A state lawmaker in Texas wants to conduct a comprehensive audit of IDEA public schools, a Weslaco-based charter school system, after news broke about questionable spending practices. Spending decisions that have recently come to light include a $900,000 severance package for former CEO Tom Torkelson, as well as other extravagant Read More
Twitter may face soon face fines of up to $250 million for privacy data violations from the Federal Trade Commission. The company received a draft complaint from the commission on July 28, alleging that the company has used phone numbers and email addresses provided for safety and security purposes, such Read More
The Financial Reporting Council, the U.K.’s financial watchdog, fined Grant Thornton 3 million pounds ($3.77 million) for ethics failures relating to its audit of Conviviality, a collapsed alcohol retailer. The firm had continuously failed in ethics over audits in the course of three years, breaching standards and requirements regularly. Grant Read More
Toy company Mattel announced this week that has completed an independent investigation, led by its audit committee, into the allegations by a whistleblower of accounting improprieties and a lack of independence by the company’s external auditor. The investigation determined that income tax expense was understated by $109 million in the Read More
It is difficult today to avoid news about allegations and subsequent investigations. First, it was a slew of high profile allegations about sexual misconduct—which continues. More recently, it’s about abuse of power in the government. And rarely a day goes by without some news of a financial fraud, bribery, or Read More
More than $8 million in construction cost increases tied to the El Paso Independent School District’s 2016 bond program did not go before the board for approval as required, according to a new internal audit report. As a result, auditors warn final costs are likely to exceed the figures the school board Read More
GUEST BLOG Internal auditors are always on the lookout for people to emulate and to learn from. Here’s one to study: John C. (Jack) Bogle. Jack Bogle, the late founder of the mutual fund company Vanguard Group, has been an American investor, business magnate, financial innovator, and philanthropist, and is Read More
A new academic research study indicates that companies with women serving as chief financial officers are significantly less likely to misreport financial results. The study, by three professors from the University of Alabama, a professor from the University of Missouri, and one from St. Louis University used a “financial statement Read More
Big Four audit firm KPMG LLP will pay $50 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges in the KPMG cheating scandal. The SEC had alleged that the firm altered past audit work after receiving stolen information about inspections of the firm that would be conducted by the Public Company Read More
It’s likely that most internal auditors and risk managers can appreciate the expression: “The more things change, they more they stay the same.” That’s because they see it in action all the time. At most companies, for example, the internal audit and risk management capabilities have improved considerably over the Read More
