Jim Ulvog

Auditors need to verify the addresses on confirmations. Oops.

2 Comments / Audits /

Clarified section 505, which you can find here, discusses external confirmations.  One thing I missed previously is a new requirement to verify the address used on confirmations. I looked in the pre-clarity standards and couldn’t find that requirement there.

Put simply, we as auditors need to make sure confirmations are using good addresses.

For cash, there is a commercial service, Confirmation.com, that can be used to make sure your confirm gets to where you want it to go.

This issue also applies to:

  • Accounts receivable
  • Notes receivable
  • Investments
  • Accounts Payable
  • Notes Payable

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Auditors need to verify the addresses on confirmations. Oops.Read More »

Auditors need to verify the addresses on confirmations. Oops. Read More »

Fine for manipulating energy market equal to 7 days net income or two traffic tickets

Leave a Comment / Other stuff /

JP Morgan settled charges it manipulated energy prices by paying $410 million. That is a civil penalty of $285M plus $125M of profits from the trades.

I calculate that is about a week’s work of earnings per share or roughly equal to 2 traffic tickets in California for a median income family.

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Fine for manipulating energy market equal to 7 days net income or two traffic ticketsRead More »

Fine for manipulating energy market equal to 7 days net income or two traffic tickets Read More »

12 situations when it might matter to you that the Feds are tracking everything you text or email and making note of everywhere you go.

2 Comments / Other stuff, Pondering /

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Recent news reports indicate federal intelligence agencies are gathering up a lot more information than we knew. That data is available to undisclosed lists of unknown people and will be retained for a very long time.

So what?

Here’s just a few circumstances in which you might not want access to your data by a long list of unidentified persons from various federal, state, or local agencies who were granted access to various unidentified parts of the various databases: …

12 situations when it might matter to you that the Feds are tracking everything you text or email and making note of everywhere you go.Read More »

12 situations when it might matter to you that the Feds are tracking everything you text or email and making note of everywhere you go. Read More »

NPO audit risk alert for 2013 available

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits /

The Not-for-Profit Entities Industry Developments – Audit Risk Alert for 2013 is available from the AICPA.

It provides an update on issues relevant to your audits and reviews of NPOs. Might even remind you of some technical issues you missed. I’m checking on a couple of things that I thought didn’t apply to my clients but just might.

If you work with a lot of NPOs, you really ought to check out this audit risk alert every summer.

NPO audit risk alert for 2013 available Read More »

What do you do if your cloud-based mission critical application is down for an indefinite time? Illustration from a reader for RSS feeds.

Leave a Comment / Pondering, Social media /

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Update: The Old Reader back up at end of work day Thursday – that makes 1 1/2 days of the weekend and 4 workdays it was down.

Your tech provider may go off-line for an indefinite time. Another reason not to let your technology hold you captive.

The Old Reader went down around lunchtime on Saturday, 7-20, and isn’t back up just before lunch on Wednesday, 7-24. That’s four days – most of the weekend and one-half of a work-week. No public estimate when it will return.

Don’t be held captive by your technology.

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What do you do if your cloud-based mission critical application is down for an indefinite time? Illustration from a reader for RSS feeds.Read More »

What do you do if your cloud-based mission critical application is down for an indefinite time? Illustration from a reader for RSS feeds. Read More »

Another TBTF bank accused of manipulating electricity prices – time to start paying attention to another fiasco

1 Comment / Other stuff /

Three days ago I mentioned Barclays was accused of manipulating energy prices and the feds, specifically the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, claim a $487.9M fine is due from them.  The case is heading to court – Barclays to Dispute Electricity-Manipulation Charges.

The Wall Street Journal reports J.P. Morgan is now negotiating a settlement for allegedly playing games with electricity prices.

Time to start paying attention to another banking fiasco.

The article Big Bank Staring at Record Fine Over Energy says the bank began negotiations with FERC with a possible billion dollar fine on the table.

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Another TBTF bank accused of manipulating electricity prices – time to start paying attention to another fiascoRead More »

Another TBTF bank accused of manipulating electricity prices – time to start paying attention to another fiasco Read More »

Charges filed against three traders in LIBOR fiasco – A new banking mess in manipulating energy prices

1 Comment / Other stuff /

The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office charged two brokers yesterday for their role in allegedly rigging Libor rates.

