Posts Categorized: Internal control

13 Billion on Batteries

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Government, Internal control, Student life.

Description: The Government of Canada is offering $13 billion in subsidies to Volkswagen to build the first auto battery plant in North America. The federal assistance is to be delivered through tax subsidies, contingent upon Volkswagen meeting agreed upon output targets. VW’s planned plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, is slated to open in 2027. It’s… Read more »

User Security Concerns at Facebook

Posted by & filed under Data security, Internal control.

Description: On Friday Facebook’s parent company Meta announced that approximately 1 million of its users may have had their usernames and passwords stolen by hackers. Apps downloaded from Apple and Google appear to be the source of the problem, by permitting access to user information while disguising themselves as popular apps like fitness trackers and… Read more »

Misconduct at IWK

Posted by & filed under Ethics, Internal control.

Description: Tracy Kitch has been found guilty of fraud over $5,000 for her misuse of a corporate credit card at the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kitch was formerly the CEO of the well-known institution, and following allegations of misconduct in 2017, she repaid the IWK for personal items charged to the card…. Read more »

Kraft-Heinz in a Pickle

Posted by & filed under Internal control.

Description: There’s a saying that any publicity is good publicity, but i’m not so sure it applies in this case. The giant food manufacturer agreed to a $62 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a result of Kraft-Heinz’s failure to properly account for certain expenses in its financial statements. Kraft-Heinz has… Read more »

Take Cash – Please

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Internal control.

Description: Business are asking consumers to pay with plastic to reduce contact in face of the COVID-19 virus. The Bank of Canada, however, is urging retailers to continue accepting cash, despite this current climate of social distancing. The Bank does not want to see those who rely on cash unable to transact business for necessary… Read more »

MLAs looking for answers

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Internal control.

Description:   Nova Scotia MLAs on the Public Accounts Committee were looking for answers this week in terms of what had gone wrong at the IWK Health Centre. Several months ago the former CEO and CFO of the region’s largest children’s hospital were charged for their handling of expense account issues. In further questioning, MLAs zeroed… Read more »

Now that’s a markup!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Internal control.

Description:  Winnipeg Jets fans are excited by their team’s performance this year and are looking forward to the coming playoffs. But if you want to see a game live, that could be a problem. Resellers are  already pricing tickets at over $800 U.S. One official with the Jets ownership group calls this “profiteering at its… Read more »

Secret bank fine

Posted by & filed under Financial Accounting, Internal control.

Description: FinTRAC, the Financial Transaction and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, imposed its first fine on a Canadian bank this past week. The fine of $1.1 million was because a Canadian bank did not report some type of suspicious transaction to the authorities. The only problem was FinTRAC didn’t reveal who got fined. And all… Read more »

A cautionary tale

Posted by & filed under Ethics, Internal control.

Description: Michael Koonin is in sales. His employer, Salbro Bottle of Woodbridge, Ontario normally paid his bill for data usage on his iPad and his cellphone each month. But in February Salbro balked when Telus billed $25,000 for roaming charges. The data misadventures began when Koonin sold the iPad on eBay to someone in California. Koonin didn’t… Read more »