Friday Footnotes: Stop Saying There’s a Shortage and Just Admit You’re Cheap, Firms; DOGE Hits the IRS; AICPA Caves on 150 | 2.14.25

dog chillin on the couch
Footnotes is a collection of stories from around the accounting profession curated by actual humans and published every Friday at 5pm Eastern. While you’re here, subscribe to our newsletter to get the week’s top stories in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday.

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Exclusive: Top Elon Musk aide arrives at IRS to scrutinize operations, sources say [Reuters]
Gavin Kliger, one of the top staffers working with Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the federal government, arrived at the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday to examine the agency’s operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Senior executives at the IRS were told that the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most government contracts, is demanding they review consulting contracts under their purview and determine whether they can be justified. The GSA deems a contract non-essential if it “merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact,” the email says.

Former Government Officials Offer Job Assistance To Law Students, Lawyers Hit By Trump’s Hiring Freeze [Above the Law]
President Donald Trump’s government hiring freeze continues to tank budding lawyers’ career prospects. Not only have third-year law students’ permanent job offers been revoked and summer internship programs been canceled, but government agencies have also pulled out of law school recruitment events for future legal roles. However, thanks to a group of ex-officials from the Treasury and the Justice Department’s Tax Division, things are looking a bit brighter. As noted by Bloomberg Law, the group — composed of lawyer representing law firms, accounting firms, nonprofits, and private companies — has stepped in to assist attorneys and law students find jobs.

IRS employees accept OPM federal worker buyout; How the 2025 tax season may be affected [USA Today]
As of Wednesday, approximately 40,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer, which is about 2% of the federal workforce, says Accounting Today. Employees that have chosen to accept the offer and resign will still get paid through September. As for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), employees who accepted the buyout offer have been told that they are expected to stay on the job through May 15, due to the agency deeming their work as essential to this year’s tax season.

Aprio Launches Aprio Legal, LLC and Enters into Exclusive Letter of Intent with Radix Law to Debut in Arizona Market [Aprio]
Aprio and Radix Law, a full-service business law firm based in Arizona, announced today they have entered into an exclusive letter of intent to join together as Aprio Legal, LLC, a full-service, Alternative Business Service (ABS) law firm ready to serve entrepreneurs and business leaders with a holistic approach. The combination is expected to be finalized in late spring.

Private Equity Will Fail to Alter the Basic Nature of the Accounting Profession [EIN Newswire]
This press release is the shillingest thing you’ll read all month. Maybe the entire first quarter of 2025.
Barry Melancon, the longest-serving CEO in AICPA history, tells CPA Trendlines that it’s just as likely the accounting profession will alter private equity.

Accounting Firms Hire Growth Leaders as Dealmaking Shakes Up Industry [Wall Street Journal]
Forty-nine of the 100 largest U.S. accounting firms employed at least one growth executive at the end of 2024, roughly double that of 2019, according to employment-data provider Live Data Technologies. The bulk of the appointments in recent years have occurred outside of the top 20 firms, which largely have had these roles for years. “Founders and managing partners are getting tired of waiting to be bought out or find an ideal successor, so they come to us and say their goal is to identify somebody who can make them visible in the right circles,” said Ash Athawale, senior vice president of executive search at Robert Half.

EY GDS opens first office in Coimbatore, India [International Accounting Bulletin]
EY Global Delivery Services (GDS), a division of EY, has increased its footprint in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu by opening its first office in Coimbatore. The new office at the KCT Tech Park is the company’s third in the state and covers an area of 22,000ft². It will serve as a hub for AI, data analytics, cloud services, cybersecurity, digital and quality engineering, ERP systems, and financial services platforms.

Businesses will pay the price for poor auditing practices, says think-tank director [Raconteur]
Adam Leaver is an accounting professor at The University of Sheffield and director of the Audit Reform Lab think-tank. “Shoddy audit practices can wreak havoc on the economy,” he says. “They lead to fragile businesses, job losses and expensive government bailouts.”

What Happens To Audit Partners Who Issue Negative Internal Control Opinions? [Forbes]
Joseph Brazel, Jenkins Professor of Accounting at NC State University, writes for Forbes:
In a study titled “What Happens to Partners Who Issue Adverse Internal Control Opinions?” researchers examined 10,979 audit opinions on companies’ internal controls between 2017 and 2023. Roughly 6% of the opinions examined in the study involved partners who issued an adverse opinion for at least one publicly traded client that year.

AICPA and NASBA Advance Public Protection-Focused and Market-Responsive Model Licensure Legislation [AICPA]
LOL they totally caved on alternate pathways.
AICPA and NASBA are advancing model legislative language that enables an additional path to CPA licensure. The optional path maintains the license’s integrity and protects the public while providing flexibility in response to stakeholder demand. The organizations asked the joint Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) committee to draft proposed model law language in two key areas: A bachelor’s degree plus two (2) years of experience pathway to licensure that incorporates a broad role for experience, to be determined at the state level and Individual-Based Practice Privilege that incorporates a CPA’s ability to practice across state lines.

We can’t get you a date for Valentine’s Day but what we can do is share Accountingfly’s top remote accounting candidates of the week! This is the cream of the crop, accountants and auditors with a variety of backgrounds and certifications ready to hire.

Check out this week’s candidates below and sign up for Always-On Recruiting to get a fresh batch in your inbox every week. It’s free!

Perspectives from the Profession: How Managed Services Can Alleviate CPA Shortage Pressure [INSIDE Public Accounting]
“Accountant shortage” my ass.
Instead of recruiting accountants to work full-time, a company could outsource the hiring and management process to a third party. Doing so is significantly cheaper because of the difference in wages and the risk transfers from the company to the outsourcing partner. In other countries such as Trinidad, India or the Philippines there is a litany of talented, English-speaking certified CPAs, Chartered Accountants, and accounting graduates, who do fantastic work and cost significantly less than their U.S. counterparts. And that price gap has only risen due to the accounting shortages in the U.S., making the offshore and nearshore options much more attractive for companies looking to stay within their budget and avoid disruptions in their daily operations.

Over 80% of Senior Leaders Report Burnout—Deloitte and SHRM Data Signal Urgent Need for Action [EIN Newswire]
Emerging evidence from top-tier reports reveals that senior leaders are under unprecedented strain. According to Deloitte Canada’s “Well‐being and Resilience of Senior Leaders” report, over 80% of executives experience exhaustion at levels typical of burnout risk, and nearly half are contemplating exit strategies to alleviate overwhelming work pressures.

Job cuts loom at EY as firm reconsiders stand-alone legal practice [Financial Review]
EY intends to restructure its regional law practice in a move that is expected to lead to significant job cuts at the major consulting and advisory firm. The firm has asked the staff for feedback on the proposed restructure, with EY Oceania chief executive David Larocca warning the changes “may necessitate a reduction” in size of the law team.

Matt Miner Named General Counsel of KPMG LLP [KPMG]
Mr. Miner joins KPMG from the position of Executive Vice President, Global Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and Special Counsel at Walmart. Over the course of his career, he has had diverse experiences in corporate investigations, crisis management, governance and public policy across the public, private and governmental sectors.