[KC Burke]

Andersen is a firm of 90,000 people, dozens of divisions and hundreds of offices. They aren't all like that Texas Audit office.

[truth_seeker]

Andersen is a firm of 90,000 people, dozens of divisions and hundreds of offices. They aren't all like that Texas Audit office.

Have you ever heard of "company culture" and "institutional memory?" The other offices may not be just like Houston. But it could be reasonably expected that making liberal interpretations of standards, shredding documents, etc. are okay--it is the AA way.

An acquiring firm gets the accounts (profitable), the employees, the lawsuits and liabilities. As it is now, when engagement contracts with clients come up for renewal, some AA clients are dumping them. If Ernst & Young were to acquire AA, EY's existing clients might look at them differently. That is why they are a problem--lawsuits, iability and image.

[Free Vulcan]

You would think, but I don't know anymore. I just learned my local electric co Alliant Energy had AA as their accountant and they did alot of creative things on their books that now are seriously being scrutinized and may get them in trouble. Given the regulatory environment surrounding electric utils, getting creative with the balance sheet ain't too smart, but it seems not to have fazed AA.

[No Income Tax]

I'd be willing to bet that many of their offices are like the Houston, Texas office. I also believe they are no different than the other big five accounting firms (I am a CPA and have audited big five firms myself and my wife worked for Ernst & Young).