The EU is simply too committed to pertuating the giddy notion that financial statements can serve investors -- and be smoothed at the same time. That's why I predicted that they would soon respond negatively and vociferously to the SEC's…
No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller is Harry Markopolos's own story of a futile eight-year quest to expose the $65 billion Madoff fraud. As an SEC alum myself, I was not looking forward to reading a blow-by-blow description…
I recently recorded a podcast for Compliance Week with editor Matt Kelly, who interviewed me on the SEC's most recent statement on IFRS—a clear detour from the original Roadmap by any reasonable estimation. Matt gave me some sample questions in…
I am, and have always been, a very reluctant user of pen and paper. Even on the rare occasion where I am sufficiently moved to take handwritten notes, they frequently end up to be little more than random doodling. Soon…
The Koss Corp. fraud case has been in the news since the end of December, so why am I just getting around to writing about it now? Because, that's the way I roll, man. I don't know if anyone has…
The accounting world has been all aflutter since last Friday, February 19th, when at what must have been the latest possible moment, the SEC announced that it will hold a meeting tomorrow, February 24th, to "…consider whether to publish a…
I have written about initial recognition of goodwill on numerous occasions. I suppose it might be less bothersome if goodwill had the good grace to sit and stay like a good dog on the balance sheet at its opening 'value';…
My blog 'readership' (shame on me for using such a stuffy term!) primarily consists of preparers, auditors and journalists. But, for those intrepid analysts who actually do read my blog, this week I have something especially for you! I humbly…
One thing that everyone should be able to agree on is that the accounting rules for measuring and reporting revenue ("revenue recognition") are a huge mess. There are too many of them, and far too many inconsistencies amongst them. One…
I'm a night owl, but once I hit the sack, I'm out like a light for 8-9 hours. In fact, the two things I would say that I do best are type fast and sleep like a log. One recent…