KPMG’s UK arm among first to set targets for working class staff [Reuters] “We’re setting a socio-economic background representation target for the first time, alongside our other diversity targets,” KPMG said in a statement.

AICPA Foundation Grants 25 Minority Doctoral Fellowships [CPA Practice Advisor] The funding comes from the AICPA Fellowship for Minority Doctoral Students program, which serves to bolster racial and ethnic diversity and inclusiveness among accounting educators at colleges and universities. It provides $12,000 to each student, renewable for up to an additional four years, assuming students continue to meet eligibility requirements.

Whistleblower suit over San Diego GIS contract allowed to move forward [StateScoop] A California court on Wednesday allowed a former SAP employee to proceed in a lawsuit against the software giant and the consulting firm Deloitte. The suit alleges that while developing software for the City of San Diego, SAP helped Deloitte win a contract to implement the technology and that Deloitte billed the city for work it never completed.

EBP audits set for major changes, more transparency [Journal of Accountancy] Communications with management and those charged with governance will be more substantial and robust. The auditor’s report will be more comprehensive and clearer. And practitioners will no longer issue a disclaimer when management elects to have an audit performed pursuant to ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C). Instead, they will provide a two-pronged opinion that will clearly state the results of their findings.

The SEC’s Renewed Focus on Accounting Misconduct [JD Supra] Two recent enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including a recent settled action against Kraft Heinz Co. (“Kraft”), underscore the agency’s renewed and continuing focus on accounting and financial reporting misconduct.

PwC says legal advice ‘highly preferred’ to shield documents [Sydney Morning Herald] Accounting giant PwC says it recommended to multinational clients to use legal advice as part of its packaged consulting services because employing lawyers allows dealings to be privileged and documents to be treated as confidential.

‘Understaffed’ IRS Is Letting Top 1% Avoid Taxes, Biden Administration Laments [Government Executive] The Biden administration on Wednesday blamed a staffing shortage at the Internal Revenue Service for enabling the wealthiest 1% of Americans to shirk $163 billion in tax bills annually, pointing to the finding to support its plan for dramatically increasing resources for the tax agency.

ICYMI | Auditing and Accounting During and After the COVID-19 Crisis [The CPA Journal] Public health measures taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have upended business operations and processes. Auditing is no exception; traditional methods of collecting audit evidence rely upon in-person procedures that are impossible or impractical now and for the near future. Technology provides a number of possibilities for remote virtual auditing; the authors describe several options, including remote inventory observation, document collection, and risk assessment.

The post Friday Footnotes: KPMG Woos Broke People; PhD Pay Day; Guy Sues Deloitte | 9.10.21 appeared first on Going Concern.

Joshua Coleman