Blackberry: Passport to a future?

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Canadian Economy, Financial Accounting.

Description:  It was a big news week for Blackberry. First, the struggling technology company released a new handset called the Passport. Then, Blackberry announced its second quarter results. Although the company continues to lose money, its loss of 2 cents per share was considerably lower than the 16 cents per share anticipated by analysts. Source:… Read more »

Conflict? What conflict?

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Canadian Economy, Canadian governments.

From August 26th to 30th, Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island,  hosted the 55th annual conference of Canadian premiers.  This gathering is sometimes also know as the Council of the Federation. During these sessions, the various premiers discuss issues of common interest, and they communicate with the public on the results of their deliberations through… Read more »

Refunds: why retailers are making it harder for you to get them

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Fraud, Fraud Accounting, Marketing & Strategy.

Returns fraud costs customers in terms of higher prices, more restrictive store policies  Want your money back? Not so fast. Return policies are getting tighter as retailers try to protect themselves from returns fraud — and honest customers often pay the price. Not only that, but at many stores, policies are unevenly applied, a CBC… Read more »

Canadian’s firm used in huge Russian tax scandal, plus How the Rich hide their money!

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Corporate Restructuring, Corporate Social Responsibility, Fraud Accounting, International Accounting, Taxation, Taxation & Planning, Uncategorized.

Caribbean agency helped set up offshore companies connected to $230M scam It’s a tale with the cloak-and-dagger intrigue of a Hollywood thriller: a $230-million heist, corrupt Russian police and government officials, prison beatings, a dead lawyer, Kafkaesque trials and a diplomatic spat between international superpowers. And now, for the first time, secret files obtained exclusively… Read more »

Enhancing audit quality

Posted by & filed under Auditing, MD&A.

Financial Collapse Could auditors have prevented the failures of the 2008 financial collapse? A CICA/CPAB initiative analyzes proposals for an improved process Illustration: Michael Austin                 Does a corporate failure automatically mean there was an audit failure? This is the underlying question linking the proposals for enhancing audit… Read more »

Whistleblower forced investigation of TransCanada Pipelines

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing.

Engineer Evan Vokes repeatedly raised concerns with company behind Keystone XL pipeline  Whistleblower A former TransCanada engineer says he reported its substandard practices to the federal energy regulator because he believed the company’s management, right up to the chief executive officer, refused to act on his complaints. In an exclusive television interview with CBC News,… Read more »

How Forensic Accountants Differ From Auditors

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting.

What is the role of Forensic Accountants: Forensic accountants are uniquely suited to help in-house counsel address issues involving financial reporting, accounting and internal controls. They also collect and analyze accounting and internal-controls evidence. They produce a fact-based report that can inform the decision-making process in inquiries, investigations and dispute resolution. By product of Forensic… Read more »

Going concern: When should the watchdog bark?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, IFRS.

International accounting standards definition of Going Concern: ‘a going concern … will continue in operation for the foreseeable future … [and] … has neither the intention nor the need to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of its operations’ The purposes of the going concern assessment: To determine whether the financial statements give a true… Read more »