Big Financial Information Merger

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Income Taxes, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Intuit is buying the credit score monitoring company Credit Karma for $7.1 billion. Questions: What is the merger intended to boost within the Intuit organization? By how much was the Intuit stock increased at the time of the announcement of Intuit’s quarterly earnings and the word… Read more »

If you have no credit score, is that a good thing?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

According to the New York Times, about 45 million Americans lack traditional credit files. Now the federal government is investigating whether alternative credit scoring models could bring more of these consumers into the financial mainstream. Questions: 1. Which agency of the government is interested in the phenomenon of using alternative credit data? 2. Who created… Read more »

The Reinvention of Pawn Shops

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.

The pawnshop industry is growing. In 2007, there were approximately 6,400 pawn shops nation-wide. Now there are over 10,000. The expansion in pawnshops is fed, in part, by the increased number of Americans with tarnished credit which often bars them from the mainstream financial system. This article explains some of the niche services now offered… Read more »

Who Holds the Note? A Loaded Question for Credit Scores.

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, Uncategorized.

Before Steven Marks started looking for debt relief on his Reno, Nev. home, he sent a simple request to Bank of America to ask who owned his mortgage.  He also wanted documentation of this.  What he got in return was an initial decline regarding who owned his loan by Bank of America and a lowering of his credit score. … Read more »

Credit Scores Matter: Changes Taking Place

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, Uncategorized.

Each financial action a consumer takes may affect their credit score, causing it to constantly change.  The economic downturn has put Americans’ credit scores in the limelight, especially as more homeowners struggle to stave off foreclosure by refinancing or modifying their mortgage loans. Although a large majority of Americans are working to improve their scores,… Read more »