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Firm Watch
Accounting firm taps longtime employee to head up Charlotte office [Charlotte Business Journal]
RSM US has named a 13-year veteran of the company as the new leader of its Charlotte operations. Rick Lich started his role as Charlotte managing partner earlier this month, succeeding Mark Kral.
Latest Goldstein Lieberman acquisition boosts CPA firm into nation’s top 1% [NJBIZ]
Um that’s some iffy math there considering no one has heard of either of these firms and they don’t rank on the IPA 500.
One of the region’s largest CPA firms is getting bigger, following Goldstein Lieberman & Co. LLC‘s latest acquisition. Rockland County, N.Y., firm Teich, Beim & Moro PC will merge with the Park Ridge-based business, effective Feb. 1, NJBIZ has learned. The addition of the 50-year-old firm puts Goldstein Lieberman in the top 1% of the nation’s 43,000 CPA firms by revenue according to Inside Public Accounting, the buyer said. Moving forward, the New York team will continue to serve its business and tax clients.
Local accounting firm expands in North Palm Beach County [South Florida Business Journal]
Kaufman Rossin CPA + Advisors, one of Florida’s largest independent accounting and advisory firms, has opened an office in Palm Beach Gardens.
Valley insurance brokerage, accounting firm set major office moves in motion [Phoenix Business Journal]
A pair of high-growth Valley professional services businesses — an insurance brokerage and a CPA firm — are literally crammed into the same Mesa office building while the clock ticks down on each company’s separate expansion plans.
AI
The Rise of Vertical AI in Accounting [Andreessen Horowitz]
Following the publication of Death, Taxes, and AI, our look at how generative AI is permeating the accounting market, and our video discussion on the same topic, we heard from countless accounting professionals who are excited for what gen AI can unlock for their profession. From our conversations, we learned that while AI pilot programs are prevalent industrywide and firms are enthusiastic to try them, fully deployed vendor relationships are still relatively scarce. This is probably because AI models are not yet as proficient with numbers as they are with text, and because accountants (unsurprisingly) are fairly risk averse. As such, we wanted to offer a quick update on one big trend we’re observing within accounting firms, and the implications for builders looking to serve them.
EY’s own experience with AI provides important lessons [Federal News Network]
Audit
DWS names EY as auditor despite funds suing firm over Wirecard scandal [Financial Times]
Deutsche Bank’s asset manager DWS has named EY as its new group auditor despite taking the accounting firm to court for its involvement in the Wirecard scandal. The appointment, which is subject to shareholder approval, would be the second high-profile mandate that the Big Four group has won since being banned from taking on new listed audit clients in Germany because of failures in its work for the collapsed payments company. EY’s ban took effect in March 2024, which means it is free to take on clients from the end of March 2026.
PCAOB unveils new resource page for smaller audit firms [International Accounting Bulletin]
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has introduced a dedicated online resource page, titled “Information for Smaller Firms,” aimed at providing tailored content for smaller audit firms. This initiative is part of PCAOB’s increased focus on firms that issue audit reports or play a substantial role in the audits of 100 or fewer public companies.
KPMG Arizona Law Firm Finding on Hold as Court Wants Answers [Bloomberg Law]
The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday requested more information on KPMG’s application to practice law in the state, declining for now to approve the company’s request. “The KPMG application remains under review,” court communications director Alberto Rodriguez said in an email. The court has requested “additional information or clarification on aspects of the application.” There are “no specifics or timeframe” as to when the court will make a final decision, Rodriguez said.
Talent
Culture, tech key to accounting talent retention: Wolters Kluwer [CFO Dive]
Creating a positive work culture is “huge” when it comes to addressing ongoing talent shortages in the industry, said Dean Sonderegger, SVP and general manager, Canada and Research & Learning US for Wolters Kluwer.
