$95 Million Missing—and Still a Clean Audit?
The Accounting Podcast
Limits of SOC Audits and Control Testing
They discuss how SOC audits test limited samples and can give a misleading assurance of ongoing control effectiveness.
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
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
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
The AI-powered Podcast Player
