Let me preface this by saying I'm not at all an accountant or anything of the "business" type...but I am curious...

So I was reading an article about Neutrogena switching over executives and firing others and making one actually mess with the east coast and one direct a sales region or something...http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_n12_v17/ai_17138221[/link]

and anyway, so I then checked out the johnson and johnson website thinking that they had bought out Neutrogena in '94 (kind of like wal mart on a teenage facial cream scale) and read this article about how they have an independent auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, regularly meet to discuss the adequacy of internal financial controls, the quality of financial reporting, confirm that they are properly discharging their responsibilities and other relevant matters. http://www.investor.jnj.com/governance/index.cfm?textOnly=false

So I'm wondering...what are the chances that this "independent auditor" makes more money being paid OFF by J&J?

I checked out a couple of other sources and found this dude blogging about it or whatever (http://accountingethics.blogspot.com/2005/06/can-we-really-have-independent.html), but nobody is really ever willing to speak up about independent auditors. Would it be a good idea to open up a company that is an "independent auditor"? I'd probably make millions of dollars keeping my mouth shut about how Jeff Nugent banged hoes in Fiji for the fourth of july....






























Anyway...just thought I would share.[link]

11/21/2006 9:08:32 PM

hahaha wtf omarbadu

11/21/2006 9:24:05 PM

Quote :

"So I'm wondering...what are the chances that this "independent auditor" makes more money being paid OFF by J&J?"

look up 'Arthur Andersen'

11/21/2006 9:40:16 PM

why haven't you stopped posting on this board yet?

look into the Sarbanes Oxley act (mainly section 404) and the PCAOB (their inspection procedures and enfocrement division).

you're really a fucking moron

11/21/2006 9:47:32 PM

SOX did change the way independence is handled. Before an auditor goes to work on a particular he has to declare indepedence from basically any entity that is remotely affiiated with that company. In the firm that i work for, usually the senior on a job will email an "independence confirmation" a few weeks before you start that job. That confimation will contain a list of all the companies affiliated, subsidiaries....whatever...and you fill it out stating that you are independent. you cant work on a job if your not....


that said....it is possible that someone could be getting paid off...and while thats not exactly what happened with Anderson, it was basicaly the same thing....

so...meh....just rambling cause i actually know something about...something

11/21/2006 10:22:41 PM

Quote :

"look up 'Arthur Andersen'"

So you're saying 100%?

Fuck that.

It is possible, but unlikely. Right now it is a very bad time to be a crooked independent auditor with all the fallout from SOX. Some of the good stuff in the SOX legislation is being eroded by all the useless shit, but its still a very hot time to try to sell your audits. Most firms now are worried about their reputations, and try very hard not to allow the kind of single-firm dependency that led to the Arthur Anderson fiasco.

So, to answer your bolded question: Sure, it is possible.

11/21/2006 10:43:59 PM

Quote :

"So, to answer your bolded question: Sure, it is possible."

I second this comment. Sure, it's possible, but these firms are in large part, staking their very existence on their integrity in conducting a proper, independent audit. If anything were to bring into question that independence, then it would be a death knell to the firm... like Arthur Andersen. Think about it, the actions of a small group of individuals over a short span of time destroying what had been a highly respected firm of 85,000 employees.

While it is possible that you could hide a few bad eggs for a while, if there is a pattern of corruption within the corporate culture, it's going to come out eventually, and when it does, fairly or unfairly, it'll destroy the entire company.

11/22/2006 9:31:52 AM