Management Accounting (British) back issues from April 2000:
New age in accountancy training.
Apr 01, 2000 ... In a ground-breaking move, CIMA has exclusively accredited EQL International to develop and deliver the `CIMA Inter@active' study system, which will initially cover all five subjects of its new Foundation level syllabus. The deal represents the first time that any new ...
CIMA's first international video conference.
Apr 01, 2000 ... On the evening of 23 February, CIMA Sri Lanka held its first seminar through live international video conferencing, with a presentation transmitted from London, in which John Noakes, E-commerce Business Manager for Microsoft UK, spoke on how companies can embrace the web as a fundamental ...
CIMA turns to India for information system.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been awarded the contract to supply CIMA's new information system. David Melvill, President of the Institute, signed the contract in New Delhi in February with Mr S. Ramadorai, Chief Executive of TCS. The new information system based on web ...
Institutions failing to recover costs of research.
Apr 01, 2000 ... A new report from CIMA warns of a big gap between the funding and the costs of academic research. It also provides a guide to tackle the problem of covering overheads. For externally funded research, it was found that higher education institutions receive a range of ...
Challenges of international transfer pricing.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Recent changes in transfer pricing legislation are presenting new challenges and pressures for management accountants who deal with intra-group cross-border transactions. The principal legislative change now brings transfer pricing within the corporate assessment system, calling ...
November examination results.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Overall, CIMA has expressed satisfaction with the November 1999 examination results. There were some improvements in performance--particularly in three subjects at the Final Stage (Information Management, Management Accounting Control Systems and Strategic Financial Management) and more ...
Finance departments' days are numbered.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... The days of the traditional number-crunching finance department are coming to an end. Their existing practices are proving to be a drain on revenue whilst failing to create value or contribute to strategic planning. Increasingly, world-class companies are demanding that their finance ...
Huge scope to reap e-business benefits.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Britain's growing business bosses are struggling to get to grips with the internet according to new research from BDO Stoy Hayward. Despite the huge amount of publicity given to internet millionaires and the heavy government backing for e-business, BDO Stoy Hayward's latest ...
E-commerce hype or hope?
Apr 01, 2000 ... The e-commerce revolution is in full swing. Start-up `dot.com' companies are springing up on a daily basis and large corporations are developing new departments and employing new personnel to cope with the predicted demand. Yet, is the issue of e-commerce overblown and will organisations ...
Financial appraisal profile.
Apr 01, 2000 ... We regret that there was a printing error in Frank Lefley's article last month. Under the heading `Financial appraisal', the words `is known ... threshold ...
Top executives shun internet recruitment.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Website experts are being challenged to sort out the problems that are preventing the internet realise its full potential in the world of recruitment. One local recruitment expert believes that it could be five to ten years before the real business high-fliers join the stampede of people ...
What you can measure, you can manage.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The old truism is repeated by Paul Dunn of Results Accountants Systems. His organisation is trying to change the perception of the accountant within the SME community, from that of an irrelevance to a business adviser. SMEs have long viewed the accountant as a necessary evil for compliance ...
Internet recruitment--a candidate's perspective.(accountants)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Despite the recent hype surrounding the internet, candidates would still choose recruitment consultants over the internet when it comes to job hunting, according to a survey conducted by Robert Walters, the leading global recruitment consultancy. The recent survey, interviewed a ...
AAT launches specialist payroll qualification.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Staff working in payroll, and their employers, stand to benefit from a new qualification launched in February by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). Aimed at people already working, or wishing to pursue a career within payroll, the NVQ/SVQ in Payroll Administration enables ...
Can the current VAT system survive?(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... FEE, the Federation of European Accountants, examines the problems related to the present VAT system in the latest report in its series on tax issues. The first part of the report presents some of the conclusions of the FEE survey on the common VAT system (end of 1999): * there ...
Disposing of records.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The importance of securely destroying confidential materials has been highlighted in recent changes to the Data Protection Act 1998, which came into force on 1 March--demanding that companies of all types and sizes comply with the correct disposal of all confidential records, whether held ...
ASB suggests simpler financial statements.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has published a Discussion Paper, Year-end Financial Reports: Improving Communication, which examines how companies could simplify their annual financial statements to make them more accessible to private shareholders. The paper was prompted ...
Review panel's findings on incentive scheme.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The Financial Reporting Review Panel has considered the report and accounts of Eurocity Properties plc for the year ended 31 March 1999, and has concluded that the accounts omitted information that was required by paragraph 40 of Schedule 4 to the Companies Act 1985 in respect of the ...
Panel's findings on development expenditure.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The Financial Reporting Review Panel has looked at the report and accounts of Sinclair Montrose Healthcare plc for the year ended 31 December 1998 and has discussed them with the directors. As a consequence, the directors have revised the accounts by a Supplementary Note published in ...
UITF clarifies issues.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) has published an information sheet in which its Urgent Issues Task Force (UITF) clarifies two matters on which questions had been raised. First, it states that incidental financing costs that do not themselves fall to be accounted for under ...
Best value inspection to act as a catalyst for improving public services.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The new `best value' inspection service for local government is revealed by the Audit Commission in a report which sets improvement in local services at the top of the agenda. Seeing is Believing explains how the Commission has designed an inspection service fit for modern ...
SAFEGUARDING OF CORPORATE ASSETS IS BECOMING EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The protection of information and information systems is becoming exceedingly complex and challenging. Fundamental to the safeguarding of critical assets, i.e. information and information systems, is an effective corporate security management programme. As mentioned in previous ...
Letters to the Editor.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Public sector accounting Although I realise that David Allen's article on public sector accounting (February, page 44) was largely aimed at promoting the CIMA Mastercourse, it appears to suggest that public sector management accountants have been largely wasting their time in ...
experience + philosophy.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Cost/management accounting evolved in the grime and violence of the satanic mills which degenerated into monuments to the Industrial Revolution. Those who regarded its exponents as derisory pointed to the connotation of the self-appointed title `works' and compared their hygienic red-ruled ...
How to build your own project budget model ...
Apr 01, 2000; ... The first step towards creating a project budget model is to divide the project up into `cost relevant' tasks. The project plan will be based on tasks that the project manager and planner have decided are operationally relevant. Accountants in project environments can sometimes ...
The seven steps to e-finance without throwing away your existing systems.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Yet again you are under pressure to change or upgrade your systems. Web-enabling the business is being talked about at board level throughout the commercial world. At the heart of the IT developments of many companies is the fear they will get left behind in the 21st century equivalent of ...
Data Protection Act.
Apr 01, 2000; ... The UK's new Data Protection Act 1998, which implements the EU Data Protection Directive in the UK, finally came into force on 1 March 2000. It will strengthen the individual's rights as it includes a new right to claim compensation for damage or distress caused by a data controller's ...
Mystery shopping.
Apr 01, 2000; ... IT'S RESEARCH, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT It's mid-afternoon and the high street is moderately busy. In the local music store (it could be a bank, bar or beauty salon) two sales assistants stand chatting, eyeing up potential boyfriends whilst a women carrying a clipboard and mobile ...
Technical Services Update.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000; ... An update on the various activities undertaken by the Technical Services department, with the invaluable assistance of CIMA members. Material contributed by Judy Finn, Louise Ross, Laura Snelling (CIMA Publishing) and Danka Starovic. Forums repeated around the UK and Ireland ...
TAS USAGE--FACTS AND FIGURES.
Apr 01, 2000 ... January was quite a busy month. TAS received 310 queries and visitors, an 18% increase on December's figure, which made January the second busiest month since TAS began. It is almost getting tedious reporting on TAS's continued growth and success. Please don't write in to take issue with ...
Views of the present and future.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Thoughtful documents about the current and future state of financial reporting are rare. Nevertheless, the Scottish Institute (ICAS) has produced two linked discussion documents, Corporate Communications: Views of Institutional Investors and Lenders and Business Reporting the Inevitable ...
Dealing with the strain drain: it's good to talk.
Apr 01, 2000; ... As the great work/life debate gathers pace and workplace stress becomes a major reason for absenteeism, UK companies are starting to look at ways of dealing with what could be an alarming problem--the CBI put the cost of lost work days at 10bn [pounds sterling] in 1998. And, as ...
How to succeed at interviews.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Successful Career Management--5 NO SILVER MEDALS IS A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL CAREER MANAGEMENT, DESIGNED TO GIVE CANDIDATES THE BEST POSSIBLE CHANCE OF HITTING GOLD WHEN THEY MOVE JOB. LAST MONTH, DAVID HUGHES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EXECUTIVE CONNECTIONS, OFFERED ADVICE ...
Variety is the spice of life.
Apr 01, 2000 ... A number of observers have commented on the growing practice of professional people working from home, and having several `part time jobs' but such comments are usually generalised. We asked David Allen CBE, a Past President of the Institute, who has ten years' experience in this field, to ...
What's the definition of an accountant?
Apr 01, 2000; ... This was just one of the jokes (thanks Adam Gilbert!) that were received in response to our request for them in the February leader. The punchline is at the end of this piece. We will print others in future editions. However, if you want proper definitions of accountancy terms, ...
WE'RE DOING OKAY, BUT THE GOALIE'S GONE HOME ...
Apr 01, 2000; ... In my youth, I was so good at football that I made substitute for the scout troop team. Unfortunately, I was late for the game (something to do with a girlfriend, I think) and missed the first half. When I asked someone on the touchline how we were doing, they replied `We're doing okay, ...
KEEPING UP WITH THE STANDARDS.
Apr 01, 2000; ... This article briefly examines the authority and scope of all current accounting standards in the UK and provides a short description of the content of each of the standards currently in force, summarising its fundamental requirements. It should help to set the scene for those students who ...
CORPORATE FINANCE FORUM.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Currency options In this article, a follow up to the one published in January, DAVID ALLEN answers a question about a different aspect of the management of foreign currency risk. Question: "I found your answer to the query about forward rates etc very ...