A third trader was charged last month. All three were arrested in England last December. This third trader was charged in the U.S. in December.

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Charges filed against three traders in LIBOR fiasco – A new banking mess in manipulating energy pricesRead More »

Charges filed against three traders in LIBOR fiasco – A new banking mess in manipulating energy prices Read More »

Where could FRF-SMEs possibly have value? A galaxy far, far removed from the one that swirls around the SEC.

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Pondering /

There is another teeming galaxy beyond that of the publicly traded SEC-supervised companies and their PCAOB inspected auditors.

Professor Tom Selling discusses the bickering between the AICPA and NASBA over FRF-SMEs in his post, The AICPA’s Financial Reporting Framework: How Low Should a Profession Go?  He concluded:

NASBA, in so many words, is telling the AICPA that the FRF is beneath the dignity and responsibilities of the CPA.

I’ve been wanting to talk about the FRF-SME framework and some of the comments floating around.  The post above, and my brief comment there, is the springboard to this:

What is beyond the SEC galaxy?

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Where could FRF-SMEs possibly have value? A galaxy far, far removed from the one that swirls around the SEC.Read More »

Where could FRF-SMEs possibly have value? A galaxy far, far removed from the one that swirls around the SEC. Read More »

Upland bribery case – where are they now? Two in jail and two have served their time.

Leave a Comment / Fraud /

Since my last update in December, one of the defendants in the Upland bribery case has reported for his confinement. Two have completed their term and been released. The former mayor is still in jail.

Why am I still interested? To me, following the details of a specific incident helps illustrate the tragedy of fraud. This also provides me an education on the legal system. That is useful since I’m a CPA.

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Upland bribery case – where are they now? Two in jail and two have served their time.Read More »

Upland bribery case – where are they now? Two in jail and two have served their time. Read More »

Journey Through a Peer Review posts combined into one page

Leave a Comment / Peer Review /

During 2012, I blogged about my peer review while going through the process.

To give you a feel for what it was like going through the review, I’ve combined those posts into one page, which you can read on the page titled “Journey through a peer review” at the top right corner of the blog. Look for the section titled “Pages.”

You can also click here.

Journey Through a Peer Review posts combined into one page Read More »

Another interview with admitted inside-trader from KPMG

Leave a Comment / Audits /

Scott London has given another interview, this time with the Agora Hills Acorn – Community leader’s fall from grace stemmed from insider trading.

If you are really interested in the former KPMG partner’s story, you’ll want to check out the article.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits with my observations:

The insider work ran for about 16 months when Mr. London and his golf buddy, Bryan Shaw, mutually decided to end it, according to the article.

The article expands the developing narrative that passing on insider info started slowly and just grew over time. …

Another interview with admitted inside-trader from KPMGRead More »

Another interview with admitted inside-trader from KPMG Read More »

Fraudster tells her story

1 Comment / Fraud /

I’ve previously discussed the journey through fraud, jail, and rebuilding taken by Mrs. Amy Wilson. You can see my posts here.

She is providing speaking engagements to make money to repay her victim.  She has a new website set up at Forged Redemption, LLC.

If you are interested in studying one specific fraud incident to help yourself learn about fraud, check out her site. Likewise if you are looking for a speaker.

I like the graphic at the bottom of this page – it has three pictures of her at different points in time with a description of each stage: …

Fraudster tells her storyRead More »

Fraudster tells her story Read More »

Peer review reports are public for some firms – Here’s how to see the report on my firm

Leave a Comment / Peer Review /

You can find the peer review report at the AICPA web site for those CPA firms who are members of one of three special sections:

  • Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (EBPAQC)
  • Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC)
  • Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS)

Since I’m a member of PCPS, you can find my report there.

Go to the Peer review public file search page to look up a firm.

Enter my firm name there and you can get a screen that lists my firm and shows a link to two documents:

You can see for yourself that I received a “pass” rating.

If a firm is a member of EBPAQC, GAQC, or PCPS, you can find their peer review report at the above page.

Peer review reports are public for some firms – Here’s how to see the report on my firm Read More »