Where Were the Regulators? The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, and a smaller firm, Silvergate Capital Corp., reminds me of the stream of bank failures since the 1970s that have created concerns about the ability of bank officials and regulators to oversee the liquidity and risk-taking... Read more →

Costs and Benefits of Adding 30-units to Accounting Students' Requirements for Licensure as a CPA One of the most talked about issues in accounting right now is whether the 150-hour requirement to qualify for licensing as a CPA creates a barrier to entry for many accounting students that should be... Read more →

Cheating on Internal Training and Ethics Exams Is a Wake-Up Call for the Accounting Profession By Michael K. Shaub, June 29th, 2022 The following is a a very thoughtful blog published by my friend and colleague, Mike Shaub. Mike addresses the recent scandals where three of the four Big Four... Read more →

Audit Firm Professionals Have Cheated on Ethics and Internal Training Exams How can it be that three of the big four CPA firms were caught cheating on external and internal ethics and continuing professional education (CPE) courses given that their role as auditors is to protect the public interest and... Read more →

Objectivity and Impartiality Replaces the Strict Application of Independence Rules In June 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made amendments effective for certain rules regarding auditor independence requirements (known as Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X). The intention behind these amendments is to modernize the SEC’s rules governing auditor independence... Read more →

Professional Obligations of Accountants to Clients You may have heard that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization’s accountant, Mazars USA, split up after Mazars sent a letter dated February 9, 2022 to the Trump Organization. The letter was included in a court filing and said that “the Statements of Financial... Read more →

Examining the POGO Report and Other Matters It’s been twenty years since the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). This is a good time to evaluate the mandate given to the board, it’s work during that period, and whether it is... Read more →

A Cautionary Tale for Silicon Valley Fake it until you make it is an expression that amply describes what happened to Theranos. It also characterizes the actions of the company’s founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes. The idea being that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, Holmes was able... Read more →

What is the Public Interest? It’s been about 18 years since Congress created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in response to widespread fraud in the financial statements of the likes of Enron and WorldCom. Given the high rate of audit deficiencies identified in PCAOB inspections of public company audits,... Read more →