PWC issues a Disclaimer of Opinion

A very rare occurence in the auditing field is for an audit firm to give a Disclaimer of Opinion. Recently PWC did just that. In its audit of the  Hawera-based company ,Allied Farmers, PWC declined to express opinion. The auditors cited that they were “unable to...

City of Evansville guilty of poor accounting

A recent state audit of the books of the city of Evansville, Indiana, reveals poor bookeeping and accounting done by the city in 2011.  The issue was not of embezzlement or cooking the books but more of incorrect recording of entries. The city implemented a...

Fraud at low cost finance provider

The former controller of New Mexico Finance Authority that provides low-cost financing for capital projects by cities, counties, schools and New Mexico governmental organizations came under scrutiny when he was indicted on securities fraud and forgery charges. The...

Audited in China

After numerous Chinese firms getting delisted from the stock exchanges around the world or not filing their financials with SEC or their auditors resigning, and the Chinese authorities not allowing any non- Chinese regulators to conduct inspections on Chinese soil,...

The cloud bursts!

Phoenix IT Group, a cloud computing services provider, recently disclosed that following reorganization in the finance group the company found errors in the accounting of its Servo division. The value of the net assets were understated by approximately £14m (~$22m)...

Racing towards financial problems

The Cayman Track Limited, a governmental authority that runs the horseracing tracks in Jamaica, has come under the radar for its improper accounting practices. An audit was commissioned by the Ministry of Finance to look into the reasoning behind the entity getting...

How long will the Kingfisher fly?

The 2011 annul report  of Kingfisher Airlines is a must read, especially the auditor’s report. The auditor’s, B.K. Ramadhyani & Co.,  have raised number of questions, disagreed with the way the company has accounted for multiple items in their books and also under...

Are the auditors supporting fraud!

A recent report issued by the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) on the audits of brokers and dealers revealed some very shocking results. Seems like the firms that should be protecting investors is basically just sitting there and collecting their fees...

Ernst and Young gets sued

E&Y Hong Kong is being sued by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) as it failed to produce work papers and accounting records related to its audit work of a former China based client, Standard Water Limited. E&Y was Standard Water Limited’s...

The popcorn burns!

The audit committee of Diamond Foods Inc, the maker of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret found in February 2012, that the company will have to restate its 2010 and 2011 financial statements due to improper accounting for the payments to walnut growers. The payment to walnut...