According to Accounting Today, the IRS failed to spot $20.6M in bogus nonresident tax refunds in 2018. Questions: How many returns did this account for? In a short paragraph, explain how this happened. In a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), what recommendations were made for the improvement of IRS identification… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Financial Statement Analysis
What do you know about ESG reporting?
According to Accounting Today, professionals in accounting and finance are confronting big obstacles when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. Questions: According to the Financial Executives International’s Financial Education & Research Foundation survey, what percentage of the chief accounting officers and controllers polled had not yet started to integrate ESG reporting with their… Read more »
Lufthansa to Pay Back Bailout
Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to raise 2.14 billion euros ($2.5 billion) through a heavily discounted share sale as it strives to repay a German government coronavirus bailout. Questions: How will the airline group raise the money to repay this bailout? What does Lufthansa avoid with full repayment? What are the expectation of the airline for… Read more »
Changes in fair value measurement of equity securities proposed by FASB
According to Accounting Today, the FASB is proposing changes in fair value measurement of equity securities that will improve comparability of financial information from companies with investments in equity securities that are subject to contractual restrictions and might prevent the sale of those securities. Questions: Why did fair value measurement complicate things during the 2008-2009… Read more »
Alarm about Crypto Move into Banking
According to the New York Times, with more companies offering cryptocurrency loans and high-yield deposit accounts Washington is worried about how this might disrupt the banking industry with a lack of regulations. Questions: Which company was mentioned in the article as aspiring to be the J.P. Morgan Chase of cryptocurrency? What crypto platform temporarily lost… Read more »
Earnings Numbers Useless?
In a recent article in Accounting Today, Baruch Lev discusses the poor quality and low relevance of corporate financial statements due to “a sad state of accounting standards.” Questions: Briefly list the three suggestions presented by Baruch Lev meaningful new agendas for accounting regulators. What examples does Professor Lev present as supporting the U.S. accounting… Read more »
Debt Disclosure Problems
According to the New York Times, Greensill Capital promised a win-win for buyers and sellers, until it all fell apart, igniting concerns about opaque accounting practices. Questions: How much was Greensill valued at less than 2 years ago? Explain how Greensill’s problems extend to the U.S. Explain Mr. Greensill’s position in the firm as the… Read more »
Box Office looking up!
According to CNBC.com, ticket sales have been accelerating, inspiring some studios to move up the release dates of blockbuster films to earlier in the year. Questions: How does the current box office sales compare with the period before COVID closed down the economy? What percentage of North American theaters are now open? What is the… Read more »
Account Takeovers Increase in the Finance Industry
According to statistics of events detected by Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, the share of account takeovers in the finance industry have increased from 34% in 2019 to 54% in 2020. Questions: What are the two most common schemes to get access to a bank account? How often are legitimate remote administration tools misused to gain access… Read more »
Not a Very Magical Kingdom
According to the Washington Post, COVID-19 continued to hammer Disney in the final months of 2020, with the company’s revenue dropping 22 percent over the holiday period and a much smaller profit than usual. Questions Was the revenue better or worse for October to December 2021 than analysts predicted and by how much? What was Disney’s… Read more »