4 Comments
User's avatar
⭠ Return to thread
Themon the Bard's avatar

I may be mistaken, but I believe the phrase "we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies" is what an accountant says when they double-check all of the numbers, and they find they didn't make any math errors. A "discrepancy" occurs in double-entry bookkeeping when one column doesn't total to the same value as the other column.

That doesn't mean that both columns aren't complete fabrications. And the fact that there are no math errors, and yet the reports are judged "unreliable" could only be taken to mean -- as George Conway explained -- that the client supplying the figures in the first place was making them up. The client says they received money to ship steel girders, but there were no steel girders at all. They say they lost a million dollars on a bad investment, but there is no record of the investment.

Expand full comment
Steve Abbott's avatar

Oh, I thought it was accountant speak for CYA.

Expand full comment
AshleyR TN's avatar

Both and!!

Expand full comment
JDinTX's avatar

Must be a lot of those “girders” around

Expand full comment