‘Getting Away From It All’ Going Out of Style?
NEW YORK (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) — More than one-third (37 percent) of U.S. workers anticipate not using all of their time off this year, according to a new Hudson survey. In fact, one in four workers (24 percent) have not taken any time off this year, and an additional 14 percent have not taken a vacation longer than a long weekend. READ MORE →
New Tech Investments Drive Profit Forecasts for‘Busy Season’
EXECUTIVE PREVIEW
Join the study. Get the instant download.
KEY FINDINGS
The Key Strategic Issues professionals face this busy season, are:
Going Paperless (Scanning, storage, etc.)
Improved Client Service and Communications (online service and delivery)
Improved Efficiency (dual monitors, software upgrades, faster internet connections)
MORE… READ MORE →
CPA WORKPLACE ISSUES: RECRUITING & RETENTION
– 1 in 6 Firms Report Staffing ‘Crisis’
– New Study Identifies Key Factors at the Winning Firms
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Get the instant download.
PARTICIPANTS
•63% in public accounting; 25% in business or industry
•41% work in offices of 11-to-50 people, 18% in 1-10
•58% are senior, C-level executives, partners, or owners
KEY FINDINGS
Top performing organizations are less likely to report staffing problems, and they place greater-than-average emphasis on the following factors:
•Best Technology
•Relevance to Customer, and
•Challenging Work
MORE
•About 68% of respondents say the capabilities of their organizations are suffering due to staffing issues.
•16% say: “Crisis! We must turn away work because we can’t find people.â€
•Despite the preponderance of C-Level managers in the survey, only 4% admit they may be part of the problem.
•Work/Life Balance may be as important as Compensation and Recognition as a critical success factor in staffing.
Get the instant download. READ MORE →
The IRS first focused on high-income individuals and larger corporations, but now the service is stepping up its audits of small businesses. In 2005, audits of the roughly 5.7 million small businesses the IRS recognizes to be organized as corporations increased significantly, with 17,867 audits, up from 7,294 a year earlier. Meanwhile, audits of corporations with assets over $10 million also increased only 14% in 2005, to 10,878. IRS chief Mark Everson says he expects 2006 to reach an even greater rate of small-business enforcement. More at BusinessWeek…
Ask a client: It’s not necessarily what you think.
Add your opinion; get the instant download.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
The profession has long recognized an “expectations gap†in the public’s view of the role of the auditor. But after hearing from almost 2,000 CPAs and finance professionals, I think the profession needs to face another kind of “expectations gap.â€
This “New Expectations Gap,†as it could be called, is more subtle. It’s the gap between expectations of CPAs in public accounting firms and the expectations of their own clients. In our study, 1,799 accountants, finance managers and CPAs from all sectors of the profession were queried in an online survey conducted throughout most of 2006. READ MORE →
New Study: Does ‘Corporate America’ Get It?
Apparently NOT, according to finance and accounting professionals.
KEY FINDINGS
•87% of finance and accounting professionals say most members of the American public believe that, in general, American corporations still fail to comprehend their post-Enron expectations for integrity in business.
•And 72% of finance and accounting professionals agree with the public’s viewpoint.
•A sizeable number of finance and accounting professionals find fatal flaws in the governance of most major corporations.
The leading lapses include failures in these areas:
•Employees, shareholders, or citizens cannot raise issues without fear of retribution.
•The Board of Directors is ill-informed and not truly independent.
•Corporate Codes of Conduct are not comprehensively taught to staff and management; and are too often simply ignored by top executives.
•And the practitioner’s own company is not immune from problems in governance, although respondents are less likely to cite problems in their own company than they are to cite problems in corporations in general.
PARTICIPANTS
•57% of respondents practice in business or industry.
•50% work in offices of 100 persons or more.
•64% are C-level executives or senior management.
Too good not to share…
And it’s too entertaining not to pass along. Click and Enjoy! READ MORE →
