$35 here, $35 there and it all adds up!

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

While strict rules require account holders to affirmatively opt into banking overdraft protection plans, a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant, Santander Bank, which acquired Boston-based Sovereign Bank in 2009, crossed the line. Questions: 1. Briefly summarize what the bank did? 2. Who is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what was their role… Read more »

The changing world of streaming

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

Netflix’s growth in the U.S. has slowed dramatically, and the company is adding new international users slower than expected. Statistically, the company added 1.7 million new subscribers in the last three months, which is less than the 2.5 million the company predicted. Just 160,000 of them were in the U.S. Questions: 1. Netflix is available… Read more »

Tax Dodging Clusters?

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

According to Stacy Cowley of the New York Times, only around 1.5 percent of self-employed taxpayers are audited each year. Audits are not random, because the IRS has a secret algorithm that calculates how likely each taxpayer is to have unreported income. In looking at sizing up the honesty of small-business owners, the Taxpayer Advocate… Read more »

Here we Go Again? Another Enron?

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

Short-seller and hedge fund manager, Jim Chanos, contends that the Alibaba Group is as problematic in its accounting positions as the now-defunct, corrupt energy giant, Enron. Questions: 1. What part of the company’s operations are most problematic and why? 2. What does cash flow have to do with this story? 3. What does Chanos claim… Read more »

A Fraud Caught by a Channel-Surfing Judge!

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

Dance Moms, a show on Lifetime TV is in its 6th season. The host is Abby Lee Miller, who is facing 20 counts of fraud due to allegations that she fudged specifics when it came to a bankruptcy filing. If found guilty on all counts, Ms. Miller is facing $5 million in fines and five… Read more »

Pet Valuation: A slippery slope or not?

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.

The Monyak family decided to board their 2 dogs when they took a vacation in France. The Monyaks gave special instructions to the caretakers to give an anti-inflammatory prescription to one of the dogs. Unfortunately, the kennel gave it to the wrong dog who died from an overdose shortly after the family returned. The Monyak’s… Read more »

Credit Card Chips

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

Did you ever wonder why so many retailers have chip-readable machines for credit cards, but tell you to swipe your card anyway? This article explains this frustrating issue for retailers. Questions: 1. Merchants have spent incredible amounts of money to get new chip-reading machines, so what is the reason for not using them? 2. Since… Read more »

Shkreli Smurks at Congress and Later Calls Them “Imbeciles”

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Martin Shkreli, the former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, repeatedly exercised his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, infuriating members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Mr. Shkreli is facing federal securities fraud charges. Questions: 1. What is the scandal that Mr. Shkreli’s company is apart of? 2. What is the connection… Read more »

Lucky Pets

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

According to the article, a small but growing number of dedicated food pantries have sprung up to help people feed their pets. This is in response to pleas from people who see their pets as family and will spend their last dollar on pets, despite going hungry themselves. Questions: 1. What is the ASPCA? 2…. Read more »

Secret Buyers of Real Estate Targeted

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

In an unprecedented move, the Treasury Department will begin identifying and tracking cash sales of real estate in an effort to expose money laundering and secret buyers of high-end properties. Questions: 1.At which locations will the new initiative begin? 2. Is the use of shell companies legal in real estate? 3. How will the real… Read more »