JobsintheMoney's CareerWire

Hedge Fund CFO Headaches

2009-07-17T11:58:00.002-04:00

Alternative investment chief financial officers’ five biggest headaches are regulations, transparency, complexity, investor timidity and efficiency, according to a new survey from TKS Solutions.

Tackle even one of those challenges and you’ll set yourself up to move ahead. After all, anyone with a headache automatically loves the co-worker who’s got a bottle Motrin in her desk.

The five most vexing issues for fund CFOs were:

Evolving Regulatory Requirements
A complex regulatory framework has long been a facet of fund life, but this year's abrupt changes have created new challenges for even the most sophisticated shops. Take, for instance, US Form 90.22 (or FBAR) covering both taxable and non-taxable ownership of foreign funds, feeder funds, and tax exempt entities. At least you have until fall to get it done.

Investor Demands for Greater Transparency
Reporting requests are now coming from the capital side and the portfolio front. Thanks to Madoff, investors want to see their ownership percentages in any underlying funds and managed accounts.

Managing Asset Complexity
Has your fund set up side-pocket for non-performing 2008 investments? Managing those along with the main fund may mean an upgrade from spread-sheets to investor accounting software.

Investor Timidity
Hedge funds are offering skittish investors creative liquidity gates. New offerings include: early redemptions with a fee; periodic ability to withdraw partial capital; and/or splitting a single contribution into multiple lock-up schedules.

Operational Efficiency
It may have helped the bottom line to reduce head-count, but it sure didn’t do anything for your workload problems. Brute force deployments of small armies of staff armed with spreadsheets are no longer an option for handling the many complexities of investment partnership and shareholder accounting. Demonstrate your worth by quickly getting up to speed on any new investor accounting systems and updates.

2009-07-06T14:52:00.003-04:00

The Institute of Management Accountants' 20th annual salary survey showed that despite the economic crisis:

the average salary for accounting professionals (among IMA members) actually increased by 2.2 percent in 2008,
accounting professionals with an advanced certification (like a Certified Management Accountant or Certified Public Accountant) earned 24 percent more than their non-certified colleagues and
respondents ages 19-29 with an advanced certification earned an average of almost $13,000 more than their non-certified colleagues in the same age.

The survey also found that the pay gap between men and women working in the field grew in 2008. “The shocking factor is that the average total compensation for women in 2008 is less than the average salary of men (i.e., without adding the additional compensation) for every age category,” study authors David L. Schroeder and Karl E. Reichardt, CMA said in a commentary about the survey.

Women start out fairly even with their male counterparts, but the longer they stay in the field, the wider the pay gap grows, the survey showed. “The average salary and average total compensation for women in top management decreased 13.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, in 2008, while the same figures for top-management men increased 7.5 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively,” the authors said.

The survey authors point out that women surveyed were, on average, younger than men (45.5 vs. 48.2), less likely to have advanced degrees (46% vs. 53%) or certifications (63% vs. 72%) and had fewer years in the field (17.5 vs. 20.4), in their current position (5.5 vs. 6.7), and with their current employer (9.6 vs. 10.2), all of which are statistically significant.

The survey also looked at the role certification may play in compensation. Average salary for the 69 percent of respondents who have some kind of certification was $112,068.

The 31 percent of respondents who were not certified reported an average salary of $86,225—a difference of more than $25,000.

In the 2008 survey, CMAs reported higher average salary and total compensation than CPAs in the first two age categories (19–29 and 30–39), while CPAs reported earning more in the remaining three older age categories.

“Those with both certifications have greater average compensation than those with only one certification for all age categories except the 19–29 category. Throughout the 20 years of this study, there has been no uniform pattern when comparing compensation among certifications,” the authors concluded.

Jackson, Rolfes, Spurgeon to Merge with Plante & Moran in Cincinnati

2009-06-30T13:52:00.003-04:00

Jackson, Rolfes, Spurgeon & Co. (JRS), Cincinnati, is merging with Plante & Moran, PLLC tomorrow and plans to expand the firm in the future.

“Locally, the jobs we had here are going to stay,” said Plante & Moran’s incoming Managing Partner Gordon Krater. “If anything we’re looking to add jobs to the area, and to the city. Cincinnati is a city we intend to invest in and we’re looking to grow the office significantly over the next several years.”

JRS Managing Partner Jim Rolfs added: “We don’t anticipate any changes really in any of the jobs except some minor changes in roles and responsibilities, possibly.”

The merger brings JRS access to specialty practice professionals in international tax and consulting, corporate finance, financial advisory, healthcare, manufacturing and not-for-profit organizations.

JRS has five partners who will become Plante & Moran partners and a total of 50 staffers. It provides financial, tax and consulting services to small and mid-size companies in Southern Ohio. JRS’ specialty practices include manufacturing, real estate, construction and auto dealerships.

Plante & Moran sees the merger as a way to increase the firm’s local footprint. “Cincinnati rounds out our Ohio presence…we’ll be able to expand west and south from there,” Krater says.

CFOs, Treasurers, Staff Saw Modest Pay Hikes in 2008, AFP Survey Finds

2009-06-26T13:52:00.003-04:00

Chief financial officers, treasurers and their staff saw their paychecks grow by an average of 3.4 percent between January 2008 and January 2009, more than the average white-collar worker, but somewhat less than the 4.5 percent increase they saw in 2007, according to the latest salary survey from the Association for Financial Professionals http://www.afponline.org/.

The average bonus was 15 percent, unchanged from 2007.

Middle managers reported slightly larger increases in total compensation than did VPs of finance and CFOs, said AFP, which collected its data from 3,000 professionals at 2,000 primarily North American companies in February 2009.

Managers of treasury/finance reported the highest percentage increase, 5.7 percent, and an average base salary that rose from $88,000 in the 2008 survey to $93,900 in 2009.

Here’s what AFP reported for other positions’ 2009 base salaries:

CFO 184,300 up 3.2 percent
VP of finance 161,600 up 3.2 percent
Treasurer 161,600 up 3.9 percent
Controller 116,500 up 3.3 percent
Director treasury/finance 125,400 up 4 percent
Assistant treasurer 124,700 up 3.8 percent
Cash Manager 71,000 up 3.6 percent

PwC's Plans for India

2009-06-24T12:23:00.003-04:00

India is the fastest-growing market for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and the company plans to add 3,500 staffers there over the next four years, up from the current 6,500, PwC Chairman Dennis Nally said during a recent tour of the country.

In an interview with The Economic Times, Nally talked about the use of non-Indian auditors in the wake of the Satyam debacle, how the growth of the Indian economy has increased demand for auditing and off-shoring:

Q: PwC recently decided to bring in auditors from its various international/outside affiliates to run a check on the audit work done in India. Is it to maintain consistent audit standards?

A: It is based on the whole idea of cross-border expertise, where we take individuals with skill sets in one country and share that expertise in another country. The idea is to make the firm stronger.

Q: What are your plans for India?

A: China, India and Vietnam are important markets for us, as the growth in such regions is very positive. We have over 6,500 employees in India, and plan to take the number to 10,000 in three to four years. We also plan to add a significant number of jobs from our sourcing strategy.

About 4 percent of PwC’s employees are based in India.

Nally told The Times of India that the company regrets its failure to detect the fraud at Satyam Computer Services. Two of PwC’s partners were arrested earlier this year in the case:

PwC has particularly brought about changes in the process of recruitment, in terms of looking out for qualities of ethics and values in an individual. "If we don't have those type of attributes from day one, it is pretty difficult to build them down the road. So this is what we really look for in our recruits and make those judgments right upfront on day one even before those individuals are offered to join the firm,'' said Nally.

CFOs Try to Avoid Layoffs

2009-06-23T09:49:00.006-04:00

To avoid layoffs, nearly half (47 percent) of chief financial officers are trying other options ranging from salary freezes to shortened work weeks, according to the most recent quarterly survey conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business.

About a fifth (21 percent) of the 334 CFOs surveyed said they expanded early pensions and other retirement incentives, while 17 percent implemented furloughs.

Forty-seven percent of respondents were trying other tactics, including salary reductions, unpaid vacations, pay raise stalls and preferences to hold onto experienced personnel:

• Salary freeze – 51 percent
• Redistribution of responsibilities – 29 percent
• Elimination of bonuses – 29 percent
• Restructuring – 29 percent
• Salary decreases – 20 percent
• Shortened work week – 16 percent
• Mandatory unpaid time off – 11 percent
• Option to telecommute – 3 percent

On a more optimistic note, over a quarter (28 percent) of CFOs are witnessing signs of stabilization at companies where layoffs did not occur this quarter (30 percent).

The job outlook for recent graduates and interns was still challenging when the survey was conducted at the end of March. Nearly all (95 percent) of the CFOs whose companies traditionally hire students had either hired fewer, or the same amount as the previous year. A scant 5 percent of the CFOs had increased graduate hiring.

Among companies that have historically hired paid summer interns, 61 percent planned to hire fewer interns, and only 8 percent said they would hire more interns this summer.

Redundancies at Large UK Accounting Firms

2009-06-18T14:19:00.005-04:00

The 50 largest accounting firms in the United Kingdom have reduced their headcount by about 3,000, or 5 percent, over the past year, according to an annual survey from Accountancy Age.

The top 50 firms by revenue now employ 56,669 qualified accountants, the survey found.

“Experts expect the job cuts to continue as firms try to slash costs in response to a sharp slowdown in demand for corporate finance and other services,” Accountancy Age predicts.

Even KPMG, which last winter reduced UK staffers to a four-day work week to avoid layoffs was planning to cut 200 jobs.

Phil Shohet, director of Kato Consultancy, told Accountancy Age firms are cutting managers and recruiting graduates:

This has forced partners to "trade-down" and handle more technical work, Shohet said, meaning that clients are often relying on inexperienced graduates to help them survive the recession. "You need more rounded managers who are technically very good, but who can also manage staff better," he said. "In independent firms there is very little management training."

Here in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports CPA firms employed 438,600 people in April of 2009, down 4,800 people from April of 2008.

The BLS also offers seasonally-adjusted numbers for the broader accounting and bookkeeping industry. Those figures show 5,100 fewer people working in the field in May of 2009 than were working in May of 2008.

Anecdotally, our viewers continue to share the news about layoffs in many cities by accounting firms, including the Big 4, as they comment on our blog What's Behind Layoffs at the Big Four.

Bay Area Job Market Better Than In Other California Areas

2009-06-16T17:33:00.003-04:00

Accountants on the job hunt in California should pay extra attention to the San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley areas. Robert Half International’s head of recruiting for the state said opportunities are likely to remain more plentiful in the northern California hubs over the next six months than other parts of the state. Brett Good, Half’s District President Southern California/Arizona, says that San Francisco and Silicon Valley were less affected by slowing real estate development than other areas. Moreover, Good also said that technology firms that are a staple of the Bay Area economy have kept busy on projects that started before the meltdown, not to mention supplementary assignments targeting efficiency. “From a technology perspective, for organizations involved in upgrades, these projects have long tails,” Good said. “You can’t just cut them off. He added: “There are some companies that are just starting projects. (All) this has kept technology organizations puddling along. The question is whether San Francisco will (in the more distant future) fall into what the other major metropolitan areas are facing now if new projects aren’t coming along.” A recent Half survey of CFOs – released earlier this month – underscored Good’s comments. Eight percent of San Francisco CFOs responding to the quarterly Half Hiring Index said that they expected to reduce staff while 6 percent said they would probably hire employees. To be sure, an Index where fewer CFOs are likely to hire workers than make cuts generally reflects a weak job market. But the minus 2 differential for San Francisco was much better than negative 7 percent differentials in Los Angeles and San Diego and a negative 5 percent gap in Sacramento.

Women Partners vs. Directors

2009-06-12T15:43:00.002-04:00

Deloitte LLP’s announcement this week that it had reached the 1,000 mark for U.S. women partners, principals and directors is worthy of note for some not-so-obvious reasons.

The announcement talks about not just equity partners and non-equity partners, but directors as well – a term that’s sure to start an argument over what’s included in the category if you ask more than one firm to supply that figure. “They could all inflate their numbers if we expand the definition to include female directors,” points out Public Accounting Report (PAR) Editor Jonathan Hamilton.

If you’re just counting partners, the Big 4 run about even, according to PAR, which surveyed 171 firms about their percentage of women by staff category in mid-2008.

PAR’s results:

KPMG 18.6 percent
Plante & Moran 18.4 percent
Deloitte 18.1 pecent
CBIZ/MHMcC 18.1 percent
E&Y 17.0 percent
PwC 16.9 percent
Grant Thornton 14.9 percent
BDO Seidman 13.9 percent
RSM McGladrey 14.3 percent

Hamilton points out another potential reason for the increase in women partners: recent layoffs of partners, most of whom are older, white males, which could shift the ratio of male/female partners, even if no new female partners were created.

Going forward, accounting firms that don’t find a way to retain and promote women could find themselves facing serious retention issues due to two factors. First, the ratio of women to men in accounting programs continues to favor women in ever greater numbers, so the inflow of accountants is predominately female.

Second, there’s an exodus of older white males on the horizon. “More CPAs will retire over the next 10 years than retired in the previous 40 years combined,” Hamilton says.

Taken together, these trends mean we’re likely to see firms continue to attempt to position themselves as female-friendly.

Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg could argue that the 1,000 number touted in this week’s press release really does reflect Deloitte commitment to developing women and minority leaders through its Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women.

After all, it was the first Big Four professional services firm to create an official program for the advancement of high-potential women through training, mentoring, coaching and succession-planning programs.

And, it is the first and only major professional services firm to have a woman chairman, Sharon Allen. In addition, its board of directors has six women -- a female representation of 29 percent.

Older Workers Have Seen it Before

2009-06-10T11:25:00.002-04:00

The challenging economy has hit the psyche of younger workers hard, while older employees are showing greater resiliency in the recession-battered workplace, according to a new study by Boston College's Sloan Center on Aging & Work.

