KPMG female partners, who resigned in February, as Maggie Brereton, former head of U.K. transaction services and a nonexecutive U.K. board member, and Ina Kjaer, former head of U.K. integration in the deal advisory team.
The senior male partner accused of bullying, who still works at KPMG, was not identified by FT.
On their LinkedIn profiles, both Brereton and Kjaer confirmed that they had both resigned from KPMG and are currently on garden leave, but neither woman gave a reason why they left the firm.
Ina Kjaer
Together, the two women had about 40 years of experience working at KPMG, and FT learned that they were highly respected and two of the firm’s most talented partners.
Concerns about the senior male partner’s communication methods were raised to his line manager last October, according to FT, and then someone within KPMG made a formal complaint through the firm’s whistleblower hotline that same month about the guy’s conduct during a meeting.
An investigation into the male partner’s conduct concluded that his behavior didn’t amount to bullying, according to FT. But we can presume that he was probably being a jag-off because the firm said in a statement that “aspects of the individual’s behavior required improvement.” The male partner agreed was forced to take leadership coaching and he agreed was forced to apologize to “certain employees.” This is very similar to the story Going Concern broke in April about a current male partner at EY India who was accused of sexual harassment and bullying by a former female associate director at the firm.
KPMG U.K. also changed the partner’s reporting channels in February, according to FT.
This is the second case of workplace bullying at a KPMG firm that has been made public this month. The Australian Financial Review reported on May 15 that KPMG in Australia conducted a secret internal investigation into a senior partner after receiving several anonymous postcards over an 18-month period accusing him of workplace bullying.
Postcards? Isn’t there an ethics or whistleblower hotline they could call instead? And when we say postcards, we don’t mean the blank, white ones you can buy at Office Depot. According to AFR, they were actual postcards you could buy at a cafe or convenience store, including several advertising the Disney movie Christopher Robin.
These postcards featured a cut-out of the senior partner’s official profile shot and title stuck onto the postcard along with a range of different messages, including “why have you lost so many good female [business area] partners??”, “Are you aware of this man’s behaviour to women?” and “How long before you act against this bully?”.
Security specialists conducted a forensic examination on the postcards and concluded they were sent by the same person, which they assumed to be a man with a gripe against the senior partner, but were unable to identify the person, according to AFR.
The senior partner wasn’t identified in the article, but he has denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations made against him are unfair.
AFR noted that only one individual was named across the various postcards—a female partner who no longer works for KPMG.
When she was interviewed by the firm, she admitted she did not get along with the senior partner but did not make a formal complaint about him. She also told the firm she had no knowledge about the postcards and had not sent them.
AFR also reported that KPMG Australia executives recently asked a male audit partner at the firm, who was not identified, to retire early while giving him an additional “discretionary” payment worth six months’ pay, or more than $200,000, after a female staff member with whom he previously had a relationship accused him of harassment.
The complaint against the audit partner, who is married, came after his relationship with the female staff member had ended. The audit partner then filed a complaint against his former mistress, accusing her of inappropriate conduct.
The investigation into the audit partner, who had been warned before by the firm about his behavior in the office toward the woman, found he had breached the firm’s values around leading by example and he was asked to resign from the partnership.
The investigation into the woman, who still works for KPMG, is ongoing, according to AFR.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Wesley R. Bricker, Chief Accountant, plans to leave the agency after more than six years of distinguished service.
Mr. Bricker was named as the SEC’s Chief Accountant in 2016, after serving as the deputy chief accountant. Earlier, he served as a professional accounting fellow.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today named Sagar Teotia as the SEC’s Acting Chief Accountant following the departure of Wesley R. Bricker in June.
Since 2017, Mr. Teotia has served as Deputy Chief Accountant, leading the accounting group. As Acting Chief Accountant, Mr. Teotia will serve as the principal advisor to the Commission on accounting and auditing matters and will lead the Commission’s Office of the Chief Accountant. He also will be responsible for assisting the Commission with discharging its oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Wesley Bricker
Bricker took over as chief accountant in November 2016 from James Schnurr, who sustained serious injuries in a bicycle crash near his home in Jupiter, FL, in April of that year. Schnurr, who broke his neck in the accident and is now a quadriplegic, was recently awarded $41 million in damages by a Palm Beach County jury.
The SEC didn’t give a reason why Bricker was stepping down or what his future plans might be.
In the release, the SEC highlighted many, and I mean many, of Bricker’s accomplishments as SEC chief accountant. Here are a handful:
Advanced accounting and auditing policy and improved the professional performance of auditors domestically and internationally through policy-making, interpretative, consultative, and outreach activities.
