Posts Categorized: Intermediate Accounting

How to Earn $46,000 for Each Day Spent in Prison

Posted by & filed under 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, Video Updates.

Bradley Birkenfeld, the whistleblower in a tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG, was awarded a record-setting $104 million reward from the IRS. Birkenfeld learned about the inner workings of UBS as an employee of the company and supplied many secrets about his former employer’s dealings with U.S. clients. Despite this, he was jailed… Read more »

Movie with a Happy Ending?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

When the Treasury Department bailed out AIG and said two years ago that it was likely to lose only about $5 billion on the bailout, Neil Barofsky, a former official of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) declared that the number was “manipulated” as part of a “publicity campaign” to boost the positive aspects ahead… Read more »

Debt for Life?

Posted by & filed under 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.

Here are the facts. Four-year college graduates’ pay advantage over high school grads has doubled over the past 30 years. However, in 2010, student debt exceeded credit-card debt for the first time and in 2011, it surpassed auto loans. In March 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that student debt had passed $1 trillion… Read more »

Money Market Funds: A Safe Bet?

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

Should we risk another 2008 financial meltdown? The answer is no. However, late last month the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) abandoned efforts to impose new regulations on money market funds intended to prevent another panic like the one that occurred then. Because money market funds are typically invested in short-term, low-risk assets (like United… Read more »

The Business Model of Overstating Benefits: How Harmful or Ethical?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Video Updates.

It is estimated that between 50,000 to 100,000 patients died or had a heart attack as a result of taking the drug Advandia. For seven years, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) failed to report data that indicated Advandia increases the risk of heart attack by 40%. As we reported back in July, in the biggest health care fraud… Read more »

Private Equity Firms and A Tax Strategy Investigation

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

Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, is investigating abusive tax strategies at some of the nation’s largest private equity firms. As part of these efforts, last week, he subpoenaed documents from more than a dozen firms hoping to uncover conversion of certain management fees collected from their investors into fund investments, which are taxed… Read more »

Coming to a store near you: What are the cost and benefits of good health?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Hy-Vee is the only grocery chain in the country that posts a registered dietitian in almost every one of its 235 stores. In rural areas, some of its more than 190 dietitians serve a cluster of stores. By doing this it capitalizes on growing consumer awareness of the role food plays in health and wellness… Read more »

Hard Rock Expansion Plans

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

The franchise, Hard Rock Café, is known for its rock’n’roll memorabilia. Located around the globe, the franchise is expanding its reach into hotels and casinos. Questions: 1. When did the franchise begin? 2. Strategically, why is the move into casinos a good, but difficult one? 3. The franchise rotates more than 70,000 pieces of music… Read more »

A New Trend?

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

According to the Associated Press (AP), Chinese companies are withdrawing from the US stock market amid accusations of improper accounting by some companies, as well as complaints that low share prices do not reflect the true value of Chinese companies. On top of this, the AP note that a state bank has provided $1 billion… Read more »

What went up has come down

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting.

Facebook’s stock price has been cut in half since the fanfare of the IPO hit the market three months ago. With this drop, both employee morale and employee stock issues have plummeted. This article provides some insight into what the future holds for those holding Facebook stock. Questions: 1. What is an employee lock-up release?… Read more »