$95 Million Missing—and Still a Clean Audit?

How does $95 million go missing at a bank—and still get a clean audit? Blake and David unpack the Evolve Bank/Synapse meltdown, what auditors missed, and how SOC reports fall short. Plus: the penny shortage pushing cash rounding at the register, the shocking stat that even 29% of partners don’t know partner pay, and the case for semiannual reporting. Walk away with practical takeaways for clients, staff, and your own firm.

Sponsors
Cloud Accountant Staffing - http://accountingpodcast.promo/cas
OnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpay

Chapters

• (00:44) - The Penny Shortage Crisis
• (03:52) - Evolve Bank's $95 Million Scandal
• (17:12) - Earmark CPE and Other Podcast Recommendations
• (22:00) - Partner Salaries and Compensation Transparency
• (28:27) - Data Breach at SAX Accounting Firm
• (33:28) - Semi-Annual Reporting Debate
• (36:25) - Debating Semi-Annual Reporting
• (37:38) - Quarterly Reporting Games
• (38:25) - LinkedIn Comment: The Case for Quarterly Reports
• (39:11) - The Value of Financial Statements
• (39:58) - Challenges in Modern Accounting
• (46:57) - 2026 Accounting Predictions
• (52:01) - AI's Impact on Bookkeeping
• (01:09:08) - Closing Thoughts and Farewell

 

Show Notes

Square Enables Penny Rounding 

https://squareup.com/us/en/press/penny-rounding

 

CFPB Allocates $46 Million To Synapse/Evolve Victims In First-Ever Fintech Bailout 

https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/p/cfpb-allocates-46-million-to-synapseevolve

 

The 2025 Accounting Today Salary Survey 

https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/the-2025-accounting-today-salary-survey

 

The Ultimate 2026 Accounting Salary Guide 

https://blog.workday.com/en-us/ultimate-2026-accounting-salary-guide.html

 

Deloitte's CTO: companies are spending 93% on tech and only 7% on people and that has to change 

https://fortune.com/2025/12/15/deloitte-cto-bill-briggs-what-really-scares-ceos-about-ai-human-resources/

 

Accounting firm waited 18 months to announce breach 

https://cybernews.com/security/sax-data-breach-quarter-million-exposed/

 

Should Public Companies Move to Semi-Annual Reporting? 

https://www.cpajournal.com/2025/12/19/should-public-companies-move-to-semi-annual-reporting/

 

United States Mint Hosts Historic Ceremonial Strike for Final Production of the Circulating One-Cent Coin 

https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-hosts-historic-ceremonial-strike-for-final-production-of-the-circulating-one-cent-coin

Need CPE?

Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.com
Subscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.com

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040.

Sponsorships

Are you interested in sponsoring The Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.

Need Accounting Conference Info? 

Check out our new website - accountingconferences.com

Limited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessities

TeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merch

Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcasts
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAccountingPodcast
• Spotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/Spotify
• Podchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaser
• Stitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/Stitcher
• Overcast: http://cloudacctpod.link/Overcast

Classifieds

Want to get the word out about your newsletter, webinar, party, Facebook group, podcast, e-book, job posting, or that fancy Excel macro you just created? Let the listeners of The Accounting Podcast know by running a classified ad. Go here to create your classified ad: https://cloudacctpod.link/RunClassifiedAd

Transcripts

The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page