Renee Howdeshell

Renee Howdeshell is a founding member of Fulcrum Inquiry, an accounting, finance and economic consulting firm that performs damage analyses for commercial litigation, forensic accountings, royalty & distribution audits, financial investigations, and business valuations. Ms. Howdeshell holds a degree in Finance and Marketing from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She has testified as an expert witness in federal court, CA state court and arbitration regarding the results of her work. She can be reached at (213) 787-4112 and her resume is available at www.fulcrum.com.

Most commented posts

  1. “Too Big to Audit” is no defense — 2 comments
  2. Steve Jobs’ Key Man Discount — 1 comment
  3. Hollywood Accounting: Another good reason to read (and audit) your contracts. — 1 comment
  4. Michael Vick and the Duration of Reputational Damage — 1 comment
  5. Get the benefit of the government’s experience when selecting vendors. — 1 comment

Author's posts

Severance Agreements Cannot Interfere with Whistleblower Protections

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) protects whistleblowers through Rule 21F-17, enacted under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which states that “[n]o person may take any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation.” Prior cases have highlighted that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/09/severance-agreements-cannot-interfere-with-whistleblower-protections/

Business Insider Reports its Top Colleges

Business Insider has published its current listing of “The 50 Best Colleges in America”, which is based largely on government compiled data and student experience measurements compiled by Niche, an education research firm.  The rankings were based on the following criteria: High-quality education On-time graduation rates Early-career earnings “a memorable and enjoyable campus experience that instills …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/09/business-insider-reports-on-top-colleges/

Virtual Reality Will Change the Way Juries View Evidence

A recent article available at www.digitaltrends.com describes how virtual reality may soon allow jurors to explore crime scenes as they actually appeared.  In the article, Dr. Mehzeb Chowdhury, a researcher in forensic science and criminal investigations at Durham University in the U.K.m describes his MABMAT robotic imaging system as capable of capturing every detail of an …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/09/virtual-reality-will-change-the-way-juries-view-evidence/

Monsanto Whistleblower Obtains $22.4 Million SEC Award

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has awarded $22.4 million to a former Monsanto financial executive, the second-largest whistleblower bounty ever provided. This amount represents the whistleblower’s share of the $80 million penalty paid. The anonymous whistleblower was a former Monsanto financial executive who reported violations of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) and misstatements of corporate earnings. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/monsanto-whistleblower-obtains-22-4-million-sec-award/

Excel Default Settings Can Cause Significant Analysis Errors

A recent study published in the scientific journal Genome Biology describes a concerning error rate in genetic studies caused by default settings in the commonly used spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel.  The default cell formatting option in Excel will inadvertently convert gene symbols to dates and floating-point numbers. Examples include: gene symbol SEPT2 (Septin 2) is converted by …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/excel-default-settings-can-cause-significant-analysis-errors/

FASB Issues New Guidance for Not-for-Profit Entities

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) recently issued ASU 2016-14 “Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities” in an effort to improve transparency and understanding.  Changes effected therein include: The 3 formerly applied classes of unrestricted, temporarily restricted, and permanently restricted assets will be simplified into two classes based on whether they are donor-restricted. Additional …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/fasb-issue-new-guidance-for-not-for-profit-entities/

IT’s Seat at the Table is Creating Massive Change in the Mid-Market

The evolving prominence of IT’s voice in major strategic decisions is helping companies in the mid-market (defined as annual revenues of $100 million – $1 billion) to embrace emerging technology at an unprecedented pace.  A recent study by Deloitte, in partnership with market research firm OnResearch, examined these trends. The CTOs, CIOs and IT Department …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/its-seat-at-the-table-is-creating-massive-change-in-the-mid-market/

Lochte Likely Loses Much More Than His Wallet in Olympics Debacle

After the last Olympics, Ryan Lochte enjoyed a nice run of endorsements deals, reportedly enjoying over $2 million from a host of well known brands.  However, after the highly publicized recent Olympic debacle in which he allegedly destroyed property and then claimed to have been robbed, it is likely that he will not enjoy a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/lochte-likely-loses-much-more-than-his-wallet-in-olympics-debacle/

HBO Executive Admits $1 Million Fake Vendor Fraud

A former talent relations executive at HBO has admitted to diverting nearly $1 million in production funds to a fake company she created.  The type of fraudulent billing scheme using a shell company can be accomplished with nothing more than a fictitious name and a payment destination.  In this case, the executive used the name …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/02/hbo-executive-admits-1-million-fake-vendor-fraud/

Appeals Court Requires a Medical Expert to Prove Discomfort Causation

The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment for Marathon Oil Corporation in their defense against a case brought by Michael and Myra Cerny.  The underlying litigation alleged that emissions from Marathon plants caused the Cernys various injuries and property damage. However, the Cernys presented no expert medical testimony on the causation of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/10/appeals-court-requires-a-medical-expert-to-prove-discomfort-causation/