The Friday Lowdown ⬇️

If you're new around here, every day I share the 4-5 best accounting insights I saw in the past 24 hours.

I scroll. so you don't have to.

💎 WTF of the Day

EY might’ve missed the biggest accounting scandal in uk history

For years, hundreds of UK Post Office workers were accused of theft, fraud, and misconduct. Turns out, it wasn’t them, it was a glitchy IT system called Horizon. EY, one of the world’s biggest accounting firms, was auditing the Post Office the whole time... and said nothing.

To be clear, EY didn’t build the faulty system, but they were supposed to check the books and flag big issues. Now the UK’s accounting watchdog is investigating whether EY missed giant red flags, or just ignored them. Over 900 people were wrongly prosecuted. If EY dropped the ball, this could be one of the biggest audit failures ever.

Source: The Guardian

💎 What’s poppin in accounting

IRS gives up on closing 50 billion tax loophole

The IRS was going after a tax trick used by big partnerships like private equity firms and real estate groups to move money between their own companies and shrink their tax bills. It's called basis shifting and it’s totally legal but super sneaky. The IRS said this loophole could be costing taxpayers 50 billion dollars.

Now they’re backing off. The IRS says the rule was too confusing and messy to enforce. So instead of tightening the screws they’re dropping the whole thing. That means rich firms keep dodging taxes with clever paperwork and the rest of us still have to file W2s and hope for a refund.

Source: Accounting Today

 📊 Weekly Trend Chart

Americans haven’t felt this bad about the economy since the '80s

Consumer confidence just hit rock bottom. According to new data, Americans haven’t felt this gloomy about the economy since the early days of the pandemic and inflation fears are now the worst they’ve been in 44 years. People expect prices to keep rising and fast. Think grocery bills, gas, housing, everything.

What’s causing the panic? Tariffs, market uncertainty, and the feeling that no one’s really steering the ship. Many are bracing for layoffs and higher costs at the same time. The vibes? Pure recession energy.

#😂 

😂 

P.S. What'd you think of today's edition? Hit 'reply' to this email and lemme hear it!