New Class Action Lawsuit

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Zillow, the number one online real estate website, is facing a $5 million class action lawsuit for intimidating employees to skip meals and work long hours without pay. Questions: 1. Who was Zillow’s top competition and how much did Zillow pay to buy the company? 2. Would this acquisition be reported on the Statement of… Read more »

It’s Not Over Yet!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Looking at GDP reporting GDP on a quarter-on-quarter basis, it turns out that Greece’s six-year recession is over, but recovery is far from near. The country’s economy grew at a 3.2 percent annual pace in the first quarter, 1.2 percent in the second, and 2.8 percent in the most recent one. However, unemployment is 25.9%…. Read more »

The Never-Ending Foreclosure Crisis: Robo Signer Redux

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Fannie is trying to recoup the difference between what the borrowers owed on the mortgages when they were foreclosed and the amount Fannie received when it resold the properties. In Florida, these deficiency judgments can be pursued for 20 years, and borrowers must also pay a compounded annual interest rate of 4.5 percent. Several legal… Read more »

Congressional Insider Trading?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Nineteen months ago, with only 20 minutes remaining in the trading day, a Washington-based broker-dealer, Height Securities, blasted out a “flash report” to nearly 200 clients, including hedge funds on Wall Street that predicted a raise in Medicare reimbursement rates. This sent many health insurance companies’ stocks soaring. Regulators are now trying to investigate insider… Read more »

Medical Malpractice Reform: Will it save money?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

According to the New York Times, many people believe that medical malpractice reform is the key to removing waste from the health care system and making the practice of medicine better. But a growing body of evidence shows that belief is most likely mistaken. Questions: 1. What is the rationale for malpractice reform as cost… Read more »

Repatenting for Profits and the High Costs of Breathing

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Unlike other countries, where the government directly or indirectly sets an allowed national wholesale price for each drug, the United States leaves prices to market competition among pharmaceutical companies, including generic drug makers. This has resulted in a vicious cycle of repatenting old drugs that use to cost pennies with new delivery systems and processes… Read more »

Attack of the SuperCookies!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

What is your privacy worth? Most people would say A LOT! According to Craig Timberg, Verizon and AT&T have been quietly tracking the Internet activity of more than 100 million cellular customers with what critics have dubbed “supercookies.” These supercookies cannot be erased and can even get around the “private” or “incognito” settings on your… Read more »

Ouch! This may sting a little.

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

According to the New York Times, officials are saying that short-term pain is necessary to put the European economy back on track. Regulators in the United States forced a similar catharsis on American banks in 2009, helping set the stage for the current recovery. Questions: 1. What was the result of the timid approach taken… Read more »

Shopping Comes at A Price

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

According to Chico Harlan, five years after the Great Recession, the most striking change in the world of low-income commerce has been the proliferation of rent-to-own stores. Questions: 1. How do rent to own stores avoid state usury laws and other regulations aimed at excessive interest payments? 2. What percentage of items are returned or… Read more »

The new trend in non-compete clauses

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

If you are a chief executive of a large company, you very likely have a non-compete clause in your contract and also understand the importance of this clause in preventing you from jumping ship to a competitor until some period has elapsed. However, according to the New York Times, non-compete clauses are popping up in… Read more »