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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Sec And Accounting, In Part Through The Eyes Of Pacioli, Matthew J. Barrett
The Sec And Accounting, In Part Through The Eyes Of Pacioli, Matthew J. Barrett
Journal Articles
As part of a symposium marking the seventieth anniversary of the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, this article pulls together two threads, namely Luca Pacioli's prominence in accounting and the importance of the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) requirements that seek to give investors an opportunity to view a public company through the eyes of management, to evaluate the SEC's record on certain accounting issues. Because writers in legal journals have largely ignored Pacioli's efforts, the article begins by highlighting some of the friar's contributions to accounting precepts. The article next applies some of those precepts in a …
"Tax Services" As A Trojan Horse In The Auditor Independence Provisions Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Matthew J. Barrett
"Tax Services" As A Trojan Horse In The Auditor Independence Provisions Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Matthew J. Barrett
Journal Articles
This article argues that the failure of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOx) to prohibit auditors for public companies from also providing tax services to audit clients or their executives and selling tax shelters to anyone remains a Trojan horse that threatens both the investing public and the auditing profession. Although SOx enacted several reforms designed to enhance auditor independence, the legislation and implementing regulations that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subsequently promulgated allow an auditor for a publicly traded company to provide tax services to the company as long as the audit committee preapproves the engagement.
As the …
Enron, Accounting, And Lawyers, Matthew J. Barrett
Enron, Accounting, And Lawyers, Matthew J. Barrett
Journal Articles
Enron's collapse painfully illustrates the importance of financial accounting to all lawyers. Accounting is often referred to as "the language of business." Virtually every lawyer represents businesses, their owners, or clients with adverse legal interests, such as creditors and customers. Especially after Enron, lawyers cannot competently represent clients if they do not grasp certain basic principles about accounting. This article lists the top ten accounting lessons that any lawyer could learn from the scandal. These lessons include the components of a complete set of financial statements, the choices inherent in generally accepted accounting principles, the distortions possible in pro forma …