• Whistleblowers and Sarbanes-Oxley

    One of the major selling points of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was the protection for whistleblowers. The legislation required public companies to put into place “anonymous reporting mechanisms” (like hotlines) so that employees could report suspected fraud without fear […]

  • SEC brings charges against auditors

    69 auditors have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with issuing audit reports on the financial statements of public companies without first registering with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The SEC has named 37 unregistered audit firms […]

  • Public Company Seeks New Auditing Firm

    A public company which shall remain nameless is currently searching for new independent auditors. Is your auditing firm interested? Here are some notable facts about the company. Please email me if you’d like information on this new potential client!!! This […]

  • IRS and work product

    Yesterday, a judge ruled that the IRS was not entitled to see workpapers that were deemed work product. This is a very important ruling in tax matters. “Work product” is used in legal cases to protect papers that you don’t […]

  • Overstock.com Cooking the Books?

    This is Sam Antar’s final installment in his three part series on all the “unusual” things showing up in Overstock’s financial statements. Unusual because they don’t align with multiple statements made by CEO Patrick Byrne in a variety of interviews […]

  • Usana got its official delisting letter from NASDAQ

    From the 8-K filed today: Item 3.01. Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing On August 10, 2007, the Company received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter indicating that the Company fails […]

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Five Years Later

    This week’s Wisconsin Law Journal column takes a look at the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which was put into law five years ago. The legislation has done some good things, but many have significant criticisms of it. The law was […]

  • NASDAQ delisting letter sent when SEC filings are delinquent

    Usana’s most recent 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission was NOT reviewed by an independent auditor. From NASDAQ’s FAQ: What are the repercussions if my company’s auditors did not review the quarterly financial statements as required under SAS […]

  • It’s a Good Thing When the Auditors of a Public Company Quit!!!

    …or so Usana Health Sciences would have us believe. But don’t listen to them. No, no. Listen to a third party. An unbiased person who is quite knowledgeable about the reasons why auditors quit. Or not. It took me a […]

  • More on Usana’s auditor resignation

    From Usana’s 8-K: In connection with GT’s review of the Company’s unaudited financial statements that were included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for quarter ended March 31, 2007, the Audit Committee and GT disagreed as to the […]