KPMG Puns

FYI. This is happening effective April 1.

7k for seniors, managers and ADs

5k for SM, and all other directors

3k for associates.

2k for all others.

It’s been interesting for the past few weeks to follow the ongoing Financial Reporting Council (FRC, the UK’s equivalent of the PCAOB) investigation into KMPG’s auditing of Carillion. Actually, there are three separate FRC investigations, the latest is specifically into the FRC’s allegation of false and/or misleading information provided by KMPG during audit quality inspections (something KPMG has apparently admitted to. ).

From what I can tell so far, those involved have been attempting to throw each other under the bus at every level:

1. KPMG deploying the usual Big 4 ‘no real issue with audit, this was all individual bad actors and everyone who did something bad has already left’ excuse
2. Audit partner (or at least his barrister on his behalf) says he was a ‘patsy’, who ‘placed his trust and confidence in [the junior members of the team] and feels let down’
3. Meanwhile the senior manager says the partner instructed him to increase the testing threshold for contracts from £300,000 to £1.5 million, presumably to avoid having to look into them, and he was just following orders (same link)
4. The most junior member of the team (also getting thrown under the bus apparently) denies doing anything wrong on the grounds that he didn’t actually know what he was doing. In 2017 he was passed and told to urgently type up hand-written notes minuting a meeting of KPMG and foreign Carillion investors. These were then sold by higher-ups to the FRC as having been produced in 2016. It’s not clear from the link whether the hand-written notes were actually written in 2016 and only documented in 2017, or whether it was all just made up after the fact. Either way he claims he had no idea he was falsifying documentation. This is the guy I feel most sorry for.

For those who don’t know, Carillion did a lot of contract work for the British government. It had 450 contracts to repair and service accommodation for UK military personnel, provide facilities management to British prisons and the Offender Management Service, road and rail construction projects for local councils and HS2 (a new high-speed railway between London and Manchester…hopefully), and catering and facili

I have job offers as a Transaction Advisory Senior Associate for KPMG and an Equity Research Associate for RBC.

I’m an ex auditor who realized my passion is more for finance, not accounting. I’m not sure exactly what I want out of my career, so I’m curious which one has better exit ops in general and which would make me more competitive for a T-15 MBA (should I go that route). Base comp is fairly similar, though I imagine the ER route would be better with bonus.

Any thoughts?

TL;DR: A number of the risk/concerns for Luckin settled: Luckin will exit Ch15 soon! It will try relisting as hinted by the new majority owner Centurium after acquiring ALL of Lu's shares together with IDG and Ares SSG; RSA Restructuring Effective Date is Jan 28. So hold on dearly to your shares - we'll soon see better days!

Full version: Many things happened for Luckin during the last 10 days. The SP shot up to $12.7 and dropped back to $8.6. In the end today we're pretty much where we ended 10 days ago or end of 2021 - not too bad considering the market condition, unless we consider the missed opportunities.

So here are a summary of important events:

1. On Jan. 19 after 11:30 am or so, Financial Times published an article on Luckin which I summarized here. It's very good news, and stock price shot up from $10 to $12.7 before closing at $11.5. The most promising item: Luckin is planning to relist as early as end of 2022.
2. On Jan. 19 night (Jan 20 Beijing time), a lot of Chinese media reported that Luckin management dismissed the FT news' report on the relisting as 不属实 "Not Factual". We initially were not too concerned over this - I even joked that maybe it's Not Factual because Luckin plans to relist earlier than that - and there's no official news release from Luckin to confirm that they even said that. However, market reacted swift and strong. The next 3 days, Luckin dropped 23% on heavy volume (far exceeding the volume on the rally caused the FT report) to $8.87, much lower than even before the FT report. Moreover, yesterday after the Centurium news, stock jumped 12% at the open but got sold into closing 2% down, again on way heavier volume than average.
3. This point is a rant - but an informative and interesting one. Skip it if you want or read on if you care to: Frankly, I'm still fuming over the lost opportunity here on #2 above. I was absolutely stunned as to why Luckin management will respond so swiftly to a media report and denied the relisting news as not factual. Frankly in the past Luckin tried not to release anything other than absolutely necessary, and always through press release. The only time since the fraud when Luckin responded to media/speculation as I recall was when a lot of us became concerned over poison pill/EGM effectively helping Centurium gain a dangerously large # of votes to close to enable unilateral privatizatio

Well looks like KPMG decided to make it so staff must spend a minimum of two days per week in the office and it appears the management is trying to force it despite the rise in the Omicron variant in the UK.

Interestingly enough there appears to be no room for negotiation over this and I highly doubt staff requested for everyone to be in the office for a minimum of 2 days but instead wanted the flexibility of both WFH and coming into this office.

