Accounting Talk » Office Accounting » Corporate Accounting – Who's Responsible

Corporate Accounting – Who's Responsible

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. Rick

I spent nearly 30 years w/a large ($1B/yr revenues) engineering consulting firm for both government and private clients.  Owing to the government work, we were required to follow DCAA rules regarding division of costs for all work, including commercial.  Within this, if you simply divide your time as equitably as you can across the jobs/sites of which you are aware, you’ve done your duty/responsibility.  Keep good logs and sleep well at night… :) PS…I went through probably 15 or 20 annual DCAA audits in my time since I was both one of the more senior persons at the local office and (I hypothesize, confirmed by one auditor) because I had a much more varied client base than most so my time cards tended to be "more interesting" than the routine 40 hr/wk for a single client for six months at a time.  Some of the division of labor rules, particularly as they related to allocating OT hours, I thought (and still think) are unfair to some clients in some circumstances, so I was not at all reluctant to shade the precise requirements to achieve an equitable allocation for a client.   In my experience, the issue of most concern to DCAA auditors was concern about billing time to other jobs to "protect" jobs showing an overrun or that were in jeopardy, and working non-billed hours for the same reason. All in all, unless there is a concerted, directed effort to either transfer cost from one client/job to another or to "bail out" a poorly performing contract/client with another, the final detail of the rest is a matter of judgement as to how much detail is actually of any value to report.  Sounds to me as though the client as determined there isn’t more than a modicum of need or they would have made it clear.

Response:

I have to agree with what Bob said. My husband is an engineer for the gov’t. He is always talking about billing time to projects he works on. For him it is because these projects are given a specific amount of funds to complete. To keep up with costs on the projects he has to bill his time to whatever projects he works on. Janice

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? job costing?  responsibility accounting?   it’s only poor accounting if the cost of the work or time is not accurately assigned or billed to the intended company or project. 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? Enron was different, they were using "off balance sheet" subsidiaries, dubious energy trades, etc.  There is a problem if any of the companies or sites/projects does government contract work.  Shifting costs from one contract to another is illegal ! 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. make sure the work or time you perform is assigned or billed to the correct job – check with the accounting or audit dept.!

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – He has already made a determination that the information is incorrect and deliberately incorrect.  Whether he is right or not, material or not, is another matter.  He has to make a decision whether he (or she) can live with the way things are. The price of knowingly "going along" with corrupt practices can be very high, particularly if the person "going along" can be proven to have known there was something wrong.  It is common practice for high level perpetrators to proclaim their innocence and blame subordinates when things go wrong. This is not necessarily an easy decision. I can tell you of personal decisions by people I know where they have challenged poor accounting practices and risked their jobs before being proved correct. I also am aware of whistle blowing where the person was 100 percent right and their jobs remain in jeopardy. In whistle blowing, by any name, doesn’t mean one has to place labels on the actions.  They simply and more correctly need to state what is happening, why its wrong, and where the evidence can be found and let the chips fall where they may.  Again, if one is considering whistle blowing, they best, in my opinion, have another job lined up. Tippy is not necessarily advising the original poster to whistle blow, only to do so with great caution if s/he chooses to do so.  I consider that to be good advice. Jim Hudspeth As I understand what OP described, he’s saying some work is potentially generic rather than specific even though it is also, by definition specific.  He’s concerned that some costs should be allocated more widely than against the specific contract/project.  Having also worked on large engineering projects for a series of clients where such scale benefits are also possible, I don’t see it as anything unusual to accumulate costs on the specific project even though the result may benefit other sites/projects.  If, otoh, it is being done internally by his organization to prevent overruns on one job at the expense of another, then that is a problem.  That isn’t the way I read it, but maybe that’s the crux. I read it pretty much the same way you did. I have considerable experience with the use of cost manipulation to obscure cost overruns, therefore I tend to consider it as a possibility until I have evidence to the contrary.