The survey, which measured attitudes about job security, supervisor support, job quality, inclusion and overall employee engagement among about 2,200 workers at 12 job sites, was done from November of 2007 until just after the Bear Stearns collapse in March of 2008 and again between June and September 2008.

Not surprisingly, employees of all ages reported a drop in employee engagement, a measure of how invested and enthusiastic employees are in their work.

Generation Y workers -- ages 26 and younger -- reported the greatest decrease in engagement, followed by Generation X -- ages 27 to 42. Baby Boomers and older Traditionalists -- ages 43 or older -- reported that their levels of engagement hardly changed at all.

"Some older workers have seen it all, and that gives them experiential resilience," says Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, director of Boston College's Sloan Center on Aging & Work. "Younger workers just don't have the depth of experience, which leaves them feeling less engaged in their jobs. But younger workers bring energy, enthusiasm, and idealism."

The survey also found:

Perceptions of engagement, supervisor support, inclusion, and job quality declined after the onset of the economic downturn for employees who felt that their job security had decreased, but it stayed the same or only slightly declined for those whose job security had stayed the same or increased.

Those whose job security decreased or stayed the same experienced a slight increase in work overload after the onset of the economic downturn, whereas those whose job security increased experienced a slight decrease in work overload.

Those whose job security decreased perceived a slight decrease in team effectiveness after the onset of the economic downturn, whereas those whose job security increased experienced a slight increase in their perceptions of team effectiveness.

While younger workers felt the effectiveness of their work team as a whole dropped as their job security declined, older workers felt the effectiveness of their team held steady even though they too reported a decreased sense of job security.

Before you Agree to Cut Your Hours...

2009-06-05T13:31:00.002-04:00

If your company asks employees to reduce their hours to avoid layoffs, would you stay on the job?

In the United Kingdom, where employers such as KPMG reduced hours rather than cutting staff, KPMG People Strategy Director Tim Payne recently wrote a feature The Telegraph that’s a nice laundry list of things to consider if you face this situation:

Why are the reductions necessary?
Can you afford it?
How long with the cut-backs last?
When do they start?
How will my salary change?
What will my take-home pay be?
What happens to my retirement and other benefits?
How would I spend the extra free time?
Can I trust management?
Who decides how far to cut back hours?

“Handing over control of your work schedule and salary to your boss requires a certain level of trust,” Payne writes. “But, if you can pull it off, the outcome is an incredible amount of flexibility in the workforce, and a precision tool for managing costs while retaining talent.”

Unemployment Claims Drop, Productivity Rises In Latest Reports

2009-06-04T17:40:00.003-04:00

Over the last few weeks, there have been a few minute indications that the economy has stabilized. The latest encouraging sign comes with today’s Labor Department report that the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped slightly from last week’s 625,000 to 621,000. To be sure, that remains well above levels consistent with a strong economy. A year ago, initial claims were 370,000. In addition, a number of experts have been predicting that unemployment will rise from April’s 8.9 percent to 9.2 percent when the May figures are released tomorrow.

Still, there was other positive news in the Labor Department report. The number of people receiving jobless benefits shrank by 15,000 from 6.750 million to 6.735 million. That represented the first decline since January. Continuing benefit claims have been setting record highs in recent months. Continuing claims data follows initial claims data by a week. Also, a separate Labor Department report found that productivity – the output per working hour – rose 1.8 percent in the business sector and 1.6 percent in the non-farm business sector. Those numbers were higher than the Labor Department predicted in a May 7 report. Greater productivity has wider benefits, raising living standards as industrious employees earn more without companies having to raise prices.

Some recruiters focused on the finance sector are a little more hopeful about the near future. “I do feel it’s steady as she goes just as it has been the past three to five weeks,” says Paul Herrerias, a managing director in the San Francisco office for executive search firm Stanton Chase. “There’s more conversation about recruiting again. I’m encouraged that the stock market is steadily inching forward and that’s where we think the economy is going as well. Hiring will start to pick up.” But Herrerias added “there’s still a lot of pain out there. It’s still a long way before big financial services firms will be hiring (in large numbers) again.”

Audit Fees Up 2.2% in 2008

2009-06-03T10:41:00.002-04:00

Public company audit firms upped their fees 2.2 percent in 2008, according to the latest Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF) Audit Fee Survey.

However, that increase may not translate into fatter paychecks for employees since a majority of company officials also reported taking on more work internally and considering a change in audit firms.

The Audit Fee Survey polled over 360 executives from U.S. publicly held companies (76% of those were either accelerated filers or large accelerated filers), privately held companies and foreign companies to gauge the total fees companies paid to external auditors in 2008 and overall satisfaction with audit firms.

According to the survey, publicly held companies paid on average $3.7 million in total audit fees for fiscal year 2008, representing an increase of 2.2% over total audit fees paid for the prior fiscal year.

Total audit fees paid by privately held companies responding to the survey averaged $219,500, a 3.7% increase over the prior year.

Public company audits averaged approximately 9,881 hours in 2008, and their average blended audit fee rate was $216 per hour ($196 for non-accelerated filers and $217 for the accelerated filers).

Private companies averaged about 1,903 hours at a blended audit fee rate of $179 per hour ($152 for the smallest companies to $230 for the largest).

If you’re working for a regional or local firm, you know retaining clients is an on-going challenge. Nearly a quarter of the private company respondents said they re-bid their audit work every four to seven years, while only 11 percent of public companies put the engagement out for bid in the same time frame.

“In addition, 15 of the 245 private companies plan to switch auditors,” the survey says, “compared with only two of the 110 public company respondents. Companies that expressed intention to change auditors cited services issues as a primary concern."

Looking ahead, the survey turned up differences in what companies expect to pay for future audits. A scant 19 percent of public company officials expect audit fees to increase.

By contrast, half of private company respondents expect audit fee increases of 2 percent to 10 percent in 2009.

Online Job Openings Rise in May

2009-06-03T03:28:00.004-04:00

The Conference Board reported June 1 that online advertisements for job openings rose by 250,000 to 3,367,000. It was the first increase since October’s small 21,000 ad increase and the largest since October 2006. The New York-based Conference Board, which provides research on business trends, tracks monthly Internet job advertisements via its Help-Wanted Online Data Series.

These online postings offer one measure of the strength of the job market. The report found that 43 of 50 states posted gains in Internet job ads and that labor demand has increased or leveled off in such states as New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia and Maryland.

Gad Levanon, senior economist for The Conference Board, saw positive signs in the report. The May bounce in labor demand is a very welcome sign.” Lebanon said, “April and May are both months when businesses typically step up their demand for workers. This year, while April was weak, by May employers were placing ads for workers in numerous locations across the nation. Over the last four months, there are now about a half-dozen states where the drop in labor demand shows signs of leveling off and another handful of states show some very moderate increases. Labor demand typically leads the trend in both employment and unemployment, so positive signals on labor demand are always important."

But Lebanon also said that unemployment was likely to continue rising, albeit at “more modest levels throughout the summer.” He added: “April (the May numbers are released on June 5), there were 10.6 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies.”

Indeed, there were 4.4 unemployed people for every one online job advertisement – up from 4.05 to one in March. Michigan had the worst ratio of roughly nine unemployed people for every one advertised opening. Maryland and Virginia were best with two to one ratios. Those states have heavy concentrations of Federal agencies and organizations working closely with them. Government has been among the stronger sectors for hiring over the past 18 months.

Benefits Top List of CFOs, Surveys Find

2009-06-02T16:59:00.003-04:00

What’s most on the mind of today’s cost-conscious CFO?

It’s no surprise that employee benefits top the list, according to surveys released recently by accounting firm Grant Thornton. One study found that 73 percent of CFOs from U.S. manufacturers said that benefits were their major concern. That was 11 percentage points higher than their second biggest worry, paying for raw materials, and 26 points higher than concerns over energy costs. Benefits are among the largest expenses and the most difficult to cut.

Chicago-based Grant Thornton surveyed 120 CFOs from companies with revenues ranging from $100 million to $1 billion.

The Grant Thornton survey also found that 70 percent of CFOs don’t expect to give pay raises this year, and that 59 percent won’t provide bonuses. In addition, 70 percent of the participants said they would be reducing recruiting and hiring activities.

In a separate survey of 46 CFOs and senior comptrollers from financial services firms, 74 percent of the participants said that employee benefits, including pensions and health care, created the most significant pricing pressure. In this survey, 85 percent of the respondents said the recession would last through 2009. But here’s a bright spot: 42 percent of the participants also said they expected their companies’ financial prospects to improve over the next six months, almost double the percentage of those who said their organizations’ prospects would worsen.

Symonds, Evans Joins Delap

2009-06-02T16:16:00.002-04:00

Delap, LLP, Lake Oswego, Oregon has merged with Symonds, Evans & Co., P.C., Portland, Oregon. The new firm, which will retain the Delap name, plans to use its 90 employees to create larger client service teams.

Delap’s current clients include healthcare, financial institution, aviation, forest products, wholesale distribution, manufacturing, automotive, employee benefit plan, construction, real estate, retail and technology companies.

“We are going to have a stronger healthcare and financial institution practice, including commercial and community banks as well as credit unions,” says Delap Business Development Manager MyKim Tran.

To serve those clients, the firm hires year-round. “We hire on campus every year, a year in advance and we are still very active in our recruiting for experienced hires,” Tran says.

RHI Survey Says: Few Hires, Few Fires Coming Next Quarter

2009-06-02T14:23:00.006-04:00

Companies are reluctant to hire new accounting and finance professionals, but only a scant 8 percent plan third-quarter layoffs, according to the Robert Half International (RHI) Financial Hiring Index.

Five percent of the 1,400 chief financial officers surveyed by RHI expect to hire full-time employees during the third quarter. The majority, 85 percent, plan to stick with their current staffing levels.

Despite the survey’s lukewarm results, CFOs say they continue to have a hard time finding senior and staff accountants as well as auditors.

The survey did turn up regional differences in CFOs’ hiring outlooks. Those in the East South Central and West South Central states were the most optimistic.

RHI also noted differences among industry sectors. "Growth among the healthcare and hospitality sectors in some areas within the East South Central states is boosting hiring activity in the region," says RHI Chairman and CEO Max Messmer.

"In the West South Central [states], employers seek mid-career professionals who have a proven work history and are flexible and skilled enough to manage a range of accounting projects," he adds.

Read more local results here.

For Feds to Tax Carbon, Something Has to Measure It

2009-06-01T11:06:00.002-04:00

If Congress decides to cap or tax carbon emissions, how might your firm track what it uses or owes? Chances are you’ll either get an updated SAP or a stand-alone software program to do the calculations.

As The New York Times reported today , start up firm Hara has launched a software program that helps companies track and potentially reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, SAP AG last month said it would acquire Clear Standards, Inc., a privately held firm that helps organizations measure, optimize and report greenhouse gas emissions.

Evergreen Energy Inc. subsidiary C-Lock Technology, IBM and Enterprise Information Management Inc. have developed a carbon information management technology solution that currently serves agriculture and energy companies.

Expect to hear a lot of claims and counterclaims as developers mix science and technology in the quest to measure carbon emissions.

“A green economy built on carbon avoidance and cap-and-trade programs can’t be sustained with approximations or best-guesses,” said Jim Bitonti, president of C-Lock. “Existing emissions measurement tools are acknowledged to be inaccurate by as much as 30 percent, an unacceptable failure level that can cost businesses millions and threaten the credibility of nascent carbon markets.”

Rate of Layoffs at Big Companies Slowed

2009-06-01T03:09:00.005-04:00

The Forbes Layoff Tracker finished its quietest week last Friday since it started tracking layoffs at the country’s 500 largest companies in November 2008. The Tracker recorded 650 layoffs – all at business supplies manufacturer Cintas -- for the workweek ending May 29; by comparison, for the previous workweek, five companies, including American Express and Hewlett-Packard, announced more than 12,300 layoffs. The news followed the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, which found that the number of first-time unemployment claims dropped in April compared to the previous month. So did the number of mass layoffs, defined as those involving at least 50 people.

Is the economy getting ready to start a long, slow rebound, as a number of experts have suggested recently?

On the other hand, the same Labor Department report found that the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent in March to 8.9 percent in April, while 12 of 19 major industries reported all-time highs in terms of average weekly first-time unemployment claims in April. The industries included finance and professional services.

Still, the president of one major executive recruiting firm found some upbeat notes in the most recent data and says his firm has received a number of assignments, especially at the board and CEO level. “We’re gradually approaching some sort of change, and consumer demand seems to be saying the same thing,” said Chris Clarke of Hawthorne, N.Y.-based Boyden Global Executive Search. “The good news is we think we’re past the bottom.”

Moreover, Clarke added that a number of companies are still seeking talented CFOs and other finance executives. “Finance is one of the toughest functions right now,” he said. “These are the people who have to sort out the messes. Those good at it are much in demand.”

Bill Introduced To Create Paid Sick Day Policy

2009-05-29T19:01:00.006-04:00

To show up for work or not to?

That question has resonated especially strongly amidst this spring’s swine flu scare. While the odds have been low of contracting the disease, anyone feeling a little poorly has had to decide whether they should stay home and risk falling behind on the job or risk infecting co-workers.

A bill introduced last week by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) aims to make such decisions easier. The Healthy Families Act would require companies with at least 15 employees to provide up to 56 hours – seven days – of paid sick leave a year. Workers would earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours of work. Employees would be able to use the time not only to recover from illness but also to obtain preventative and diagnostic treatments, care for sick family members and seek help in incidents of domestic abuse. Employers already providing leave would not have to change their existing policies provided it is used for a purpose outlined in the Healthy Families Act. In addition, employers may request documentation for any request longer than three consecutive days.

Senator Edward Kennedy is expected to introduce companion legislation.

