accountant

Accounting pays, especially at the PCAOB

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Oh, the irony: The August Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is drawing attention for the high salaries it pays its top officials. Mark Olson, the head of the board, made $615,000 last year. Whew! That's about three times as much as SEC Chairman Chris Cox. Former PCAOB chairman William McDonough's made $595,000, $575,000 and $556,000 in 2005, 2004 and 2003. The gravy flows to PCAOB directors as well. They make in the $500,000 range. For many, this doesn't sit well, though I doubt anyone will be willing to really take the board to task the way it would certainly go after CEOs. The board says the competitive hiring situation has forced it to boost pay. Hey, at least options backdating isn't an issue. All in all, it's a good time to be an accountant or compliance pro.

For more:
- read this Financial Week article

Form 8-K filings offer some intriguing Sarbox insights

Mon, 14 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

As you know, an 8-K filing is required when any material event takes place at a public company. These days, we're seeing a lot of them. The Motley Fool takes the time to go through them and often comes up with some eye-openers. Here's an example: "Even though the company (Learning Tree) spends lots of time explaining how well it, a training specialist, and Ernst & Young are getting along, I sense the accountant is relieved to move on." The 8-K recounted their internal control over financial reporting was found ineffective. Despite their good relationship, they parted ways. The CFO departed but got a good deal. According to the filing, he will be replaced by a temp CFO at more than double the cost. You get a real sense of the absurdities of corporate life from these things.

For more:
- here's the latest Motley Fool wrap up

ALSO NOTED: More on RFID-based Sarbox solutions; Big Japanese firms to delay results because of Sarbanes-Oxley;

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> An SEC commissioner has been put on the defensive after an outcry arose in London over his comments that the London Stock Exchange's AIM was akin to a casino. Article

> Big Japanese firms to delay results because of Sarbanes-Oxley. Article

> Michael Oxley says he would have done it all differently. Article

> Deloitte & Touche accountant censured. Article

> More on RFID-based Sarbox solutions. Article And yet more.

> Small companies in New England competing hard for CPAs. Article

> RevenueRecognition.com launches new site. Article

> SOX Institute morphs into GRC Institute. Article

And finally ... Few women make it to the top in finance. Article

Suddenly, accountants are hot--and happy

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:01:35 -0400

You're hot! And didn't even know it. Accounting and financial pros are in heavy demand at all levels, not just the C-level. At the same time--and this might surprise you--financial employees seem to be happier than most employees. According to one survey, nearly 80 percent of accounting and finance employees are very or somewhat satisfied with their jobs, compared with 72 percent for the survey population. And nearly 35 percent are very satisfied with their compensation, compared with just 28 percent of all respondents. You hear a lot of grumbling about the costs of Sarbox and other compliance efforts. But the work has created a virtuous cycle of sorts for employees: More challenging work, which leads to more pay, which leads to higher job satisfaction.

> Check out this article about the survey in CFO.
> Hiring is up. Article
> Sarbox is apparently leading to boom in accountant graduates. Article
> Here's how one small accounting firm is thriving. Article

Former banker and regulator to head PCAOB

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:01:34 -0400

Get used to this guy, he might well outlast you. Former banker and Fed governor Mark Olson has been named as the chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. If all goes well, he will run the board until 2010. Until he joined the Federal Reserve Board, Olson, 63, had been a banker and a partner at Ernst & Young, though he is not an accountant. You could fairly quibble that this is another case of a regulatee moving into a regulator role. Olson responds that he has been in such a situation before. He was a banker before he joined the Fed after all. He told reporters: "That will be the challenge, to negotiate that." Olson will be under immediate corporate pressure to find ways to pare the costs of compliance and to issue guidance on dating options grants.

> Read The New York Times article.