Starting salaries for consultants remained flat for second straight year, report says [Business Insider]
Starting salaries for consultants at both top firms and boutique consultancies largely remained flat for the second year in a row, according to a new report from Management Consulted, a company that provides online resources and career coaching to professionals trying to land jobs in consulting. The report found that starting pay has remained stagnant since 2023 as the consulting industry reels from a slowdown in demand for services, despite some recent signs of improvement. Previously, annual increases of 5 to 10% were standard for the industry, according to Management Consulted.
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Crazy Ideas
$6,270,000,000 Worth of Seized Bitcoin Could Be Sold By UK To Pay Off Debts: Accounting Giant [The Daily Hodl]
The UK could potentially sell its multi-billion dollar trove of Bitcoin (BTC) to plug holes in its finances, according to accounting giant RSM. According to blockchain “de-anonymizing” platform Arkham, the UK government holds about $6,270,000,000 worth of Bitcoin, most of it from when it seized coins belonging to convicted money launderer Jian Wen. “There is a strong case for selling the Bitcoin right away. The currency is too volatile, too speculative,” said RSM partner Chris Etherington.
News
‘Interviewer Made Fun Of My…’: Man’s Terrible Interview Experience At A ‘Big 4’ Firm Leaves Internet Furious [Times Now (India)]
Maybe we’re assholes but this doesn’t seem so bad?
As per the Redditor’s Reddit post, the interviewer ended up making fun of the candidate’s resume, all because there were a few ‘company switches’ under the span of his 8 years of experience. The Redditor further shared that the interview ended within 10 minutes, calling the rejection a ‘bullet dodged’! “Very bad interview experience …,” the man’s post read. “A big background about me: I have overall 8+ years of experience in Java development. Made multiple switches (coz of lay-offs) and worked with several organisations. Today, the interviewer literally made fun of my resume, seeing multiple companies mentioned. Even after giving justification, he offended me,” the post further read. He told me that I was not a “right fit” for the company, the guy said.
Very pubic display hangs over Sayers’ PwC pension [Financial Review]
If you learn who your real friends are in times of true crisis, then Luke Sayers must be feeling popular. A dick pic scandal forced him to quit the Carlton presidency and step back from his consultancy Sayers Group last week, but his pals at PwC are helping stymie the financial sting. Their former CEO clocked his 55th birthday last year. This means he can tap into a pension scheme that promises past PwC partners around 15 per cent of its profits annually, provided he’s not working for a rival.
Accountant was siphoning funds to feed betting need [Bangalore Mirror]
Ashoknagar police arrested a 23-year-old accountant for allegedly embezzling from his international professional services firm to fund a gambling addiction.
Undergraduate Business Students Represent USD at the 2024 Deloitte FanTAXtic Case Competition [University of San Diego]
During this case competition, students take on the role of tax advisors and advise their client on the tax implications of various business decisions. This year’s case involved a board game company deciding whether to organize as a C-corporation or a partnership, with the added twist of explaining how the overall family tax liability would be affected if a child was hired as an employee after graduating college. Students had to research tax law and determine key tax calculations including depreciation, amortization, the qualified business income deduction, and total income tax, including net investment income tax.
DEI
EY report doubles down on diversity initiatives as DEI comes under scrutiny in Trump’s first weeks in power [Business Insider]
A new report from the Big Four professional services firm EY has underlined the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies in improving productivity and workforce innovation. The report, titled “DE&I interventions that deliver,” considers the impact of inclusive policies in the context of the “economic slowdown and uncertainty” that have characterized the past few years.
Why EY treats loneliness as a DEI issue [Charter]
Engagement scores for US workers fell to a 10-year low in January, a dip that coincides with workers’ falling confidence that someone at work cares about them as a person or supports their development at work, according to Gallup. For Karyn Twaronite, global vice chair of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at EY, this rising level of isolation and loneliness is fundamentally a DEI issue. “My job is to make sure that more of our people feel more included all the time,” she says, pointing out that the work also has a clear business case: “The lonelier people are at work, the less committed and less engaged they are.” Increase belonging and inclusion, on the other hand, and employers can also see productivity, engagement, and commitment rise.