DeLauro’s bill coincides with the release of a report on sick day policies by the the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Contagion Nation: A Comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries found that the U.S. was the only country among 22 countries ranked highly in economic and human development that does not guarantee paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses. Present law doesn’t require employers to provide either; instead, companies offer this benefit on a volunteer basis. The study calculated the government- or employer-provided support for workers who missed five days because of the flu or 50 days for cancer treatment. The other countries included Germany, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.

“Working Americans can’t afford to stay home when they’re sick because they don’t have paid sick days,” said Dr. Jody Heymann, the director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy and lead author of the report, in a press release. “The lack of paid sick days puts Americans at substantially greater risk of contagious diseases – from the flu, which kills thousands annually to diarrheal disease, respiratory infections and the threat of new diseases like the H1N1 (swine) flu virus.”

Based on two separate reports, Contagion Nation estimates that about 20 million people in the U.S. go to work sick, many of them . “The economic impact of a serious flu outbreak are potentially enormous,” says Heymann.

Not all employment related organizations support the measure. Some believe that the bill would financially burden companies that are already under pressure. “Congress could not pick a worse time to impose untested and costly new mandates on U.S. employers,” said Lisa Horn, chair of the National Coalition to Protect Family Leave and an employee of the Society for Human Resource Management’s government affairs department. SHRM would prefer legislators to focus more on the development of flexible work policies. The organization says that most U.S. employers already provide some form of paid sick leave.

Targeting International Firms? Here's Help

2009-05-28T15:04:00.002-04:00

If you’re interested in expanding your job search beyond the United States, check out Accountancy Age’s Top 30 Accounting Networks and Associations list.

Officials from several of the networks and associations that made the list outlined their future growth plans in a feature that accompanied the list.

Using the list of networks and associations, you can work backwards to locate firms all over the globe that are members of the networks -- and potentially your next employer.

Report Highlights Benefits of Flexible Work Arrangements

2009-05-28T04:18:00.002-04:00

Is now the time for boosting flexible work arrangements?

In a paper released earlier this month by Georgetown Law, a 22-person task force of employers, researchers, consultants and other experts answers with an emphatic yes. “…We believe the current crisis underscores the need for, and value of, flexible work arrangements,” writes the National Advisory Commission on Workplace Flexibility. “Flexible work arrangements give workers a fair chance to juggle the competing demands of personal life and work successfully, particularly during the time when older workers need to work longer to secure retirement and women’s labor force participation is on the rise. And employers want to retain their best workers both now, in order to meet their business needs and to get the job done as efficiently as possible, and in the future when the economy improves.”

The 47-page Public Policy Platform on Flexible Work Arrangements capped a year of research and interviews with leaders in the private and public sector. The project was part of a larger workplace flexibility initiative funded by the non-profit Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and encompassing not only flexible workplace arrangements but time off and career development and re-entry. The paper cites the advantages of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and offers a blueprint for incorporating them into management strategies.

Flexible work arrangements cover such issues as compressed work weeks, job sharing, non-traditional start and stop times, phased retirement, job shares and telecommuting.

The paper recommends the creation of a national multi-media campaign outlining the benefits of flexible work arrangements, training, technical assistance and other resources for organizations to establish these programs, and support for federal and state government initiatives. “The federal government must take the lead on a full-scale, national conversation on FWAs by transforming its workplace into an example of the ‘new norm,’” the paper says.

Public Policy Platform also highlights three model flexible work programs, including Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization. The Deloitte program allows employees to make fundamental adjustments in workload, responsibilities, job location and scheduling. In the paper, Deloitte’s chairman Sharon Allen said “a culture of flexibility is a tremendous competitive advantage.” She said: “For companies, MCC fosters greater loyalty and employee retention, and for employees, more satisfaction by being able to fit their life into their work and their work into their life.”

Productivity Expert Says Eliminate Email Distractions To Perform Better

2009-05-27T15:11:00.004-04:00

It’s no secret: As firms slash jobs, many of the survivors, accountants and finance executives included, are having to take on more work. Finding time for these extra responsibilities has been difficult, even emotionally draining.

Yet a nationally known efficiency expert has a few suggestions for helping employees increase their productivity without spending more time in the office. Laura Stack, the author of Leave the Office Earlier and the founder of the Denver, Colo.-based consultancy The Productivity Pro, says increasing efficiency requires making compromises and changing habits, especially when it comes to using the internet. Stack will speak about time management and productivity at the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference on June 29.

She says that many workers would improve performance by using email more efficiently. For example, employees could eliminate all but essential email alerts (bosses and key customers) that buzz and ring people to distraction. She believes that email usage increases in the aftermath of layoffs as employees seek more information and comfort in one another. “Email is killing everyone,” Stack says. “It’s insane: People can’t get more than two minutes of work done without distractions. Most people have lost the ability to focus on any one task.”

But Stack says that change must also occur on a group and organizational level. That may mean holding fewer meetings or streamlining protocols. One of Stack’s clients from the automotive industry recently shortened a monthly analysis that it submitted to a customer; the Stack client came to the decision after finding that its customer was only reading the executive summary and a chart, anyway. The vice president of finance from another Stack client, a manufacturing company, started rounding off certain numbers on reports to save time, but without compromising work quality. “You have to step back from the gerbil wheel,” Stack says. “You have to say, ‘we’re used to doing things the same way (but) we don’t have to do them the same way.’”

Marcum & Kliegman to Merge with Rachlin

2009-05-25T11:00:00.002-04:00

New York-based Marcum & Kliegman LLP will merge June 1st with Florida-based Rachlin LLP. Marcum & Kliegman LLP will change its name to Marcum LLP in the Northeast and MarcumRachlin, a division of Marcum LLP, in the South.

The merger of the two Accounting Today Top 100 firms creates a company with 800 professionals including 84 partners in 10 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and Grand Cayman. Marcum Group Chairman Jeffrey M. Weiner expects the combined firm to rank in the top 20 on the next edition of Accounting Today top firms list.

Marcum & Kliegman specializes in SEC registrants, alternative investment partnerships and family office services, while Rachlin targets the government, public and not-for-profit sectors, and also offers bankruptcy and receivership services. It will also continue to offer nontraditional services such as the staffing and executive placement division it opened last year as well as marketing and graphic design.

MarcumRachlin Managing Partner Lawrence Blum says the merger will enable the firm to provide financial and investment services, information technology solutions and network security.

California Conference To Cover Skills For Young CPAs

2009-05-22T16:37:00.004-04:00

There may be minute signs of improvement in the economy but organizations are still looking for ways to save money and work with budget-conscious clientele.

The CalCPA Education Foundation this year elected to hold only one edition of its Young & Emerging Professionals conference, which has drawn some of the largest attendance among its many events. The conference will take place June 5.

Last year’s Young Professionals Conference attracted a total of more than 600 participants to its two separate but equal events a day apart in Northern and Southern California. The agendas for the two locations – and some of the speakers – were identical.

The CalCPA Education Foundation, the continuing education arm of the state’s largest accounting trade organization, has favored the separate-but-equal format to make it easier for people to attend its most popular conferences. But Gary Hammond, a program director for CalCPA, said that this year the organization had concerns that fewer accountants would be willing to pay the registration fees, which can range as high as $469 for CalCPA non-members (Members with 0-5 years of experience pay $225 unless they registered for a year-long economy package entitling them to steep discounts on conferences). So the Education Foundation decided to hold just one conference at the San Francisco Hilton, where it figured participation was likely to be strongest. Hammond still isn’t sure how many people will come. “I may not have an idea until the day before,” he says.

The agenda will cover some familiar ground. Past Young Professionals conferences have addressed such evergreen issues as career advancement and leadership skills.

But this year’s event will focus more on current trends, including social networking in the workplace and survival tactics for the recession. The agenda itself also will have fewer sessions than usual. In the past, attendees had to choose between concurrent presentations at certain hours. Conference Co-Chair Amy Ainsworth, a manager at Palo Alto-based financial consulting firm Paraclae, said that a planning committee wanted to make the conference more user friendly. “We found that people wanted to attend simultaneous sessions,” Ainsworth said. “We focused on keeping the best so that no one would have to be torn.”

Ainsworth hopes that the conference will foster “a sense of solidarity” at a difficult time as speakers and attendees network and swap stories. Although less hard hit than other industries, the accounting profession in California has seen business and the hiring market slacken, discouraging some CPAs. “We hope people entering the field and already in the field see the long-range plan of what we do,” Ainsworth said. “Our profession is here to stay. There’s still a lot of innovation out there and leads.”

A Way For Candidates To Improve Interviewing Technique

2009-05-21T14:09:00.008-04:00

Want to score big points in a job interview?

Be prepared to discuss the position you’ve lost or other unfavorable career events in depth, says Korn/Ferry International recruiter Cheryl Buxton.

A candidate who can show how he or she has learned from a negative work experience will demonstrate analytical thinking and the ability to grow from professional adversity. Korn/Ferry dubs these skills Learning Agility and trademarked the term it defines as the ability “to extract” knowledge from experience “and apply it to new situations.” The Princeton-based Buxton, a pharmaceuticals specialist and global managing director, client services for Korn/Ferry, says Learning Agility has always been valued but more so of late as organizations seek leaders to guide them through difficult times.

Los Angeles-headquartered Korn/Ferry is a leading executive search firm and respected observer of recruiting trends. In a paper on the company’s Web site, entitled Distinguishing Yourself as a True Leader During Behavioral Competency Interviews, Buxton and other Korn/Ferry recruiters offer a blueprint for interviewing better. Behavioral interviewing attempts to gauge how someone is likely to react to varied, often difficult situations. While the paper’s target audience is largely high-level executives, its suggestions apply to all ranks.

To be sure, hiring experts have long counseled job seekers to handle questions about such issues as job loss directly and in an upbeat manner; this approach reflects well on their candidacy. Still, Buxton says if interviewees go further, they’ll leave a stronger impression.

For example, Buxton says that even a CFO ousted by a new CEO eager to install his own team might suggest areas where he could have performed better and saved his job. This ability to identify weaknesses offers strong evidence that a candidate is looking to improve. Moreover, she says that it suggests that the individual will perform well not only in one position but in future, higher-level jobs. “I want to know what that CFO thinks (he or she) could have done to build the relationship with the incoming CEO, to have been more secure in the firm.” She adds: “What companies are looking for is not just a history of success, but what someone has learned and how they’ve applied it to their careers.”

Top Accounting Firms Snag More Diversity Recognition

2009-05-19T18:03:00.003-04:00

In recent years, accounting firms of different sizes, trade associations and academic programs have made diversity one of their priorities. They’ve seen not just moral but increasingly business imperatives for adding women and minorities to their workforce, and working with more diverse suppliers. They understand that their customers are growing more diverse.

A related group of ranking lists released this year by a leading diversity research organization suggests that at least the largest accounting firms have been making headway. The most recent list announced by Diversity Inc. found that PricewaterhouseCoopers is the top firm when it comes to global diversity. PwC ranked first among 10 firms. Deloitte was sixth. Technology giants IBM and Cisco, Proctor & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive – all considered corporate leaders on diversity -- were also on the list.

Companies on the list must have at least 10 percent of their employees outside the U.S. and offer health benefits to same-sex partners. PwC won kudos for its cross-border employee groups for women and minorities and work to change laws globally that Diversity Inc. called “oppressive.” Among major diversity efforts over the past five years, the company created a worldwide gender advisory council of 14 men and women executives to increase the representation of women in its workforce. “Diversity is at the heart of our business,” said Samuel DiPiazza, PwC’s global CEO, in a press release. “It impacts client satisfaction, the quality of our services and thinking, innovation, and the overall engagement of our people.”

The top ranking follows PwC’s inclusion by Diversity Inc. in its annual top 50 companies for diversity list and top 10 firms for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender employees.

Both lists were released over the past two months and are based on the same comprehensive survey that generated the global diversity rankings. But Diversity Inc. considers different criteria for different lists. For example, for the top 50 list, the research group didn’t focus on international initiatives, instead weighing a combination of recruiting and retention success, vendor diversity, with which firms work, the ability of firms to expand diversity efforts through internal and external communications and marketing, and most of all, CEO involvement.

PwC ranked fifth on the top 50 list and third on the LGBT list, which looks at companies’ commitment to hiring and retaining LGBT employees.

Deloitte ranked 33^rd on the top 50 list and number nine among the top 10 firms for Asian Americans list, which was also released earlier this year. Ernst & Young ranked third among the top 50 firms for diversity list and KPMG 21^st.

KBA Joins BKD

2009-05-19T16:42:00.002-04:00

BKD, LLP, Dallas is merging with KBA Group, LLP, Springfield, Mo. on June 1.

KBA's 8 partners and 95 staffers will bring $16 million in annual revenue to BKD, which posted $354 million in revenue and has 250 partners and 1,750 staffers working in 32 offices in 12 states.

BKD Chief Executive Officer Neal Spencer says the firm is “always looking to add people to our firm if it is a benefit to the market … we are looking to add services in Dallas related to health care, financial institutions and not-for-profit and government.”

KBA Group offers audit, tax, risk management and transaction advisory services as well as family-owned business services to private companies.

BKD, meanwhile, provides consulting, tax, assurance, accounting outsourcing, information technology, investment advisory and corporate finance services.

Separating the Online You From the Work Day You

2009-05-19T10:41:00.004-04:00

When it comes to social networking, employers and employees, especially younger workers, draw the privacy line in two different places, according to this year’s Deloitte LLP Ethics & Workplace survey.

While 60 percent of business executives say they have the right to know how employees portray themselves and their organization in online networks, more than half (53 percent) of employees disagree.

What’s more, a whopping 63 percent of the 18-34-year-olds who answered the survey said employers have no business monitoring their online activity.

