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Stress soars, and solutions are rare
2008-03-04 16:02:00
Stressed out? You're not alone. We all have the normal pressures of everyday life -- job, family, deadlines, bills, bills, bills. Throw a possible recession and all of its financial uncertainty into the mix, and you've got 10 pounds of stress in a five-pound bag. In fact, a McClatchy Newspapers report claims American workers haven't seen this much stress since the last recession blew through in 2001. Trouble is, with so much stress infecting the workforce, few employers are taking steps to address the problem. “By leaving stress unaddressed,” said Shelly Wolff, Watson Wyatt's director of health and productivity, “employers invite an increase in unscheduled time off, absence rates and health care costs — all of which hurt a company’s bottom line.” Even your hometown can impact your stress levels. At least that's the implication of a recent series of lists from Bizjournals, which ranked the most and least stressful metro areas in the nation. Here's a hint: I...
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A new template for financial statements?
2008-03-03 18:06:00
It appears that financial statements are on the verge of some radical changes. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a new format for financial statements in what it calls a presentation project. CFO magazine says the project is “ostensibly concerned only with the form, or the face, of financial statements, but it’s quickly becoming clear that it will change and expand their content as well.” Ken Kelly is taking an early, hands-on look at the new format. Kelly is an MACPA member and the controller at spice giant McCormick and Company. He volunteered to serve on a task force that would give input to the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board about the proposed financial statement format, so he and the finance team at McCormick have been running the numbers to see what they like – and what they don’t – about the new format. After being featured in a CFO article about the proposed format, Kelly talked with the MACPA at length about hi...
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Competencies top our list for making an impact
2008-02-29 12:39:00
I just got back from the AICPA's On-Site Training Conference in Charleston, S.C. The picture at right features MACPA / BLI team members Pam Devine and Amy Puente talking with Mark Koziel, senior manager of the AICPA's PCPS (division of small firms). Mark had just finished covering the PCPS's latest additions to its human capital center. Mark presented the PCPS's work on competencies and learning ladders to help CPA firms manage their training in a more systematic way. Pam and our CPA firm relationship team (Terri Smith and Brent Johnson) had spent several days with Mark and AICPA Learning Team members Dennis Parrish and Marybeth Maher working on this process. Using their combined experience with CPA firms from all around the country and the AICPA's research, they came up with a model that should prove invaluable to firms of any size. Competencies and leadership development are the top two ways to have a business impact with training. (See my post about the top 5 ways to imp...
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Will a smaller FASB smooth the road to convergence?
2008-02-28 21:33:00
Interesting developments on the regulatory front recently. You may have heard about the decision to downsize the Financial Accounting Standards Board from seven members to five. But have you read the back story to that decision? According to CFO.com's Marie Leone, the Financial Accounting Foundation's decision to shrink FASB was made despite widespread opposition to such a move. Ultimately, writes Leone in "FASB Parent: Five Is More than Seven," the FAF disregarded opposing comments and placed greater weight on the approaching global convergence of financial reporting standards. "Timothy Flynn, chairman and chief executive of KPMG and a FAF trustee, said that to bring in new members during the convergence process 'might slow the process down,' " Leone writes. "The terms of two current FASB members, George Batavick and Donald Young, expire this year. Some commenters urged the trustees 'to wait until we had a clear path and timetable for convergence,' said Denham. 'Tha...
More About: Convergence , Road , Smooth , The Road