Me, too!  Altho the firm I was associated with was about as careful as any I ever came across, with 25-30,000 technical employees, something on the order of 15-20,000 contracts at any one time, somebody, somewhere, was bound to get in trouble and try to sneak it in, occasionally.  To the best of my knowledge we were never found intentionally in violation at corporate in nearly 35 years’ existence even though there have been several instances of (primarily disgruntled) employees claiming fraud. (I retired from there several years ago so there could have been some "goings on" since, but I’d be quite surprised.) I can’t be quite so sanquine about my knowledge of some other firms, however. As I suggested in my original commentary, we need more information if we are to go beyond speculation.

Aw, gee…and lose all the fun of a ng??? :)

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Some of the division of labor rules, particularly as they related to allocating OT hours, I thought (and still think) are unfair to some clients in some circumstances, so I was not at all reluctant to shade the precise requirements to achieve an equitable allocation for a client. If you have a spare couple of minutes, can you be more specific on this topic? This is an issue that we address at my firm. However, we’re not government contractors so the rules do not apply to us really. However, I’m just curious about the way the OT issues we face could be handled if we were. A

Specifically what I questioned as being always fair was the redistribution of hours.  If for example, I had two clients that required work during a pay period, one of which (say "A") had a deadline and was willing to pay actual hours worked while the other ("B"), while needing current effort did not have any immediate deadline.  If, in order to meet both clients’ needs I were to work 20 hours for "B" and 30 for "A", the DCAA rules were that the actual hours charged to A and B would be prorated so that each an equivalent ratio of overtime hours. Thus, what I think unfair is that client "A" would be charged for excess time relative to client "B" who didn’t need the overtime.  This was done, as understand it, to prevent government contractors to shift time to a underbid job.  The net result was, that in most situations since I was salaried, and not paid for overtime, the overtime just was not reported so the client with the deadline was not penalized.  If one were working for a single client, the issue did not arise.  This also is not a germane issue for hourly employees, but only for salaried.  (I’m sitting here now after having retired realizing I can’t recall the exact formula just now–I’ll try to resurect it from my subconscious, but it won’t be a pleasant experience–one thing I <definitely do <not miss, is working on government contracts.

Response:

He has already made a determination that the information is incorrect and deliberately incorrect.  Whether he is right or not, material or not, is another matter.  He has to make a decision whether he (or she) can live with the way things are.

The price of knowingly "going along" with corrupt practices can be very high, particularly if the person "going along" can be proven to have known there was something wrong.  It is common practice for high level perpetrators to proclaim their innocence and blame subordinates when things go wrong. This is not necessarily an easy decision. I can tell you of personal decisions by people I know where they have challenged poor accounting practices and risked their jobs before being proved correct. I also am aware of whistle blowing where the person was 100 percent right and their jobs remain in jeopardy. In whistle blowing, by any name, doesn’t mean one has to place labels on the actions.  They simply and more correctly need to state what is happening, why its wrong, and where the evidence can be found and let the chips fall where they may.  Again, if one is considering whistle blowing, they best, in my opinion, have another job lined up.

Tippy is not necessarily advising the original poster to whistle blow, only to do so with great caution if s/he chooses to do so.  I consider that to be good advice. Jim Hudspeth

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – He has already made a determination that the information is incorrect and deliberately incorrect.  Whether he is right or not, material or not, is another matter.  He has to make a decision whether he (or she) can live with the way things are. The price of knowingly "going along" with corrupt practices can be very high, particularly if the person "going along" can be proven to have known there was something wrong.  It is common practice for high level perpetrators to proclaim their innocence and blame subordinates when things go wrong. This is not necessarily an easy decision. I can tell you of personal decisions by people I know where they have challenged poor accounting practices and risked their jobs before being proved correct. I also am aware of whistle blowing where the person was 100 percent right and their jobs remain in jeopardy. In whistle blowing, by any name, doesn’t mean one has to place labels on the actions.  They simply and more correctly need to state what is happening, why its wrong, and where the evidence can be found and let the chips fall where they may.  Again, if one is considering whistle blowing, they best, in my opinion, have another job lined up. Tippy is not necessarily advising the original poster to whistle blow, only to do so with great caution if s/he chooses to do so.  I consider that to be good advice. Jim Hudspeth