It’s not as though workers don’t understand how their online actions can embarrass an employer -- about three-quarters of the 2,008 employees who answered the survey agreed that social networks make it easier to damage a company’s reputation – but rather than they don’t think that what they do on their own time should reflect on their employer.

If you’re among those who think employers should mind their own business, you’ll be happy to note that only 17 percent of the 500 executives surveyed have programs in place to monitor their employees' social network postings.

Now that Deloitte is raising the issue and suggesting companies have “reputational risk” discussions at “the highest level,” more companies may put formal policies in place.

But even that may not convince people to watch what they post online.

When the survey asked respondents if they’d change their online behavior because their company had defined social networking guidelines, 49 percent said no.

"One-third of employees surveyed never consider what their boss or customers might think before posting material online," says Sharon Allen, chairman of the board, Deloitte LLP. "This fact alone reinforces how vulnerable brands are as a result of the increased use of social networks. As business leaders, it is critical that we continue to foster solid values-based cultures that encourage employees to behave ethically regardless of the venue."

Leading Recruiter Sees Opportunity for Finance Executives

2009-05-18T17:08:00.008-04:00

It’s easy to stay where you are in tough times. But to the risk-takers come rewards, says a leading recruiter of high-level finance executives.

Scott Simmons, a founding partner of Chicago-based Crist/Kolder Associates, says that may mean leaving secure positions at stable companies for struggling organizations. Crist/Kolder places chief financial officers and other senior executives at large, publicly traded firms. Simmons says that managers who can help turn around these companies in the present recession will boost their careers more than they would staying put. “You go to a place where the share price is low and you pull the business out of tough times – even if it means the sale of the business – it’s a great career builder,” Simmons says. He says that many finance executives are “understandably” reluctant to switch firms in tough economic times. “In a recession, people lose focus on career development,” Simmons says, adding that some executives are reluctant to leave even firms that are unlikely to offer career growth possibilities. "(They) think that they should stick with the devil because it’s the devil they know,” he says.

Crist/Kolder places about 25 CFOs per year plus direct reports, CEOs and board members in a range of industries. The economy has buffeted the firm. Revenues are flat this year, Simmons says, although Crist/Kolder has completed several high-level assignments since February, including the CFOs for Bausch & Lomb, DineEquity (parent company of the restaurant chains Applebee’s and IHOP) and Erie Insurance Group. It has also been retained to fill the chief executive/chair vacancy at the financial services company Integra. Simmons says that clients are seeking expertise in operations and cost-cutting more than experience in helping companies expand. “Market changes require different skills,” Simmons says.

California Firm Needs Tax Managers for Non-Profit Practice

2009-05-15T15:34:00.001-04:00

The head of the non-profit practice of Los Angeles-based Green Hasson & Janks is eager to hire at least one – preferably two – audit managers or senior audit managers. Margaret Karren has been looking to fill the positions for several months but has yet to find candidates with the right experience. Karren said that she needs someone who has focused on the sector for at least two years; occasional project work isn’t sufficient fully to understand increasingly complicated non-profit, tax law. Karren said that despite the recession and declines in non-profit funding, business is growing and that she anticipates further growth in the near future. This is partly the result of some larger firms scaling back their non-profit practices in Southern California as part of belt tightening. She believes that increasing staff will help her seize new business opportunities.

Now a partner at her firm, Karren started the non-profit practice just seven years ago. In that time, revenues have grown from $100,000 to about $2.6 million. Most of Green Hasson & Janks’s non-profit clients are Los Angeles-area-based and include social, government and educational organizations. The non-profit practice currently has two partners, two managers and five other employees. Karren says that audit manager candidates typically have seven to 10 years of experience overall. The hiring process at Green Hasson & Janks includes a phone interview and meetings with four to six employees on site. Karren says that non-profit work can be uniquely rewarding, allowing accountants to have an impact on organizations and beyond. “You get to work with the heart and soul of a community,” Karren says.

A Few More CPAs are Feeling a Little Bit More Optimistic

2009-05-14T17:57:00.002-04:00

Financial executives and CPAs are feeling a bit less pessimistic about the economy these days, according to the second quarter Economic Outlook Survey from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School shows.

Only about half the 1,071 CPAs surveyed in late April and early May were pessimistic about the U.S. economy over the next year, which seems like bad news until it’s compared to last quarter, when an all-time-high 82 percent of the survey respondents reported feeling “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” about the economy.

The shift suggests a leveling of confidence, says Arleen Thomas, AICPA's senior vice president for member competency and development.

The proportion of CPAs feeling optimistic, 19 percent, was up 14 points, as well. That left 28 percent feeling “neutral” on the U.S. outlook.

"There seems to be a broad consensus that the worst of the downturn is over for the U.S. economy,” said UNC Kenan-Flagler Accounting Professor Mark Lang, Ph.D. “On the other hand, it is disconcerting that, while managers are generally more optimistic than they had been, they appear to be conservative in their investment and hiring plans. Overall, the results suggest that we may have reached a bottom, but improvements in spending and employment are likely to be very gradual."

Nearly half of those surveyed, 45 percent, said they expected a reduction in employment, down five percentage points from 50 percent who had said three months earlier that they expected the number of employees to decrease.

A Sign of a Hiring Pick-up?

2009-05-14T16:28:00.003-04:00

An expert on recruiting and related trends says that he’s seen approximately 15 high-level, corporate staffing jobs listed over the past two weeks. Mark Mehler, a founder of CareerXroads, says that the openings from multiple organizations came as a surprise and offered one of the first encouraging signs that he’s seen in the job market in some time. “That’s a lot (of positions),” says Mehler who with his co-founder Gerry Crispin regularly advise Fortune 500 firms, including those from the financial services sector. “It’s been dry for six months to a year.”

Mehler says that movement in top-level recruiting and staffing positions often foreshadow other hiring trends. To wit, he says that a number of these types of jobs were among the first to be cut when the economy started declining. “If business is slowing down, companies don’t need recruiters,” Mehler says.

Mehler noticed the upswing during a monthly meeting that he conducts for senior staffing executives who have been out of work. About 30 of the unemployed managers attend the events, where they network and listen to outside speakers. These managers have at least a decade of experience as the number one or two executive overseeing recruiting.

In addition, Mehler said that trends identified earlier this year in CareerXroads’ eighth annual Sources of Hire survey are likely to continue. The survey found that internal promotions and referrals from employees remain the largest source of job candidates. The study of 45 large, well-known companies also found that among outside resources, independent job boards provided the greatest flow of applicants. Survey participants included firms with at least 5,000 employees from, among other industries, retail, transportation, technology and finance. Mehler considers companies’ career Web pages more a destination than a source of job leads, although he believes that companies will continue expanding efforts to reach job seekers directly.

What Leads to Gender Equality

2009-05-13T14:45:00.004-04:00

Want to work where the genders are treated equally? Look for a workplace where four factors exist:

company officials acknowledge that gender bias exists,
the men are willing to defy masculine norms,
women are mentors and
fair play is valued.

That’s the take-home message from a new Catalyst survey Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents Need to Know.

People have to recognize that inequality exists before they’ll support efforts to correct the inequality and men who were more aware of gender bias were more likely to think that achieving gender equality was important, Catalyst concluded.

“Other findings revealed three key factors that predicted men’s awareness of gender bias: 1) defiance of certain masculine norms, 2) the presence or absence of women mentors, and 3) a sense of fair play,” the study found. “Of those three factors, having a strong sense of fair play, defined as a strong commitment to the ideals of fairness, was what also best differentiated men who actively championed gender equality from those who were not similarly engaged.”

The masculine norms the study is talking about include workplaces where people use phrases such as “take it like a man,” avoid all things feminine, never show fear, nervousness or sadness, and participate in stereotypical male activities such as beer drinking, strip clubs and watching sports.

The survey also uncovered three roadblocks to ending gender bias: apathy, fear and ignorance about gender issues.

When asked about what keeps men from supporting gender initiatives, some men who were interviewed for the study pointed to a “zero-sum” mentality – a belief that gains for women necessarily mean losses for men.

Companies may inadvertently encourage this line of thinking by instituting practices that increase competition between employees and put the focus on the individual first above the organization as a whole, the study says.

Other obstacles included fear of losing status or of being seen as part of the problem, and apathy – a sense that issues of gender do not concern men

Catalyst, meanwhile, counters that research shows that men gain significant personal benefits such as better health, freedom to be themselves, and the ability to share financial responsibilities with a spouse or partner when working in a place free of gender bias.

Bill To Change California CPA Certification Standards Passes Committee

2009-05-12T16:01:00.008-04:00

A bill that would simplify the educational requirements for California CPA candidates to earn their certification unanimously passed a state Senate committee earlier this month. Senate Bill 691 passed the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. But Bill 691 is potentially still months away from becoming law. The bill would eliminate a 120-hour educational option for certification. Candidates may currently fulfill their training and educational requirements by either 1)completing 120 hours of college coursework, including 24 hours apiece of accounting and business classes, and having two years of work experience, or 2)by having 150 hours of coursework and one year of job experience. The 150-hour option is the only standard in at least 46 states. That has created problems for some veteran California-trained accountants who are trying to serve clients with headquarters or interests in other regions. Certain states have become more reluctant to accept certification from California accountants, says Conrad Davis, a partner at Sacramento-based Ueltzen & Co and supporter of the bill. Davis says that accounting groups nationally have been seeking to create a more uniform standard for certification – something akin to a state driver’s license usable nationally. California has already tried on at least one occasion over the past decade to adopt the one-option, 150-hour rule. But the effort stalled. The latest initiative has the support of a number of prominent CPA and business organizations in the state, including the California Board of Accountancy, The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and the California Society of CPAs. Among their goals, the groups want to remove an obstacle for accountants to practice freely across state borders. “What we’re worried about is that it is becoming progressively more difficult to get into other states because we’re so outside the norm,” says Davis. “As a CPA, if we have to go through additional hoops (to be accepted), it may be expensive and time-consuming. The issue is that everyone (nationally) is going to one standard.”

RSSM Partners with Investigative Firm

2009-05-12T10:10:00.002-04:00

Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Company Consulting Group LLP (RSSM), a division of New York-based middle-market accounting firm Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Company LLP, is forming a strategic alliance with Interfor, Inc., a corporate investigation and physical security consulting firm.

Together, the firms will offer financial due diligence and asset recovery services to fraud victims and holders of judgments who have been unable to collect on their judgments.

RSSM will provide forensic accounting, while Interfor will provide investigative resources and expertise in legal remedies for freezing and collecting assets.

Interfor does background checks for new business relationships, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital investments and large loan transactions. RSSM offers financial, accounting, tax and IT expertise to a client base that includes private equity funds, investment banks, commercial banks and mezzanine lenders.

2009-05-11T17:38:00.001-04:00

The Technology Council of Southern California has formed a new trade group for financial executives in the technology industry. The Financial Executives Society, sponsored by SingerLewak, will offer networking and continuing education to tech industry chief financial officers, controllers and business executives.

Programming will include round table discussions, guest speaker events and educational workshops covering topics such as tax, finance, accounting and more.

"Placing an increased emphasis on peer-to-peer connections provides an excellent opportunity for the Technology Council to better meet the diverse needs of all its members," said Technology Council President Rick Sharga. "We see tremendous opportunity in creating vertical-specific events that provide our members with connections, information and resources that will help them grow and succeed."

The current 2009 Financial Executives Society event schedule includes:

May 13 - Basics of Revenue Recognition in High Technology Industries

June 30 - CFO's Guide to Licensing Agreements - An Accounting
Perspective

Sept. 29 - Tax Credits: Lost and Found in a Recovering Economy

Nov. 17 - Financial Reporting: A Retrospective of Changes from 2009 and What's Up and Coming for 2010

It's Always the Right Time to Join an Association

2009-05-11T10:06:00.005-04:00

After spending years studying finance, auditing and budgeting, what should you do after graduation? In addition to finding a job, get out there and connect with the local chapter of a professional association, such as the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

Professional associations offer the chance to network with peers in the industry as well as stay on top of accounting trends. And if you don’t have a job yet, they can be a great source of job market information.

“Some graduates are hesitant to get involved with an association their first year out of school, but those who join see the benefits immediately,” Sandra B. Richtermeyer, Ph.D., CMA, CPA and incoming chair-elect of the IMA Board of Directors. “Meeting new contacts at various career stages can help graduates benchmark where they want to be in five to ten years.”

Those graduating in the next few years can get a head start in gaining experience by obtaining internships, getting involved on campus, or volunteering with nonprofit organizations. Most trade associations significantly discount dues for student members.

In addition, Richtermeyer suggests selecting a minor that complements studies in accounting, such as information technology. Acquiring foreign language skills or learning about entrepreneurship can also help students stand out from their peers.

Along with IMA, consider these accounting trade associations:

American College of Forensic Examiners

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

American Society of Woman Accountants

Association of Government Accountants

Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting

Institute of Internal Auditors

National Association of Black Accountants

National Society of Accountants

New Skills The Focus at Not-for-Profit Conference

2009-05-08T03:09:00.001-04:00

An upcoming conference for accountants and financial officers working in California’s huge not-for-profit world will focus on skills for helping their organizations through the recession. Among the latest developments, accountants are playing a larger role in fund raising to bridge new budget shortfalls stemming from the downturn, say the conference co-chairs, Nancy Chandler, a partner at Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Kellogg & Andelson, and Margaret Karren of Los Angeles-based Green Hasson & Janks. Karren says that some accountants are participating more in discussions about how to shape these initiatives, which have included taxable, for-profit ventures. She says if handled improperly, these enterprises could compromise an organization’s not-for-profit status. “We get asked a lot about this,” Karren says. In addition, in some circumstances, auditing and related responsibilities are becoming more complex. This stems largely from a lengthening of 990 forms. Not-for-profits now face such questions as whether they have whistle-blower or conflict-of-interest policies. “The form is quite cumbersome,” Karren says. “Accountants will have to do training on it.”

