Firms are subsidizing employees’ cost of getting and maintaining credentials/certifications. What does this signal to you? How might it affect your career choice?
Tim Cook at Apple says Apple will not repatriate overseas profits until the U.S. rate is “fair.” How could you see whether Apple accrued or did not accrue a liability for U.S. taxes on foreign earnings?
If you are interested in audit, how could you tailor your interests and skills to fit the growing needs cited in the article?
If you were on the board of directors, how would you try to quantify synergy as part of your due diligence responsibility in M&A? Is it necessary to do so?
So, apparently some firms steer analysts to lower their forecasted earnings, and then these firms announce earnings that, surprise, beat the forecast. Is this a problem that needs to be fixed? If so, how?
Firms who are “heavy users” of non-GAAP (pro forma) earnings measures (“EBBS”) seem to have a higher propensity of accounting problems, resulting in accounting restatements. What might be the connection? If the relation between use of non-GAAP measures and accounting problems is established to be systematic, what do you propose as a solution?
What are the reasons for CFO turnover? Which ones are preventable from “better” hiring? Does it surprise you about the stock price effects of early CFO departure? Why or why not?
Why do you think the IPO market is weak and new startups are opting to sell themselves rather than go public? If you were an entrepreneur of a startup, what would you consider in making the decision?
The SEC wants to eliminate duplicative disclosures found elsewhere in the financial statements. How did the disclosure system get to the point where certain disclosures are required in two different places. What are some implications of eliminating duplicate disclosures? Who benefits from the proposed change? Who might lose?
Why do you think Electronic Arts decided to discontinue reporting non-GAAP measures? Who benefits from this? Who loses? Do you think their decision is a good one?
What would you do, as a CFO, to try to offset the increase in the underfunded status of your DB pension plan caused by declining interest rates?
BP will accrue a charge in the current quarter of several billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Why do you think it has taken so long for BP to be able to estimate the damage and accrue such a charge? What is the threshold for accruing such charges under U.S. GAAP? Under IFRS?
In what roles do you see technology being sophisticated enough to displace humans in the accounting profession? Who benefits from this?
According to the article (clink to link to it), a Tesla car that was self-driving crashed. In your opinion, should this have triggered an SEC disclosure? What is the threshold for disclosure? What is the name of the form firms use for such disclosures?
The SEC can bring a case against a registered firm and use its own “in-house” judges to try the case. Do you think the proposed changes to this will be fairer?
$2.4 trillion (TRILLION) of “indefinitely reinvested” profits of U.S. multinationals are overseas. Why? Is this a problem? If so, for whom? If so, what solutions would you propose? What is the effect on the effective tax rate of indefinitely reinvested profits?
How would you balance inventory between retail stores and distribution centers? Do you foresee more and more shopping online, even for toothpaste? Who wins? Who loses?
If so many firms are using pro forma (adjusted) accounting measures, can you make a case that GAAP should be discontinued?
Can you write down in simple equation form how goodwill impairments are currently measured and how they are proposed as being measured (step 2 of the impairment test)? Can you articulate how the proposed test will make it much easier for firms?
Do you think it is reasonable to require such “crystal-ball” foresight re: loan losses? Why was there such a push to require early recognition? Will it help? Whom? How?