Emphasized the role of audit committees of listed public companies in financial reporting and external auditor oversight.
Emphasized the importance of independent directors or independent advisory council members with meaningful governance responsibilities for the largest and most complex U.S. audit firms to foster audit quality and bolster public confidence.
Worked with the FASB in overseeing the identification and resolution of implementation issues related to new accounting standards such as revenue recognition, leasing, current expected credit losses, investments in equity securities, and improvements to hedging activities.
Developed recommendations regarding auditor independence and a framework for reporting and disclosing the income tax accounting implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Worked to strengthen the PCAOB in its mission and operations, including recommending approval for the most substantial changes in the auditor’s report in over seven decades, among numerous other initiatives to enhance the quality of audit services for public companies and broker-dealers.
Sagar Teotia
Bricker is a Big 4 refugee, having joined the SEC in 2015 from PwC, where he was partner responsible for audit engagements in the banking, capital markets, financial technology, and investment management sectors before leaving P. Dubs. He served as a professional accounting fellow in the SEC Office of the Chief Accountant from 2009 to 2011.
Teotia is also an ex-Big 4 accountant, having joined the SEC in 2017 from Deloitte, where he was a partner in Deloitte’s National Office and was responsible for providing consultation regarding accounting matters.
He, too, served as a professional accounting fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant from 2009 to 2011.
Over the years, we’ve written countless articles mocking the paranoia constantly brewing in the accounting profession over [insert threat here]. Usually it’s robots coming to take your jobs or “something something millennials,” and although we’re happy to rip on Alex Jones fanbase-level fear over threats real, imagined, and/or exaggerated, there is often a smidge of merit to these fears. Robots will probably take your job some day, but that’s OK because you’ll have a new job as a robot handler.
For all our cynicism, there’s one doomsaying danger to the profession we can acknowledge: the talent shortage. And I’m not talking about accounting failing to seduce enough halfway conscious young men and women into accounting as a major, I mean the soon-to-be critical shortage of accounting professors and partners. I guess you can add the accounting profession to the already lengthy list of things millennials have ruined.
The other day, Accounting Today did an interesting piece on the value of the CPA. We’ve done the topic to death, but as the profession is already careening toward total disaster if it can’t find enough bodies to fill all the chairs, it’s always an important subject to cover. The AT article was centered around a recent Surgent CPA Review webcast entitled Is the CPA License Losing Its Luster?, which tapped a bunch of Olds to complain about how everyone just got the CPA back in the day and didn’t think about it, whereas kids these days can just Google “what does an accountant do” and call it a day. I’m not kidding, one of their panelists said that.
Mark Mayberry, strategic initiatives director for the Assurance Office of Tomorrow at Top 10 Firm BDO USA, agreed: “With the introduction of the 150-hour requirement a few years ago, people are now studying for five years and perhaps there isn’t enough incentive for people [to do that]. When I took the exam, it was a right of passage … but now with the Internet, they can research and read about what public accountants do. And unless they’re going into public accounting and auditing, maybe there isn’t enough incentive to really pursue the CPA [license] anymore. It used to be the thing to get, and I don’t think it is anymore.”
Yeah, uh, we can blame the internet for a lot of things but I’m not sure it’s fair to pin this one on it. In all the head-scratching over why the next generation isn’t rushing to get the CPA exam over with like generations of accountants before them, it seems no one is asking themselves if the profession itself has lost its luster. Rather, the old “work your ass off for a decade and maybe you’ll make partner one day” model, which to be fair hasn’t worked for a long time or we wouldn’t be getting constant articles about talent shortages and difficulty in recruiting “top talent.” Spoiler: “top talent” has better shit to do than grind away for you for a decade and a half in the hopes of making partner just because that’s what the generation before them did. Those darn kids these days actually want just a little more out of their career, and I’m not talking about ping-pong tables and jeans Fridays.
Chuck Kovach, national director of learning at Top 100 Firm CohnReznick, echoed this claim: “The gap. we think, is growing between young people coming out of school and the traditional value proposition of accounting firms, meaning the long-term view of what it means to build an accounting career,” he said. “We feel we’re getting less and less traction on the [mentality of] ‘work hard for 12 years and you may become a partner and your career will then be so much better.’ I think that raises a lot of questions for our younger people … to the extent that the exam is a long-term process and what it leads to, We just think may be some of the reasons that some people aren’t motivated to sit for that exam.”
