How BIG is Facebook? We knew Facebook was big : you don’t get to 800 million users without making a few bucks — but until today, we didn’t know just how big. Facebook filed papers for an initial public offering on Wednesday, pulling back the curtains on the inner workings of the world’s largest social networking… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Auditing
Nortel accounting made auditors `uncomfortable,’ witness says
The first witness in the fraud trial of three former Nortel Networks executives says external auditors were “uncomfortable” with some of the company’s accounting practices. The witness, Brian Harrison, Nortel’s former director of financial planning and analysis, says he had “very little” contact with auditors in his role.But Harrison says that in one rare meeting… Read more »
Internal Auditing a career to consider!
Profession: Internal Auditing is now a fully developed profession, Internal audit developed as an extension of the external audit role in testing the reliability of accounting records that contribute to published financial statements. These are exciting times for internal auditors, especially those who see themselves as agents of change within the organization. The drive to… Read more »
Canadian Audit Committee Update: Evolving issues for 2010
Audit Committee Evolving Issues focuses on communicating to stakeholders about the impact of adopting IFRS. Today’s changing business and economic conditions provide an opportunity for the audit committee to reassess its priorities and refocus its agenda. The purpose of the Audit Committee is to strengthen the integrity of the financial reporting process and the quality… Read more »
Restructuring GM: Government Bailout a Success!
General Motors started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, a day after its IPO raised US$20 billion. From a starting price of US$33 a share it rose as high as $35.95 in intraday trading before settling at $34.01. It closed at $34.19 on the New York Stock Exchange, a gain of 3.61% in… Read more »
New Revenue Recognition Standards on the Way for Contractors
Contractors should be educating themselves on the impact of the new proposed revenue recognition standards and the recently published (June 24, 2010) exposure draft pertaining to revenue from contracts with customers. Public comments are due October 22, 2010, and it is expected the standards will be finalized in 2011. Questions: 1. What are some of… Read more »
Mortgage Fairs
Given the last year’s trend, is there an end in sight to new record-low interest rates? For example, on July 22, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of 4.56% with 0.7 points on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the same time… Read more »
Bank of America: It Depends On How You Define Materiality
Bank of America incorrectly classified as much as $10.7 billion in short-term lending and repurchase deals for mortgage securities as sales. This claim surfaced in a May 13 letter to the SEC where the banking corporation alleges that the transactions were immaterial and that it would be beefing up its internal accounting controls. This letter… Read more »
Risky Medicine for Hospital Financing
In a last-minute change to the financial reforms bill, Congress allowed Wall Street to continue to sell interest-rate swaps directly, rather than isolating these derivatives in separate units. The thinking behind this move is that the interest-rate securities are benign, or at least less dangerous than credit default swaps, which the legislation requires banks to… Read more »
Scrushy Back in the News
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new review of the convictions in the government corruption case against former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. Questions: 1. What is the “honest services” fraud law? 2. What is a “quid pro quo” agreement? 3. A judge issued a $2.9 billion civil judgment… Read more »
Burnley Understanding Financial Accounting, 3rd Canadian Edition
Kimmel Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition
Weygandt Accounting Principles, 9th Canadian Edition
Kimmel Survey of Accounting, 2nd Edition
Kieso Intermediate Accounting, 13th Canadian Edition
Weygandt Managerial Accounting, 6th Canadian Edition
Farmer Cost Accounting, 1st Edition
Savage Accounting Information Systems, 1st Edition