Restatement of Huron Consulting Group, Inc.: The Effect on Financial Statement and the Affect on Stockholders
Abstract
Huron Consulting Group, Inc. provides business consulting services in diverse industries in regard to improving performance, complying with complex regulations, resolving disputes, recovering from distress, leveraging technology, and stimulating growth. On July 31, 2009, the Company made the announcement that it will restate its financial statements for the fiscal years 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 due to the accounting of acquisition related payments discovered by the audit committee of the board of directors. Huron Consulting Group, Inc. through the acquisition of additional businesses
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Affect on Stockholders Stockholders took a significant hit from the events relating to the restatement with earnings per share dropping an estimated average of 42% over the restatement period. The price of the company’s stock also fell. Prior to the discovery, Huron’s stock had reached an artificially inflated price of $83.25 per share and fell to a low of $13.69 per share after the restatement announcement, the unrelated SEC inquiry and the resignation of the company’s CEO, CFO, and CAO. The stock’s decline in value relating to these events triggered other issues and pending liabilities for the company. Persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Huron between April 27, 2006 and July 31, 2009, filed a class action lawsuit against Huron and certain officers for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Conclusion “No business, large or small, is immune from errors” (Keiso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2007, p. 1166). Huron Consulting Group Inc. is no exception. Unfortunately, the experience of Huron’s Accounting and Financial Consulting segment, which helps its clients with accounting and financial reporting matters, financial analysis in business disputes, international arbitration and litigation as well as valuation analysis related to business acquisitions did not provide them
In looking at the suit filed by Anheuser, we can closer examine how Anheuser- Busch was damaged through the actions taken by Mr. Thayer. Anytime that an insider trading scandal takes place, there is always damages and repercussions. The most identifiable damage is that of money and capital. Anheuser-Busch paid nearly $40 million more for the acquisition of Campbell Taggart due to the active trading of Mr. Thayer, and the rest of the insiders. It is easily identifiable, that one damage to Anheuser-Busch was a $40 million dollar excess payment to acquire Campbell Taggart. By exploring and understanding capital markets, we find other monetary damages to Anheuser-Busch. These damages come from the cost of ongoing lawsuits with the SEC as well as with the defendants, Paul Thayer, and the other insiders. Another monetary damage from the effects of the insider trading is the allocation of management resources during the legal battles and
Professional auditing standards identify 5 “management assertions” that commonly underlie a set of financial statements. These 5 assertions are: occurrence, completeness, valuation/allocation, rights/obligations, and presentation/disclosure. With respect to the audit of Paragon’s construction project, some of these key assertions were overlooked by auditor Arthur Anderson. The main assertions that Anderson should have focused on for this audit include occurrence, valuation, and disclosure.
In accounting there is much to be learned, about the financial aspects of a business. In the past five weeks I have learned the importance of financial reports and how they relate to the success of an establishment. These reports may include balance sheets and income statements, which help accountants and the public grasp the overall financial condition of a company. The information in these reports is really significant to, managers, owners, employees, and investors. Managers of a business can take and deduce financial
The Molex Corporation is an electronic connector manufacturing firm, which is based in Illinois. This company is facing a financial reporting problem in which the financial statements were overstated. Joe King ,the CEO of the company, was appointed in July of 2001, and was responsible for managing and inventory control, among other very important duties. Diane Bullock was hired in 2003, to replace the previous CFO. Both Bullock and King were being accused of what? by the external auditors, Deloitte & Touche, for not disclosing an 8 million pre-tax inventory valuation error.
Fraser, L. M., & Ormiston, A. (201). Understanding financial statements (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Organizational misconduct is the chief cause behind corporate accounting scandals. The trusted executives of the corporation participation in actions during a scandal are corrupt and illegal. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is typically the government agency that investigates such scandals. One of the most notorious corporate accounting scandals in the United States is the HealthSouth Corporation scandal of 2003. HealthSouth Corporation is one of the United States largest health care providers with locations nationwide. A deeper inspection of the HealthSouth scandal is needed to understand how it transpired by assessing how it was executed, the accounting issues and root of the issue, how it was exposed, the results to the company and its officers, and warranted ramifications as an outcome of the scandal.
