Question:

I just found out from my Accounting teacher that Pennsylvania only requires 128 credits (Bachelors Degree) in order to sit for the CPA exam. 3 more semesters, 3 more semesters! — Most recent games played: ESPN NFL Football XBOX 9.5/10 ESPN NHL Hockey XBOX 9.0/10 Starsky & Hutch XBOX 8.0/10 Now Playing: Otogi: Myth of Demons XBOX

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and California requires only 120 credits. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just found out from my Accounting teacher that Pennsylvania only requires 128 credits (Bachelors Degree) in order to sit for the CPA exam. 3 more semesters, 3 more semesters!

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and California requires only 120 credits. I just found out from my Accounting teacher that Pennsylvania only requires 128 credits (Bachelors Degree) in order to sit for the CPA exam. 3 more semesters, 3 more semesters!

California is unusual though, as it has a two track certification system. Best Regards. Boycott list: Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, PRC, Iran, Syria, Hollywood, San Francisco, Massachusetts, New York City, Sierra Club, ACLU, Movies of the first blacklist, Turner, Madonna, S. Crowe, Dixie Chicks, Cher, U2, rapp, Trudeau, W.Miller, Disney, ABC news, CBS news, NBC news, CNN, PBS, B&H Photo Video, Sometimes the only influence you have is to say, "No, I’m not buying." For those who are unclear about the situation, California is the Clinton – Davis model for the rest of the United States of America.

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Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/… 2 years ago PwC negociated with HP and turned down, AFAICR, an USD 11 bio. cash offer. So, the market valuation of PwC Consulting has sunk by 2/3 in 2 years. Who can give us the cash / stock split of IBM’s offer? A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA Technology – Reuters HP Says Turned Down PWC Merger Again and Again Tue Jul 30,11:18 PM ET By Peter Henderson <snip HP has turned down overtures from PWC for months, said HP’s deputy head of services, Vice President Juergen Rottler in an interview with Reuters. IBM, the No. 1 technology services company, said on Tuesday it would buy PWC Consulting for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, adding the consultant’s 30,000 employees to its own 150,000. "PWC has approached us over the course of the last year on multiple occasions with exactly that same question… would we be interested in an acquisition? On all occasions we declined," Rottler said. HP almost bought PWC Consulting in 2000 but backed out over the price, some $18 billion at the time. Since then, HP has changed its strategy, preferring to work with a host of systems integrators such as PWC rather than becoming a systems integrator itself, Rottler said. <snip http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=2&u=/… The price is about $117,000 per consultant.  That seem a little on the low side. Thanks for the additional infos, Jim.  :-)  So my number should have been 4/5 instead of 2/3. Judging by the experience of Gap Gemini, E&Y’s consultancy spin-off, the price may not be too high at all.  IBM has several creative accounting options, e. g. 1. write off most of the acquisition as R&D, paving the way to enhanced    earnings in the future 2. wait until IAS become acceptable to the SEC in the US, then write    off impaired goodwill against equity instead of the income    statement. As you probably know, the excellent book ‘Financial Shenanigans, 2nd edition’ cites IBM having netted one time asset disposal gains against operating expenses as the core example of one of the 7 groups of creative accounting procedures. A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA Mergers And Acquisitions IBM Gets A Bargain In PwC Consulting Lisa DiCarlo, 07.30.02, 6:52 PM ET NEW YORK – IBM always seems to make important announcements on Tuesdays, and today’s was a doozie. After what executives described as only 10 days of negotiation, IBM bought PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, instantly adding 30,000 services pros and $5 billion in revenue. The purchase price, $3.5 billion in stock and cash, is less than one quarter the price that Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ – news – people ) was negotiating to pay for PwC Consulting two years ago and possibly less than PwC would have gotten during the upcoming, but now canceled, initial public offer. Indeed, compelling valuation was one of the reasons that IBM (nyse: IBM – news – people ) finance chief John Joyce was attracted to the company, which it previously pondered buying but shied away from the sticker price. http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/30/0730ibm.html

I liked that last paragraph, almost classic Forbes.   This smells like an ego trip rather than a well thought out acquisition to me. YMMV *             Ronald Lee Todd M.B.A., C.P.A.                  * *  Unemployed for six years, mistake of being an accountant.  * *   Students, when someone tells you of your great future as  * *       an accountant, ask him to show you the job.           *

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IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal  [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/… — Jim Hudspeth, CFE, CPA   http://survivalworks.com

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IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal  [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/…

Other than an ego trip, this doesn’t make a whole lot of business sense to me.  If anything, I could see how there would be some redundancy that will have to be trashed.  Then there is the clash of corporate cultures, which should drive out a goodly chunk of the senior talent. — *             Ronald Lee Todd M.B.A., C.P.A.                  * *  Unemployed for six years, mistake of being an accountant.  * *   Students, when someone tells you of your great future as  * *       an accountant, ask him to show you the job.           *