Ya think, Chuck? Hate to break it to you but “dedicate a year and a half of your life to this shitty, life-draining exam just so you can slave away for a public accounting firm for 12 years” is a really bad recruiting tactic. The funniest part is the Olds are baffled as to why “millennials” didn’t fall for it. Sounds to me like what the profession needs is a PR team to shine up this old turd and get those young bodies in the chairs.
There will always be people to whom the partner model appeals, and good for them. But unless we’re getting iPartner AIs to fill the gap by the time Gen Z grows up and starts dominating the ranks, the profession is in for a real shock. You think it’s bad now? Just wait until an entire generation nourished on memes about how much life in public sucks is the one left from which to pluck potential partners.
Sad news to report out of Indiana, as the body of 23-year-old accountant Jacob Sandy, who was last seen kayaking on May 18, was found along the Lake Michigan shoreline on May 29.
Jacob Sandy
The official cause of death is pending but is believed to be accidental drowning, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said in a press release.
Sandy, who had worked at Crowe in South Bend, IN, as an auditor since October 2018, was kayaking near Indiana Dunes National Park’s Porter Beach before a storm moved across the area on May 18, according to published reports.
His kayak was found about 18 miles away from where he was last seen kayaking, near New Buffalo, MI, on May 21. Conservation officers began surface and sonar searches of Lake Michigan on May 22, according to reports.
Authorities are unsure if Sandy had a life jacket with him at the time of the accident. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket and one wasn’t found when his body was discovered by an employee of Indiana Dunes State Park on Wednesday morning.
The Detroit-area native moved to South Bend after graduating from Hope College in Holland, MI, with a degree in public accounting/business management. And according to his LinkedIn profile, Sandy recently passed his CPA exam.
Welcome back to Get Me the Fuck Out of Here, our series on getting the hell out of your horrible public accounting job and into that greener grass on the other side. So far we’ve covered getting your resume in order and whether or not you should find a job before you leave your current one, and as promised, this week we’re going to talk about how to find that dream gig while still suffering at your current one. For those of you skipping this step and telling your firm to shove it in reckless fashion, feel free to ignore this post or, you know, take it under advisement just in case you change your mind.
OK. So you have your shiny resume in hand. You’ve resolved to leave. You’re making the wise choice, lining up a new opportunity before abandoning your current one. Aren’t you just a perpetually-prepared little Type A-er? You should already know this but just in case, let’s look at the three attack points you can use to hunt down your next job.
The Internet isn’t only for cat pictures
I’m not sure if you’ve been on any job boards lately but let me tell you, it’s rough out there. Even with the “talent shortage” we’re constantly being screamed at about and the relative demand for skilled CPAs, the job market is still kinda fucked if you’re going it alone.
That said, job boards are fucking amazing. You ever been in your car on your way to a destination you’ve never visited before as your phone spits out directions to you and wondered how the hell people ever got from Point A to Point B before we all had little computers in our pockets? I’m old enough to remember the Dark Ages and even I can’t comprehend how the hell we managed to find any new place without these handy little gadgets. Well, online job boards are sort of like Google Maps of employment — they’re pretty smart and super useful, and holy hell do they make the entire thing so much easier than it used to be in the depressing Before Time.
Here’s the big problem with job boards: even if you’re exactly what the company is looking for, it’s entirely possible your stellar resume will be sorted straight to the virtual garbage bin if you can’t get past the filters doing the work formerly done by humans. If you’re lacking certain keywords, chances are the hiring manager will never even see that resume you worked so hard on in Step 1. The good news is there’s a way to bypass this, but it’s a little scary and I totally understand if the prospect is too frightening to comprehend. Ready?
PICK UP THE PHONE.
The phone can also be handy if you’re thinking big and going after positions that may not be the best fit for your resume but for which you think you could absolutely kick ass if given the opportunity. Of course, this requires a little bit of determination and just a bit of charm, so don’t even bother if you have all the personality and persuasiveness of a wet kitchen sponge.
Now, there’s a huge plus to job boards as well: clarity. Expectations and requirements are clearly laid out (hopefully) so you know right off the bat if this could work (heh) and if your skillset is a good fit.
Hey buddy, got a job?
