Archive for the ‘Your Career’ Category

Professional Rogues

By Francine • Aug 26th, 2010

This post originally appeared at GoingConcern.com on August 26, 2009.
I’ve added updates and additions where available.
Insider trading. Fraud. Money laundering. Falsifying documents. Embezzlement. Tax shelter abuses.
Some say I’m too negative about the audit industry. Occasionally I’m accused of making things up.
Ha.
Not only is everything I tell you true, but the truth of what these [...]

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Ratings, Raises and Promotions – Forced Ranking In The Big 4

By Francine • Aug 16th, 2010

…there’s definitely collusion/shenanigans going on amongst the big 4 for compensation along with extending dates for promotions. Ratings manipulation is also going on along with unfair treatment of those that tried to go above and beyond….”
Both Deloitte and KPMG admitted last fall that job cuts were made for economic reasons, removing the taint of “performance [...]

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The Big 4: A “Professional” Racket: How Did I Get Here?

By Francine • Aug 11th, 2010

The graduation party’s come and gone. There’s a Mont Blanc in your limited edition Prada backpack. The economy is not getting any better, but friends, relatives coughed up decent cash and you headed to Barcelona and Bilbao with a few buds to check out the Gehry Guggenheim. Your start date is delayed until January and the offer letter has [...]

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Updated: PricewaterhouseCoopers Cuts Hundreds of Internal IT Professionals

By Francine • Jul 29th, 2010

In a move that was too big to hide, PricewaterhouseCoopers on Thursday cut between 500-800 professionals from its internal IT organization. Multiple sources are telling me the number is closer to 800. In any event, PwC admits, in an unprecedented press release, that there is no severance offered because they are giving professionals until the end of the year to find other jobs.

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@Going Concern “Investing On A New Graduate’s Salary: What To Do With What’s Left”

By Francine • Jun 23rd, 2010

First paycheck. After taxes it’s not a big as you’d hoped. $72k is pretty good money but not the mother lode, for sure. If you weren’t living in one of the most expensive cities in the US it would go a lot farther. But at least you’ve got a roommate to share the burden. Working so many hours leaves little time for shopping, boozing or investing…

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@Going Concern “Will More Women Mean Better Audit Firms?”

By Francine • Jun 16th, 2010

My new column is up @Going Concern.
Do sheer numbers mean women will now gain equality or even the upper hand in the workforce? Will this influence permeate all areas of professional life or only the ones that men allow?
Hanna Rosin was a guest last night on The Colbert Report. She’s a Contributing Editor for The Atlantic and [...]

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Volcanic Lemonade

By Francine • May 10th, 2010

This piece posted in full by permission of my friend Rob Nance, Publisher of Accounting Web, Inc. They can be found on Twitter and Linked In.
“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” so goes the saying. My business trip to the UK was cancelled today (and for the unforeseeable future) due to Iceland’s volcanic [...]

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A Poem From The “Barefoot Accountant”

By Francine • May 2nd, 2010

An Accounting Firm in Connecticut

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Arthur Andersen, for
I reviewed financial statements through dinner hour ad nauseum
subconsciously thinking of my audit fee.
In my hungry fatigue and looking for adjustments, I examined
balance sheet accounts, vouching countless transactions!
What errors and irregularities!  Multiple assertions
misstated outright!  Loans in the revenues!  Improvements
in the expenses, interest in notes [...]

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The Undeniable Value of Professional Skepticism: Guest Post From Terry Starbucker

By Francine • Apr 1st, 2010

“Terry Starbucker” is the nom de plume of my friend Terry, a service company executive (and CPA) with nearly 28 years in the business world. He writes about leadership and personal development on his blog, Ramblings From a Glass Half Full.

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Beyond the Yellow Brick Road: A College Student’s Assessment of Public Accounting Job Opportunities

By Francine • Feb 4th, 2010

Somehow, they manage to make accounting look sexy. It starts when they roll into campus career fairs with their nicely tailored suits, bundles of pens and tote bags to give away, even informational cards which can be planted in a pot and sprout as flowers. You’re not in Kansas anymore! This is the big leagues, and guess what? You made it!

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