The Accounting Observer's blog

The Accounting Observer's blog is doing a much better job than this blog as far as reporting interesting items.

The NY Times

"...the agreement is about survivability." The NY Times tries to explain why KPMG sold out some of its partners by admitting to "unlawful conduct" regarding tax shelters.Related story here.

Independence in Appearance

Independence in Appearance. NY TimesPublic documents show that the chief financial officer and head of compliance for the Bayou Group was also a principal in an accounting firm that audited the hedge funds' books. Daniel E. Marino was the No. 2 man at Bayou, a hedge fund company founded in 1996 by Samuel Israel III that appeared to have $411 million in assets at the end of last year. Mr. Marino

It's the Coverup

It's the Coverup. CFO.com reports that the PCAOB has taken its first action against a CPA firm since the PCAOB was created in 2003.At issue was a violation of the auditor independence rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and as part of the inspection, the regulator's Division of Registration and Inspections directed a request for information and documents to the firm. The board found that in

Was is Worth it?

Was is Worth it? The Economist wonders whether the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley exceed its costs.Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke up in defence of the statute this week. It was faint praise. He said he was surprised that a law which had been passed so rapidly had worked as well as it has less of an endorsement than it first seemed, since laws dealing with issues as complex as

Delta Airlines

Par-value still has meaning. Delta Airlines is reducing the par value on its common stock.Shareholders also approved a Delta proposal doubling to 900 million the number of shares of common stock it is authorized to issue and reducing the par value of the common stock from $1.50 to 1 cent. The airline, which is incorporated in Delaware, believes the proposal gives it greater flexibility in using

Comeback of the 30-year Bond

Comeback of the 30-year Bond. This article says that the Federal government is considering issuing new 30-year bonds---something it hasn't done since 2001.

Anonymous Letters to Auditors

Anonymous Letters to Auditors. Newsday reports that an anonymous letter to state auditors led to the uncovering of a massive fraud in a Long Island school district.The Roslyn school scandal unfolded last year after an anonymous letter tipped off authorities that top officials had engaged in systemic misspending for a decade. So far, three former district officials -- Superintendent Frank Tassone,

Banks' Loan Loss Reserves

Banks' Loan Loss Reserves. BW online has a commentary about how banks adjust their loan-loss estimates to manage earnings.Last year the banks had an easy way to juice their profits. All they had to do was allocate a little less money to loan-loss reserves -- the money they set aside to cover bad debt. As the economy has improved and defaults have slowed, many decided they didn't need as much in

Leaking the News. MSNBC reports that there was increased volume in the traded options of P&G and Gillette just prior to the announcement of the merger. Well before the investing public learned of the $57 billion takeover of Gillette by Procter & Gamble, traders apparently got wind of the deal: Options-trading volume in both companies spiked more than fourfold on Jan. 27, before news of the

Stock Options. An article at Law.com quotes a couple of lobbyists as saying that they plan to mount an attack on the FASB's new rule requiring the expensing of the cost of stock options. That's likely to be an uphill battle given thatThe SEC has also thrown its support behind FASB.

Donald Nicolaisen, the SEC's chief accountant, said in a prepared statement that companies should focus their

Conservatism is Back. Wary Auditors, Clients Worry FASB's HerzFinancial Accounting Standards Board chairman Robert Herz told the Financial Times he is concerned that auditors as well as the companies they audit are acting too conservatively when preparing financial reports especially given the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) endorsement of a principles-based approach.

Herz contends

Restatements. The NY Times reports that the number of restatements was up again in 2004. Although several theories to explain the increase are proposed, I believe the correct one is that auditors don't want to take any chances so are making clients restate items that in the past would have been rolled over into future numbers.Some of the restatements may simply reflect the fact that auditors are

Analysts. CFO.com says that fewer companies have analyst coverage than anytime since 1995. Where's the Coverage?Although the number of equity analysts in the United States has climbed 7.5 percent since 2003, up to 3,207 from 2,983 a year earlier, that number is still 9.5 percent lower than it was during 2000...

Managing Earnings. USA Today reports that an independent review of Nortel has concluded that company executives juggled figures to earn bonuses.As the telecom bust spawned layoffs and huge losses at Nortel in 2001 and 2002, there was 'a decline in financial discipline,' the report says.

Dunn and other executives began to 'stretch the judgment' as to when certain charges could be taken, the