By Mark Maurer Close Mark Maurer July 8, 2020 11:59 am ET , a challenge highlighted in the recent accounting scandal surrounding German electronic-payments company Wirecard AG .
The Wirecard scandal has put a spotlight on the effectiveness of company audits. Wirecard on June 18 said its auditor, Ernst & Young, couldn’t confirm the existence of $2 billion meant to be stored in trust accounts. Four days later, the company said the cash probably didn’t exist. Since then, the company has filed for insolvency proceedings, its chief executive has left, and Germany announced changes to its accounting oversight regulations.
Very few fintech companies have come under accounting probes. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 charged Chinese financial-software company Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd. with failing to file current and accurate financial reports. The SEC revoked the registration of the company’s stock, and the former chief financial officer in 2015 agreed to a $2.3 million settlement in a class-action investor lawsuit.
The different types of transactions within a fintech company could require a more complex application of accounting principles, Mr. Cullinan said.
NEED PRESCRIBED STANDARDS TO PREPARE, PRESENT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR AUDIT. ACCOUNTS SHOULD DISPLAY CORRECT FACTS BASED ON EVIDENCE ONLY. PROBLEMS STARTS WITH TRYING TO REPLACE ESTIMATED VALUES TO COSTS,APPROPRIATIONS TO ACTUAL, ASSUMPTIONS TO FACTS. ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE ACTUAL.
They could always call a financial institution to check on their cash balance. Guess that is hard to do.
Auditors need more Education
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