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IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/…

2 years ago PwC negociated with HP and turned down, AFAICR, an USD 11 bio. cash offer. So, the market valuation of PwC Consulting has sunk by 2/3 in 2 years. Who can give us the cash / stock split of IBM’s offer? A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA — If you receive this by error, please delete it and inform the sender. PGP key fingerprint=F1C0 D9AE 1B18 1405 4DFA  B4CC 6DC7 FF78 C76E FB15 To Big Brother Echelon from "spook": Nazi Mossad fissionable Serbian Khatami radar munitions DES colonel Bush

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock.

http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 2 years ago PwC negociated with HP and turned down, AFAICR, an USD 11 bio. cash offer. So, the market valuation of PwC Consulting has sunk by 2/3 in 2 years. Who can give us the cash / stock split of IBM’s offer? A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA Technology – Reuters HP Says Turned Down PWC Merger Again and Again Tue Jul 30,11:18 PM ET By Peter Henderson <snip HP has turned down overtures from PWC for months, said HP’s deputy head of services, Vice President Juergen Rottler in an interview with Reuters. IBM, the No. 1 technology services company, said on Tuesday it would buy PWC Consulting for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, adding the consultant’s 30,000 employees to its own 150,000. "PWC has approached us over the course of the last year on multiple occasions with exactly that same question… would we be interested in an acquisition? On all occasions we declined," Rottler said. HP almost bought PWC Consulting in 2000 but backed out over the price, some $18 billion at the time. Since then, HP has changed its strategy, preferring to work with a host of systems integrators such as PWC rather than becoming a systems integrator itself, Rottler said. <snip

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=2&u=/… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The price is about $117,000 per consultant.  That seem a little on the low side. Thanks for the additional infos, Jim.  :-)  So my number should have been 4/5 instead of 2/3. Judging by the experience of Gap Gemini, E&Y’s consultancy spin-off, the price may not be too high at all.  IBM has several creative accounting options, e. g. 1. write off most of the acquisition as R&D, paving the way to enhanced    earnings in the future 2. wait until IAS become acceptable to the SEC in the US, then write    off impaired goodwill against equity instead of the income    statement. As you probably know, the excellent book ‘Financial Shenanigans, 2nd edition’ cites IBM having netted one time asset disposal gains against operating expenses as the core example of one of the 7 groups of creative accounting procedures. A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA

Mergers And Acquisitions IBM Gets A Bargain In PwC Consulting Lisa DiCarlo, 07.30.02, 6:52 PM ET NEW YORK – IBM always seems to make important announcements on Tuesdays, and today’s was a doozie. After what executives described as only 10 days of negotiation, IBM bought PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, instantly adding 30,000 services pros and $5 billion in revenue. The purchase price, $3.5 billion in stock and cash, is less than one quarter the price that Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ – news – people ) was negotiating to pay for PwC Consulting two years ago and possibly less than PwC would have gotten during the upcoming, but now canceled, initial public offer. Indeed, compelling valuation was one of the reasons that IBM (nyse: IBM – news – people ) finance chief John Joyce was attracted to the company, which it previously pondered buying but shied away from the sticker price. http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/30/0730ibm.html — Jim Hudspeth, CFE, CPA   http://survivalworks.com

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/… 2 years ago PwC negociated with HP and turned down, AFAICR, an USD 11 bio. cash offer. So, the market valuation of PwC Consulting has sunk by 2/3 in 2 years. Who can give us the cash / stock split of IBM’s offer? A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA Technology – Reuters HP Says Turned Down PWC Merger Again and Again Tue Jul 30,11:18 PM ET By Peter Henderson <snip HP has turned down overtures from PWC for months, said HP’s deputy head of services, Vice President Juergen Rottler in an interview with Reuters. IBM, the No. 1 technology services company, said on Tuesday it would buy PWC Consulting for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, adding the consultant’s 30,000 employees to its own 150,000. "PWC has approached us over the course of the last year on multiple occasions with exactly that same question… would we be interested in an acquisition? On all occasions we declined," Rottler said. HP almost bought PWC Consulting in 2000 but backed out over the price, some $18 billion at the time. Since then, HP has changed its strategy, preferring to work with a host of systems integrators such as PWC rather than becoming a systems integrator itself, Rottler said. <snip http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=2&u=/… The price is about $117,000 per consultant.  That seem a little on the low side.  

