Confessions of an Accountant

"...you would be amazed (or maybe you wouldn’t) how many of these CFO’s and Controller types were basically dismissed because they would not cook the books in some manner.

Now maybe I have told you that I was asked to resign...because I refused to book a revenue entry for over a million dollars which was unsupported and the CFO...blew up with me when I asked him to send a memo telling me to record it. Funny, a few years and one acquisition later it melted down as one of the biggest accounting frauds in US history.

My next gig as the CFO for a NYSE company I basically walked in and found what I would consider a $60 million dollar accounting fraud in one day (once again a mark to market issue draining cash flow and sucking the company into a dark hole). Corrected that accounting problem and the company began to prosper but since I thought the board and upper management was so corrupt I left (Chairman of the Audit Committee was found guilty at another large company for back dating options).

The next public company where not only was I the CFO but prior to that a board member, I was basically asked to resign ...after I pointed out what the board was asking me to do was basically wire fraud...

There is lots of bitterness out there with the straight shooting finance people. Many of them find themselves unemployable. This stretches from banks, Private Equity, Investment Banking, through the large accounting firms to senior finance people...

Right before Enron and MCI blew-up, I actually had a BS HR person tell me I was not flexible enough. ...Bankers and Companies only hire the weakest and most pliable senior finance executives they can find.

...A while back I was at a networking meeting with a large group of CFO and ex-CFO’s. I asked this group how many thought that most CEO’s wanted a weak CFO working for them. Approximately 70% of the attendees raised their hand! You have to remember that the only person who had steady access to the Board is the CFO.

The point, the middle class is becoming torn and frayed and there is real anger out there. The common belief is that only the liars and thieves are moving ahead in this country."

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rot-within-2010-10#ixzz12SK3IZlb