Comments on: PCAOB reports on BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton

By: BzStdt

BzStdt — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:29:08 +0000

Damn CPA Auditor, you just got OWNED.

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:40:23 +0000

CPA Auditor – Again, you’re guessing at the number of audits examined, and I’ve said that I’m quoting CFO.com.

So you say you work for BDO, but you just happen to be surfing the net from a server owned by Grant Thornton???? I can see your IP, and it’s from Grant Thornton.

By: CPA Auditor

CPA Auditor — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:32:10 +0000

Again – per the PCAOB reports that you provided the link to, the PCAOB performed inspcections at 11 and 18 locations. What were they doing at these locations if not reviewing audits? Do you have any idea of what a PCAOB inspection entails? And by the way, Audit CPA may work for GT but I work for BDO, for full disclosure.

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:07:41 +0000

Since you’re employed by Grant Thornton, it would appear that you ARE defending at least one firm. The number of audits examined by PCAOB were not noted in the reports, but were reported by CFO.com. I am not sure who provided CFO.com the information on the number of audits selected, but I put more weight in that than your guess of how many audits they would have examined. If you can point me to a source that identifies how many audits were examined, I’d be happy to look at it.

By: CPA Auditor

CPA Auditor — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:58:16 +0000

Without defending either firm, the blog posting above is not factually correct…”The PCAOB inspections included the examination of 7 BDO audits and 8 Grant Thornton audits. Of the BDO audits examined, 5 had deficiencies in testing of revenue. Of the Grant Thornton audits examined, 5 had deficiencies in testing of assets, and 2 had deficiencies related to auction rate securities.”

Per the BDO report, they visited NY, Chicago, Grand Rapids and 8 other locations, for a total of 11 locations. Per the GT report, they visited the national office plus 17 locations, for a total of 18 locations. Based on my experience, each office has at least 3 audits selected. Thus putting the total to roughly 30+ and 50+, respectively. While the rates are still not astounding, they are a far cry from the “failure rates” suggested in the blog. IMHO

By: Audit CPA

Audit CPA — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:54:00 +0000

Grant Thornton was effectively acquired by the former Arthur Andersen. Yes, they have gotten the band back together, and the music sounds the same. But they have picked up a few new instruments along the way.

Now, they use electronic workpaper software. This software allows Partners and Managers to “clean up” problems noted during audits after the Seniors and Staff have left the field, without attribution.

So, that sample reveal a problem that just doesn’t have a good explanation? Simply hit delete and the problem goes away. The client played hide and seek with the audit documentation, and procedures were left incomplete? Just upload a memo, and affix the Senior’s initials to the audit program after they have left the field – problem solved.

By: Narkissos Dansu

Narkissos Dansu — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:25:20 +0000

Very relevant and well written article. I will be on the public accounting job market a year from now and this article has provided me with a tool to screen national CPA firms for possible repetitive violation of audit processes (i.e http://pcaob.com/Inspections/Public_Reports/index.aspx). It’s very important that I target CPA firms with stellar records when it comes to their audit practices. Again many thanks for this and I will keep coming back for more of your great articles. Keep up the good work!