Description: Perhaps it should not surprise us when government departments fail to implement a recommendation from the auditor general. But this one seems to defy imagination. In 2011, the federal auditor general informed the government that a consultant hired to manage First Nation finances had been part of an alleged fraud the previous year. Yet… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Auditing
A most unusual theft
Description: Internal control is important in preventing and detecting fraud and theft. The Royal Canadian Mint found out recently that metal detectors were not sufficient to prevent or detect an employee from stealing over $150,000 in gold by hiding it in a body cavity. Lawyer Gary Barnes noted that controls over the precious metals were… Read more »
Ice storm disaster
Description: This past Tuesday night a major ice storm knocked over 100,000 NB Power customers off the grid, and by weekend thousands of New Brunswickers were still without electricity. With colder winter weather settling in, after a few days near the zero mark, citizens are facing both darkness and cold. A number of communities have… Read more »
Cybertheft
Description: This past Thursday one of the world’s biggest steel manufacturers, ThyssenKrupp, revealed that earlier this year it had been hit by cyberattacks. The hackers, from somewhere in Southeast Asia, stole valuable trade secrets from ThyssenKrupp. The company delayed informing the media about the attack until new security features were put in place. Date: December… Read more »
Enron anniversary
Description: December 1, 2001: It has been 15 years since that infamous date in financial history when Enron filed for creditor protection under US bankruptcy provisions. Enron’s failure had huge impacts on the accounting profession with the collapse of one of the largest auditing firms, Arthur Andersen. And the Enron collapsed generated additional accountability provisions… Read more »
Implementation failures
Description: In his latest report the Auditor General of Canada expressed frustration with what the Government of Canada has done – or not done – with his previous recommendations. Half way through his ten year term, Michael Ferguson said that when his auditors go back to audit a program for a second time, they often… Read more »
Gambling on governance at ALC
Description: Cooperation between governments is a good thing. And in Atlantic Canada, the four provinces have cooperated for years as shareholders in one gambling organization, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC). This week, however, an audit report issued by the four auditors general of the Atlantic provinces concluded that the four provinces need to do a… Read more »
Voting power
Description: The Canadian federal government is on its way to giving shareholders increased power to vote against a board director. Under the rules right now, voters can only withhold a vote for a nominee they are unhappy with. This means, theoretically, that a “bad” director could be elected with a single vote if all other… Read more »
CRA and the Panama Papers
Description: Look out: the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is coming for you. That is, if you are one of the over 2,500 Canadians named in the Panama Papers. It’s too late for voluntary disclosure according to the CRA. This means that those investigated could face penalties if the results of audit indicate taxes are owing… Read more »
Wells Fargo Woes
Description: Not too many people would have wanted to be in the shoes of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf last week as he faced a grilling from US politicians over his bank’s tactics. Employees had been accused of opening customer accounts without their clients’ knowledge in an effort to meet sales targets. In cases, Stumpf conceded,… 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