SEC Accountants Voice Resource Constraints [CFO]
SEC Chief Accountant and budding motivational speaker Wesley Bricker spoke about the constraints in the OCA at the AICPA Conference on SEC and PCAOB Developments. OCA’s staff of 50 responsibility stretches across financial reporting and auditing for issuers, but also trying to assess the effect of new technology like artificial intelligence and blockchain, aka an “innovation effort.” OCA deputy chief accountant Julie Erhardt said that staff with “a block of free time” are assigned an innovation effort. “If you don’t have a block of free time, it will basically be a hobby.”
Bonus reading: “[W]e’re the profession that’s the master of ledgers would suggest that it’s worth your time to understand it better.”
SALT Deductions—Who Wins and Who Loses if the Deductions Are Eliminated? [BNA]
New York and California are BIG losers if the SALT deduction stays in the final tax bill.
Tax Plan Crowns a Big Winner: Trump’s Industry [NYT]
It just so happens to be his son-in-law’s industry as well. What incredible luck! “Real estate does great. It’s hard to imagine what they might have asked for that they don’t have,” says an NYU tax law professor. Apple will also fare well.
Give me the crib notes: If you’d rather not be bothered with the details, this TaxVox summary is the perfect rundown.
Shares in Sleepy’s Owner Steinhoff Fall 60% on Accounting Probe [WSJ]
This doesn’t sound good: “On Wednesday, Steinhoff said it had approached accountancy firm PwC to conduct an independent investigation in light of what it said was new information relating to accounting irregularities. It didn’t detail any specific issues. The company had been expected to release its results for the year ended Sept. 30 on Wednesday, but said it would now publish results when it was in a position to do so.”
Previously, on Going Concern…
I wrote about speculation around the nominees for new PCAOB members.
In Open Items, an introduction to the new Compensation category. And one user asks about transitioning from Big 4 U.S. to Canada or vice versa.
In other news:
- Time Person of the Year: The Silence Breakers
- Ventura County wildfire destroys more homes, reaches Pacific Ocean
- H&R Block teams up with coffeehouse
- “Some employees, including a few of the bureau’s top officials, have welcomed their new leader. Others, pointing to Mr. Mulvaney’s earlier hostility toward the agency and its mission, are quietly resisting. One small group calls itself ‘Dumbledore’s Army,’ according to two of the people who were familiar with their discussions.”
- AI metal band.
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