I also think this is probably a move in the hopes of transitioning back to full-time office work for the upcoming busy season

I thought I'd post it since once again KPMG seems to be very keen to shout to the rooftops when they are making a publicly popular move ie not advising staff to come into the office when Boris lifted restrictions but then to suddenly move in silence over a massively unpopular move so they don't look bad.

https://preview.redd.it/bib2lw1etj281.jpg?width=1625&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed9d1a727affa6c4578c20eb5f91d6319325583e

In the January 2022 edition of the North Carolina State Board of CPA's, KPMG LLP was fined $29,000 for employees cheating on their CPE.

Partner Chad Alan Barba was censured as well.

https://nccpaboard.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/01-2022-Activity-Review.pdf

Report by Laura Benitez, Bloomberg Markets;

'Italian football club FC Internazionale Milano SpA may pay considerably more than its existing interest rate for a new bond, in a sign of the market’s rising unease with risky credits. The club, which suffered a rating downgrade deeper into junk since it last sold debt in 2017, may pay as much as 7% for a 415 million-euro bond ($464 million), according to people familiar with the deal. The new bond will refinance an outstanding debt that pays just 4.875%. The investor meetings which were arranged by Goldman Sachs concluded on Wednesday and the final price on the bond is yet to be set.

Inter Milan needs to keep raising cash to fund operations while its majority shareholder, Suning Holdings Group Co., attempts to bring in more financial backers after securing a loan of 275 million euros from Oaktree Capital in May 2021. The club is opting to raise debt on the public markets, unlike its rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City, which issued loans and privately placed bonds even though they typically require higher coupons.

Global markets are in a risk-off mood, following the comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling an interest-rate hike as early as March. The cost of insuring European junk-rated debt jumped as much as 14 basis points on Thursday morning as investors retreated from buying risky assets.

But even before the Fed’s meeting, the unofficial guidance investors saw in the marketing process was in the low-to-mid 6% range, because the market sought compensation for the club’s financial risks. That pricing, however, would’ve been significantly higher than the 4.5% average for comparably-rated -- single B -- companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The higher costs could hurt the group’s balance sheet as it attempts to improve its capital structure following the damaging impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the club’s finances.

Investors noted the limited collateral that the company can pledge as assets. They own the training complex but not the headquarters, or the stadium, said Mark Benbow a high-yield fund manager at Aegon Asset Management, who passed on buying the new bonds.

“It’s tricky because the business is run for trophies and not cashflow,” he said.Sauce

After resigning I never got sent my off-boarding information. Anyone have an idea how/who to reach out to for my W2?

Didn't see a thread started yet, so figured I'd try getting the conversation started. Y'all know the drill:

• Service Line
• Office/City/COL
• Former Level -> Current Level
• Former Salary -> Current Salary
• VC Amount or Percentage
• Any other info you got from your comp communicator
• How do you feel about your numbers?

I work as an intermediate A&A at BDO Canada, just got the promotion a month ago. No CPA but have passed CFE. I make 49k in a LCOL area that is inhospitable due to cold weather for about 3 months of the year. Which is why this opportunity is particularly appealing as I can't stand the cold weather.

Anyway, I wanted to know if anyone has had a similar experience as an expat, what to expect for cost of living, work life balance, and compensation. Was this opportunity worth it to you and why?

Hello

I have a summer internship at KPMG for 2022, and I am curious about the Lakehouse.

Is it a place that an intern like me would go to? If yes for how long, and would they pay for my plane tickets and for me to stay there? Would it be during my internship, and if yes, would I still be working there? Is it worth it to go?

Sorry if these sound like dumb questions, I could not find much information about it on their website in regards to how it works for employees/interns.

And why did she cause such a stir? I was listening to Classic Hits 4FM a few days ago and Niall Boylan mentioned the KPMG Girl and the harrasment that she received. I've been in Ireland since 2009 and never heard of her (and I'm quite active on social media) so it can't have been that bad.

Why though was a drunk girl who embarrased herself newsworthy?

Would anyone know when KPMG's work from home policy will end? I will be joining the Operations Consulting team in September as part of the graduate scheme (UK).

Furthermore, is it common for graduates to drop out/want to change office locations before the Autumn start?

Hi All,

I have been interviewing with KPMG Canada and have been asked to select 3-5 offices which I would consider my top 5 preferences. Based solely on location I have selected Ottawa, Windsor, and Hamilton as preferences, but want reddit's opinion from those who are currently with KPMG for the various offices in Canada. Nothing north of Edmonton, nor with hours or COL of Toronto.

Point to include if useful: I am not from Canada nor living there currently.

Hello. I have a interview for KPMGs finance transformation associate position and was wondering what to expect as far as technical questions or a case study. Is there anything specific I should be prepared for? Thanks

Title post

EDIT: Since many of you asked for my nationality, I'm a South Korean. Do "Asians" in general get paid less?

