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Accounting News Roundup: Wishful Recruiting; Testimony; Who’s Giving Up on Trump’s Tax Returns? | 10.31.16

The Accountant is (still) in theaters

It's been three week since The Accountant premiered and I guess accountants are still seeing it and pointing out how realisitic-ish the film is. You know, except for all the killing.

I'm a little skeptical of firms who hope the film will "bolster efforts to recruit CPAs to their staffs" though. How exactly? Are firms going to give their new employees advanced weapons training now, just in case? That prospect has me a bit worried.

All in a day's work

I have to hand it to the New York Post, they are all over Lynn Tilton's civil fraud trial. The controller for Patriarch Partners testified for four hours on Friday and, naturally, it included riveting testimony:

The [SEC’s] lawyers quizzed Carlos Mercado about why Patriarch recorded just $6.9 million of accrued interest on its March 8, 2010, balance sheet instead of the $47.2 million actually owed under the original loan documents.

SEC lawyer Mark Williams tried to demonstrate the ease of disclosing the $40.3 million difference as a separate item on the balance sheet by simply writing the number in one of the hearing’s exhibits.

“This $6.9 million didn’t change, did it?” Williams asked. “The only difference is what was represented.”

But Mercado held firm that what was recorded was proper.

“We do not reflect on the balance sheet any amounts we don’t expect to collect,” Mercado told Tilton’s lawyer Monica Loseman during cross-examination.

That's slightly less awkward than the testimony we noted last week.

Has Donald Trump released his tax returns?

Nope! We're entering the final stretch and, SURPRISE, there's no sign of them. MSNBC and The Huffington Post are throwing in the towel, although the Wall Street Journal's Richard Rubin doesn't seem ready to give up (just) yet.

Previously, on Going Concern…

In Open Items, a career changer wants to know how to position him/herself for internships.

In other news:

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