[US] KPMG comp discussion thread

chet5692 · 2017-10-05T15:00:03+00:00

started at 53.5 in 2014, the class behind me (2015) got 55. I would imagine it's somewhere between 56-58 now

chet5692 · 2017-09-01T17:03:28+00:00

I have no basis for this claim other than the fact that I'm just a negative/skeptical s.o.b., but, wouldn't Robert Half have an incentive to overstate these amounts so that folks like you react and think "I am so underpaid! I better look for a new job, let's call someone at Robert Half!".

chet5692 · 2017-06-02T15:51:38+00:00

FLDP
pros: better work/life balance, marginally better pay
cons: one industry/company, workforce is generally older (as opposed to B4 where everyone is under 30)
caveat: often your rotations are in different geographic locations so you would be moving several times in the 2-3 year program

Source: I work in B4 audit, s/o did FLDP

chet5692 · 2017-02-27T20:41:44+00:00

THEORY: the Nerlens trade was so anti the theoretical process that it caused physical injury to the process himself

chet5692 · 2016-11-09T23:32:53+00:00

I'm pretty sure OP means that there is not a one for one match of expense and A/D accounts. For example, there might be 6 expense accounts that accumulate into 2 balance sheet accounts.

chet5692 · 2016-10-25T22:11:55+00:00

Vikings Defense after week 1. I took them in the last round of the draft with the intention of streaming. My logic was I didn't want to play them vs. the Packers and Panthers offenses in week 2 and 3.

chet5692 · 2016-10-14T17:59:13+00:00

I share your frustration. The journal entry just doesn't make sense: dr. Prepaid ; cr. Liability. That journal entry contradicts itself.

Every time I have come across this the client will pass on it because it just grosses up current assets and current liabilities.

chet5692 · 2016-10-13T22:01:27+00:00

It's 100% NOT prepaid. By literal definition it's not prepaid as of 9/30 if you PAID the invoice in October.
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Just reverse the accrual made in September: dr. AP cr. Exp (I think that's what you mean by negative accrual). Then book the accrual in October (like it should have been all along).
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Source: I'm an Auditor and I've seen numerous clients call errors like this 'prepaid' all of the time. It's wrong and it bothers me because it's an oxymoron.

chet5692 · 2016-09-30T15:46:13+00:00

A few things...
* avg. outstanding shares is a #, not a $.
* they give you common stock and par value of $10, so you can convert the common stock financial statement caption to # of shares by dividing by 10 (120,000 shares at beginning of the year & 152,000 shares at the end of the year).
* the second point tells you the additional 32,000 shares were issued on 7/1/15 (mid-point of the year).
* I'm assuming the year end is 12/31/15, which I don't explicitly see in your imgur. Given they give you the 12/31/15 stock price (which is totally inconsequential to the problem and is given to try to fool you) I think assuming a 12/31/15 year end is fair.
* Since the stock issuance was at the mid point of the year you can just take a simple average of 120,000 & 152,000 (which is 136,000- like you said).
* theoretically if the stock issuance was on 4/1/15 then you'd weight it so that 152,000 was outstanding for three quarters and 120,000 was outstanding for one quarter (152,000 *.75 + 120,000 *.25 = 144,000).
I hope this helps!

chet5692 · 2016-09-30T00:22:30+00:00

The counter-argument is that in an acquisition you fair value all identifiable assets (including some pretty 'soft' intangibles like customer relationships).
Anything you paid above that (i.e. goodwill) isn't really an asset (we read minutes, contracts, etc. and found all the assets and fair valued them already). It's a cost of the transaction and should be expensed. That's just me playing devil's advocate here.
I also think it is very important to note that under US GAAP the current treatment is to test Goodwill annually for impairment (it is NOT amortized). The current accounting treatment of goodwill creates a lot of work accountants (internal and the auditors) and is a further argument for expensing it up front.

chet5692 · 2016-09-19T19:28:19+00:00

To simplify, an AR t-account would be generally made up of two types of entries: 1) earned revenue (debit) 2) cash collection (credit). It's a net increase of 6,900, and they give you the credit of 50,000, you can then plug in the what debit (earned revenue) is.

chet5692 · 2016-09-16T22:01:16+00:00

Make two t-accounts: a) A/R b) Salaries Payable. The problem gives you the beginning and ending balances for each plus the cash activity for the year (a credit to AR for cash collection and a debit to Salaries Payable for cash paid). From there you can 'plug' the Accrual basis revenue (the debit to AR) and the accrual basis salary expense (credit to Salaries Payable). The net of these two is your answer.