In between scrolling through job boards hunting for the next big thing, there’s another important resource you likely already have at your fingertips: your network. You know, those other professionals orbiting your outer circle who you probably wouldn’t have a beer with but absolutely can tap for advice on your career or, better, a potential job opportunity. They may know of an opening that hasn’t even been publicized at their company, and if you’re not a total jackass, they might even put in a good word for you. Professional connections are like the bouncer at the hot nightclub — treat them right and you can skip the line. Hopefully you already knew this and have been nurturing your network all along, because if not you’re SOL and have to go with the dreaded Plan Z…
Headhunters and recruiters
You know those people who constantly blow you up on LinkedIn, the ones you’ve been ignoring all this time? Yeah, those people.
Recruiters have a pretty poor reputation around these parts and much of it is warranted (God forbid we rip on people who don’t deserve getting ripped on). It pains us to say these used car salesmen of job opportunities can come in handy if you’ve exhausted your other options. Hell, you don’t even have to be desperate to give them a shot and see what they can do for you. They do offer one potential upside: they can sometimes negotiate a higher salary than you might be able to score on your own.
One caveat here: stay away from exclusive contracts when dealing with headhunters. Sure, maybe you’ll get more money but you’re really limiting your options for no benefit to you.
Search smart
Lastly, this all goes without saying but it would behoove you to be discreet when searching for a new job when already employed. You may not give a fuck about your employer anymore but you never know if you’re going to need to cross that bridge again some time in the future. Granted, I’m not ashamed to admit I once spent an entire 45-minute meeting openly searching Indeed on my phone but it’s better to at least try and pretend like you respect your employer. You know, for appearances or something. So if you do upload your resume to job boards, use privacy settings and maybe don’t use your work email to communicate with hiring managers. Or do, whatever, who gives a shit? You’re outta here.
Here’s a roundup of some of the very bad things accountants have done over the past week or two.
Kathy Russell
Nxivm accountant spelled out dirty messages with colorful fridge magnets [New York Post]
The racketeering and sex trafficking trial of creepy old guy Keith Raniere, the leader of the sex cult Nxivm, is currently going on in a Brooklyn federal court, and things took an interesting turn on May 31 when Raniere’s bookkeeper took the stand.
Jurors in the Nxivm trial on Friday watched an eyebrow-raising video of the upstate home of the alleged sex cult’s bookkeeper — which showed the phrases “I suck big hard d-ck!” and “Slap my heinie” spelled out in colorful magnet letters on her fridge.
Kathy Russell, 62, also had an adoring photo of Nxivm leader Keith Raniere — who is on trial for allegedly running a twisted master-slave group within Nxivm called DOS — pinned to a bulletin board, and a tripod set up next to a bed in the Clifton Park abode.
Her landlady, who took the video, testified that she was surprised to find the ”juvenile” words on the fridge — which also included “boner” and “p—y” — as Russell hadn’t struck her that way.
C’mon now, landlady, everyone has a dirty, perverted side, even 62-year-old accountants. Russell has already pleaded guilty to visa fraud in the case, admitting she presented phony documents to the Mexican consulate to bring a Nxivm member to the U.S.
Mastermind’s accountant agrees to plead guilty in college admissions scam [USA Today]
Steven Masera, the ex-bookkeeper of the fake nonprofit led by Rick Singer, who was behind the nation’s largest college admissions bribery scandal, struck a deal with federal prosecutors on May 31 by agreeing to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering and cooperate with the government by giving them all documents, objects, and other evidence in his possession.
Steven Masera
Masera, 69, who worked as the accountant and financial officer for Singer’s Key Worldwide Foundation and his Edge College and Career Network LLC, faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000; however, the Justice Department has recommended between 57 and 71 months because of his guilty plea.
In addition, prosecutors have recommended one year of supervised release, as well as undetermined amounts of restitution and forfeiture.
Accountant tricked her ex’s new girlfriend into sending nude pictures then posted them online [The Sun]
What’s the phrase? “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned,” right? Right.
Former convent schoolgirl Blerina Dobla, 26, wanted revenge on the woman who began dating her ex-boyfriend after he had dumped her, a court heard.
Dobla contacted the woman online posing as a man who wanted to date her. She eventually persuaded her to send intimate images via Snapchat, including a video of her naked in the shower.
Dobla then published the video on Instagram, and later more semi-nude pictures of the young woman, tagging her friends and family.
The victim was alerted to the images by a friend — but by then was unable to see them.
Blerina Dobla
Dobla, an accountant, was arrested at work. She denied posting the woman’s nudes initially but she fessed up to it in court on May 31.
She is expected to be sentenced on June 28 and is facing possible jail time.
Accountant jailed for life after strangling wife and burying her in garden [Metro]
Here’s an update to a brutal story we brought to you on May 13:
An accountant who strangled his wife to death while their children slept and buried her in the garden has been given a life sentence.
