Posts Tagged: contemporary business issues

Can you beat Nate Silver?

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, Video Updates.

ESPN’s Nate Silver went on Sportscenter this morning and revealed his favorites for the Final Four. The prediction: • Louisville (#4 seed, Midwest region) • Florida (#1 seed, South region) • Arizona (#1 seed, West region) • Michigan State (#4 seed, East region) These are the favorites in each region according to Silver’s statistical model…. Read more »

Justice goes after “Rigged” rates

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.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has sued 16 big banks that set a crucial global interest rate, accusing them of fraud and conspiring to keep the rate low to enrich themselves. Questions: 1. Which banks are included in the suit? 2. What was the rate and for how long are they accused of rigging it?… Read more »

Seventeen police officers to ticket Gator fans?

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.

Only 1,260 feet of Route 301 runs through Hampton, Florida, a city with a population of under 500. Yet between 2011 and 2012, Hampton officers wrote 12,698 speeding tickets. Now Hampton, an 89-year-old city, is fighting the state legislature threatening to wipe the town off the map, after a state audit last month uncovered significant… Read more »

Chiquita’s Big Deal

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, Video Updates.

Chiquita Brands International that it had agreed to acquire Fyffes, an Irish fruit and produce distributor, in an all-stock deal that valued Fyffes at about $526 million. The new firm will be called ChiquitaFyffes and will be the world’s largest producer and distributor of bananas. It is expected that the firm will have about $4.6… Read more »

Warning about Emails

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.

Four former leaders of the law firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf, were charged by New York prosecutors with orchestrating a nearly four-year scheme to manipulate the firm’s books during the financial crisis. In emails they talked openly about “fake income,” “accounting tricks” and their ability to fool the firm’s “clueless auditor.” Questions: 1. Explain the role… Read more »

The Largest Jury Award in the History of the EOE

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.

This article presents a “Dickensian” story about Atalissa, Iowa and the largest jury award in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions: 1. What was the amount of the awarded damages? Why was the amount reduced? 2. If or when Henry’s Turkey Service pays the judgment for damages and back pay, how would… Read more »

How do you steal Bitcoins?

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

According to McMillan, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange appeared to be a towering example of renegade entrepreneurism. However, insiders have claimed that Mt. Gox was a messy combination of poor management, neglect, and raw inexperience. Herein lies the makings of a $460 million hack of the bitcoin. Questions: 1. Would you consider a bitcoin to… Read more »

You Get What you Pay for?

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

The SEC regulators are becoming very “worried” that pressure to reduce auditor fees due to economic cycles could lead to worse audits. Questions: 1. How do auditor switches impact fees? 2. What legal issues could affect audit committees where auditor fee reductions occur? 3. How does fee-hunting exacerbate this situation? 4. What does the study… Read more »

Chapter 11 for Quiznos

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

Quiznos, the Denver-based sandwich chain, is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the next few weeks, due to debt and declining sales. Questions: 1. This is not the first time that Quiznos has negotiated with creditors. Explain its out-of-court restructuring deal that occurred two years ago. 2. Assuming that the past debt load was similar… Read more »

Easy Come, Easy Go… It’s only Money (and Stock)

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, Video Updates.

Facebook’s largest acquisition ever was announced this week. The company said it would pay at least $16 billion for WhatsApp, a text messaging application with 450 million users around the world who pay little or no money for it. The purchase price dwarfs the $1 billion Facebook paid for Instagram, the photo-sharing service. Questions: 1…. Read more »