Overview of the Case: The Securities and Exchange Commission claims Mark D. Begelman misused proprietary information regarding the merger of Bluegreen Corporation with BFC Financial Corporation. Mr. Begelman allegedly learned of the acquisition through a network of professional connections known as the World Presidents’ Organization (Maglich). Members of this organization freely share non-public business information with other members in confidence; however, Mr. Begelman allegedly did not abide by the organization’s mandate of secrecy and leveraged private information into a lucrative security transaction. As stated in the summary of the case by the SEC, “Mark D. Begelman, a member of the World Presidents’ Organization (“WPO”), abused
A dedicated, self-motivated business professional with diverse experience in customer relations and consulting. Excellent communication and technological skills. Equally comfortable working independently or as a member of a team. Proven skills as a team leader, strategic thinker, and excellent listener. Seeking a challenging consulting analyst position within Huron Consulting Group Inc. in order to utilize my expertise in communication and business analytics to build strong business relationships and enhance development within a company. Technically proficient in CSS, HTML5, Learning Management Systems, Mac OSX, MS Office Suite, PeopleSoft, Photoshop, QuickBooks, SharePoint, SQL, Student Information Systems, and Windows
This memo is regarding Hamilton Corporation and the fraud that occurred. When people make decisions they don’t always do it with the right mindset. There are limitations in our judgment processes and we can identify methods to mitigate bias and improve judgment (KPMG Judgment Framework). The four common tendencies that cause limitations in our judgment processes are, availability, confirmation, overconfidence, and anchoring. In this memo I will explain each of the four tendencies, talk about which tendency I believe to have manifested in the Hamilton case, clarify issues relating to auditing the warranty reserve and describe the alternatives that should be considered in auditing the warranty reserve, and finally provide factors that
Financial reporting in the recent years through the SEC mandates has become one of the most important aspects to corporate management. Stamford International's problem is inherent in the discrepancy in reporting system and accounting irregularities from the various aspects of the business. Not only has this but Stamford, due to rapid growth not been able to accommodate for the expansionary activities like acquisitions of units and international transactions. The result has been the experience of loss in earnings-per-share. In the following analysis, the researcher thus will outline some of the problems that Stamford should address and resolve accordingly to be able to post a positive quarterly report and remain compliant with the
This case analysis commences by explaining the type of accounting officer needed to execute the job functions for the client, Big Spenders Inc. The next objective will be to examine the income statements of the two prospective business entities that the client intends to choose from concerning investment – in order to diversify its portfolio. The strategies that will be explored in terms of the analysis of the income statements includes the computation of (i) operation profit margin, (ii) gross margin, (iii) net profit margin, and (iv) return on equity – for both companies of interest. The results of examinations will put the accountant in a position to make sounds recommendation to his superior at BUSI 1043 LLP, so that Big Spenders Inc. can be properly guided.
During the performance of this integrated audit, require numerous judgments about the internal control and overall financial reporting and how well it addresses risks of material misstatements within the financial statements (AICPA, 2014). After re-evaluating the previous errors found from the previous audit, the audit team found the corrective actions to be appropriate and justified in elimination of human error by implementing additional checks and balances within the manual process. No additional misstatements have been found and all internal controls off the financial reporting seem appropriate and just.
On March 19 of the year 2003, Securities and Exchange Commission brought the trading of HealthSouth to an end on the New York stock exchange, charging the company for inflating its earnings by more than 10 percent and overstated its profits by more than $2.5 billion between 1999 and 2002. HealthSouth’s trading reached to $30.81 in the year 1998, but ever since the trading of the company has been put to an end it reached to $3.91 per share. One week later, Owens pleaded guilty to changing and editing the company’s financial statements.
In response, “We voluntarily contacted the SEC regarding the Audit Committee’s review. In late August 2006, the SEC initiated an inquiry related to our historical stock option grant practices. In October 2006, we met with the SEC and provided it with a review of the status of the Audit Committee’s review. In November 2006, we voluntarily provided the SEC with additional documents. We continued to cooperate with the SEC throughout its inquiry. On October 26, 2007, the SEC formally notified us that the SEC 's investigation concerning our historical stock option granting practices had been terminated and that no enforcement action was recommended.” [12]
Additionally, the organization was scrutinized for its revenue recognition of an accident on September 30, 2010 rendering the shipment unsalable until analyzed for quality. Said accident resulted in several analysts downgrading the organization’s stock and issuing sell recommendations. Finally, such recommendations resulted in significant declines in stock prices and revocation of stock coverage. As such, questions arose as to the accuracy of revenue loss claims and aggressive accounting practices.