The Not-for-Profit Organizations Conference is one of the signature events held annually by the CalCPA Education Foundation, the continuing education arm for the state’s main trade group for accountants. As is general procedure for its major conferences, the Foundation will hold separate but equal events on May 20 in Los Angeles and the following day in San Francisco – the sessions are the same at each. CalCPA members pay $349. Non-members $469. Last year’s Los Angeles event drew more than 300 people from a range of not-for-profit organizations, including religious and community groups, and accounting firms with vigorous not-for-profit practices. But the economic climate was still emerging. “People need help more but people aren’t giving as much,” says Chandler.

Hiring Projections Gloomy

2009-05-06T11:25:00.005-04:00

Having a job that’s critical and doing it well are apparently no longer enough to prevent you from being laid off. A recent Deloitte survey of about 400 large companies, Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy, found “as layoffs get deeper and more difficult, even employees with critical skills filling key roles are at risk of losing their jobs.”

In March, 43 percent of the executives Deloitte surveyed said “role necessity” was a key factor in choosing who would go next. That’s down from 60 percent in a similar survey done in January. Nearly half, 47 percent, said “skill capability” was important, down from 55 percent in January.

“Past and current performance is no guarantee of job security with less than half of managers (45 percent) reporting this as a top factor, compared to 53 percent in January,” Deloitte found.

Those who survive layoffs can “expect to feel the impact of the difficult economy through lower compensation and benefit levels,” Deloitte predicted.

A quarter of the surveyed executives said they were likely to decrease compensation levels, 32 percent are ready to cut benefits and 39 percent plan to cut discretionary perks such as subsidized food and parking.

Financial services executives were most likely to say headcount reductions were their highest talent management priority, while life sciences, health care, energy and utility executives ranked layoffs as a lower HR priority.

The only ray of sunshine in the Deloitte report is that experienced recruits remain somewhat in demand. “Over the next year, 27 percent of executives surveyed plan to increase experienced hires…the only recruitment category showing a greater increase than decrease in focus, with campus hires, contract hires, part-time hires and offshore/outsourced hires all seeing net declines over the next 12 months.”

Fewer International MBA Students in Years Ahead?

2009-05-05T15:17:00.003-04:00

A lot of the international students who graduated from business school this year and landed jobs with investment banks had their offers reneged when Congress passed a rule saying institutions that took bail-out money couldn’t hire foreign-born workers.

While at first glance you’re probably thinking that anything that discourages international students from competing for spots in top MBA programs is a good thing for U.S. students, there are other issues to consider, says Maury Hanigan, an MBA recruitment specialist and president of MBA Scouting Report, New York.

First, some facts about international students in MBA programs:
• They’re typically one-third of the class at top schools
• They typically pay full tuition
• They have higher GMAT scores, on average, than U.S. students.

“If international students can’t get jobs in banking, that will discourage them from applying,” Hanigan points out. Having fewer international students enroll could hurt business schools – think lower average GMAT scores and fewer full-tuition-paying students.

Less competition from international students is actually a mixed blessing for U.S. students, Hanigan says. It’s easier to get in when fewer students apply, and you’re less likely to be frustrated by study group members with limited language skills when more of your classmates are Americans.

But, you lose out by not having a global network and the diverse perspective international students create. “There can be big swings in classmates, curriculum and the networks you build,” she says. “And the job market will reflect itself the composition of your network. You could end up in a school with no internationals or 45 percent internationals.”

The Wall Street Journal argues that H-1B visa holders aren’t really a big factor on Wall Street anyway, saying:

"In fact, H-1B visa holders have been a negligible percentage of financial industry hires in recent years. In 2007, for instance, Citigroup hired 185 H-1B workers, which represented .04% of its 387,000 employees. Bank of America hired 66 H-1B workers, which represented .03% of its 210,000 employees."

That said, finance may be the latest industry where the federal government seeks to limit immigrant workers, but it might not be the last.

The two senators who created the TARP restrictions, Grassley and Durbin, have now introduced legislation that would force all U.S. employers to first try to hire a U.S. worker before they hired an H-1B visa holder.

As Infoworld.com reports, their proposal:

"...would also prohibit displacing U.S. workers with H-1B visa holders, ban 'H-1B-only' ads and prevent employers from hiring additional H-1B and L-1 visa holders if more than half of their employees rely on those visas. The L-1 visa is used by companies to transfer foreign employees. The measure also includes a provision to give the U.S. Department of Labor more latitude and authority to initiate investigations and conduct random audits."

Regardless of what happens in Congress, if you’re shopping for an MBA program, the proportion of international students will remain an interesting difference to consider when comparing schools.

Manners Expert Identifies The Most Common Job Seeker Mistakes

2009-05-05T03:17:00.003-04:00

Don’t treat potential employers as therapists.

A leading expert on work place etiquette says that’s exactly what too many job seekers are doing in the down economy. Ann Marie Sabath says that it’s one of the two major mistakes that they’re making in their job searches. Sabath is the author of One Minute Manners, a guidebook to appropriate behavior at work and noted speaker on manners to business groups, including major CPA organizations. She says that many job applicants see interviews as an opportunity to vent about why they’re unemployed and how it’s impacted their lives. They appear desperate. That’s hardly the spare, grounded approach that earns companies’ respect. “Instead job seekers should share how the responsibilities of their past positions have prepared them for the job for which they are applying,” Sabath says. She says that job seekers’ other major error is asking friends and family to help them attain interviews at their organizations. “While it certainly is appropriate for job seekers to ask individuals in their personal lives and business network to put in a good word for them, these people should not be confused as job seekers’ personal headhunters,” Sabath says.

A Way to Network and Boost Job Prospects

2009-04-30T12:49:00.002-04:00

West coast accountants looking to boost their careers in the downturn might want to consider a little volunteer work for the region’s leading trade organization. The California Society of CPAs is looking to fill a number of leadership positions at the state and local level. The posts usually involve participation on committees that address issues in such areas as taxation, auditing and the non-profit sector. The commitment can be difficult for someone with a busy practice. But the outgoing chair of CalCPA, Greg Burke, says that among the benefits of volunteer work, CPAs have a rare opportunity to network with leaders from other firms on a deeper level than in larger conferences and annual meet-and-greet events. Burke says that the contacts can help accountants draw a clearer picture about skills that will be important in the near future and may lead to job opportunities. “You have the chance to interact with leaders statewide,” Burke says. “You can tap into the information flow that’s happening.”

Long-time Recruiter Recommends Targeting Growth Firms

2009-04-29T16:22:00.005-04:00

Sometimes obvious job strategies bear repeating, says a leading West Coast recruiter of finance professionals. Among her suggestions for conducting a more efficient job search, Susan Afan of Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing firm Robert Half International says that job-seeking accountants in a falling economy should spend more time pinpointing growth firms. This strategy can save hours in the long run, Afan says. “You have to look for the emerging businesses, the hot industries,” she says.

After a decade heading Robert Half offices in Northern California and Hawaii, Afan recently became senior regional vice president overseeing Robert Half’s San Diego office. The office’s clientele has included a number of major healthcare organizations. Healthcare along with government and education have been among the few economic bright spots on the West Coast and nationally. Afan says job seekers looking for positions in industry might focus their search in these industries.

For prospective agency candidates, she recommends identifying accounting firms with strong practices in these sectors and perusing rankings of accounting’s largest companies. For example, Accounting Today’s most recent, annual review of leading accounting firms highlights those with the largest revenue increases from 2007 to 2008. Alexandria, Va.-based Kearney & Co., which focuses on government, topped this year’s list with 51 percent revenue growth. Nine other firms posted at least 25 percent growth. A separate list identifies firms that were not among the top 100 in revenue but are considered rising stars. These firms included Greenfield, Ind.-based Kemper CPA Group and Salina, Kansas-based Kennedy and Coe.

Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt Needs Taxation Experts; Names Partners

2009-04-28T18:13:00.008-04:00

Amidst the economic gloom, here’s a ray of light for accountants: Southern California stalwart Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt just named three new partners and needs at least seven experienced professionals in its taxation practice. The Santa Monica-based firm promoted Jason Flashberg, Curt Giles and John Kishi to partner.

Flashberg works out of Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt's Westlake Village office in tax compliance, planning and consulting for high net worth individuals, including professional athletes. Giles works out of the Orange County office in the firm’s international tax practice, while Kishi is based at headquarters and was a senior manager in the audit group. Holthouse now has 27 partners in its six offices.

In addition, Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt is seeking an international tax manager/senior associate in its Orange County office, and a combined total of six tax managers and tax seniors in its Santa Monica, Orange County, Long Beach and Westlake Village offices. Depending on the volume and types of clients, tax managers oversee about two to eight seniors. They usually possess five to seven years of experience. Seniors generally supervise about three or four staff accountants and have three to four years of experience.

The firm’s Director of Recruiting and Training, Jennifer Matsuura, said that Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt conducts a phone screening and then brings the strongest candidates on site for a day of three or four interviews with Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt employees, including at least one partner. With more than $58 million in revenue, Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt ranked third among California-based accounting firms. Revenue grew 12 percent in 2008 from 2007.

A&F Folks Staying Put

2009-04-22T10:46:00.005-04:00

The latest Mergis Group survey shows a whopping 82 percent of accounting and finance professionals think there are fewer jobs available and 63 percent think the economy is getting weaker.

Only 40 percent of the 347 professionals who answered the Mergis survey said they were confident they could find a new position. Confidence was highest among mid-career professionals aged 45-54 (50 percent) and lowest among those aged 55 and over (30 percent).

Given those levels of uncertainty, most accounting and finance professionals that are currently employed will stay where they are, says Mergis Senior Vice President Mike Bettick. "Until the uncertainty curbs itself, these perceptions will continue to exist regardless of the perceptions as to where the economy is moving," he predicts.

While a leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward a recovery and there are indeed some positive signs of economic stabilization, there are equally as many that are indicative of a much different prognosis, adds Mergis Vice President Glenn Dubiel.

“The reality remains that the impact of TARP and other government stimulus programs have yet to completely gain enough traction to begin resulting in new job creation,” he adds.

His advice to job seekers is to look toward counter-cyclical segments of the job market and industries that are anticipating growth as a result of recently passed stimulus programs and the new administration’s focus on healthcare, energy, technology and education.

“Our anticipation is that these programs will command highly skilled finance, mortgage and legal professionals to navigate through these new regulations and loan workouts,” Dubiel says.

His advice to job seekers is to look toward counter-cyclical segments of the job market and industries that are anticipating growth as a result of recently passed stimulus programs and the new administration’s focus on healthcare, energy, technology and education.

“Our anticipation is that these programs will command highly skilled finance, mortgage and legal professionals to navigate through these new regulations and loan workouts,” Dubiel says.

Marks Paneth & Shron and Montalto Merge in New York

2009-04-16T17:13:00.003-04:00

Marks Paneth & Shron LLP (MP&S), New York, has merged with Westchester-based Montalto CPA, LLC.

MP&S has 70 partners and principals and a total staff of 500. The combined firm does not expect to hire additional accountants outside the merger.

The merger expands MP&S' tax, family office and business management services targeting small businesses and high-net-worth individuals in Westchester, the northern suburbs and Connecticut.

Montalto Partner Anthony V. Montalto, CPA, senior tax manager Lucille Murray, and four supporting staff members will join the MP&S' Tarrytown, New York office.

Montalto CPA provides tax preparation and compliance, as well as family office and business management services to over 350 businesses, service organizations, not-for-profit organizations and individual clients.

MP&S provides auditing, accounting, tax, bankruptcy and restructuring services as well as litigation and corporate financial advisory services to domestic and international clients.

The firm also provides tax advisory and consulting for high-net-worth individuals and their families, as well as services to international, real estate, media, entertainment, nonprofit, professional and financial services and energy clients.

Don't Bargain Basement Yourself

2009-04-16T10:53:00.002-04:00

In today’s job market, you might be tempted to offer to work for free or at a reduced salary during a trial period to prove yourself to an employer.

Don’t do it, says consultant Edward Navis of Full Spectrum HR. You’ll simply devalue yourself and set the company up for a pay discrimination suit, he says.

“From a marketing perspective, people look at free things as having no value,” Navis says. “And even if they say yes to reduced pay, they may not see you as worth more at the end of the trial period.”

Regardless of the economy, companies have to stick to the standard of equal pay for equal work and equal qualifications. If you’re a member of a federally or state-protected class based on your disability, race, religion, gender, etc. and the company lets you work for free, or at a reduced rate, you could later file a pay discrimination case against the employer.

The same theory applies when companies do layoffs and re-hires. “A recent court decision found in favor of a 60-year-old chief financial officer facing a job loss because of tough financial times,” Navis says. “He offered to take a steep pay cut, bringing his salary down to $60,000 annually. His offer was rejected, but he later found out that his replacement, much younger than he, was earning more than that. He filed an age discrimination claim, and things aren't looking too good for the employer right now.”

Hiring at Kearney

2009-04-14T15:01:00.001-04:00

Here’s another sign that government is among the happening sectors when it comes to the job market for accountants. Consider the recent success of Kearney & Co. In 2008, the Alexandria, Va.-based firm, which specializes in government work, posted $48.62 million in revenues, a 51 percent increase over 2007. That was the largest percentage gain by far among firms ranked in Accounting Today’s most recent annual survey of the largest accounting firms in the U.S. It was also the second consecutive year that Kearney has posted a more than 50 percent revenue spike.

Moreover, Kearney has continued hiring (NBC featured the company in a April 6 “Jobs 4 You” segment, which highlights organizations that are hiring in the downturn). Kearney is looking to continue its strong growth in 2009. It is currently looking to fill 14 positions. The openings include staff I and II accountants, a senior financial analyst and a military accounting specialist and a defense accountant/consultant at the firm’s headquarters and an Air Force financial manager at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Florida Job Picture

2009-04-14T01:45:00.002-04:00

If you’re an accountant looking for work in Florida, think smaller.