Thanks for the additional infos, Jim.  :-)  So my number should have been 4/5 instead of 2/3. Judging by the experience of Gap Gemini, E&Y’s consultancy spin-off, the price may not be too high at all.  IBM has several creative accounting options, e. g. 1. write off most of the acquisition as R&D, paving the way to enhanced    earnings in the future 2. wait until IAS become acceptable to the SEC in the US, then write    off impaired goodwill against equity instead of the income statement. As you probably know, the excellent book ‘Financial Shenanigans, 2nd edition’ cites IBM having netted one time asset disposal gains against operating expenses as the core example of one of the 7 groups of creative accounting procedures. A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA — If you receive this by error, please delete it and inform the sender. PGP key fingerprint=F1C0 D9AE 1B18 1405 4DFA  B4CC 6DC7 FF78 C76E FB15 To Big Brother Echelon from "spook": cracking jihad spy White House bomb Delta Force arrangements Sharon Iran

Response:

IBM to Acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Unit in $3.5 Billion Deal [Dow Jones] Updated: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 04:50 PM ET ARMONK, N.Y. — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, news, msgs ) and PricewaterhouseCoopers announced late Tuesday that IBM has agreed to acquire PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PwC Consulting unit for $3.5 billion in cash and stock.

http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/dj/?story=/news/… 2 years ago PwC negociated with HP and turned down, AFAICR, an USD 11 bio. cash offer. So, the market valuation of PwC Consulting has sunk by 2/3 in 2 years. Who can give us the cash / stock split of IBM’s offer? A. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA

Technology – Reuters HP Says Turned Down PWC Merger Again and Again Tue Jul 30,11:18 PM ET By Peter Henderson <snip HP has turned down overtures from PWC for months, said HP’s deputy head of services, Vice President Juergen Rottler in an interview with Reuters. IBM, the No. 1 technology services company, said on Tuesday it would buy PWC Consulting for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, adding the consultant’s 30,000 employees to its own 150,000. "PWC has approached us over the course of the last year on multiple occasions with exactly that same question… would we be interested in an acquisition? On all occasions we declined," Rottler said. HP almost bought PWC Consulting in 2000 but backed out over the price, some $18 billion at the time. Since then, HP has changed its strategy, preferring to work with a host of systems integrators such as PWC rather than becoming a systems integrator itself, Rottler said. <snip http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=2&u=/… The price is about $117,000 per consultant.  That seem a little on the low side.   — Jim Hudspeth, CFE, CPA   http://survivalworks.com

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Question:

Checkout our main page where we have a copy of an intercepted letter to Osma Bin Laden. — Dean Covey www.coveyaccounting.com

Response:

SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM

Checkout our main page where we have a copy of an intercepted letter to Osma
Bin Laden.
–
Dean Covey
www.coveyaccounting.com

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then take out the link to his page! — Jerry www.whatevah.com

SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Checkout our main page where we have a copy of an intercepted letter to Osma Bin Laden. — Dean Covey www.[[CUT]].com

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Checkout our main page where we have a copy of an intercepted letter to Osma Bin Laden. — Dean Covey www.coveyaccounting.com

Dean, You are spamming all of the above groups with completely off-topic content. We visit these groups to glean information on accounting. All of the other media are overinundating us anyway. Please post such content to appropriate groups. Thanks you. Lucien Meyers, CIA, CMA — If you receive this by error, please delete it and inform the sender. www.consult-meyers.com – We recommend e-mail encryption using pgp. To Big Brother Echelon from GNU/Emacs spook: bomb [Hello to all my fans in domestic surveillance] DES Arafat

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Question:

The same odds as Annika being ‘his kind of woman’ ? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What are the odds you’ll get an answer to that?

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Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this? does that include Bobby Knight and Annika (your kind of woman as you used to say)??????? btw Don, who’s in your kill file in the top 34? — F.

Just 3 altogether. Don D.

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This gets my vote for post of the year. — "My genius is in my nostrils. I smell out lies." — Nietzsche. — Home Page: http://www.depaul.edu/~dsimpson

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I’ll be posting a lot less since Phil isn’t play ing much the rest of the year !!

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Cool, I doubled my posts last month.  Now to try again. Dean Gough

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Cool, I doubled my posts last month.  Now to try again.

I bet you can’t do that for 18 straight months !!

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And I’ll admit it–I hope to have a life one of these days.

I play chess on the Internet Chess Club.  They used to keep statistics on how many hours you were logged in and what percentage of YOUR LIFE that was (i.e. the average percentage of each day).  *That* was depressing  I guess that’s why they dropped it.

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If I was Jeff, I could stop now.  That would be my eighteen month quota in one month.  I’m comin’ for ya Jeff (very slowly though). Dean Gough

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Nope – not you. Don D.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m one of the top 10 – I trust I did not make your killfile? (although I bet I can guess who the lucky three are…) — Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this? Don D. Geejus!  I posted the same # as Randy?? I’m sick, very sick….oh wait…that’s not in Megabytes. I’m ok. Make Birdies, it’s easier that way. Mark

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Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this?

does that include Bobby Knight and Annika (your kind of woman as you used to say)??????? btw Don, who’s in your kill file in the top 34? — F.

