The accounting firms also have huge international networks of offices, dwarfing those of even the biggest law firms.
Further, why, out of all the accounting firms in the world, did the pension choose an accountant that was not independent?
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The accounting firms have traditionally been considered pretty boring and mundane.
Yet they believe that the accounting firms will never be able to attract the very best lawyers needed to compete at the top of the market.
There is already no shortage of finger-pointing going on between HP, Autonomy and the accounting firms which were involved in the due diligence prior to the close of the transaction.
The accounting firms are cock-a-hoop at Mr Pitt's appointment: they hope that the unsatisfactory compromise reached with Mr Levitt will now come undone to their benefit, if not to that of investors.
In the absence of possible remedies, the OFT doesn't yet want to put the Competition Commission and the accounting firms to all the cost and bother of a lengthy and expensive probe.
Some in Congress have also called on Harvey Pitt, the chairman of the SEC, to resign, arguing that his background as a securities lawyer and lobbyist for the big accounting firms is a conflict of interest that limits his ability to take the right action.
But although the OFT has deep concerns about the stranglehold of the Big Four accounting firms over the business of auditing big companies, it is not quite sure what the remedies might be.
Several overtime lawsuits are pending against some of the major accounting firms doing business in California.
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Not so long ago, all of the big accounting firms were full-bore tax shelter merchants.
Much of the mischief by accounting firms stems from the dual role they often play: as auditors sworn to serve shareholders and as consultants paid much more to please management.
The big accounting firms have gigantic PACs and, yes, they focus their fundraising efforts and revolving-door hiring practices (both internally and at the lobbying firms they hire) on key leadership positions in the Senate and House and on the banking and financial services committee (on both sides of the aisle).
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The audits from small accounting firms in the Caribbean are probably as worthless as the referenced CDs.
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By becoming a thought leader, which for the greater majority of accounting firms is the optimal business development methodology, you can seriously super-charge your practice.
PwC came to this conclusion after consulting with three of the other big accounting firms and each firm indicated that the unit didn't qualify for off-balance sheet treatment, the suit says.
Despite disagreement about how to tackle globalisation, there is universal agreement that the big five accounting firms represent little threat, except in the specialist area of tax advice.
The more likely explanation here involves a mix of factors: SOX procedures and the incentives of professionals and accounting firms, the shifting focus of law enforcement, and a more subtle shift in the manner in which public companies may be reacting to accounting controversies.
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He brought in outsiders, the Big Four international accounting firms, to clean up the scandal-wracked, too often corrupt finances of the Vatican Bank.
Bank of New York, which was founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, America's first Treasury secretary, knows that hostile acquisitions are rarely able to use an accounting process known as pooling, which is much kinder to the profitability of the combined firms than the alternative acquisition accounting.
As for the viability of these funds, managers, with the collaboration of actuaries, accounting firms and bankers invested the funds in progressively more risky ventures in order to get higher yields to further reduce the participation of the employers to the pension funds.
The big four accounting firms have grown to be like big, bad global corporations dominating too much.
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The global network structure of the largest public accounting firms sells a brand image of strength, confidence, and cross-border seamless service delivery.
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The global public accounting firms have organization and process flow charts that describe governance structures and communications protocols within their global network structure.
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Most of the other global accounting firms have also separated their consulting arms from their audit divisions in an attempt to restore confidence in audited financial statements.
Unlike Enron itself, which seems likely to liquidate (though it may have a future under a different name), Andersen, one of the Big Five accounting firms, has a future as a going concern.
The law, her firm believes, leaves US investors in foreign companies traded on US exchanges with little recourse when they reasonably rely on audits certified by foreign affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms.
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The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, which has been looking into the matter, has said that it will examine the role of the big four accounting firms including PwC in helping firms minimise their tax bills.
While such a toe-the-line decision would generate sighs of relief in the boardrooms of otherwise culpable investment banks, accounting firms and law firms, it is the groans of disappointment at the kitchen tables of victimized shareholders that should ultimately resonate more loudly.
For example, one of the biggest growth areas for accounting firms is providing family office services to the ultra-affluent.
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