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Tag: Goodwill

Accounting News Roundup: GM’s Magic Goodwill; IRAs Under Attack By IRS; Grant Thornton Names Non-exec Directors in UK | 09.09.10

Home Buyer Tax Credit Price Tag: $22 Billion [WSJ]
“The total estimated cost of the home buyer tax credits is about $22 billion, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office last week. The report looked at all three of the tax credits, which were in effect from April 2008 through June 30, 2010.

As we’ve written, the credits did a lot to juice sales. But many have argued that the government incentives basically pulled folks who were already planningto the market earlier. And certainly, we’ve been seeing the post-credit hangover: Home resales dropped to record lows in July. Talk of a housing double-dip is in the air.”

How GM Made $30 Billion Appear From Thin Air [Jonathan Weil/Bloomberg]
General Motors somehow ended up with $30 billion in goodwill on their balance sheet that was on their recent registration statement. Funny thing – the company only has equity of $23.9 billion. Another funny thing – the company said that the goodwill number would have been less if they were a better credit risk.

But don’t worry, apparently this is all in accordance with fresh-start accounting.

Bringing the US on board [Accountancy Age]
“Sir David is a realist – the two accounting codes will never match. ‘There’s absolutely no way [international standards] can converge with US GAAP – you can’t converge two and a half thousand pages with seventeen and a half thousand. There are going to be differences,’ he said.”

The New Threat To Your IRA: An IRS Crackdown [Forbes]
“After years of haphazard enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service is starting to systematically search out violations of the convoluted rules governing individual retirement accounts. There’s a lot at stake. Americans hold $4.3 trillion in IRAS, and the cost of even innocent mistakes can be steep; if you miss taking a required payout from your IRA, Uncle Sam will demand half of the amount you forgot to take as a penalty.

The IRS was prodded to act by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. In a report earlier this year it concluded that IRA violations have been growing and estimated that more than half a million taxpayers either missed required payouts or contributed more than allowed to IRAS during 2006 and 2007.”


Grant Thornton responds to non-executive code [FT]
“Grant Thornton has become the first major UK auditor to respond to new governance rules by announcing the appointment of independent non-executive directors to help oversee its business.

The accountant’s UK arm said on Wednesday that it had recruited Richard Eyre, a media industry veteran, Caroline Goodall, a lawyer, and Ed Warner, the head of the governing body for UK athletics, to fill the posts.”

Thomson Reuters Releases First iPhone(R) App for Tax and Accounting Professionals [PR Newswire]
“The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters is pleased to announce the release of Mobile CS, a first-of-its-kind iPhone app for tax and accounting professionals. Using advanced mobile application technology, this comprehensive practice management tool extends the reach of Practice CS(R) from desktop to iPhone, giving more than 60,000 Practice CS users the ability to access key firm, staff, and client data anytime, anywhere.”

Glaxo Taps Goldman Deal Maker as Finance Chief [WSJ]
“GlaxoSmithKline PLC Wednesday chose Simon Dingemans, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. deal maker, to be its next chief financial officer but said the choice won’t change its cautious approach to mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Dingemans, 47 years old, will succeed Julian Heslop, who will retire from the post at the end of March. Mr. Dingemans has advised Glaxo on an ad-hoc basis over the years and is currently managing director and partner with Goldman Sachs in London. He joins the U.K.’s biggest drug maker as chief financial officer designate and executive director from Jan. 4, 2011. He most recently worked with Glaxo to establish ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer Inc.’s joint venture for AIDS drugs.”

Gun-slinging accountant loses Chapter 7 battle [South Florida Business Journal]
“Jay Levin, a Boca Raton accountant who shot and killed a teenager in 2003, has lost his battle to erase a $750,000 judgment related to the shooting.

Levin shot Mark Drewes, his 16-year-old neighbor, in the back after the teen rang Levin’s doorbell in a “ding-dong-ditch” prank one night, according to motions in Levin’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

Levin had filed the bankruptcy in February, alleging he couldn’t pay the $750,000 judgment from a 2007 civil lawsuit Drewes’ parents had filed against him. Levin paid $102,260 of the judgment, but still owes the remainder”

Accounting News Roundup: Ernst & Young Wants Lawsuit Dismissed; KPMG Study Finds Goodwill Impairments Slowing; Deloitte Names New Tax Partners | 06.07.10

Lehman, Nortel, Bank of America, Google in Court News [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]
Dick Fuld and the rest of the ex-Lehman Brothers management team as well as Ernst & Young asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit against them brought by the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association in Oakland, California, and the Government of Guam Retirement Fund.

This lawsuit focuses on the failed disclosure by Fuld et al. of the use of Repo 105 and E&Y’s confirmation of its usage as being in accordance with U.S. GAAP.


George Clinton in funk: Accountants sue Parliament-Funkadelic star over fees [NYDN]
GC engaged Wlodinguer Erk & Chanzis to audit his royalties from Universal Records and EMI in 2003. The firm claims that they have only been paid $25,000 while the agreement they had stated that WEC would receive 20% of the $1.2 million settlement Clinton received.

KPMG Study Shows Tapering Off in Goodwill Impairment [Compliance Week]
How bad of a year was 2008? KPMG’s recent study of goodwill impairment charges of 1,700 U.S. public companies found that ’08 was a bloodbath “KPMG’s study shows goodwill impairment charges across the 1,700 companies fell from $340 billion in 2008 to $92 billion in 2009. Only 12 percent of companies in the study took a charge for goodwill impairment in 2009 compared with 17 percent in the prior year.”

And of that bleeding, banks were considerably less involved, “The study showed the technology hardware sector accounted for 23 percent of total goodwill impairment charges in 2009, followed by telecommunication services. Banks had the highest level of goodwill impairment charges in 2008, but represented only 4 percent of the total goodwill charges in 2009.”

Inquiries mount after PwC ‘failed to notice’ mistakes [Times Online]
JP Morgan settled with the UK’s Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) last week over its mishandling of client funds, fining the bank £33.3 million. Now the Financial Reporting Council and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, who both oversee accountants in the UK, are now expected to launch inquiries into PwC’s role in JPM misallocation of client funds of £1.3 billion to £15.7 billion between 2002 and July 2009:

In addition to serving as principal auditor, PwC was retained by JP Morgan to produce an annual client asset returns report — a yearly certification to prove that customers’ funds were being effectively ring-fenced and therefore protected in the event of the bank’s collapse. But PwC signed off the client report even though JP Morgan was in breach of the rules.

MOVES-Barclays Wealth, Deloitte, BlueCrest Capital, RFIB [Reuters]
Reuters reports that Deloitte’s tax practice promoted eight new partners: Pippa Booth, Andy Brook, Stephen Brown, Christie Buck, Sue Holmes, Anbreen Khan, David McNeil and Marcus Rea and three associate partners: Andrew Cox, Ashley Hollinshead and Claire Wayman.