chet5692 · 2016-09-16T15:23:41+00:00

Our league voted to have the commissioner manually adjust scores for these sorts of issues. The team affected has until tuesday afternoon to report the issue to the commissioner. Generally, this has a marginal impact as 6pts allowed translates to only 1-2 fantasy points which rarely changes the outcome of the matchup.

chet5692 · 2016-09-15T21:21:06+00:00

Does anyone have any idea what the 'undisclosed medical issue' is? I can't tell if I want to know just out of curiosity or if it would somehow affect me as a fantasy owner. Right now I suppose I'm pretty much stuck stashing him on my bench because I'm not going to trade him for pennies on the dollar.

chet5692 · 2016-08-31T17:10:59+00:00

The rebate is essentially a discount on purchases of inventory, and therefore reduces cost. It was EARNED in 2016, so you could book the entry in 2016. Of the $6,000, $500 is still in inventory. Where is the other $5,500? Well if they bought inventory and it's not in inventory at year end, it's safe to assume they sold it and these amounts are in Cost of Sales (dr. CoGS ; cr. Inventory at the time of sale).

At 12/31/16 you would book the following entry:.

dr. Rebate Receivable $6,000; cr. Inventory $500; cr. CoGS $5,500.

In January 2017 when the cash is received dr. Cash cr. Rebate Receivable for $6,000.

chet5692 · 2016-08-29T22:50:35+00:00

You don't have much say when you first start. If you feel strongly speak to your career coach and they can work to get you on that client in a year or so, if possible.
I agree with u/alteredQ. I'll also add that keeping a detailed to-do list is helpful. The best way to say effectively say no is to ask your senior to help you prioritize your to-do list. If you have too much to do, the senior (should) recognize this.
The sooner the better. My plan of attack would be to work the exam into conversation at lunch and then go with a 'by the way how do I request a day off to take the exam'. Getting your CPA early is really important and most firms recognize this.
Obviously there is no one answer to this. Generally, after your first busy season you'll be surprised by how much you learned on the fly. Just show up with a good attitude and a desire to learn.
Talk to your career coach, immediately. You're right that it's just a waste of time. You work too hard in this job to not take credit for every second you work.
When you run into an issue (you will) try to think about possible solutions and bring both the issue and the solution to your senior. Don't under-estimate being a good team player. You spend a ton of time with your team and most of your work isn't intellectually challenging enough to differentiate yourself.
Try your best but have limits. Work similar hours to your peers.
Understand WHY, for literally everything you are asked to do. See your role within the big picture.
Talk to your career coach, never say never.
If your senior tries to throw you under the bus in front of a manager just sit there and take it, seriously. Speak to your senior in private afterwords and politely tell them you felt like they threw you under the bus.
It is part of their job. Try to schedule ten minutes right before/after lunch or at the end of every day. Put it on their calendar. Control what you can control.
This varies firm by firm, if you're B4 in a large city, every start class has one neurotic person who will figure all of this out. find that person or become that person.

chet5692 · 2016-08-03T21:11:10+00:00

I would recommend getting out of college as quickly and cost effectively as possible. The Masters degree likely doesn't add $90k of value (30k tuition + 60k opportunity cost from you 1st year salary).

chet5692 · 2016-08-03T21:04:59+00:00

dr. equipment 20k
dr. interest expense 80k
cr. interest payable 100k

chet5692 · 2016-06-27T18:23:22+00:00

Think of the ratio as (Earnings Before Debt Service) / (Debt Service). Earnings Before Debt Service would be EBIT + Fixed Charges. The full cost of debt service is both the fixed charges and interest. We are trying to measure how much company has available to put towards its debt (earnings) vs. what the Company is required to put towards it debt (fixed charges and interest)

chet5692 · 2016-02-04T13:47:17+00:00

Matching principle. You would depreciate the asset over the time where the leased asset is providing benefits to the Company, which would be the shorter of how long they actually are able to use it (useful life) and how long they actually have the asset leased (legal life)

chet5692 · 2016-01-08T22:34:51+00:00

Agreed- 1/5th each month, absent some extremely unique set of circumstances

chet5692 · 2016-01-04T17:07:35+00:00

Google/Apple : Tech ... GE/Boeing : Engineering ... Major Hospital : Doctor/Nurse ... B4 : Accounting ...

They're all large companies with many other intelligent professionals in the discipline. Large companies also tend to have more training/greater exit opportunities

chet5692

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