Comments on: PwC And Huron Consulting: Goodwill Too Good To Be True

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » PCAOB Waiting For Godot: Reporting On Auditor Performance During The Financial Crisis

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:37:24 +0000

[...] in 2008 all of the deficiencies cited in their firm report were about goodwill. Then their client, Huron Consulting, suffered a significant scandal regarding their goodwill [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » PwC Trying To Buy Consulting Revenue Again With Diamond Deal

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:36:06 +0000

[...] make sure that the entrepreneurial former Arthur Andersen partner Bergstein does not make the same mistake the former Arthur Andersen Huron guys made and pay off favorite folks without accounting for it [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » Auditors Say Jump… New “Appeals” Process Will Impede Timely PCAOB Inspection Reports

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:59:29 +0000

[...] where I’ve seen adequate identification and warning of poor audit processes: American Home and Huron Consulting. Slow issuance of the inspection reports, the lack of transparency caused by the secrecy provisions [...]

By: Francine

Francine — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:35:51 +0000

@AreAitch

The SEC will not publicize an investigation. The company is supposed to disclose it but they often do not. And they often take years, in particular if there are criminal issues involved.

By: AreAitch

AreAitch — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:49:52 +0000

So where does the SEC investigation stand. I can’t even find anything that says they started an investigation. How long does that usually take?

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » Sarbanes-Oxley For Everyone: To Be Or Not To Be? (With Postscript)

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:14:01 +0000

[...] responsibility and accountability to outsiders that comes with it. Tell that to the employees of Huron Consulting, a public company in Chicago, under $500 million in revenue. Huron is under SEC investigation, [...]

By: re: The Auditors » Blog Archive » McKenna Interviewed By @MissTrade’s Matt Davio

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:28:01 +0000

[...] well-known history and mentions of Lehman Brothers, GE, GM, New Century, Satyam, Refco and Huron Consulting. I also drop names like Michelle Leder and Aaron Task, two people who know much more about where [...]

By: canary

canary — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:31:08 +0000

Missing forest Auditors look at large transactions in detail….materiality…..big deals….no stay bonuses…why… anyone who has done ma work knows better…..hide behind rulles or dig…

By: Independent Accountant

Independent Accountant — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:42:42 +0000

Clown College:
I assure you I know what the issues are and what proper accounting for contingent consideration is as well as other SFAS 141 and 141(R) requirements. I await more facts before coming to a conclusion. I’ll say again, from what I have read, the initial accounting looks correct. As one who blasts the Big 87654 regularly, including PWC’s miserable excuses for audits at AIG and Satyam among other, it looks like PWC is in the clear here.

By: Tony Rezko

Tony Rezko — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:42:13 +0000

@13, you make some good points, and I do see where you’re coming from, but I think the “no-defect audit” is a strawman. I would agree with TT on the environment of accountability, so that in those blown audits we do hold people responsible for their negligence.

Big picture, we can say that most audits go well (or so we think, right?) And we’re fine from the 30,000 feet view, but when we come down to individual Hurons, we can’t pawn it off on reasonable assurance if the teams aren’t performing the procedures and asking the questions to obtain that reasonable assurance. If we dive deeper and see that the auditors couldn’t have detected the fraud, or shouldn’t have been expected to know something, so be it.

A little off topic, but GM was blown, too. How so? Well, it should have been a going concern years ago, and issuing one for 2008 is like getting an email from the weather service after the hurricane blows through and cuts off your power. We as auditors need to show some spine, whether or not perfection is attainable.