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Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this?

Two of the Top 10 are in mine accounting for over 500 post (that should tell you Jeff isn’t one of ‘em <g). And I’ll admit it–I hope to have a life one of these days. Dave Clary/Corpus Christi,TX http://home.stx.rr.com/dclary RSG Roll Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/claryd.htm

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What are the odds you’ll get an answer to that? —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this? does that include Bobby Knight and Annika (your kind of woman as you used to say)??????? btw Don, who’s in your kill file in the top 34? — F.

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I’m one of the top 10 – I trust I did not make your killfile? (although I bet I can guess who the lucky three are…) —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this? Don D. Geejus!  I posted the same # as Randy?? I’m sick, very sick….oh wait…that’s not in Megabytes. I’m ok. Make Birdies, it’s easier that way. Mark

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Wow – I could move into the top 5!  I’ve almost caught up to Annika.  Maybe I’ll be able to beat Annika in something (certainly not in golf, but I do intend to break 100 by the time of RSG DFW). —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <clip stats rOdent: You need to do some editing.  A cursory look through your list shows that colleyville alan has two listings…which, when added together, moves him up quite a bit.   R&B has three listings.   ___,   o    |   /      . "Someone likes every shot" bk

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I must be losing my touch; dropped three places (from 13th to 16th). Either that or I’m getting a life. Nope, that’s not it… — Joe Cartpath – www.joecartpath.com Basic Golf Clubmaking & Memphis Area Golf Course Guide and….The Memphis MG Page…

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I forgot to ask:  What’s par for this course? Peter

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Interesting!  Three of the top 10 are in my killfile so I get far fewer entries than most.  I wonder how everyone else is on this? Don D.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Geejus!  I posted the same # as Randy?? I’m sick, very sick….oh wait…that’s not in Megabytes. I’m ok. Make Birdies, it’s easier that way. Mark

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Wopw!!  I posted 213 times in August – I need to get a life.  Not that those who posted more times than me do not have a life…   —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Brought to you by: [ r0dentgolf.com ]      "When you want the best…  insist on a r0dentball." # Msgs Posted     % 12314 100.00% (probe count) 159 1.29% "R&B"""" <SLAM_SPAM_THANK_YA_MA’AM" 13 0.11% DPH < 13 0.11% David Hayes < 12 0.10% Carl O. Graham < 9 0.07% McBain

… read more »

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Is 41st place good enough to keep my card for next year, or will I be headed back to Q school? — John

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I believe in this vernacular it would be called Queue School. Randy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is 41st place good enough to keep my card for next year, or will I be headed back to Q school? — John

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Geejus!  I posted the same # as Randy?? I’m sick, very sick….oh wait…that’s not in Megabytes. I’m ok. Make Birdies, it’s easier that way. Mark

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<clip stats rOdent: You need to do some editing.  A cursory look through your list shows that colleyville alan has two listings…which, when added together, moves him up quite a bit.   R&B has three listings.     ___,     o        |       /        .  

Question:

There are a few – a VERY few – bookkeeping/accounting programs that allow period-end dates other than a month-end, and QB is not one of them. Nevertheless, many businesses do terminate accounting periods at other dates.  "Last Friday of the month" is extremely common.  In my own experience, all such businesses practice a fiction – they account for all transactions after the "accounting cut-off" as if they occur in the following month, and date them accordingly.  Exceptions are made for genuinely significant transactions that occur in "the stub period".  The use of "accounting cut-off dates" is widely practised (though less so in the computer age than previously).  I knew some large corporations that "cut off" as early as the 15th of the month, though I expect that most of them now use somewhat later dates. As Tom Healy notes, I’m not aware of any jurisdiction that permits non-month-end dates for tax purposes.  I was once involved in the audit of a very large corporation that actually specified in its charter a year-end date of "last Friday before Christmas", and all financial statements were prepared with that caption, except that the published Annual Report of the parent corporation was published with a fictitious (!) December 31 date.  This company recorded no business transactions in the days between its legal year-end and the calendar year-end – and all tax returns were filed as of the calendar year-end. "Errors" that are reported as a result of these practices are rarely significant.  Remember that accounting often depends upon estimates which, by definition, cannot be entirely accurate; obvious examples are depreciation and amortization.  Accountants understand that financial statements inevitably incorporate certain errors and estimates. By the way, why do you insist that your period-end is the 15th? And have you discussed these issues with your accountant?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – anyone know how to set-up the file if my year-end is lets say July 15th rather than the end of the month. It seems that you can only specify the first month in the fiscal year. This is no good because all the reports will default to the wrong period and the retained earnings figures will be incorrect. Jess Hennan

