Category: Finance

Finance is not just about the management of money. It covers broader subjects that include, accounting, taxation , investments, analysis, etc.

Bear Stearns at 2.4% of Book Value

Could this be how bad the recession in the US is right now?

Bear Stearns Cos., one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and and brokerage firms in the world, entered into a deal to sell its business to JP Morgan Chase & Co., another investment banking company, for 236 million dollars or equivalent to $2 per share, which translates to only around 2.4% of its book value.

Bloomberg and other business news magazines and websites are all over the issue.

To illustrate how bad this deal is, the deal was sealed last Sunday (March 16, 2008) at $2, Bear Stearns stock last Friday (March 14) was trading at $30, more than $60 last week, and more than $150 last year. Moreover, the Company reported a book value of $84.09 in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Continue reading Bear Stearns at 2.4% of Book Value

CIA Exam November 2007

The official results of the November 2007 Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Exams for Philippines candidates are out, although the news are not yet included in the News and Events section of the IIA Philippines website as of this post. Results are also available for CFSA (Certified Financial Services Auditor) and CCSA (Certification for Control Self-Assessment) examinations.

PDF Icon The Gold Medal Award (Top 1), two of the Certificate of Excellence awards (Top 5), and nine of the Certificate of Honor awards (Top 25) were garnered by Filipinos. This means that aside from the Top 1, 40% of the Top 5 and 36% of the Top 25 were Filipinos!

Click PDF icon to download the results in PDF format.

Now that’s what you call Filipino excellence!

Ex-Deloitte Philippines Information Hub

The Ex-Deloitte Philippines Information Hub is officially launched. No cutting of ribbons, really. Just putting up the website online.

The site was designed to cater to the former C.L. Manabat & Co. (Deloitte – Philippines) professionals, wherever side of the world they currently are, as a common online hang out. A community where former officemates may meet and greet each other, discuss in forums and topics of common interests, and reminisce the moments we shared during our long or even short stints in the firm.

So, calling all ex-CLMC employees to register and sign-up now for a new account. I look forward to meeting you there.

The Letter Says: “Passed”

Foreword: The registrar transfer for the domain name, “deuts.net”, is really giving me headaches. I can’t wait for the 7 days buffer before the losing registrar actually releases the domain name to the new one. So, we may encounter problems related to this transfer, such as we may sometimes find this site offline.

Anyway, let’s get to the real purpose of this post. Just received my letter today. It was dated January 23, 2008 and this is what it has to say:

Thank you for you participation in the November 2007 Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exam. Your results are listed below:

PART I PART II PART III PART IV
PASSED PASSED PASSED PREVIOUSLY PASSED

At your service,

Jorelle O. Tuvillo, CPA, CIA

The Big Four

It’s interesting to note how the Big 8 was cut down into the Big 4. Read how.

The firms were called the Big 8 in the 1970s and 1980s, reflecting the international dominance of the eight largest accountancy firms:

  1. Arthur Andersen
  2. Arthur Young & Company
  3. Coopers & Lybrand
  4. Ernst & Whinney (formerly Ernst & Ernst)
  5. Haskins & Sells (merged with the European firm Deloitte Plender Griffiths to become Deloitte, Haskins and Sells)
  6. KPMG (formed by merger of Peat Marwick International and KMG Group)
  7. Price Waterhouse
  8. Touche Ross

Continue reading The Big Four

The Desperate Episode

Here is the Desperate Housewives episode that made controversial headlines especially in the Philippines:

Desperate Housewives – Philippine Med Schools

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4thLBKkm4]

This is an issue of racial descrimination. But what’s my take on this issue?

There are a very few movies or tv series (if there is any, indeed) related to accounting or the lives of professional accountants, very rare is the opportunity to demonstrate the descrimination against Filipino CPA’s or accounting professionals in movies or tv series.

What do you think? hehe

Accountancy-Related Youtube Videos

Deloitte Tax Level 4
DNN (Deloitte News Network) patterned to that of CNN. I like best the weather report.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozuNdfsOxRQ]

Sarbane’s Oxley Film Trailer
What happens when you mix a little corporate misconduct with a lot of misconduct of your own? …Mistresses, Mergers & Mayhem! According to IMDb:

Sarbane’s Oxley is set against the backdrop of today’s top business headlines and highlights the lives affected by the acquisition of a Wall Street technology startup. Robert, a young attorney new to the Wall Street scene, must grapple with his inner conscious and the invisible forces of corruption surrounding him while dealing with the equally challenging and deceptive forces taking hold in his sordid love life

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4opn7E0pPo]

Funny Accountant – Rufus Payne
Accountants One’s 2006 Search for Atlanta’s Funniest Accountant. Rufus Payne, is the comedian/accountant in this clip

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdL1K48K2s]

And finally, my favorite:

Auditor has the Will to WIn

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuGBEhGj6DM]

Purpose of Financial Statements

According to paragraph 7 IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements,

The objective of general purpose financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of an entity that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions.

Yeah, that’s right, it should be useful to a “wide range of users in making economic decisions”, and not to “an auditor in forming an audit opinion”.

You don’t make the financial statements a working paper to document your understanding of the business. Sometimes it pays when you just stick to practicality.

I hope I made myself clear.

Cebu CPAR Center

I didn’t know that such review center, Cebu CPAR Review, exists until of late. I’m not sure how they are related to CPAR in Manila, as they adopt the same name CPAR. But at least they have a website to offer some information about the institution, unlike its Manila counterpart and even the other review centers in Manila.

Browsing through the site, I’ve noted that:

  1. They are using Mambo as their CMS platform.
  2. It was their second batch that took the October 2006 exams.
  3. The roll of reviewers include former CPAR-Manila reviewers as well, namely:
    • Jekell Salosagcol
    • Hilario Tan
    • Michael Tiu
    • Almanzor Macmod
    • Apolinario Bobadilla

The CPA Licensure examination is one of the most difficult professional examinations in the Philippines today. Considering the gap between your undergraduate preparation and this licensure examination, successful completion of the 4-year BSA Course could not guarantee your passing. It is therefore our great honor and pleasure to fill this gap, serve you and help you become a CPA.