Good morning, people. Got some news for you.
Financial Review published a story titled “EY and PwC become the outsourcers.” It’s not what you think it is.
Among the industries in desperate need of rehabilitating its image with the federal government, the consulting sector remains number one.
The big four have been on the nose in Canberra since the PwC tax leaks scandal. While only PwC was banned from taking on government work as part of the fallout, Deloitte, EY and KPMG have also been caught in the stink. Little wonder, then, that they are hiring lobbyists to do just the sort of work they once bragged about to clients.
Lobbying. They’re lobbying. Lobbying to get back in the federal government’s good graces after the PwC tax scandal messed everything up.
New York Times said yesterday “Republicans Want to Make the Trump Tax Cuts Last Forever.”
When Republicans cut taxes in the past, they did so only temporarily, bowing to Washington’s arcane budget rules that limited how much they could add to the federal deficit. They gambled — mostly successfully — that the tax cuts would not actually end because Democrats would eventually vote to continue them.
With this year’s tax cut, though, many Republicans no longer want to take that risk.
In the Senate, Republicans approved a budget outline on Saturday that opens the door to locking in the Trump tax cuts indefinitely without Democratic support.
The State continues to cover that $1.8 billion accounting error in South Carolina’s finances. Unsurprisingly, CliftonLarsonAllen will probably be losing that contract.
Because of a $1.8 billion accounting error, lawmakers are looking to move on from the outside independent auditor who would work with the state auditor’s office in reviewing the state’s financial records.
An AlixPartners report found the state auditor, treasurer, comptroller general and outside auditing firm CliftonLaresenAllen [sic] all were aware of a $1.8 billion accounting issue on the state’s books for years, but no one tried to fix it or figure out the origins of the listing. The forensic audit eventually found that almost $1.6 billion did not exist.
In January, after the AlixPartners report was released, state Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester, said the contract with the outside auditor should not be renewed. The contract with CliftonLaresenAllen [sic] has been renewed once every five years. The state auditor was worked with CliftonLarsenAllen [sic lol] for 20 years and is up for renewal this year.
In Georgia, the city of Jonesboro is struggling to keep finance people on staff. Oh and their outside accounting firm, to whom the city owes a little over $6k, quit because of it.
Last month, Mayor Donya Sartor resigned then changed her mind. Friday, the city’s accountant firm quit.
The city contracted Fulton and Kozak. The group of certified public accountants said in a letter to the mayor and city council, “Effective April 4, 2025, we are ceasing our services and resigning as your accountants.”
“These folks have been with us a long time. They don’t just come in. They’ve been with us for years,” said Councilmember Don Dixon.
Dixon said the city’s finance director quit Friday, too.
He said that’s the third Jonesboro has lost since 2023, and he said the city has lost three city managers in that time as well.
Check out the cut of Fulton and Kozak’s jib:
Fulton and Kozak’s resignation letter said it’s resigning because of the “inability to retain qualified personnel in the city manager and finance director positions.”
The letter goes on to tell city leaders, “Because of these events, we have lost confidence in the integrity of your management.”
One Big 4 firm in Canada sucks at auditing but we don’t know who it is because the Canadian PCAOB (CPAB) doesn’t name names. YET. Says Canadian Accountant:
Time is running out for one Canadian accounting firm to improve its audit quality before its name is revealed to investors and the public. The Canadian Public Accountability Board has released its annual inspection report and one member of the Big Four accounting firms has “unacceptable levels … over consecutive years” of audit deficiencies. In 2026, as a result of legislative changes to its governing rules, CPAB will “name names” for the first time in its history, since its founding in 2003.
The Big Four accounting firms in Canada comprise the Canadian network members of global brands Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to CPAB, one of these four firms has far worse audit inspection results than its peers, a metric based on “significant findings,” which is defined as a “deficiency in the application of auditing or other relevant professional standards” requiring additional audit work.
Who could it be? Hmm.
Meanwhile, across the pond, their audit regulators think Forvis Mazars sucks at auditing but that didn’t stop the firm from raking in the dough:
One of Britain’s largest accountancy firms enjoyed a fifteenth straight year of revenue growth in 2024 led by its audit business, despite it being rebuked again by the industry watchdog for “unacceptable” work.
Forvis Mazars’ UK revenues rose to £362.4 million in the 12 months to the end of August 2024, an 8.3 per cent increase on the £334.6 million it turned over in 2023. Annual pre-tax profits climbed 9 per cent to £70.2 million from £64.6 million.
The record year was driven by Mazars’ dominant audit arm, where revenues grew 15.1 per cent to £175.4 million.
Capital Public Radio, broadcasting out of Sacramento State, might have to pay back some grant money because…
Auditors for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit that supports public broadcasting through federal funding, found this week that NPR affiliate station Capital Public Radio overstated its revenue by millions of dollars and could be required to pay back nearly $200,000 in grant money.
Earlier coverage from The Sacramento Bee: Audit reveals CapRadio’s wide financial mismanagement; Sacramento State takes over NPR station
OK, that’s it. Email or text if you see something we should be talking about, have a tip, or just want to gripe. Have a good week, you.