Ahmed Dawood Seedat, 37 killed Fahima Yusuf , 32, because he wanted to start a new life with his sister in law.
He looked up how to cremate a body, how to bury someone alive and ‘best place to knock someone out’ online before murdering his wife of eight years.
Ahmed Seedat
Seedat whacked his wife with a wheel brace while she was sleeping before choking her to death. He buried her in hole in the back garden of their home in Carlisle, Western Australia in August. The hole his wife’s body was buried in had been dug by a landscape gardener hired by Seedat weeks earlier; he told the contractor he was planning to install a pool.
Seedat will spend a minimum of 23 years behind bars and is facing separate fraud charges, having been accused of stealing 5.7 million Australian dollars ($3.9 million).
Accountant sentenced for major fraud [Quinte News]
Michael Nicholson, a Certified Professional Accountant in Canada, pleaded guilty on May 13 to stealing almost $100,000 from two charitable organizations in Brighton, Ontario.
Michael Nicholson
Nicholson, 41, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, three years probation, counseling, and other conditions. He also must repay the Presqu’ile Point Lighthouse Preservation Society more than $54,000, and the Brighton Auxiliary Rescue Unit more than $26,000 over a six-year period. Nicholson has already repaid $7,500 to each organization. He was volunteer treasurer for both groups.
Nicholson admitted to being an online gambling addict, and evidently, heavy losses caused him to become a crook.
He recently lost his membership in the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario for five years after being found guilty of professional misconduct. He was also fined $40,000.
Two men arrested in San Rafael on child pornography charges [KRON-TV]
And one of the men arrested is, you guessed it, an accountant … and a Boy Scout volunteer!
The second suspect, 64-year-old John Blecka was arrested for sending obscene material of a minor.
Blecka … said no comment when reached by phone about his arrest.
His social media pages claim he is an accountant in Larkspur and Boy Scout master.
Because June 1 is always New Year’s Day in the Deloitte universe, I woke up this morning to a shit-ton of Deloitte personnel news, so let’s get right to it.
“Leading Deloitte has been a privilege, and I am honored to be chosen by my colleagues to continue our work for four more years,” Renjen says. “As Deloitte nears its 175th year, I’m both proud of the significant impact our professionals have made, and optimistic about Deloitte’s ability to enhance trust in markets, create solutions for clients, develop highly capable leaders, and help solve the toughest societal challenges.”
Renjen, who has worked at Deloitte for the past 32 years, was elected global CEO in February 2015 and officially started on June 1, 2015, replacing Dr. Phil lookalike Barry Salzberg.
Lastly, speaking of Joe U., he’s already making moves, naming Deloitte Consulting Principal Mike Canning as the new head of the firm’s government and public services practice, effective today.
He first joined Deloitte in 1988, starting out as a research analyst in Deloitte’s Detroit office.
Canning currently serves as chair of Deloitte’s global committee and is a member of the strategy and governance committees on the U.S. board of directors. During his career, Canning has specialized in helping health plan organizations solve major issues, including strategic planning, merger and acquisition activities, business transformations, and implementation of large-scale projects, according to Deloitte.
And let’s not forget, Lara Abrash officially took over as chair and CEO of Deloitte & Touche on June 2, and John Peirson began his new gig yesterday as CEO of Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory.
And it’s probably the biggest crop of new partners and principals in the firm’s history. Except for 2017, the size of each class has grown every year since we started covering partner and principal promotions in 2010: 233 in 2018, 212 in 2017, 226 in 2016 class, 201 in 2015, 180 in 2014, 157 in 2013, 165 in 2012, 136 in 2011, and 83 in 2010.
Here’s a look at PwC’s class of 2019 by the numbers:
131: The number of new partners; there are 118 new principals.
86: The number of new partners and principals in advisory, the most of any service line, followed by 79 in assurance, 78 in tax, and six in internal firm services.
72: The number of new partners and principals who are women, or 29% of the class of 2019.
42: The number of new partners and principals in New York City, the most of any location, followed by 19 in Chicago, 18 in Boston, 15 in Dallas, and 14 in McLean, VA.
9: The number of new partners and principals with the first name of Brian or Bryan.
2: The number of new partners and principals with the last name of González, Kennedy, O’Connor, Schmitt, or Stark.
1: The number of new principals with the last name of Thor.
Here are the 249 new partners and principals in the PwC class of 2019. Congratulations! The first round’s on you:
