Based on responses gathered from tax practitioners through January, a third were reporting they were feeling stressed most or all the time, a third said sometimes, and another third only occasionally or never. At the same time, about 33 percent were reporting business was running better this year, with about 23 percent reporting worse conditions, and the rest unchanged. READ MORE →
Sage Group, U.K.’s largest listed software company and parent to Best and Peachtree in the U.S., is changing chairmen.
Michael Jackson, chairman since 2000 and part of the company for 22 years, is stepping down, to be succeeded by Julian Horn-Smith, the outgoing deputy chief executive of Vodafone Group.
Under Jackson, Sage became a world leader on software for small and mid-sized business, rivalled only by Oracle, Intuit and Microsoft, each of which have been tough competitiors and sometimes suitors. Sage shares were trading near a 52-week high.
Jackson’s abdication was, by one report, precipitated by his chairmanship of PartyGaming which, like Sage, is a FTSE 100 company. Under UK corporate guidelines, an individual should not hold two FTSE 100 chairmanships simultaneously.
Horn-Smith has been at Vodafone since it was founded in 1984. He joins the Sage board in March as a non-executive director, before leaving Vodafone in July and then taking the reins on Jackson’s departure.
What’s next for Sage? So far, no one’s talking. But we’d place a bet with PartyGaming that Horn-Smith has something to prove. READ MORE →
Stay up-to-date and competitive with a look into accountant’s technology wish lists and buying plans.
By Rick Telberg
Bay Street Group LLC
For Hewlett-Packard
If you’re like most finance and accounting professionals, you don’t just rely on your technology systems to help you get your work done. You rely on technology to keep your practices and procedures up-to-date and efficient. In fact, your technology systems are part of your competitive advantage. So what do you need to know to be a fully-connected professional today? READ MORE →
Do you know the red flags?
by Rick Telberg
At Large
The public conversation about corporate responsibility and citizenship shows no signs of abating. The Securities and Exchange Commission has moved for more disclosure of executive pay. And a flurry of new auditing standards requires CPAs to use risk assessments in every audit. The Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG), a not-for-profit organization supported largely by business interests, found in a study of 50 corporate failures that nearly all were linked to lapses in corporate governance. READ MORE →
Yes, if they have the right stuff and you have the right skills.
by Rick Telberg
The Finance Executive
Forget the strategic stuff, the visionary exercises, the long-term planning. What keeps most finance and accounting executives awake at night lies closer to home, in the here and now: The day-to-day management of their jobs and their departments. It’s no small task, considering the many roles finance managers are expected to play, the layers of new rules and regs, and the competitive demands of just keeping up. So it’s little wonder that all too many finance managers may overlook the human and personal aspects of the job. But accountants are people too. And they need as much hand-holding, mentoring, encouragement and coaching as anyone else. READ MORE →