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING CAPITAL.(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 01, 2000; ... In his second article on working capital management, Philip McCosker studies the annual reports of three well-known companies in order to answer the question: `Manchester United may be football's Kings of Europe, but how does their management of working capital compare with ...
SYSTEMATIC STUDYING.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000; ... In this article Maria Evans, CIMA's Student Support Manager, discusses a CIMA-wide initiative to bring quality study materials to students of the forthcoming revised CIMA syllabus. Encompassing paper-based, CD-ROM and web formats the initiative will help YOU to achieve exam success when ...
IN BRIEF.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Study Systems--What are they? * 19 loose-leaf texts, one for each subject of the revised syllabus; * exam focused; * written by the experts including the examiners themselves; * on sale from CIMA in August 2000. `ClMA Inter@ctive' ...
NET PRESENT VALUES (NPVs) AND THE USE OF PV TABLES.
Apr 01, 2000; ... Management accountants are often concerned with the value of money over time. Virtually all projects which need to be appraised will involve a variety of monetary inflows and outflows occurring at different times. The use of present values in this context is currently on the syllabus for ...
ASK MICA ... ABOUT ENTERING THE EXAM.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The examination entry process is one of the largest and most complicated processes that any one department within CIMA has to undertake. To find out how this process works on your behalf, CIMA's very own private detective, Mica was again engaged to take on this investigation by ...
THOSE MAIN ENTRY POINTS IN BRIEF.
Apr 01, 2000 ... * Exam entry forms are sent to every registered student twice a year, in November for the May sitting and June for the November sitting. * Completed entry forms must be received by 1 March for the May sitting and 1 September for the November sitting. * There are late ...
SWITZERLAND.
Apr 01, 2000 ... CIMA takes off in Zurich CIMA Switzerland, active in the western region for the last three years, has now `gone national'. CIMA launched its drive into the commercial heartland of Switzerland--the Basel/Zurich region--in February with an evening seminar on Shared Service Centres ...
PAKISTAN.
Apr 01, 2000 ... CIMA's new office in Lahore CIMA has opened a new office in Pakistan. Situated in Lahore, the office is fully equipped with CIMA material, study packs and other publications to aid students with their studies. Mr Mohammed Junaid, Student Services Officer, is available to advise ...
SRI LANKA.
Apr 01, 2000 ... David Melvill in Colombo The President's visit to Sri Lanka was looked forward to with enthusiasm. Divisional President Mrs Ramya Mendis welcomed Mr Melvill to the Division, and after lighting the traditional oil lamp, he was taken around to meet the staff. While in ...
MALAYSIA.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2000 ... Meeting with Institute of Corporate Governance CIMA President David Melvill attended a luncheon meeting with the President of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance, YBhg Dato' Megat Najmuddin Khas and other key delegates during his visit to Malaysia in January. The ...
UNITED KINGDOM.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Money laundering At the North London Branch meeting at the Middlesex University Business School Graduate Centre on 16 February members were given a talk by Stephanie Smith on money laundering. The meeting attracted a large audience and covered the legal ...
THE MEMBERSHIP TEAM HITS THE ROAD ... IN A BIG WAY!
Apr 01, 2000; ... Or, to put it more accurately, we took to the skies! Wilf Farnworth, Chairman of the Membership Board, David Stanford, Membership Board and Council member, and I left Heathrow at lunchtime on 21 January and headed for Singapore--the first port of call on our four-stop trip to ...
Members on the Move.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Allan J. Christopher (Fellow) has been promoted to Managing Director--Finance, Operations & IT, by housewares giant Addis Group Ltd, now part of 75m [pounds sterling] Emsa Holding AG. He was formerly Finance Director. Mr Christopher joins the executive board of Emsa Holding AG ....
Elections to Council.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The results of the postal ballot in Area 11 (Central Southern England), which closed on 21 February, are as follows: <Pre> Roderick Davies 552 votes Michael Watson 484 votes Keith Lawrence ...
Elections to Membership.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Fellows Ameresekere, H.N.R., Link (Engineering) Ltd, Sri Lanka Bailey, A.T., Rothmans of Pall Mall International Ltd, Aylesbury Bartlett, W.J., Ernst & Young, Australia Beattie, D., Aberdeen College, Aberdeen Bradley, D.M., Heidelberg ...
Deaths.
Apr 01, 2000 ... Booth, G.R., Retired, Skipton Carroll, F.P., Retired, Chorley Dennis, B.J., Retired, Bristol Dent, G.R.H., The White Eagle Lodge, Liss Miller-Bakewell, J.B., Retired, Blairgowrie ...
65 years' membership.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The following member was elected to membership of the Institute 65 years ago, ...
60 years' membership.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The following members were elected to membership 60 years ago, in April 1940: W. Wolstenholme (Associate), Dibden Purlieu, ...
50 years' membership.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The following members were elected to membership 50 years ago, in April 1950: S.J. Wilson CBE (Associate), Plettenbergbaai, Western Cape, South Africa ...
Errata.
Apr 01, 2000 ... The following two members were elected to membership in January 1950 but, owing to a clerical error, their names were omitted from the 50 years list published in the ...