Monthly Archives: December 2013

Not a good argument

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

In a ruling on December 23, 2013, the U.S. Tax Court denied a Florida MBA student, with little work experience the claim for deduction of his tuition costs as a business expense. Questions: 1. What was the concentration (major area of study) of the student’s MBA degree? 2. What was the amount of the bill… Read more »

Tax breaks disappearing in 2014

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Unless Congress extends the tax deductions that are set to expire at the end of 2013, credits and deductions benefiting everyone from teachers and students to homeowners are scheduled to expire. Questions: 1. Which of these eight deductions will affect you personally? 2. Which of these eight deductions will affect your parents and other family… Read more »

A Christmas Miracle?

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A single father stumbles upon $50K in bonds in a discarded Christmas box and tries to return the money to the owner. Questions: 1. What are bearer bonds? What types of journal entries are associated with them for the issuer? Give examples. 2. What had Mr. Tran done that made these bonds worthless? What do… Read more »

An Epidemic or A Disorder Proliferated by Marketing?

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The sales of prescription stimulants for A.D.H.D. have more than quadrupled since 2002. Is it an epidemic? According to Dr. Keith Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University, who has been fighting to legitimize A.D.H.D diagnoses for the past 50 years, the rise is probably due to successful marketing campaigns that feed on… Read more »

The Airline Industry in Africa is Expected to Boom in the Coming Year(s)

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Africa is a continent with the 2nd largest population but only 3% of the global air traffic. The region’s economies are growing robustly and by all indications will continue to do so in the coming years. With a rise in GDP, a corresponding rise in demand for aviation services is to be expected. Questions: 1…. Read more »

Is it better to look good than have money?

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Here’s a quirky little story. American money has been consolidated into a single system of currency since the late 1800s. As part of this, U.S. dollars have been printed on a unique cotton blend paper, supplied by only one company (Crane) for more than a century. The chief cotton ingredient has been denim. However, since… Read more »

It Takes Money to Make Money

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How much would you like to make per hour at your job or your next job? Legendary investor Warren Buffett makes about $1.54 million per hour (even when he is sleeping)! This article documents the 10 richest investors and entrepreneurs and their wealth gains during 2013. Questions: 1. Who is the wealthiest of those ten… Read more »

Target hit by credit-card breach

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On December 19, 2013, Target admitted that it was hit by an extensive theft of its customers’ credit-card and debit-card data over the Black Friday weekend. The theft was national in scope and happened in stores, not online. Questions: 1. When and what happened with respect to a card breach at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls… Read more »

Do you really have a 2nd job?

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This is an interesting fraud that took place at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). John Beale, a retired, former EPA employee, collected paychecks from approximately the year 2000 through 2013 even though he had absence totaling about 2 1/2 years. What was his alibi? He claimed falsely that he was simultaneously working undercover in special… Read more »

Fraud is quicker than the law?

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Without regulation of Bitcoin, consumers have no protection in a Bitcoin economy. The virtual currency continues to result in swindles, with little prospect of a crackdown. Questions: 1. What is a pump-and-dump scheme? 2. What event(s) sent Bitcoin’s price tumbling? 3. In the U.S., the SEC has not ruled that Bitcoin is a security. However,… Read more »