ANNOUNCEMENT: Launch of GoingConcern.com

Readers! This announcement warrants your complete and undivided attention. I am happy to announce that today marks the launch date of Going Concern, an accounting and finance tabloid of which I am the founding editor.

Check out our press releases: MediaPost Publications and Talking Biz News

Going Concern will continue the tradition that we have built here at 10-key Tramp for the past year. The great folks at Breaking Media have blazed the trail in professional tabloid blogging and have decided that all of you in the accounting and finance need a site where you can find out all the latest news, gossip, rumors, that are occurring in your industry.

Going Concern will give us a bigger megaphone and I encourage all of you to share any information that you have with us there because we deeply care about all of you out there that are working in this demanding industry and we want to be a place for you to vent and share your thoughts and ideas about everything that is going on.

We need your help to make this blog be what you want it to be! You can send tips to tips@goingconcern.com and follow us at Twitter @going_concern.

Join us now and tell all you friends and colleagues!

Thanks for reading,

Caleb

UPDATE 3:44 PM EST: Another press release at Media Bistro

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Review Comments | 07.17.09

• KPMG Suggests Goodwill Writedowns Doubled in 2008 - "The 2008 wave of goodwill impairments provides yet another disturbing piece evidence of the value that’s being wrung out of companies as a result of the recession." [Compliance Week]

• Companies Exasperate SEC Accounting Chief - "The Securities and Exchange Commission's new top accountant took a pair of swipes today at the corporate community, showing frustration over the response to two major accounting standards initiatives." Accountants are especially hilarious when they talk trash about each other. [CFO.com]

• Wow Factor Added To Corporate Presentation - It was the scrolling text with the "choo-choo" sound effects. Gets 'em every time. [The Onion]
  

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How Does Your To-Do List Compare to That of the Goldman Sachs Spokesperson?

Apparently this was found in the trash outside of 85 Broad:

Courtesy of Reformed Broker via Clusterstock. What we really want to know is why "Imbed tracking chips in 1.2 billion Indians" not on the list? Sphere: Related Content

Madoff Auditor Pleads Not Guilty

Count us as surprised. After agreeing to not have the evidence against him reviewed by a grand jury, which led some (i.e. us, Bloomberg, others) to speculate that he would plead guilty, Bernie Madoff's auditor/alleged accomplice/number-maker-upper, David Friehling, plead not guilty today.

WSJ:

"[Friehling] entered a not guilty plea to securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment adviser fraud and four counts of filing false audit reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Friehling was originally charged in March. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Baroni asked the court for the next hearing in the matter to be scheduled in 60 days to allow the parties to continue discussion of a possible disposition of the matter. The next hearing scheduled in the case is Oct. 1."

This really doesn't make a helluva lotta sense to us but whatevs. If dude is looking to roll the dice, who are we to say "you're an idiot"?

UPDATE 2:25 pm: Because it's Friday and we are intent on getting the party started early, we just so happened to ignore that the possibility of a "disposition of the matter". Our bad.

Madoff's Auditor Pleads Not Guilty [WSJ]

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Tchotchke Follow-up: What's with the KPMG Hand Gel?

A reader, a little late to the game, sent in another picture for our tchotchke contest from a few weeks back. Enjoy:

Look familiar? That's because this is our second submission of Radio Station hand gel. Which begs the obvious question: why the hell is KPMG handing out hand gel? Did Tim Flynn and the boys at the top determine that the touch of soft, creamy hands are the key to great client service? Was the constant high-fiving amongst team members driving many to complain of raw palms? Or perhaps, Bernie Madoff isn't the only one that enjoys a little rub 'n tug in the middle of a tough day?

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Yes, the PwC/Satyam Story is Still Out There

We haven't shared any new bad news on PwC (read: Satyam) since, GASP, Monday but thanks to Re: The Auditors, who we'll point out, is on this story like stink on a monkey, we've got some thoughts:

1. It appears that PwC has a serious gag order on external communication re: Satyam. PwC has not held a single press conference in India since the scandal broke back in January. This is dubious for several reasons as you'd think there would some statement by P. Dubs but as we and others have noted, because no one seems to GAF here in the States, there's probably no rush to call attention to the pachyderm. The bigwigs figure that playing dumb will work in the West until someone starts making noise.

2. India's regulators and Satyam are playing hardball - Understandably, India is not cool with what happened and especially not cool with PW India's lack of admitting "yeah, our bad". "India's Enron" isn't a terribly flattering turn of events for a country that had been kicking ass and taking names lately so regulators and Satyam themselves is going on the offensive. The market regulator has announced that it will fund lawsuits on behalf of investors against whomever it has to. Plus, a big "Fuck you PwC" occurred in Forbes India where the Chairman of Satyam that took over after the scandal is quoted as saying "PwC messed up big time" noting that they didn't apply elementary auditing procedures.

3. When the lawsuits start, PwC will deny 'til they die - When it was reported that PwC could be banned from auditing in India it sent out "internal communication" to all employees (um, email) basically summing up the following:

• ICAI cannot ban the firm in India
• ICAI does not have power to act against firms
• Newspaper report on banning PW incorrect
• ICAI can take action only against partners
• Any action against partners a long process
• PwC was not contacted by ICAI high powered committee

So it's pretty clear that when PwC does decide to join this party, they'll be coming out swinging. This "communication" seems to be laying the ground work internally to rally the troops because this will surely get worse before it gets better and they're going to want some people in their corner.

Dreaming Of India: PwC and Satyam [Re: The Auditors]

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Scoping | 07.17.09

• GE second-quarter profits fall by 47% - "Earnings at NBC Universal were off by 41 per cent as advertising revenue plunged." No details on what CNBC's details were but they're part of team GE so a little bit of schadenfreude is in order here. [FT.com]

• Paging Ben Dover To Provide Taxpayer Funded Workplace Humor - We figured those Treasury guys were a lame bunch but this is ridiculous. [Zero Hedge]

• D-day in Latvia - Note to Latvia: If you want to stay in the game, you better do what the overlords at the IMF say. [FT Alphaville]
  

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