Accounting News Roundup: RSM Remembers the Alamo and Fewer Non-GAAP Games at EA | 07.20.16

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

Accounting firm M&A

Everyone's favorite multiple-personality accounting firm, RSM, announced that it has agreed to acquire San Antonio-based Padgett Stratemann & Co. yesterday. My San Antonio notes the deal will close August 16th and also that this the second recent acquisition of a local firm by a national one:

In late May, San Antonio-based Tsakopulos Brown Schott & Anchors, with more than 30 employees, became part of Minneapolis-based CliftonLarsonAllen — the nation’s ninth largest accounting firm with $650 million in revenue.

PwC re-entered the market last year after a long absence so all kinds of firms are remembering the Alamo. 

Non-GAAP worries

Yesterday we learned that there will be less worrying about non-GAAP accounting in one corner of the world, at least. Electronic Arts, Inc. will "stop reporting many of the adjusted financial measures it has used for years":

In a conference call with analysts Tuesday, EA said results for its most recently ended quarter, due Aug. 2, will be the last to include revenue, gross margin and per-share earnings on a non-GAAP basis.

The changes won't have an impact on financial performance but could make it harder to compare to past results, analysts said. EA said it would provide the data it used to calculate non-GAAP figures so others can make historical comparisons.

The company will still report free cash flow and EBITDA. You can't expect everyone to quit non-GAAP reporting cold turkey.

People are worried about IRS phone scams

It sounds like IRS Crank Yankers, Inc. has a new modus operandi:

A local woman told News4Jax Tuesday that she received a phone call from someone who told her that her home would be monitored until she paid money to the IRS.

"Obviously, it was a scam because it said there was a warrant out for my arrest from the IRS and that my house was under surveillance," Mary Alice Petty said.

Petty said the call came from a number that she had never seen. But when she heard the threats in a voicemail, she said she knew the scammer was looking for an easy target.

"The IRS has issued an arrest warrant on you. Right now, you and your physical property both are being monitored. And it's very important that I do hear back from you as soon as possible before we proceed further in any legal matter," the voicemail said.

As we've seen, elderly citizens are particularly vulnerable to these scams, however, I can't help but think that the threat of "surveillance" could also pique the fears of your average member of your tinfoil hat club. If this sounds like something that might alarm any of your friends, colleagues, clients, or anyone who finally saw Citizen Four, better let them know. 

Previously, on Going Concern…

The Grant Thornton compensation discussions thread is open for business. And in Open Items: someone's trying to juggle work and interviewing.

In other news:

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Image: Daniel Schwen/Wikimedia Commons

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