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I’m sorry, I should have specified that I’m in Canada, its not extremely common but I have several clients with year-ends that fit this description. I believe that its acceptable practice , although uncommon, for Cdn tax purposes. I’m trying to set one of them up on quickbooks and didn’t realize this dilemma until after I’d recommeded that they purchase the program. I just looked at my Simply 7.0 and it appears that I can enter a non month end year end. Anyways, thanks for the detailed response… maybe I can get them to return QB and get Simply. Jess – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There are a few – a VERY few – bookkeeping/accounting programs that allow period-end dates other than a month-end, and QB is not one of them. Nevertheless, many businesses do terminate accounting periods at other dates.  "Last Friday of the month" is extremely common.  In my own experience, all such businesses practice a fiction – they account for all transactions after the "accounting cut-off" as if they occur in the following month, and date them accordingly.  Exceptions are made for genuinely significant transactions that occur in "the stub period".  The use of "accounting cut-off dates" is widely practised (though less so in the computer age than previously).  I knew some large corporations that "cut off" as early as the 15th of the month, though I expect that most of them now use somewhat later dates. As Tom Healy notes, I’m not aware of any jurisdiction that permits non-month-end dates for tax purposes.  I was once involved in the audit of a very large corporation that actually specified in its charter a year-end date of "last Friday before Christmas", and all financial statements were prepared with that caption, except that the published Annual Report of the parent corporation was published with a fictitious (!) December 31 date.  This company recorded no business transactions in the days between its legal year-end and the calendar year-end – and all tax returns were filed as of the calendar year-end. "Errors" that are reported as a result of these practices are rarely significant.  Remember that accounting often depends upon estimates which, by definition, cannot be entirely accurate; obvious examples are depreciation and amortization.  Accountants understand that financial statements inevitably incorporate certain errors and estimates. By the way, why do you insist that your period-end is the 15th? And have you discussed these issues with your accountant? anyone know how to set-up the file if my year-end is lets say July 15th rather than the end of the month. It seems that you can only specify the first month in the fiscal year. This is no good because all the reports will default to the wrong period and the retained earnings figures will be incorrect. Jess Hennan

Response:

anyone know how to set-up the file if my year-end is lets say July 15th rather than the end of the month. It seems that you can only specify the first month in the fiscal year. This is no good because all the reports will default to the wrong period and the retained earnings figures will be incorrect. Jess Hennan

Response:

anyone know how to set-up the file if my year-end is lets say July 15th rather than the end of the month. It seems that you can only specify the first month in the fiscal year. This is no good because all the reports will default to the wrong period and the retained earnings figures will be incorrect.

For tax accounting, you can’t have such a year end unless the company terminates on that date. The only "odd" dates for month/year ends are if you chose a 52/53 week fiscal year ending on a given day of the month (i.e., the last Sunday of the month, or the Sunday nearest the end of the month-which might be at the beginning of the next month. QuickBooks doesn’t do those either, so you’ll have to type in the dates for each report. Tom –Solving your tax and business problems with Professional Service…Personal Attention Web: http://members.aol.com/thealycpa/Tom_Healy_CPA.html

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Question:

I am a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater’s Master of Professional Accountancy program and am seeking the assistance of accounting practioner throughout the world for information on a research topic. As many of you know, in a business where inventory is a significant part of the balance sheet, very often product is received by the purchasing company from vendors which is in error.  These errors may be in pricing or product receipt.  Often, companies and their vendors agree that the purchasing company pay the entire invoice amount (less any discounts) in a timely manner with credit or product to be issued by the vendor in short order. My research involves the accounting for such "credits due" transactions, namely the classification of such credits, the theoretical justifications for such treatment, and ramifications of such accounting or non-standard accounting . If any one is aware of any literature which may assist me, please forward that information to me as soon as possible to the email listed below. Thank you for your help.  It is greatly appreciated. Leroy Kolacinski

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In our business, and others that I worked for, "credits due" is simply part of the accounts payable subsystem, included in the AP total you would see on the balance sheet. Individual credits from vendors are attached to that vendor’s record and would not be accounted for separately unless you set up an account specifically to show what credits are due.

