KPMG just cut 700 accounting jobs. Here's what it means.

I share the 4-5 most important accounting that actually matter. I scroll so you don’t have to.

So grab your coffee, take a quick break, and lets catch up.

In this issue:

• The IRS ran out of money. Here's where they found it.

• KPMG is cutting 700+ jobs and AI is part of the reason

• America is back in a space race and this time it's about money not flags

- Ledger Lowdown Team

WTF of the Day🤯

The IRS Ran Out of Money to Run Tax Season. Here's Where It Came From.

The IRS's annual budget for 2025 was $12.3 billion. Turns out that was not enough to actually run a filing season. So the agency quietly pulled $4.8 billion from its Inflation Reduction Act funds just to keep the lights on. $3.5 billion went to payroll and $1.3 billion went to keeping their technology running. Money that was supposed to go toward modernizing the IRS and going after tax cheats got spent on basic operations instead.

Here is the bigger picture. Congress originally gave the IRS $79.4 billion in supplemental IRA funding over 10 years. They have since clawed back $53.5 billion of it, leaving only $26 billion. The IRS has already spent $15.7 billion of that. Meanwhile they lost 25% of their workforce last year and were still paying many of those people through deferred resignation deals. So the agency is smaller, underfunded, burning through emergency reserves, and being asked to do more. The IRS that audits your clients next year is going to look very different from the one that existed three years ago.

What’s poppin in accounting🍿

KPMG Is Cutting 700+ Jobs

KPMG just told hundreds of employees their jobs are at risk. 590 roles in the audit division alone, mostly assistant managers, plus another 120 in advisory with more potentially coming. The reason they gave was that not enough people are quitting on their own so they need to force the headcount down. That is corporate speak for: we have too many people and not enough work.

Two things are driving this. Client companies are cutting costs so they are spending less on accounting services. And AI (obviously) is starting to eat into the work that used to require a lot of junior staff. KPMG is not just laying people off to save money. They are restructuring to rebuild around AI. The work is not disappearing but the number of humans needed to do it is shrinking. This is the same story playing out across every big firm right now. The question for anyone in public accounting is not whether this is coming. It is how fast.

Weekly Trend Chart 📊

America Has Kickstarted A New Space Race

America did not go back to the moon because we suddenly got excited about space. We went back because China is winning. NASA's own administrator said it. China already landed on the far side of the moon, brought back samples, and is sending another robot to the lunar south pole this year. They want their own astronauts on the moon by 2030. So now we are racing again.

Artemis II just launched, four astronauts flying around the moon and back in 9 days. No landing yet but the goal is to beat China there by 2028. And here is the part nobody talks about: this is not about planting flags anymore. Both countries want to mine the moon. Oxygen, water, hydrogen, helium, rare earth elements. The moon is basically an untouched resource deposit sitting 240,000 miles away and whoever gets there first gets to set the rules. The last space race was ego. This one is business.

Meme of the Day😂

 😂

Did today’s edition help?

Reply to this email and tell me what you liked (or didn’t).