What's keeping CFOs up at night?
2008-02-27 21:15:00
We asked that question to our CFOs, controllers and leading financial executives at a recent session at the MACPA's offices in Towson. Here are their top five issues: People shortage and talent management Regulations, compliance and complexity Uncertain economy and keeping up with change Cash management and financing Rising health care, benefit and energy costs MACPA Chairman Tom Foard, a CPA and CFO, shared his insights on the AICPA's Business and Industry Executive Committee (BIEC), recent scans of CFO magazine and other key areas. He noted that the issues facing Maryland CFOs are right in line with the BIEC and the latest from CFO. The conversation quickly turned to, "Now what?" What is the MACPA doing about this? MACPA Executive Director and CEO Tom Hood shared the association's top five priorities for 2008 -- the outcome of  the MACPA's Board of Directors Strategic Planning Session a few weeks earlier. The group was amazed at how the MACPA's pri...
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Americans failing the personal finance test
2008-02-26 23:08:00
Still wondering why CPAs are spending so much time promoting the concept of financial literacy? It's because, in the words of this CNNMoney article, Americans are "financially illiterate." We knew the situation was bad, but the article indicates the problem could be worse than first thought. "Even those with a college degree don't have an understanding of the basic finance ideas," Dartmouth College economics professor Annamaria Lusardi told author Catherine Clifford. How bad is it? Overall credit card debt soared by more than 300 percent from 1989 to 2006, and the percentage of people who are late on their credit-card payments is at a three-year high, according to this CNN article. The good news (if you can call it that) is that opportunities abound for CPAs to make a difference in the lives of debt-strapped individuals. These resources can help you spread the financial literacy message. MACPA financial literacy resources Money Management columns Financial Planni...
More About: Personal , Personal Finance , Finance , Test

Bad clients: Should they stay or should they go?
2008-02-26 00:11:00
It's conventional wisdom among management consultants: Fire your deadbeat clients and concentrate on the real money-makers. Sounds easy enough, but this seemingly no-nonsense approach requires a lot of strategy and soul-searching. CPA Trendlines' Rick Telberg says there are a number of signs that it might be time to drop the ax. "The ideal scenario is, of course, to avoid such situations in the first place," Telberg writes. "That’s why you need a crystal-clear profile of your target client. Then be ruthless about accepting no less." Now, out of the blue, comes an entirely different point of view: Perhaps you don't want to fire your bad clients after all. In "Keeping Bad Apples," CFO Europe's Eila Rana says firing bad clients might actually come back to haunt your business. Why? "When a company has a mix of profitable and unprofitable customers, it makes rivals less inclined to poach its clients," writes Rana, citing a Wharton School of Business report. Understandably, no...
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Canada hops on IFRS bandwagon
2008-02-22 22:51:00
International financial reporting standards are coming to Canada . The Canadian Accounting Standards Board has confirmed that IFRS will be required for all publicly traded companies beginning in 2011. Canada joins more than 100 other countries that have already adopted IFRS, and many of them say the benefits of convergence are huge. And the U.S.? It's still working out the regulatory kinks, but rest assured that IFRS will soon invade the states as well. Stay tuned ...