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I understand the theory you are talking about but in my personal life I don’t like to pay for what I don’t receive and I think that is even more true in my professional life. I have never worked for a company that would intentionally pay for inventory that was not received.  Some try not to pay for what they do receive.  I don’t know if it is still true, but IBM used to pay net 30 and always took the discounts. A retail chain I’m familar with that has sales of about $200 million pays at about 20 days and takes all discounts and pays net of returns, back orders, and anything else to hold on to cash just a little longer. J. D. Black

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater’s Master of Professional Accountancy program and am seeking the assistance of accounting practioner throughout the world for information on a research topic. As many of you know, in a business where inventory is a significant part of the balance sheet, very often product is received by the purchasing company from vendors which is in error.  These errors may be in pricing or product receipt.  Often, companies and their vendors agree that the purchasing company pay the entire invoice amount (less any discounts) in a timely manner with credit or product to be issued by the vendor in short order. My research involves the accounting for such "credits due" transactions, namely the classification of such credits, the theoretical justifications for such treatment, and ramifications of such accounting or non-standard accounting . If any one is aware of any literature which may assist me, please forward that information to me as soon as possible to the email listed below. Thank you for your help.  It is greatly appreciated. Leroy Kolacinski

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Question:

The answer to that question depends largely on your payors and billing method.  Do you have a large percent in Medicare and you are billing electronically or do you have a large percentage of workers compensation and self pay?  Medicare pays within 14-21 days when bills are submitted electronically.  They pay no better than 35 days when submitting paper claims.  Add mailing time for paper claims and payments and the difference can be substantial based on volume.  Workers compensation and private pay can be the most difficult to collect.  And thus their percent as compared to total will drag all of your numbers down. Your specialty and the amount of managed care contracts and location can also play a huge factor in timely payments.  In short to answer your question we will need more information.  I would try to contact your local specialty group association as a place to start. HTH Don   I have had little background in accounting and need to know the answer to a   question about our practice’s accounts   receivable balance.     In a family practice center with $3.7 million   dollars in billed charges, what would be the   acceptable percentage of for dollars charged  in accounts receivable?   What   percent should be in current to 30 days, 60   days, 90 days, 120 days of service/charge date?   **** Posted from RemarQ – http://www.remarq.com – Discussions Start Here ™ ****

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Dear Anonymous; If you first exclude insurance and medicare billing, the general pattern is that funds which are not collected quickly, say 30 days, will not be collectible without outside assistance such as a collection agency.   The collection agencies are looking for "low hanging fruit".  That is, they collect accounts with findable assets and attachable incomes.  - Carl – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have had little background in accounting and need to know the answer to a question about our practice’s accounts receivable balance.     In a family practice center with $3.7 million dollars in billed charges, what would be the acceptable percentage of for dollars charged  in accounts receivable?   What percent should be in current to 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days of service/charge date? **** Posted from RemarQ – http://www.remarq.com – Discussions Start Here ™ ****

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Question:

I am a user as well as a reseller for them. In my opinion there are much better solutions.  The functionality is quite limited, and the performance is horribly slow. The only strong point in my opinion is they have over 200 reports! To sum it up, if you can afford more and have a real business to run, don’t buy it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I posted to this group several days ago asking about accounting packages with a programmatic interface to/from Access or VB. Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses. One suggestion was "Yes! I Can Run My Business" by Database Creations, formerly Cary Prague Software. It is written in Access, includes source code, and is very affordable. At the moment, this is the package I am considering using. Does anybody have experience with it (good or bad) that they would like to share? Thanks in advance for any help, -Scott Lewis

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I am a user as well as a reseller for them. In my opinion there are much better solutions.  The functionality is quite limited, and the performance is horribly slow.

Thanks for your candid report, can you provide just a little more info? 1.  How many rows of transactions are in the database, 2.  Are you running a Pentium or Pentium II?   3.  What version of Access is this, Access 97?  is it Jet 3. or 3.5? 4.  Are you running Win95 or WinNT? I find the Jet 3.5 database very snappy on NT4.0 with a Pentium Pro chip and lots of RAM.   However, it certainly is possible to load down a program if you keep too much in memory, expecially in Win95.   Win95 basically chokes on applications running over 32 megs and it doesnt matter how many SIMMSs you buy…and there are lots of PII and P-Pro motherboards out there for a couple hundred dollars.  ie. less than the cost of a QBpro license…. Todd

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One suggestion was "Yes! I Can Run My Business" by Database Creations, formerly Cary Prague Software. It is written in Access, includes source code, and is very affordable. At the moment, this is the package I am considering using. Does anybody have experience with it (good or bad) that they would like to share?

