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ANR: KPMG’s 2011 PCAOB Inspection; Private Co. CFOs Keep Numbers To Themselves; Study: Tax Breaks for Organ Donors Don’t Work | 08.31.12

KPMG 2011 Inspection Report: No Change from 2010 [CW]
In its first published report from the 2011 inspection cycle, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found fault with a dozen KPMG audits, the same number it criticized the year before. The board inspected 52 audits performed by KPMG, plus an additional audit where the firm contributed to the audit effort but was not the principal auditor. From November 2010 through October 2011, the PCAOB inspectors visited 31 U.S. field offices and KPMG's national offices to study audits where it believed it was most likely to find problems. In the prior year, when audit failures jumped for all the major firms, KPMG's numbers were almost identical. Inspectors studied 52 audits and an additional two audits where the firm was not the principal auditor, and it picked apart and criticized 12 audits, for a failure rate of 22 percent. In 2009, the board found fault with only eight of the 60 audits it studied.

U.S. delays start of tax rules affecting options exchanges [Reuters]
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that it will delay until 2014 the start of new tax rules that some options exchanges fear could limit trading volume. In January, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury proposed rules — initially scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013 — that would put withholdings for foreign investors on dividend-equivalent swap payments on a par with stock dividends. The new start date will be January 1, 2014, the IRS said in a statement. The agency said it was responding to concerns from financial participants saying they would not have enough time to build and test systems to implement the withholding rules.

Should CFOs Be Interested in Pinterest? [CFO]

Someone, somewhere, has likely taken a liking (or disliking) to your product or service (as long as there’s an image for it on your web site), and has shared that image with his friends on the social-networking site Pinterest. After all, with more than 23 million users (up from 1 million in June 2011), it’s the third-largest social-networking site in the United States, after Facebook and Twitter. But unlike Facebook’s ads, sponsored stories, and promoted posts, and Twitter’s promoted Tweets, trends, and accounts, you didn’t spend one penny to get your company in front of some percentage of those 23 million Pinterest users.
 
Private Company CFOs Keep Financials Private [CFO]

Seventy-six percent of the 1,300 U.S.-based CFOs at private companies with 20 or more employees don’t state quarterly or annual financial updates with employees, a survey released this week by Robert Half Management Resources found. Just 17% of those respondents, however, share financial information with “select” employees only. “If you told me it was 80% or 85%, that would not surprise me either,” says John McGonigal, managing director at Smart Devine, an accounting and business advisory.
 
Reason #434 It’s A Good Idea to Put Your Separation/Divorce Agreement in Writing [DT]
FYI.
 
Tax Breaks For Organ Donors Aren't Boosting Transplant Supply [NPR]
Seventeen states offer tax incentives to people who donate a kidney, a portion of their liver or bone marrow for transplantation. But a study finds these sweeteners aren't working.

Romney’s Dodd-Frank Kill Pledge Collides With Wall Street Agenda [Bloomberg]
Mitt Romney has pledged to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. He won’t, and that’s just fine with Wall Street.

Man Pushes Teenager Off Lawnmower, Tebows, Drives Off [Deadspin]
Pennsylvania, since you're wondering.

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