Businesses get boost from stimulus package, too
2008-02-21 23:17:00
By now, it's no secret that taxpayers will have a few extra dollars in their pockets come May. Lesser known is the fact that businesses will also benefit from the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. According to the IRS, the business-based incentives include "a special 50-percent depreciation allowance for 2008 purchases and an increase in the small business expensing limitation for tax years beginning in 2008. " Read more about these incentives here. You'll find more information about the stimulus package here: Complete IRS information about the stimulus package Stimulus payments: Facts and figures Instructions for low-income workers and recipients of Social Security and certain veterans’ benefits What do you think: Will this stimulus package give our economy a shot in the arm, or is it too little, too late?
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Top business challenge? Hiring the right people
2008-02-20 21:07:00
What's the top challenge facing finance executives today? Perhaps a better question would be, "How can you pick just one?" There are a ton of them out there, from competition to regulation to meeting customers' demands. But in a recent Robert Half poll, one challenge -- finding skilled staff -- was deemed more daunting than the rest. So what's the secret to effective recruiting in this highly competitive environment? If we knew the answer, it wouldn't be corporate America's top challenge. But opinions are free, so here's one to chew on: As you try to lure talented financial pros to your firm or company, be sure to emphasize your benefits plan. It sounds obvious, but benefits loom large in a job candidate's decision. In fact, a new report found that benefits are nearly as big an incentive as salary for attracting accounting talent. What's your secret to recruiting success?
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New SEC tool puts XBRL into focus
2008-02-19 19:09:00
If companies are going to be required to file their financial statements in XBRL -- and it certainly looks like that will happen sooner rather than later -- then it's time we give investors the tools they'll need to make sense of the new statements. That's apparently the thinking at the SEC, which has launched a new XBRL reader called Financial Explorer. The viewer "lets investors automatically generate financial ratios, graphs and charts depicting important information from financial statements," states the SEC. "Information including earnings, expenses, cash flows, assets and liabilities can be analyzed and compared across competing public companies." XBRL will be dissected in detail during the first-ever Maryland Business and Accounting Expo, scheduled for June 17-18 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Until then, tell us what you think: Is corporate America ready to make the move to XBRL?
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There's no such thing as Presidents Day
2008-02-18 08:00:00
... at least that's what the folks at the urban-legend-debunking Web site Snopes.com tell us. According to this Snopes article, the concept of combining George Washington's birthday and Abraham Lincoln's birthday into an all-encompassing "Presidents Day" holiday first surfaced in the 1950s and came close to fruition in 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill. The only thing that bill accomplished, however, was to move the official observance of Washington's birthday to the third Monday in February. In other words, Presidents Day has never officially been established. So if today isn't Presidents Day, what is it? According to Snopes, it's nothing more than the official observance of Washington's birthday. Whatever day it is, we hope you make it a good one.
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Lessons from the mortgage mess
2008-02-15 23:25:00
If you're looking for a comprehensive analysis of the mortgage crisis, you could do worse than the Feb. 13 edition of "Fresh Air," a daily talk show that originates at Philadelphia's National Public Radio station, WHYY. On that show, host Terry Gross interviews Gretchen Morgenson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning financial reporter and business columnist for The New York Times. Morgenson takes a stab at explaining the impact the crisis has had on the economy and American consumers, and she offers this word of warning: Things won't be getting better anytime soon. The reason: Home buyers who took out mortgages with low "teaser" rates in 2005 -- and there were a lot of them -- are next in line to see their rates skyrocket. That's a scary thought, given the recent report that foreclosures in the Baltimore region soared 544 percent from 2006 to 2007. Morgenson also examines the roles of "megabanks," the Federal Reserve rate cuts, what those cuts mean for consumers, and more. Listen ...
More About: Mortgage , Lessons , Mess

Stimulus payments coming in May
2008-02-14 18:46:00
Photo by kissthis It's official. After a brief tug o' war in Congress, the stimulus payments designed to give our battered economy a shot in the arm will begin arriving in taxpayers' mailboxes in May, according to the IRS. The payments will total up to $600 for individuals, $1,200 for taxpayers who file a joint return, and an additional $300 for each child who qualifies for the child tax credit. Get additional details about the breakdown here. The IRS has released some additional resources about the payments. Check 'em out here: Complete IRS information about the stimulus package Stimulus payments: Facts and figures Instructions for low-income workers and recipients of Social Security and certain veterans’ benefits

SEC panel: Make XBRL mandatory
2008-02-13 07:03:00
The calls for making XBRL mandatory are getting louder. Short for "eXtensible Business Reporting Language," XBRL is a tagging technology that allows companies to electronically communicate their business and financial data to investors and other users of financial statements. It's so revolutionary that supporters say the SEC should require companies to use it. Some officials within the SEC seem to agree. According to CFO.com, the SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting is suggesting that all public companies should be required to use XBRL to file their financial statements within three years. "In the near term," writes CFO.com's Sarah Johnson, the CIFR says "the largest companies could be required to use (XBRL) to tag their financial data and share that information with the SEC without an external auditor's review. " All of this could play a role in the ongoing convergence of financial reporting standards. This article, featured in an earlier po...
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