Do a search in www.dejanews.com and look for the comments. Tony —- Message posted to newsgroup and emailed. Tony Toews, Independent Computer Consultant The Year 2000 crisis: Will my parents or your grand parents still be receiving their pension in January, 2000?  See http://www.granite.ab.ca/year2000 Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

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Hi, I posted to this group several days ago asking about accounting packages with a programmatic interface to/from Access or VB. Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses. One suggestion was "Yes! I Can Run My Business" by Database Creations, formerly Cary Prague Software. It is written in Access, includes source code, and is very affordable. At the moment, this is the package I am considering using. Does anybody have experience with it (good or bad) that they would like to share? Thanks in advance for any help, -Scott Lewis

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Question:

I have to make a purchase f a new system at work. What version of mapics is the best? We are on ver 2 now. What are 3 & 4 & 5(coming) like. Windows based?  How good & ease of use is Client access? Thank you

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I have to make a purchase f a new system at work. What version of mapics is the best? We are on ver 2 now. What are 3 & 4 & 5(coming) like. Windows based?  How good & ease of use is Client access? Thank you

You might want to ask your question in the AS/400 newsgroup as well. Just do a scan for AS400 and you should find it. Tony —- Message posted to newsgroup and emailed. Tony Toews, Independent Computer Consultant The Year 2000 crisis: Will my parents or your grand parents still be receiving their pension in January, 2000?  See http://www.granite.ab.ca/year2000 Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

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Question:

The only reason you think cigarettes are cool is because once upon a time they were fashionable. Like fur coats they aren’t in vogue any more.

But with cigarettes, when it is time to dump the fashion, nicotine interferes–the smoker is forced to become uncool.

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It occurs to me that this study might just be great news for smokers.  If the researchers have indeed identified a causative agent, the next step is to just remove it.  Then, we will all be able to smoke without having our evenings ruined by anti-smoker comments.

I had a look at the study which is on the Internet (published in the latest Science magazine).  It is interesting information but the findings are only valid in 60% of the test cases.  The other 40% don’t seem to exhibit the symptoms.  Also, this study doesn’t say anything about the majority of smokers who don’t get lung cancer in the first place.  The article ends with the following: "The coincidence of mutational hotspots and adduct hotspots suggests that benzo[a]pyrene metabolites or structurally related compounds are involved in transformation of human lung tissue. Our study thus provides a direct link between a defined cigarette smoke carcinogen and human cancer mutations." There is also another interesting study in the list of contents of the magazine.  It is a study involving the curing of cancer.  The article is entitled: "An Adenovirus Mutant That Replicates Selectively in p53- Deficient Human Tumor Cells". However, and here I’m giving away my age, we have seen other studies of this type in the past.  They invariably conclude with "more study is needed", which indicates (first) that their findings aren’t conclusive, and (two) that they want more money.

I fully agree with you there! It takes years for other scientists to decide whether or not the study is valid.  By this time the propaganda machine has convinced the general public, who never read the studies- only sensational exerpts in the news reports, that the "truth has been told.  You’ve seen it time and time, again.

Unfortunately, it is almost always a case of scare tactics where the media is concerned.  Still, I find that this study is a step in the right direction. Read the study before you come to a conclusion.

A very wise suggestion. PS.  For those of you interested in reading the articles without having to search around too much, point your web browsers to http://science-mag.aaas.org/science/ —

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NEW EVIDENCE SUPPORTS SMOKING-CANCER LINK (text deleted) Jai, Bruce, others- Check out the paper in its entirety at www.aaas.org.  Lots better than the press reports.

Thanks, Tara. Will do. I was surprised, after hearing Dan Rather’s dramatic lead story on the news, to find that no cigarette smoke was tested in the experiments, and no human tumors were studied.   The study involved pure, synthetic BPDE in cell cultures.  BPDE, [benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide], as some of you already know, is the active mammalian metabolite of BaP, which is produced in essentially every combustion process, including tobacco, cooking, car exhaust, woodstoves,  etc.  Diet is the overwhelmingly major source of human exposure, accounting for 90+% of human BaP intake.  

Interesting, if the BPDE is a result of dietary intake, then how does it get to the lungs? The authors found similar patterns for binding of BPDE to DNA and for mutations in the P53 tumor suppressor gene that seems to be involved in most human cancers of many sites, and concluded that BPDE is causing the mutations.  What puzzles me is this: P53 mutation profiles for BPDE have been described for years, as have covalent binding sites for BPDE.  Why all the hoopla over this paper?  There’s an impressively large database for P53 mutation profiles from actual human tumors that’s getting bigger all the time, and human adduct studies from smokers and others have been published in abundance for years.  In light of the large human database,  why is there so much press on a new study of an isolated compound in two cell lines, one of which (HeLa) is a transformed tumor cell ( cervical carcinoma ) isolated in 1951?

From what I’ve read, the match was made between the BPDE activity and 3 locations on the P53 gene. Alterations of these three sites were found in the lung cells of lung cancer patients. The experimenter pinned down the exact location. Hence the hoopla.

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It occurs to me that this study might just be great news for smokers.  If the researchers have indeed identified a causative agent, the next step is to just remove it.  Then, we will all be able to smoke without having our evenings ruined by anti-smoker comments.