At least that’s what a veteran recruiter of finance professionals in the state is advising. Jason Zigman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Kunin Associates says that a number of small and mid-sized businesses have job openings. Zigman has been recruiting CPAs for a dozen years. He says that he recently helped fill accounting and budgeting positions at a private education/healthcare company, a controller with a healthcare provider and auditing and taxation staff roles at an aviation parts firm. In addition, while Big Four accounting firms have had layoffs in the state, some boutique firms are hiring. Zigman warns that compensation will be lower at smaller organizations, particularly in the present economic climate. But he also says that these companies afford more opportunities to work directly with clients’ senior management. Zigman says that most of the openings are occurring around major urban centers, although his firm has spoken with potential candidates and employers throughout the state. “We’re trying to identify people who are hiring," Zigman says. "We’re meeting with everyone.”

Government Job Fair for Finance Professionals

2009-04-13T02:51:00.004-04:00

Can Federal government offer salvation for Wall Street professionals laid off or worried about job security? A leading, New York trade organization for the securities industry wants to help them answer this question later this month.

The New York Society of Security Analysts will hold its first annual government job Fair, Federal Careers: Opportunities for Financial Professionals, on April 24. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at NYSSA headquarters, 1777 Avenue of the Americas.

The NYSSA has 11,000 members and provides a range of information and other resources for people in the financial services industry. Nine Federal agencies will be represented, including the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The NYSSA expects between 400 and 500 potential candidates from across the financial services industry and at various career levels. The job fair follows a similar event last month featuring the CIA, which has also been on the hunt for capable finance professionals.

In remarks to Bloomberg television, Richard Lipstein, chair of the NYSSA's career development committee and a managing director for the Hawthorne, NY-based recruiting firm, Boyden Global Executive Search, said the government is targeting people with two to 15 years of experience and the ability to analyze balance sheets and income statements. Lipstein said that among key job openings, the FBI is seeking forensic accountants, the U.S. Treasury Department is looking for analysts to dissect "the toxic assets that banks are trying to unload," and the Federal Reserve is recruiting analysts and examiners who can determine "the adequacy of existing capital."

In addition, the SEC is looking for people who can help with investigations of corruption. "The government wants to hire people who can get us out of the situation we've found ourselves in," Lipstein said.

Dominant = Compentent?

2009-04-11T12:54:00.005-04:00

Want to look competent? Just get in touch with your dominant side. In a recent study, University of California, Berkley researchers they found those who act more dominantly are perceived as more competent, even when they aren’t more competent.

Organizational behavior and industrial relations Associate Professor Cameron Anderson and doctoral candidate Gavin Kilduff tested their “great pretender” theory on 17 four-student teams.

The researchers gave each team 45 minutes to design a mock non-profit environmental organization or a for-profit Web site. The winning team would receive a $400 prize. More importantly, the experiment required each participant to rate his or her colleagues' level of influence on the group, and each participant's level of competence.

The results revealed that team members with the most dominant personalities were rated the highest for such qualities as general intelligence, dependability, and self-discipline. At the same time, subjects perceived less outspoken workers as having less desirable traits, giving them high scores for being conventional and uncreative, the researchers said.

To be fair, Anderson and Kilduff wanted to give the alpha standouts of the group the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps these newly anointed leaders were indeed, more competent. A second experiment left no debate.

In round two, researchers asked the teams of students to solve computational problems taken from old versions of the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). Participants reported their previous Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) math scores to researchers prior to trying to solve the GMAT problems.

When it was time to reveal the answers out loud, the people who spoke up more were, again, the ones their teammates deemed as the leaders of the group. In addition, it didn't matter if the chosen leaders offered the correct answers, only that they offered more responses, the researchers said.

What's more, the leaders didn't even have to provide the final solution to the problem to be exalted to the top of the heap.

Anderson and Kilduff's work redefines what it means to be dominant in the context of influence. Past studies have aligned dominant behavior with aggressive, heavy handed tactics. This study found dominant people attain influence by displaying competence, they said.

"These findings suggest that dominant individuals may ascent group hierarchies by appearing helpful to the group's overall success as opposed to aggressively grabbing power," the researchers said.

While the findings may be troubling to some, they may be helpful to managers who may want to look a little closer when judging their employees' true productivity and value. The study's results may also help individuals achieve improvement in their own reputations - just by speaking up, the two conclude.

Advice For Senior Financial Officers

2009-04-09T15:22:00.003-04:00

The economic downturn has been hard even for senior financial officers who've kept their jobs. Personnel decisions are often at the root of their concerns. Many of them have prescribed layoffs and other cost-cutting measures with direct impact on employees. In some cases, they've eliminated jobs of long-time colleagues and friends, says executive coach and career strategist Pam Hedges of San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based Hedges & Associates. "They're biggest stress is making the numbers work," says Hedges, who also runs a networking group for women executives. "They're stressed out about how far down they are going to have to go to make these job cuts." Hedges says that dosing out bad news requires different skills than in down times and creative ways of approaching problems tied to the recession. Among her suggestions, she recommends a direct approach to communication. When telling someone that they're laid off, "the shorter the better," Hedges says. "She also urges financial executives to speak with CFOs and officers at other organizations who may be facing similar situations. Hedges' networking group, which costs $3000 to join for a year, has recently been focusing more on workforce management issues. Indeed, an upcoming meeting will feature a senior recruiter discussing job skills and hiring trends for senior executives.

Talk About Leadership to Land the Job

2009-04-09T13:55:00.005-04:00

It may seem as though chief financial officers are only focused on cutting back to boost the bottom line, but a new survey from Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Menlo Park, Calif., finds more than half of CFOs think having solid leadership or hiring outstanding talent are the best ways to protect against threats from rival firms. State-of-the-art technology was also cited as a significant advantage by respondents.

The survey, which queried over 1,400 CFOs from companies with 20 or more employees, asked: "Which one of the following will best protect companies from competitive threats in the next three years?"

Their responses:

Strong company leadership 28%
A focus on hiring the best people 27%
Up-to-date technology 24%
The ability to develop and implement new ideas quickly 9%
Up-to-date competitive intelligence and market data 6%
Other 5%
Don't know/no answer 1%

The survey shows that leadership is important to retain and recruit the best people and that the best people want to work for strong managers and leaders, says Kathleen Downs, recruiting manager for Robert Half International, Orlando, Florida.

While prospective employers can see from your resume that you’ve been a supervisor, how do you show them you’re also a good leader?

“Tell me about that system implementation. What part did you play in it and how did you assimilate the team?” she suggests. “Talk about how you progressed at your current job. How did you move from one step to another and how did you do the succession planning so things didn’t fall apart behind you?”

Talk about your tough leadership decisions. “Describe the most difficult person you hired that you then had to work out of the organization,” Downs says. In this economic climate, companies need middle managers that know how to recognize when a subordinate is not capable of meeting the requirements of a changed environment and how to either help that person develop the skills or counsel them out.

Opportunities for CPAs in California Education

2009-04-08T14:28:00.002-04:00

Education is one of the two major sectors -- along with healthcare -- where a number of economists have predicted job growth. In California, couple that trend with an expected shortage of certified business officials -- managers and other staff overseeing school audits and other finance activities and the result is likely to be more job opportunities for West Coast accountants than in other industries. The California Society of CPAs Education foundation will hold separate but identical School Districts Conferences May 5 in Ontario for Southern California accountants and May 6 in Sacramento for Northern California accountants. Among other topics, the events will cover changes and trends in auditing school districts. Aubrey King, co-chair of the conferences and a partner at Wilkinson Hadley King & Co. near San Diego, says that many CBOs are approaching retirement and that there's a shortage of people with experience in school accounting. Over the past five years, her firm with its large practice auditing a growing number of charter schools statewide has doubled in size from six to a dozen people. "Our competition always seems to be hiring as well," King says. "The good thing about auditing school districts and governmental entities is that regardless of the economy, it's required by law."

Western Rankings/Openings at One Regional Power

2009-04-07T20:15:00.004-04:00

Moss Adams remained the largest West Coast-based accounting firm on the West Coast. With $336 million in 2008 sales, the Seattle, full-service accounting firm ranked first in the Western/Southwestern region, according to Accounting Today's 2009 survey released recently. But accountants looking for opportunities with large regional firms in the western part of the country will have their widest selection in California.

Of the top 15 ranked firms in the West/Southwest, nine have headquarters in the state. All these firms have revenues of at least $32 million and five of the nine posted double-digit revenue gains on a percentage basis in 2008. Burr Pilger & Mayer topped the list with a 16 percent increase over 2007 on revenues of $56.5 million. Burr Pilger & Mayer is currently looking to fill government manager and non-profit manager, assurance roles in its San Francisco headquarters, and assurance and tax manager positions in its Walnut Creek office.

Forced Vacations at KPMG?

2009-04-07T15:40:00.008-04:00

A tougher time-off policy at KPMG, on the heels of a string of Big Four layoffs, is stirring up unpleasant feelings around the blogosphere.

A leaked internal memo Tuesday from two KPMG executives cuts the number of paid days off an employee can carry into the next fiscal year, although without changing the amounts employees accrue each year. The memo also says the firm will close for a total of four additional days this summer (surrounding three holiday weekends) and those days will count against employees' balance of paid days off.

The document is dated Tuesday and bears the names of Jack Taylor, executive vice chair, operations, and Bruce Pfau, vice chair, human resources. We saw it near the end of a comment thread on Re:The Auditors, where an anonymous user posted it Tuesday morning.

In response, KPMG spokesman Dan Ginsburg tells us: "We have a very generous vacation policy and these changes keep us more than competitive in this area." The memo states that some Big Four competitors allow no carryover of paid time off into the following year.

Currently, KPMG lets each employee carry forward up to 1.25 times the number of paid days the employee would accrue over a year. The memo reduces that maximum carryover to 75 percent of a year's time-off allotment for the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, and to half the annual allotment for the following fiscal year. (The amount of paid time off that employees earn each year won't change – just the amount that can be saved and used the following year.)

Even the reduced ceilings may sound generous to those who don't work at a Big Four firm. But KPMG employees are accustomed to being able to carry large vacation balances. The person who posted the text on Re:The Auditors called the change "horrendous" and "reprehensible."

Armanino McKenna Creates Consulting Group

2009-04-03T20:05:00.004-04:00

Armanino McKenna LLP (AM), San Ramon, has reorganized itself and formed a consulting group.

“We’re the fastest growing CPA firm in the country, based on cumulative revenues, and virtually all of it has come though organic growth,” explains Partner-in-Charge Tom Mescall. “Consulting has been an entrepreneurial growth area for us where we have people focused in their areas pushing the growth and working with clients and bringing those services to market.”

At year end, the company had so many people involved in consulting that it decided to pull those resources together in a more cohesive way. For example, many of the public, mid-market business clients for whom AM does quarterly SEC reporting are high tech firms that offer employees stock option incentives and so need 409(a) valuation services.

“We’re very strong in IT services and in SOX and SOX has a fair amount of IT controls design and testing,” Mescall says. “Clients on the IT side were asking about SOX controls and if we’re in SOX control, they’re asking about IT.”

Audit clientele were seeking financial modeling and industry benchmarking. “A significant amount of our clients are privately held and we’re trusted business advisors to them, especially in this market,” he adds.

So does all that growth mean AA is hiring? “Absolutely,” Mescall says, “As we pull our consulting organization together and build a cohesive strategy there are areas we’d like to be stronger in to bring the full depth and breadth to our clients.”

Valuations is a growth area (the company now has a staff of 13 in that area) particularly in California’s high tech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. “We’re looking to hire the right people to go after those markets,” Mescall says.

Another area of expansion for the company is royalty auditing for technology such as iPhone apps, as well as royalty agreements entered into by entertainment, video gaming and pharmaceutical companies. “A lot of companies are looking at [royalty agreements as] found revenue and we’re attacking that market,” he explains.

UK Regulator Worried US Won't Adopt IFRS by 2014

2009-04-02T12:00:00.002-04:00

The United State’s lack of movement toward adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is starting to worry the United Kingdom’s independent accounting regulator, Paul Boyle, CEO of The Financial Reporting Council.

As the G20 met, Boyle told Accountancy Age:

‘I personally think the date for full adoption will be quite a long way into the future past 2014…What we should be focusing on is under what conditions the SEC could allow the companies that want to use IFRS could be given the options to do so, which would be a lot more useful.”

There could be “serious repercussions for global convergence efforts if the U.S. continues to drags its heels, or even pulls out completely,” the paper says.

Jenkins Joins CBIZ Tofias

2009-04-02T11:16:00.001-04:00

CBIZ Tofias has a new managing director, Carl Jenkins, CPA, who was hired to expand the company’s Valuation, Litigation & Forensic Accounting Group in the New England market.

Previously, Jenkins was a member of the executive committee of UHY Advisors New England, LLC and a partner in UHY, LLP.

Jenkins’ over three decades of industry experience includes work in audit, tax, M&A, valuations, and financial, management and litigation consulting.

New Chair Nominee at CalCPA

2009-03-31T10:23:00.003-04:00

From California, James Rubin writes:

Barring a last-minute twist, Andrea Cope will become the next chair of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Cope is a San Francisco-based partner at Burr Pilger Mayer. She has been active with CalCPA, the leading trade association for accountants in the state. Last year, Cope served as first vice chairman for CalCPA. That position has been a launching ground to the chair role. Her predecessor, Greg Burke, a partner at Sacramento-based John Waddell & Co., also was first vice chair before becoming chair. Cope was also a past head of the San Francisco chapter of CalCPA, one of 14 across the state.

CalCPA chairs serve one-year terms starting in mid-year. They usually seek to accomplish two or three goals. Burke focused his efforts drawing accountants to academia, where there has been a shortage of accounting professors and overhauling educational restrictions that have made it difficult for California accountants to practice out of state.

