Professor Elam

Sol Schwartz Addresses TAMUSA Accounting Students

Friday August  31, 2018

Jason  Brudnicki CPA from and  David Higginbotham CPA addressed my BUAD 3191 class Thursday August 30.

Jason is on the audit side while David specializes in tax. Sol Schwartz PC awarded a $5,000 scholarship to TAMUSA accounting student Cindy Ruiz.  And I visited their offices for the accounting educator meeting two weeks ago.

 

Left to right we have Krystina Irvin, Experiential Director, Career Service Director Karen Ivy, Jason, and David.

 

At right Karen gave Jason and David a tour of the new Mays Career center which was designed to aid students in their interview process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students visited one on one with David and Jason after the presentation.

 

At right David visits with another student after the conclusion of the presentation.

 Sol Schwartz is a firm of some 50 individuals.

The firm recently re-located to new offices in the Forum at North I  10 and Loop 410.  Most of SA CPA firms are either on I 10, North 410, or 281/San Pedro.  The firm has a variety of clients and offers audit, tax, and consulting services.  David and Jason made an informative presentation covering CPA  qualifications to sit for the exam, the services offered by the firm, and why they enjoy public accounting.  It as clear this firm emphasizes work life balance for its employees.  Firm literature was also distributed to our students.

David and Jason,thanks so much for coming out and providing a true professional experience for our students.

TAMUSA Inks Cybersecurity Deal with Facebook

Thursday August 30 2018

TAMUSA inksdeal with FB to teach cybersecurity

SA CPA Career Workshop

Wednesday August 28

Cartoon of the Week, if no Year

Wednesday August 29, 2018

Tom Perez, Chair of the Democrat National Party, has declared that "socialism is the future of our Party!"

This cartoon on the topic says it all.  This blog is all about business, not the political science Dept.

Meet the Presenters from SolSchwartz CPAs Thursday August 30

Wednesday August 29, 2018

 

 

All TAMUSA Accounting Students are invited to  this presentation Thursday Aug 30, 2018 at 4 00 PM in  STEM 173A

Gone to Texas

Tuesday August 28, 2018

To quote Josey Wales, You might as well ride along with us, everyone else is

SA IIA Monthly Meeting

Tuesday August 28, 2018

Student should consider registering and attending these monthly meetings.

https://chapters.theiia.org/san-antonio/Events/Pages/default.aspx

The cost is $10 for students.

Hiring & Compensation Trends
Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 11:45 am - 1:00 pm
Old San Francisco (10223 Sahara St., San Antonio, TX 78216)

Learning Objectives:

This one hour course is designed to provide insight into the current hiring and compensation trends in the internal audit profession as well as other business professionals. At the end of the course, the participant will gain an understanding of:

• Hiring outlook in corporate accounting and finance, public accounting, and financial services
• Skills and positions in greatest demand
• Compensation trends
• And a preview of the Robert Half salary guide

Speaker Bios:

John Gulnac, Regional President, Robert Half

John Gulnac is a senior regional president for Robert Half, the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm. John oversees the administrative and financial operations throughout Central Texas, Kansas, and Missouri for the divisions of Accountemps, OfficeTeam, Robert Half Healthcare Practice, Robert Half Management Resources and Robert Half Finance & Accounting.

Prior to joining Robert Half, he spent the last seven years in the staffing industry focusing in the fields of accounting, finance, healthcare, and technology. In his current role, John is responsible for leading, training, and developing of both his sales and recruiting staff. He is passionate about placing highly skilled professionals with rewarding job opportunities and dedicated to helping companies find the talent they need to be successful. John graduated with honors from Ursinus College with a degree in economics.

Food:

Southwest Salad
Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Is TESLA now in Play?

Tuesday August 28 2018

On August 7 Elon Musk tweeted that he might take TSLA private at $420 a share. The SEC and everyone else wondered where he would get the $70 B to do that.  And the SEC wondered if this was just a stunt to boost the stock price.

Now Musk says TSLA will stay public.

Here is one observation about this behavior.

“Tesla investors must realize that they have a panicky, erratic, possibly self-destructive C.E.O. at the helm,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management. “No C.E.O. is ever this confused and confusing.”

A CEO should not be tweeting about the financial future of a company that still has not shown a profit.

We study good governance in ACCT 5308 and examples of the lack of that. This is the latter category.

I have wondered if TSLA will be another Tucker or DeLorean. NOw trading around $316, JPM has lowered it stock price estimate to $195.   But if a company is not making any money, how does one come up with a specific number?

Transamerica Settles with SEC for $97.6 M

Tuesday August 28, 2018

Tansamerica settled for misleading investor paying a $36.3 M civil fine and returning $61.3 M to investors.

I caught this on page B 3 of today's WSJ, did you?

Transamerica is owned by Dutch Aegon.  Investors in mutal funds, variable life, annuities and such were told decisions would be made based on Aegon's quantitative models.

Instead

The defendants did not admit or deny wrongdoing. Aegon has said it managed $982 billion of revenue-generating investments in 2017.

According to the SEC, the quantitative models had been developed by a junior analyst with no experience in portfolio management or formal training in financial modeling.

It said employees knew in advance of errors by the analyst, citing internal emails that said "we take the hit if he screws it up."

Do you suppose anyone lost his or her job over this?  And I don't mean the jr analyst, I mean the ones who knew, and deliberately misled investors.

I doubt it.  This is what good governance is all about. We study many such cases in ACCT 5308 Ethics. And again and again, a firm is caught in an  ethical violation, admits nothing, pays a few million, and goes on down the road as though nothing happened.

Is this what should happen or should executives be held personally accountable?

See our next post about governance at Tesla TSLA.

AICPA Certificate Seminar

Friday  August 24, 2018

Explore at the AICPA Certificate Programs Virtual Open House Certificates > Conferences > Publications > Self-study > Webcasts >

Opportunity is knocking. Open the door at the FREE AICPA Certificate Programs Virtual Open House.  New technologies. Emerging regulations. Shifting skillset demands. All these signify transitions in the finance and accounting profession. How do you ensure you’re ready for change?   Attend our FREE Virtual Open House on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, 1:00-3:00 pm ET.   As you visit virtual booths, representing over 20 certificate programs, you’ll be able to: Easily chat one-on-one with program experts Quickly gain a deeper understanding of the certificates available to you Identify the certificates most relevant to your career goals Create an action plan for the next step on your learning path with the AICPA Enhance your resume. Expand your career opportunities. Explore new practice areas. And show the world you’re ready for what’s coming with an AICPA certificate.   Attendees receive a discount towards their next AICPA certificate.*