Do you find this plausible, namely that CPA credentialed CFOs are more risk averse with regard to investment decisions, compared to non-credentialed CFOs? What does this suggest for you in your career path?
Pay is increasing significantly for accounting and finance professionals. Does this help you to keep doing boring homework?
There is a “dearth of talent” in technology companies. Pay is increasing, including the use of stock-based compensation. Would you want stock (stock options/restricted), or would you prefer cash? How would the choice affect your behavior on the job?
Intel plans to layoff several thousand employees. What is the name of the expense charged against income? How is this charge measured? Is there a stock price reaction? Why or why not?
Relative to restricted stock compensation, why are stock options “becoming more out of favor with shareholder advocacy groups”? Do you think this is justified? Why?
The FASB changed how firms record excess tax benefits or tax deficiencies associated with stock options and restricted stock. How does using an income account (tax expense/tax benefit), rather than APIC, simplify the process? Do you believe users of financial statements will react to the change? If so, how? What will be the associated effect on Diluted EPS?
Accounting errors, revisions, restatements are down over the past decade, but they still are nontrivial in many cases. How would you determine whether the issues cited are relevant to market participants?
Median CEO pay shrank YOY. The structure of the compensation packages changed somewhat as well. How would you design the pay package of your firm’s CEO? If you were CEO of a firm, what would be your “optimal” pay package?
INTEL changed its depreciation estimates, resulting in about $1.5 billion less depreciation. Is this in any way a “red flag?” If so, how?
Re: Crazy Eddie, what happened to gross margins over time? How might this be an indicator of accounting issues?
Re: Sunbeam, if you can put yourself in the audit partner’s position, do you think you might have been inclined to sign off on the engagement, notwithstanding the knowledge of the accounting issue?
Re: Sunbeam, what was Dunlap’s nickname? What are “cookie jar” reserves? How could the Sunbeam issues have been prevented?
Re: CalMicro, what are some of the indicators that may have suggested that “something” was amiss in the accounting?
Re: WorldCom, can you recreate the journal entry that took “line costs, fees paid to lease portions of other companies’ telephone networks, out of operating-expense accounts where they belonged and tuck them into capital accounts”?
Re: MicroStrategy, how did the national office of PWC learn that there may be “issues” with the financial statements that had been approved by one of its own partners?
