• Auditors and OTC Company Clients

    An article in today’s Vancouver Sun makes some interesting points about auditing firms and their OTC company clients. OTC companies aren’t very good investments for shareholders, as many have shaky businesses or are really shell companies for other planned business […]

  • More on the Overstock.com Accounting Shenanigans

    This year, Patrick Byrne and company have taken a liking to discussing the Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) financials using non-GAAP measures. This means that they present certain financial figures that are not computed in accordance with GAAP (accounting rules). Who cares? […]

  • Amway says FTC is soft on MLMs?

    This one comes from Zac Bissonnette over at BloggingStocks.com. He said it a little more politely than I might have. But it’s interesting that the oldest and yuckiest of all MLMs is willing to admit that the FTC is not […]

  • Commit Crimes That Put the Milwaukee Public Museum in Financial Ruin, and Here is Your Punishment

    Terry Gaouette, the former CFO of the Milwaukee Public Museum who colluded with the former CEO Michael Stafford to spend all the endowment money and then create and distribute false financial reports to cover their crimes, was sentenced last week. […]

  • A Master Plan

    My Midwest Inflight Magazine By Catherine Arnold If you have big plans in business, it’s likely that you’ve thought about earning a Master of Business Administration. Considering that the average cost of MBA tuition is about $30,000 a year—$41,900 a […]

  • Lawyer Convicted of Tax Evasion and Bankruptcy Fraud Wants to Teach a Morality Class Instead of Going to Prison

    No, it’s not a joke. Stephen Yagman, a high-profile lawyer who was involved in numerous cases against police thinks that he shouldn’t go to prison for his convictions on tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud. He says that would be too […]

  • Forcing Auditors to Tell the Secrets of Their Clients?

    As a general rule, communications between an auditor and client are private. The information given to an auditor can generally only be disclosed with the permission of the client, or in situations involving SEC filings. But the protection of communications […]

  • What’s your fraud score?

    A research report published by the Final Four accounting firms details how to create a “fraud score” for public companies which can help predict which companies may be engaging in accounting manipulations. Using the model outlined in “Predicting Material Accounting […]

  • Former CEO found liable

    Earlier this month, a jury found Brian Adley, former chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder of defunct Chancellor Corporation liable for creating false accounting documents. Chancellor was a transportation equipment leasing company in Boston. The jury found that from 1998 through […]

  • Should You Blog?

    I am often asked by other professionals if they should start a blog, and the answer is almost always, “it depends.” And it really does. I think the most important variable is whether or not the person is committed to […]