The culprit is a metabolite of benzo(a)pyrene. It’s present in smoke from burning any organic material. It would be simple to remove it–just remove the tobacco (and the paper) from the cigarette. Don’t forget there are other carcinogens in tobacco smoke. BAP is just one of many.

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NEW EVIDENCE SUPPORTS SMOKING-CANCER LINK (text deleted)

Jai, Bruce, others- Check out the paper in its entirety at www.aaas.org.  Lots better than the press reports. I was surprised, after hearing Dan Rather’s dramatic lead story on the news, to find that no cigarette smoke was tested in the experiments, and no human tumors were studied.   The study involved pure, synthetic BPDE in cell cultures.  BPDE, [benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide], as some of you already know, is the active mammalian metabolite of BaP, which is produced in essentially every combustion process, including tobacco, cooking, car exhaust, woodstoves,  etc.  Diet is the overwhelmingly major source of human exposure, accounting for 90+% of human BaP intake.   The authors found similar patterns for binding of BPDE to DNA and for mutations in the P53 tumor suppressor gene that seems to be involved in most human cancers of many sites, and concluded that BPDE is causing the mutations.  What puzzles me is this: P53 mutation profiles for BPDE have been described for years, as have covalent binding sites for BPDE.  Why all the hoopla over this paper?  There’s an impressively large database for P53 mutation profiles from actual human tumors that’s getting bigger all the time, and human adduct studies from smokers and others have been published in abundance for years.  In light of the large human database,  why is there so much press on a new study of an isolated compound in two cell lines, one of which (HeLa) is a transformed tumor cell ( cervical carcinoma ) isolated in 1951?         -Tara Rabumdier

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It occurs to me that this study might just be great news for smokers.  If the researchers have indeed identified a causative agent, the next step is to just remove it.  Then, we will all be able to smoke without having our evenings ruined by anti-smoker comments.

Apparently, you seem to think like self-proclaimed Dr.Bob Dole. You need help. Believe me, and say this 10 times each day, "Nicotine is addictive. Cigarettes make me hooked to nictoine." By the way, the nicotine gum and patch are addictive too. It’s only that the gum "tires" out your mouth and deprives appetite for food (by loss of salivation). And the patch seems to create a scary spectre (once past the curiosity) and also pump nicotine when you don’t need it, thus making you averse to nicotine. The only reason you think cigarettes are cool is because once upon a time they were fashionable. Like fur coats they aren’t in vogue any more. Best wishes, Dakshin — Dakshin Gandikota, Ph.D. Rm. 1D-260N, AT&T Labs       6200 E.Broad St. Columbus, OH 43213                              614-860-6006

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It occurs to me that this study might just be great news for smokers.  If the researchers have indeed identified a causative agent, the next step is to just remove it.  Then, we will all be able to smoke without having our evenings ruined by anti-smoker comments. The only people who will be adversely affected will be the anti-smoker industry executives and the people who enjoy nagging others.  Even so, they should be able to find another crusade without much effort.  There are plenty of "pet peeves" out there. However, and here I’m giving away my age, we have seen other studies of this type in the past.  They invariably conclude with "more study is needed", which indicates (first) that their findings aren’t conclusive, and (two) that they want more money. It takes years for other scientists to decide whether or not the study is valid.  By this time the propaganda machine has convinced the general public, who never read the studies- only sensational exerpts in the news reports, that the "truth has been told.  You’ve seen it time and time, again. Read the study before you come to a conclusion.

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—–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—– [Excerpts] NEW EVIDENCE SUPPORTS SMOKING-CANCER LINK    WASHINGTON [October 17 1996] (Reuter) – For the first time, U.S. scientists have shown a direct link between smoking and lung cancer on the cellular level, adding to mounds of statistical evidence and animal studies done over the past 30 years.  [...]    The study, which will appear Friday in the prestigious journal SCIENCE, identifies a substance in the "tar" of cigarette smoke that directly transforms human lung tissue.  [...]    "Our study thus provides a direct link between a defined cigarette smoke carcinogen and human cancer mutations," wrote the scientists from City of Hope cancer center in Duarte, California, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.  [End of Excerpts] %:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:% Om Shanti %:%:% PGP information:  ftp://ftp.prairienet.org/pub/providers/pgp/pgpfaq.txt —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—– Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Digital signatures verify author and unaltered content. iQCVAwUBMmbkROlp/UA/8L65AQH51wP/aX4hTTiQnD2A//YGYcg2ZtMe8i8/3HUV 4Od+zqdYT0FJ9jVMygNoIhblT25EMuqyFTgOx42rtyMmtiG7sdPWRbN0jGyZUpHH vpnnTmL+qRXEpRCPgfid89BuK4uZs0wXxDf5Iwh5JUb+JzJjWdsCtIf4h7xy42AN GFGwEqUDVl0= =Ze74 —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

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