A CalCPA nomination committee chose Cope for the post. She will be officially named to the chair position around May 1, Burke said. Until that time, members can nominate an alternative candidate, forcing a subsequent vote, Burke said. But Burke said that he was unaware of that happening in his 23 years as a CalCPA member.

Burke said that Cope has a good sense of humor. She is a trained chef who studied at the California Culinary Academy.

New E&Y S. Calif. Leader Has Diversity Goals

2009-03-31T10:10:00.002-04:00

From California, James Rubin writes:

Women accountants and those from minority groups who are seeking positions with larger, full service firms in the western U.S., take note. Maho Jordan, who took over as Ernst & Young’s Pacific Southwest people team leader last year, is looking to recruit a more diverse workforce. A veteran accountant at the firm, she now oversees recruiting for major E&Y hubs in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. She assumed her role when Bin Wolfe took over as people team leader for China.

Jordan said that among other objectives she hoped to expand on Wolfe’s diversity efforts. “My goal is to build on the success of my predecessor by taking Ernst & Young's diversity and inclusiveness efforts to the next level, which is a critical priority for the success of our global organization. Diversity of perspective is essential in today’s global environment. Today more than ever, the organizations with the best talent and the widest perspective will be successful.”

Caturano Drops Vitale Name

2009-03-31T08:44:00.004-04:00

Vitale, Caturano & Co., Ltd., Boston, is changing its name to Caturano and Company effective May 1st. The move to drop the name of partner Richard Vitale comes after a Suffolk County grand jury indicted Vitale on 10 charges, alleging he lobbied his friend, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, without being properly licensed as a lobbyist and violated campaign finance laws.

Caturano spokesperson Joe Grillo said: “Due to challenges we have faced over the past year regarding our firm name, our partners and shareholders have voted to change the name of the firm to Caturano and Company...We want to underscore that our mission has not changed: provide outstanding service to our clients, grow our business, and create opportunities for our staff to advance and enjoy rewarding careers."

The state attorney general’s office said Vitale, Caturano cooperated with its investigation and added that Richard Vitale is no longer affiliated with the firm. The allegations against Vitale involve a separate firm that Vitale owns, WN Advisors LLC, the AG’s office said.

The company will also change its Web site from www.vitale.com to www.caturanoandcompany.com.

Your Options In Negotiating Severance

2009-03-30T11:14:00.001-04:00

As the number of layoffs has risen, the willingness of companies to negotiate the contents of severance packages has fallen off due to fears of creating inequalities among classes of employees and the necessity to hoard cash.

Our story.

How Long is Too Long to be Unemployed?

2009-03-25T14:18:00.004-04:00

In the current economy, being out of a job for an extended period may not carry the stigma it once did for top managers, according to a new survey.

Executives polled felt that, on average, a senior manager could be out of work nine months before his or her career prospects were adversely affected.

The survey, developed by Robert Half Management Resources, asked 150 senior executives from the nation's 1,000 largest companies: "How long, in months, can a top manager remain unemployed before it hurts his or her career?"

The mean response was nine months, but there were differences in responses based on industry segments. Among the 24 finance industry professionals in the poll, 37.5 percent felt a four-month stint of unemployment was enough to hurt your career. Nearly a third, 29 percent, felt it would take 10 to 12 months of unemployment before you were stigmatized.

"Despite pockets of opportunity, the job market remains challenging, and extended searches aren't unusual," said Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half Management Resources. "Most hiring managers recognize the economy has sidelined many outstanding people. In fact, some companies are taking advantage of the current employment environment to hire experienced workers who would not have been available one year ago."

An Accounting Student Meets the Job Market

2009-03-23T09:50:00.001-04:00

Kim Kaemmer thought for sure she wanted to earn her CPA and work in public accounting. But as she readies for her May 2009 graduation from the University of St. Thomas, a regional Catholic school in St. Paul, Minn., she's beginning to have second thoughts.

Here's the full story.

Are Green MBAs Appealing?

2009-03-20T14:53:00.004-04:00

A new Bright Green MBA program at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant International University, San Diego, is tapping into demand among experienced workers looking to move into federal stimulus-funded green jobs fields.

Alliant officials say students should choose a Green MBA because the $80 billion Recovery Act will create a green industry in need of executives, professionals and entrepreneurs.

A Green MBA could lead to work in fields such as building design, alternative energy and energy efficiency, as well as green consulting.

And, as green grows in popularity, corporations will want to promote their operations as socially and environmentally responsible and to green up their supply chains.

Alliant also argues that a green career offers positive karma. In the green business world, you get financial rewards and the personal satisfaction of making a positive contribution to the environment.

Other schools running Green MBA programs include Dominican University and Presidio School of Management in San Francisco, and Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Colorado State University, Ft. Collins and the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor offer MBAs in sustainable enterprise.

Our Take: Be Visible, Not Desperate

2009-03-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

Was Joshua Persky ahead of his time? Nine months ago, the laid-off investment banker made his pitch to passers-by in midtown Manhattan wearing a poster that read, "Experienced M.I.T. Grad For Hire." His out-of-the-box tactic brought encouraging words, worldwide media attention and many a contact - but few concrete job opportunities, and no offers. Persky found a new job in October, a full four months after his week inside the sandwich board.

Here's our column.

Grant Thornton Launches Services for Hedge Funds

2009-03-20T12:01:00.001-04:00

Grant Thornton is launching a Hedge Fund Internal Control, Governance and Regulatory Compliance Services unit, designed to help funds attract investors who might be wary of alternative investments. The group will also assist funds in preparing to face new regulations that are all-but certain to come out of Washington.

In addition to developing the internal control, compliance and governance facilities to comply with the new rules, firms may also be required to establish an anti-money laundering program and report suspicious activities, Grant Thornton notes.

The company says its new services will include:

Assessment of a hedge fund firm's readiness to address new investor and regulator demands regarding internal controls, financial reporting and governance.
Development and testing of internal controls.
Development and review of regulatory compliance programs
Independent pricing and classification verification; develop and test valuation policies and procedures.
Independent attestations and opinions on internal controls

Here's the press release.

Changing Jobs? Leave Bad Habits Behind

2009-03-18T11:44:00.001-04:00

People with experience in accounting bring a great amount of knowledge and skills with them when they move to a new job. But they also bring their old habits, including some harmful assumptions about how work should be done.

Here's our story.

New PwC Web site Advises Student Job Seekers

2009-03-17T09:29:00.002-04:00

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has created an online job-hunting toolkit for college students.

Recession-Proof Your Job Search: How to up your chances in a down economy features short video vignettes with career tips, a video Q&A addressing students' career questions and downloadable career planning worksheets.

The online videos feature advice from Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World. Pollak is also hosting a blog where students can post questions about the recruiting process.

PwC expects to hire approximately 3,000 college graduates in 2009 - roughly the same number as 2008.

From LinkedIn to Facebook, and Back

2009-03-16T13:31:00.002-04:00

Many an electron has been unleashed comparing and contrasting Facebook with LinkedIn. The latest take comes from a pair of McKinsey analysts who worry that LinkedIn's refusal to police spamming will injure the Facebook ethic of open networking once more people start using the latter for career and business purposes, instead of pure friendship. Here's our story.

MBA Grads Looking Beyond IB

2009-03-16T11:20:00.002-04:00

The job market is so bad these days that even top MBA program graduates are being forced to take corporate finance positions because they can’t find jobs in investment banking – or so says a feature in Financial Week.

The era of aggressive recruitment by bulge bracket firms is over and this year’s graduates are snapping up jobs just to pay back loans, hoping to move into investment banking later in their careers.

Financial Week reports:

As big banks including Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs cut tens of thousands of jobs, MBA students who just a few years ago would have been aggressively recruited by companies now expect to fight for the handful of positions available…

While companies are still sending recruiters to campuses, they are not hiring as many people. MIT [Sloane] officials estimated that recruiters on its campus were offering 20% fewer positions this year.”

With fewer spots open, career counselors are suggesting students look beyond the traditionally popular choices of financial services, consulting, venture capital and hedge funds.

And while American students are considering emerging markets as potential job targets, international students are thinking their home countries could offer more opportunities, the paper concludes.

Speak Up and Speak Better

2009-03-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

"Hi. Okay, you guys, hi. How's it goin'? I'm your presenter today, so just, like, open your packets and, like, follow along with the PowerPoint so we can jargon, jargon, jargon, gobbledygook, thirty-six million four hundred twenty-nine thousand eighteen point one percentage points and more, you know, like, jargon. Okay?"

Sound like any presentations you've attended - or, worse, given - lately? Read on.

Is HR About to End Your Overseas Assignment?

2009-03-12T11:21:00.004-04:00

International assignments are expensive, so when economic times are tough, they’re an easy target for cut-backs.

That’s why 42 percent of 100 human resources professionals recently surveyed by the International Executive Services (IES) practice of KPMG said they were reviewing those programs with an eye toward cost reductions.

If you want to live in Paris at some point during your accounting career, take heart in the fact that companies are still just thinking about the issue. KPMG found 51 percent had not made any substantive changes to their programs in the last six months and 46 percent did not plan to make any changes within the next year.

"HR professionals need to underscore the value of international assignments to leadership and remind organizations that they continue to have legitimate reasons to invest in their people and their business,” said Achim Mossmann, managing director of Global Mobility Advisory Services in KPMG LLP's IES practice. “They play a vital role in illustrating how quick decisions to cut costs may have a negative impact on the long-term business goals of an organization."

Other key HR areas that organizations are reviewing for both potential budget cuts and cost savings include recruiting (45 percent), and bonus pools (43 percent).

Of the organizations that did make changes to their international assignment programs in the past six months, 23 percent said they had recalled existing assignees. Within the next year, 15 percent said they plan to take similar action.

If your company is considering recalling you and you’d like to stay, make your business case. Point out the short-term cash impact of paying to bring your whole family home, the cost of covering any tax liabilities that repatriation would incur, and the cost of sending you back overseas when the economy improves.

Also, consider arguing that the company needs you where you are. "They [companies] need to maintain contact with assignees to keep them informed of any program changes and swiftly address any rumors they may hear, while also working to determine that the international assignment program's compensation philosophy remains intact," Mossmann says.

Deloitte China Orders Staff to Take Voluntary Unpaid Leave

2009-03-11T10:15:00.005-04:00

Different country, different company, same strategy -- have everyone take a little unpaid leave to avoid layoffs -- executed differently.

In China, Deloitte just told its staffers that everyone is going to take four days of unpaid leave starting April 1st to save money, the China Daily newspaper reports.

Last month, the majority of KPMG’s United Kingdom staff agreed to work, and only be paid for, a four-day workweek. There, the company gave employees a chance to vote on the issue.

Ernst & Young, China, put in place a similar program in January, “which required staff members to take up to four weeks of voluntary unpaid leave by June 30,” China Daily reported.

A Painless Route to Tailoring Your Resume

2009-03-05T10:45:00.002-05:00

Here's our handy step-by-step guide for customizing your resume to match each job opportunity, without starting from scratch each time.

Freidkin, RAFFA Merge in DC

2009-03-04T13:55:00.005-05:00

Two Washington, D.C.-area women-owned accounting firms are merging. Freidkin, Matrone & Horn PA, Rockville will merge into D.C.-based RAFFA PC.

“The merger is combining two top-tier firms,” says Freidkin Principal Susan B. Hepner “Our firm is in the for-profit sector and RAFFA is a niche business in the non-profit sector, so we expect the synergies to create demand where we will be hiring.”

Freidkin, a member of the BDO Seidman Alliance, specializes in high net worth families and their businesses. RAFFA, meanwhile, offers accounting, consulting and technology advice to about 500 non-profits .

The combined firm will have 16 partners and about 250 employees.

Watson Survey: Worst of Layoffs May be Past Us

2009-03-04T12:39:00.003-05:00

The worst of the layoffs may be behind us, as companies realize they can’t slash their way out of trouble, according to a new survey from Watson Wyatt.

They survey of 245 large U.S. employers conducted in mid February found that while more than half of companies (52 percent) have already made layoffs, the number of companies planning new layoffs has declined from 23 percent to 13 percent.

"Companies have come to terms with the fact that this recession is going to last and that they can't slash their way out of it," said Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Many companies are putting the drastic cuts behind them and are now focusing on smaller, more sustainable cost-cutting actions."

Those actions include hiring freezes (56 percent), salary freezes (42 percent), salary reductions (7 percent), reductions in 401(k) matches (12 percent), a shortened workweek (13 percent), raising employee health care contributions (22 percent), reduced training (35 percent) and travel restrictions (69 percent).

A whopping 69 percent of companies revised merit increase budgets in the past few months, with median increases declining from the 3.5 percent they originally planned to 1.5 percent.

86% of CFOs Put Away the Ax

2009-03-03T14:07:00.004-05:00

It says something about the economy that one could view as good news Robert Half International’s (RHI) announcement that 86 percent of CFOs want to maintain current staff levels in the next three months.

In an economy that’s expected to lose half a million jobs for the fourth straight month when unemployment figures come out later this week, having 86 percent of the 1,400 CFOs interviewed for the Financial Hiring Index say they’re not laying off in your industry is comforting.

Another five percent of respondents said they plan to add full-time employees, while 7 percent expect staff reductions. The other 2 percent don't know what they're planning to do.

What’s driving those figures? Curiously, 40 percent of the CFOs said rising workloads were the reason for additional hiring, and another 38 percent attributed it to business growth.

RHI slices and dices its data by region, industry, company size and other factors. So, if you want to see survey results for Boston, mid-size firms, or finance, insurance and real estate (all of which were showing positive demand), scroll to the bottom of the firm’s press release on the survey.

