links for 2008-01-26
January 26, 2008
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Kable - Council delivers flood advice via blog - 3 August 2007
spreading information through a blog at a time of crisis fits well with ideas around Budget dissemination
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cre.ations.net - Blog entry: iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak released
That didn’t take long now did it?
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It’s sort of like Enterprise 2.0 poetry.
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AppleInsider | Former staffer: Apple currently averse to social apps, blogs
Does Apple need social applications or does it have enough buzz of its own?
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102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You
Another one but worth snacking upon
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French rogue trader costs Societe Generale £3.7 billion
Makes Nick Lesson look like an amateur
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We live in the conversation age and not the thinking age
It’s an interesting idea but I wonder where it starts and stops? Who is the conversation aimed at?
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*CPA Technology Advisor should stop reviewing software*I got
Ouch! Jason slams the reviews. I”ll be following this up later
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It was only a matter of time
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All Big4 Firms On Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For
Nos surprise but the stats are interesting
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Thomas is of course correct. Disgraceful if you ask me
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Now there’s a surprise
Twittering tax advisor
January 24, 2008
Al Wood pointed out that this fellow, JK Harris from somewhere in the US is Twittering tax advice. Clever idea. Pity there are no more details about the fellow. I wonder if he’s the only person out there doing that for our US tax filing colleagues.
Where’s the quality?
January 24, 2008
Last year, Richard Murphy bemoaned the fact he had a compliance visit that didn’t take into consideration the quality of the work he undertakes. This is an ongoing problem because it is difficult to see how the profession, and in particular ICAEW, can claim a certain status without solid quality checks which demonstrate a commitment to standards.
Over the last week I’ve looked at three sets of accounts for a variety of reasons and was appalled at the most basic of errors. I wasn’t looking for problems but they jumped out.
In the first two cases, accounts were submitted to Companies House that in one case contained 10 mistakes. In one case the most serious looks like an overdrawn directors’ loan account hidden in debtors. HMRC take the view that represents salary in some circumstances. The same accounts disclosed unnecessary information for abbreviated accounts.
In the third set of accounts, the practitioner had made a blunder that will cost the client in tax. They’d forgotten to add back depreciation and had no firm basis upon which to agree an add back for PU in motor expenses. They pulled the ‘We agreed it with the client’ trick which of course doesn’t wash. The successor practitioner now has to figure a way of dealing with this mess.
And then to cap it all, last evening an overseas colleague working in France says the acquired working papers for a job he’s on, won from a Big Four outfit that features prominently in these pages, are substandard. Curiously, he’s happy because he knows that he can demonstrate value.
But the real problem is that confidentiality and an antiquated notion of ethics often seems to prevent the conscientious practitioners from shining through. How can they explain to clients they’re doing a great job when much of what they do is ‘hidden’ yet essential stuff for which others continue to lowball?
The argument will always be that the chances of detection are so low that ‘getting away with it‘ as Mark Lee said in comments to an earlier post would now appear to most definitely swing both ways. What professionals have to understand is that any time they are taking these kinds of needless risks, it is clients who suffer. And reputation.
It was therefore sad to see one practitioner on AccountingWEB asking whether he was insane for offering a discount:
I have recently taken on a new client and agreed a fee of £2,500 + VAT. They are extremely happy with this fee, as their last accountant was ripping them off (this would be putting it mildly).
However, having now done most of the work I realise that I have overestimated slightly, and consider that £2,100 + VAT would be a fairer fee. I will be seeing them tomorrow and intend to reduce the fees.
I have an opinion which is in the AW comments but I was particularly pleased to see a different view by Jason Dormer who said:
This is clearly a man who lives and works by values and good for him in not taking the option that the majority in every trade and profession would take.
He’s right of course and I suspect the impact it has had on me is in no small measure due to the fact I have been seeing so much crap in the last few days.
Endnote: I suppose I should name names. I may do so at a later date. But I’m aware that clients are at risk and it is therefore unfair to provide further detail.
Another day, another tweak
January 24, 2008
Following the Big Move, I decided on an upgrade to the theme. The changes are relatively minor but designed to improve navigation. At the left hand side I now have a tabbed section which shows the latest story across four of the most popular sections. The idea is you don’t have to go trawling through sections via the navigation bar but can quickly access each story. Hope you like it.
I’ve also updated for the other places where I contribute in one way or another. Feel free to see what I get up to elsewhere:
The sponsors section has been removed temporarily - we’re doing something a bit special there of which more later - and I’ve moved the email subscription thing back to its rightful place. At least for the moment.
