The mindset of white-collar criminal

Auditors of all kinds would be wise to read up on the psychology of white-collar criminals, to better understand the rationalization vector of the fraud triangle: David Myers, the former controller of WorldCom, recalled thinking that he was “helping people and doing the right thing” while perpetrating one of the largest accounting frauds in history.Continue reading “The mindset of white-collar criminal”

Short-term focus of management ain’t due to accounting

CFO.com had a provocatively titled article this morning that just shouted out for a retort: “Is Accounting Blocking R&D Investments?” Now how could accounting be doing that? Why, because senior management is preoccupied with meeting short-term quarterly earnings targets, and are cutting back on longer-term focused R&D investments! I thought this was just an overzealousContinue reading “Short-term focus of management ain’t due to accounting”

Do we have a software valuation issue?

Soumitra Dutta of French business school Insead thinks so, as reported in this story on CFO.com: Insead has developed a “novel technique” to value software assets. Using conjoint analysis — “a time-tested and widely used robust technique in marketing science,” Dutta claims — companies can place a value on software by identifying its individual attributes,Continue reading “Do we have a software valuation issue?”

Work-life balance: Laptops on holiday

Work-life balance is a topic that comes up frequently in the accounting profession. Robert Half, a recruiting company, surveys accountants occasionally. 38% of accountants take the office with them on holiday in the form of either a laptop or handheld computer. The research also found that 34% of accountants globally admit to working in theContinue reading “Work-life balance: Laptops on holiday”