A Handy - Even Fun - Way to Track Trends

2009-02-25T17:48:00.006-05:00

Let me start by confessing that I should have posted this blog quite awhile ago but I’ve been having too much fun tinkering with the trends tracker at Indeed.com.

Earlier today, Indeed posted a press release saying online job postings for accounting are down 53 percent from last year, but the number of clicks by job seekers looking at accounting postings is up 79 percent.

I called CEO Paul Forster, who coincidentally used to own JobsintheMoney, to get a little color commentary on the numbers. Indeed.com is a search engine for jobs, so it picks up listing from all sorts of site, including ours.

“You’re seeing two tendencies,” he said. “One is for the number of jobs to decline and the other is for the number of job seekers and their activity to increase. You could look at it like a supply and demand change - the amount of job-seeking and clicks-per-job has increased dramatically.”

Couldn’t you also make the assumption that accountants are worried about their jobs, so they’re checking out the employment market just in case? And that companies, meanwhile, are filling more jobs simply by posting them on their own Web sites?

He then lured me over to the Trends button. This tool calculates the popularity of any search term or the relative popularity of two terms (just put a comma between them).

Inquiring minds need to know: Who’s posting more listings, KPMG vs. PWC? Which is the more popular designation, Certified Public Accountant or Certified Fraud Examiner? PeopleSoft versus Oracle?

Be forewarned. It’s way too much fun given how useful it is to see trends in demand for skills and for employees.

How to Do Unto Others

2009-02-24T13:25:00.007-05:00

A recent blog post by corporate consultant Richard Skaare serves up a fresh slant on networking: the best ways to help a friend who is unemployed.

You can learn a lot from - and give a lot to - a friend or former colleague who is unemployed. This is an opportune time to do unto others as you might someday want others to do unto you,

writes Skaare, a communications and change management expert, in his Pocket Change blog.

First, he ticks off what not to say: Don’t constantly bring up your friend's transitional state. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. And, don’t pretend to have the answers.

To avoid being a constant reminder of something unpleasant, Skaare advises starting conversations with your friend as if she is employed like you are. If and when she brings up the unemployment issue, only then ask questions and show your support. But let her initiate it.

I wonder about that. During my last nine-month transition between employers, I would have appreciated more direct, unsolicited expressions of concern from people in my personal circle. Because all my friends and relatives seemed to approach me as if I was employed like they were, I came to feel stigmatized, like a cancer victim whose illness is too awkward to mention. So, you might be sticking your unemployed friend with the unwanted burden of reaching out to ask for your concern, if you leave it to him to raise the difficult subject first.

In the "Don't promise what you can't deliver" department, Skaare wisely advises selecting only the most relevant contacts to refer your friend to, and calling each to ask them to devote a little face time to her. "As a result of the meeting, your unemployed friend now has someone who will remember her," he observes.

With those few "don'ts" out of the way, Skaare then details five good ways to support an unemployed friend:

Devote at least two hours each week to talking with him (not necessarily about the job search).
Listen closely, and mirror your friend's emotional flow.
Help with the truth. Let your friend voice her frustrations and fears, once she's comfortable doing that.
Prepare to stick with your friend for however long it takes him to get re-employed. The worst time for the unemployed is three months after losing a job, according to Skaare.
Make a sacrifice. Skaare suggests offering to look after the friend's kids, lend your extra car or even offer to lend money (as a good friend of Skaare's once offered to do for him).

I don't know about that last suggestion. Sacrifice, yes. But lending money to a friend is fraught with peril, even if it's the dearest of friends (or even a close relative). Remember the words of the Bard: "A loan doth lose both itself and friend."

Helping Your Unemployed Friend [Pocket Change]

Speaking the Language of Financial Reporting

2009-02-23T13:05:00.003-05:00

Do you speak XBRL? Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has set a June deadline for the 500 largest companies to start filing financial reports using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), demand for accountants fluent in the interactive business language is growing.

“It’s hot,” says Mitchell Feldman, President of A.E. Feldman Associates, Inc., a Great Neck, N.Y. executive search firm, who recently wrote about the move to XBRL in his blog. “I’m getting calls from clients for this. It’s steady work.”

What else is going on in Feldman's shop? He’s seeing a lot of former partners these days. “There’s a musical chairs going on,” he warns. “The key is to make sure that your CPA partner practice is strong and some of them aren’t.”

How to Manage an Exit Interview

2009-02-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

For whatever the reason - maybe you've been let go, maybe you're leaving for another firm - you're facing a human resource officer on your last day of work.What do you do?

Read here, to start.

RSM and McGladrey & Pullen Open NY Life Science Practice

2009-02-20T13:11:00.002-05:00

RSM McGladrey and McGladrey & Pullen LLP are opening a Life Sciences Practice Group to serve New York and New Jersey clients.

Managing Directors John Lanza and Patricia Baldowski will lead the practice. “The group is a new team formed from the manufacturing, wholesale and distribution group,” explains McGladrey Spokesperson John Ryan. “They’ve been in place and focusing on this area for quite some time and we’re making it an official group.”

At present, the firm is running the group with existing staff, but that could change. “We’re anticipating growth and with that growth we’ll keep an open mind about adding staff,” Ryan said.

The group provides audit services for public and private entities, public equity offerings, FAS 109 and FIN 48 support for public companies, industry-specific tax planning and compliance, merger and acquisition guidance, transfer pricing, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance support.

Work Life Issues Still Alive at Deloitte

2009-02-18T15:08:00.003-05:00

They may be telling you to hunker down and work harder at your shop, but over at Deloitte, they’re still thinking about work/life balance despite the economic challenges of today’s business environment.

Stan Smith, national director of Next Generation Initiatives at Deloitte LLP explains what the economic crisis will and won’t change about Millennials' workplace expectations in a podcast posted at Total Picture Radio.

Listening to the 17-minute podcast on your iPod won’t get you the whole way through a decent workout on the elliptical at the gym, but it will make you feel like there’s hope for accountants who want to see their children or grandchildren during daylight hours.

Some Common Resume No-No's

2009-02-18T12:48:00.002-05:00

People who look at a lot of resumes - recruiters, frequent hiring managers, some HR professionals, career coaches and yes, job board staffers like ourselves - often remark that elementary, even comical errors (like misspelling the name of a past employer) crop up far more often than one might think. So a list of 25 things a job-seeker should never include in his or her resume is well motivated, even if many of these no-no's sound like no-brainers. Here's our story.

Two NYC Mergers Announced

2009-02-16T17:25:00.004-05:00

Two New York City mergers were announced today. Parente Randolph, LLC, has combined its practice with New York City-based, Lazar Levine & Felix LLP. Crowe Horwath LLP is merging with Hays & Company LLP and admitting six partners to open a new Crowe New York City office.

David Lifson and Ed Kuczmarski of Hays & Co. will lead a 50-person Crowe Madison Avenue team. “This is another step to accomplishing our vision of becoming a national firm that is globally recognized and will firmly establish Crowe’s entry into the New York market,” said Chuck Allen, Crowe’s chief executive officer. Crowe already has offices in Livingston, N.J., and Philadelphia, Pa.

The $16 million Lazar Levine & Felix and Parente Randolph merger will create a firm with 650 team members and 82 principals.

“We do expect this to provide growth opportunities and that will lead to an increase in staff,” says a company spokesperson. Parente’s not able to define how large that increase might be.

“Our services complement each other and their location ties in directly with our growth plan,” adds Robert J. Ciaruffoli, chairman and CEO of Parente Randolph. “Having solidified our footprint in New Jersey and expanding into New York City, we look forward to the new business development opportunities and attraction of talent this merger will bring.”

Parente Randolph provides assurance and tax services, corporate finance, governance and risk management, forensic accounting, and business systems, human resources and healthcare consulting.

Lazar Levine & Felix will add matrimonial services and a family office practice to the service list. Both firms already offer business valuation and litigation support services.

Joining Parente Randolph as Principals are Paul Adams, Eric J. Barr, Amiram (Kiki) Bielory, Ted M. Felix, Jay B. Goldberg, Lawrence Gotfried, Henry B. Guberman, Moshe Levitin, Joan Lipton, Nazeleen Sataur, Thomas R. Vreeland. Retired partners O. David Fischer, Melvin Lazar and Spencer Wissinger, III, will continue to provide services to the new entity.

The Lazar Lipton Valuation Services LLC affiliate of Lazar Levine & Felix, will become a division of Parente Randolph

Working Without a Net

2009-02-16T09:44:00.001-05:00

During recessions, many laid-off professionals shun a return to traditional employment, opting instead for careers as independent contractors or consultants. Here are some things to consider.

Economy Pressures Smaller Firms

2009-02-13T11:36:00.000-05:00

If the economy continues to crash, accounting firms may find themselves forced to lay off employees to balance the books after the busy season.

Here's Dona's story.

Big Four Make Training Magazine's Top 125 List

2009-02-11T13:37:00.003-05:00

The Big Four dominate this year’s Training Magazine Top 125 companies list, with PricewaterhouseCoopers coming in at number one, followed by KPMG in the number two spot.

Deloitte enters the magazine’s Hall of Fame, after making it into the top ten for four consecutive years. Ernst & Young was already a Hall of Fame company.

Companies enter the competition, which ranks organizations based on their financial commitment, training programs offered, metrics measured, workplace surveys, turnover and new employee referrals.

Training Editor-in-Chief Lorri Freifeld says companies in the top ten are known for providing quality, innovative, excellent training programs. “If you chose any company in the top ten you’re guaranteed a good training experience,” she says.

But why do so many accounting firms make the list? “Compliance,” Freifeld answers. Given the expertise required of accounting firm employees and their need to comply with so many rules and regulations, it makes sense that accounting firms would put time and effort into training.

Where 'Son of TARP' Could Create Jobs

2009-02-11T10:35:00.001-05:00

Here is our initial read on potential direct jobs impact from the detailed financial stability plan unveiled today by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Grow Professionally Online

2009-02-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Looking for career guidance or growth? Want to share your wisdom with others? Then consider becoming an online mentor or protégé and let the coaching begin.

Here's our story.

Almost Half of CFOs Still Plan to Retire on Time

2009-02-06T10:34:00.003-05:00

Economic conditions have led about a quarter of chief financial officers (CFOs) to delay their retirement – bad news for those who were hoping to move up when the boss stopped working.

That’s the news from Robert Half Management Resources’ latest survey of 1,400 U.S. CFOs. In addition to the 27 percent of CFOs who said they’re “extending their working years,” another 25 percent said they had “more uncertainty and cannot predict” when they would retire.

If you’re a glass-almost-half-full kind of person, look at it this way: 43 percent said their retirement plans hadn’t changed and another 5 percent planned to spend “fewer years” working than they had intended to five years ago.

When asked why they planned to work longer, 62 percent of the CFOs said the economy, 9 percent chalked it up to family concerns. Only 2 percent selected the best of all possible reasons to stay on the job: “Renewed desire for the stimulation work provides.”

Bottom line: there's a nearly 50/50 chance that instead of getting promoted to CFO you’re going to be working for a boss who would rather be playing golf.

Good Background, Strong Skills - And No Job?

2009-02-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

Despite a perfect resume, flawless references and years of experience, some finance professionals are finding it difficult to land a job suitable to their skills. Even people who've put in time at Big Four accounting firms or well-known investment banks have sometimes gotten less-than-receptive reactions from prospective employers.

Here's our story.

Majority of KPMG UK Agrees Cut Backs Better than Layoffs

2009-02-04T10:31:00.008-05:00

KPMG's United Kingdom operation is close to succeeding in its plan to avoid layoffs by convincing the majority of its 11,000 employees to potentially work a four-day week or take a short sabbatical at reduced pay.

More than 60 percent of staffers have agreed to the deal, says KPMG EMA Director of Communications Gavin Houlgate. "But, we have not passed the closure of the voting system yet," he adds. "That’s next week, so the final figure may change."

London's Financial Times reports the firm is telling staffers they'll only lose 10 percent of their pay in the deal and that they will have the option of switching back to full time work at the end of the year.

The firm estimates that it will need 75 percent of the staff to agree to avoid cutbacks, the Times says.

Firms Still Hiring, But More Slowly

2009-02-02T10:33:00.001-05:00

If there's an unwritten rule not to change public accounting jobs during tax season, plenty of accountants are ignoring it. And despite the emergence of some interesting staffing options, hiring in accounting and finance has slowed.

Here's Dona's story.

E-Mailing Thanks? Look at the Clock First

2009-01-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

This is what I call a really good point. It comes from Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch, a career counselor and career development trainer from Massachusetts:

Here’s a tip for everyone writing electronic thank-you notes after networking meetings and actual interviews. (If you aren’t writing a thank you note within a day of meeting someone who’s helping in your job search, you should be!)

Leslie Warner, director of Alumni/ae Career Services at Tufts University recommends you only e-mail your thank you notes, or any other communication, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.) unless you know your recipients don’t have their Blackberrys turned on 24/7 for their clients and other work requirements.

I recently heard from a financial services guy who says folks earnestly send him thank you letters after he meets with them - and they do it at 1 a.m. He has to get out of bed and check what it is because it might be a client issue to address. When it ends up being a request for information or a thank you note, it makes him cranky.

So don’t sabotage your job search efforts with a well-meaning but mistimed correspondence. Compose your letters at 2 a.m., but don’t hit the send button until the next business day.

A Career Change Road Map

2009-01-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

Changing careers requires intensive research, self-knowledge, and passionate commitment to a goal. Ultimately, getting hired may rest on devising a marketable idea you can present to an employer in the field you’ve trained your sights on.

Our story's here.

Coping With Difficult People At Work

2009-01-28T16:17:00.001-05:00

Vicky Oliver's book, Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots, comes at the right time. Until a year or so ago, "retention" was a mantra for HR officers. Now the shoe is on the other foot: It's employees who obsess about retaining their own jobs. So a tool kit for coping with difficult workplace personalities falls on fertile soil.

Here's Jon's review.