Anybody know the interview process for experienced hires for EVS in KPMG? I had a phone screen and my recruiter set me up with an interview with a senior manager. I completed that interview and 1-2 hours after, my recruiter asked for my availability to set up another interview with a different senior manager. In the email, the recruiter said that the first person I interviewed with suggested I meet with this other senior manager. How many rounds are left in this process?

Some background, I am an MIS major that will be graduating in the spring of 2022. I go to a pretty good school, my gpa is above a 3.5 ( not that it matters in most cases) and I had an internship experience with HPE as a data analyst intern.

Recently I got a job offer with KPMG as a Technology assurance audit associate. Pay is great and it looks like a great company. I enjoyed my interview as well. But I’m not sure if this job will help me expand my technological abilities? I do have experience coding, and I did put in work for my mis degree with some technical courses. I guess my dilemma is I don’t want to stray away from my skills - id like to Improve them and learn some new ones because well, that’s what i got my MIS degree for. But I’m not sure if this job will actually have any technological components to it. Any help/ advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've tried Google and Reddit searches but all that really comes up when I type in "KPMG Dublin" is an intoxicated female.

Any input would be amazing, thanks!

Here we go! Compensation calls and compensation statements are being sent out by KPMG Canada this week/next week.

You know the drill:

1. Office/Region/Approximate COL
2. Service Line
3. FY21 Level -> FY22 Level (Staff 1> Staff 2, Staff 2>Senior 1, Senior 1> Senior 2, Senior 2>M1, etc)
4. Rating (below/met/above/significantly above expectations or dial position)
5. Old Salary -> New Salary
6. Bonus
7. Thoughts?

Hello! I got an offer to join the KPMG in Orlando as a business analyst for tax. Now, for background, I have 0 experience in this field. I do not have a college degree and currently is working for Disney. My work experience has been customer service/call center, and retail background. I received a message from a recruiter via LinkedIn, and took the opportunity to go through the interview process. I am quite tech savvy, and usually am good with operating computer systems, so this was interesting. While I am excited, and can't wait, there are a few things that are making me nervous. I only got offered $17/hr. Now I make just a dollar and some change more where I'm at right now, but saw the perks of having time off during July 4th week, and the Christmas break as a plus. Also, the potential of learning and growing with the company, and getting exposure by working for one the Big4. I attempted to negotiate the salary, but was denied. I see a lot of people here and other reddit communities say they are being offered $50K-$70K. Seeing as I do not have a degree, I understand I shouldn't expect such offers, but I at least wanted $2K-$3K more. I already accepted the offer. Now, does anyone have experience with the company who can give me some advise as to how to improve my salary within the year? Are there any bonuses, or how much of a raise is to be expected after a year? Any advice would be appreciated.

Anybody familiar with the Valuation hiring process for the tax department? I submitted my application 1/12/22 and the same day a recruiter reached out to me via email. We set up a phone screening for the following day 1/13 and I thought it went well. Towards the end of the call he said he would forward my resume to the HR manager and that hopefully they would get back to me by the end of day or tomorrow (1/14), the latest 1/18 so that we could set up Microsoft teams interviews. I still haven’t heard back. Is all hope lost? I get that some people are busy but am I overthinking it?

I enjoyed the work despite the long hours and the friendships you make along the way; however, I was being pestered by a colleague who started at the same time as me. They sent me disturbing messages via Skype and my work phone and after they refused to stop, I eventually built up the courage to speak to HR.

I met with a member of HR and showed him the messages. He told me he would have to make a call and then explained that there was nothing KPMG could do because he argued that for it to be harassment the person had to have a position of power over me and as they were my colleague and has started at the same time it did not count as sexual harassment in Luxembourg. I later found out this wasn't true and a lawyer explained that KPMG did this so they didn't have to formally record my complaint.

Looking back on it now I can see that a lot of what they did was to avoid a paper trail such as only talking about it with me over the phone or in person.

Despite this I continued to work hard and was excited to be told that I had passed my trial period just before Christmas, all my colleagues and managers have given me positive feedback and I was looking forward to continuing with KPMG.

This was why I was utterly blindsided when I was told that KPMG had decided not to validate my trial period. The partner and HR representative had waited until the last possible working hour and day to terminate my trial period and just as I was packing up to go home, I got a call to meet with them. They impatiently told me that whilst I had good feedback, they felt there was a “mindset” problem. My KPMG belongings were taken, and I was escorted from the building.

Later I was told by a senior manager that they had refused to validate me due to an “HR issue.” Given the skill of how easily they removed me after my complaint, it appears that this is probably a widespread issue and I hope by explaining what happened I can warn others about KPMG Luxembourg.

It also highlighted to me how incredibly difficult Luxembourg makes it for anyone reporting harassment. Firstly it is an outright crime to screenshot or save anything from your company so you can't collect evidence, you need to build the case yourself as no government organisation helps and to win a case you need several eyewitnesses, which even if the abuse happened like that, nobody would dare come forward lest they also get fired. Also, even after all that the very most you can claim is a few weeks of missing salary between