As I understand what OP described, he’s saying some work is potentially generic rather than specific even though it is also, by definition specific.  He’s concerned that some costs should be allocated more widely than against the specific contract/project.  Having also worked on large engineering projects for a series of clients where such scale benefits are also possible, I don’t see it as anything unusual to accumulate costs on the specific project even though the result may benefit other sites/projects.  If, otoh, it is being done internally by his organization to prevent overruns on one job at the expense of another, then that is a problem.  That isn’t the way I read it, but maybe that’s the crux.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – He has already made a determination that the information is incorrect and deliberately incorrect.  Whether he is right or not, material or not, is another matter.  He has to make a decision whether he (or she) can live with the way things are. The price of knowingly "going along" with corrupt practices can be very high, particularly if the person "going along" can be proven to have known there was something wrong.  It is common practice for high level perpetrators to proclaim their innocence and blame subordinates when things go wrong. This is not necessarily an easy decision. I can tell you of personal decisions by people I know where they have challenged poor accounting practices and risked their jobs before being proved correct. I also am aware of whistle blowing where the person was 100 percent right and their jobs remain in jeopardy. In whistle blowing, by any name, doesn’t mean one has to place labels on the actions.  They simply and more correctly need to state what is happening, why its wrong, and where the evidence can be found and let the chips fall where they may.  Again, if one is considering whistle blowing, they best, in my opinion, have another job lined up. Tippy is not necessarily advising the original poster to whistle blow, only to do so with great caution if s/he chooses to do so.  I consider that to be good advice. Jim Hudspeth As I understand what OP described, he’s saying some work is potentially generic rather than specific even though it is also, by definition specific.  He’s concerned that some costs should be allocated more widely than against the specific contract/project.  Having also worked on large engineering projects for a series of clients where such scale benefits are also possible, I don’t see it as anything unusual to accumulate costs on the specific project even though the result may benefit other sites/projects.  If, otoh, it is being done internally by his organization to prevent overruns on one job at the expense of another, then that is a problem.  That isn’t the way I read it, but maybe that’s the crux.

I read it pretty much the same way you did. I have considerable experience with the use of cost manipulation to obscure cost overruns, therefore I tend to consider it as a possibility until I have evidence to the contrary. As I suggested in my original commentary, we need more information if we are to go beyond speculation. Jim Hudspeth

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have to agree with what Bob said. My husband is an engineer for the gov’t. He is always talking about billing time to projects he works on. For him it is because these projects are given a specific amount of funds to complete. To keep up with costs on the projects he has to bill his time to whatever projects he works on. Janice I have audited a number of federal gov’t entities (not contractors in this instance) where they charged whatever pot of money was available regardless of what they worked on.  I have no doubts whatsoever that gov’t contractors also tend to do the same from time to time or at least some do.  

From my experience auditing construction contract costs of contractors with the U.S. Government, I would say, generally no.  Most of the problems were associated with extra work, extra work authorization, and allocations between extra work and the bid work. A side problem was most people, accountants included, seemed to have no idea on how to handle overhead allocations. I always thought the False Claims acts tended to keep people rather cautious with flights of fancy. I have also seen local gov’ts wrongly charge the federal gov’t for costs that should have been funded with local funds and also where they charged local funds when they could have charged the feds.  It happens and sometimes they get caught.  

Most local governments have very serious systemic problems.  From what I’ve seen it seems to take quite a bit of effort to separate the fraud from the blind incompetence. Not that Janice’s husband would deliberately charge the wrong job <grin, but some are certainly pressured to do so to keep within budgets and time constraints on the funds.   Tippy

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, Heinz Foods, 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.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. Rick You have a dilemma faced by many accountants and engineers. Apparently, you have surfaced your concerns to your superiors.  Now, you have to make a decision.  Take care if you plan to whistle blow. If your clients include the U.S. gov’t, you can blow the whistle and collect under qui tam.  Best, far best, to remain anon, or to keep your identity protected by the gov’t.  I would recommend finding another job (and letting the "independent" auditor know, again anon). Tippy What bad advice. I’m not so sure about that.  Rick doesn’t give much in the way of detail, however what he does give us indicates that he thinks there is a problem with cost allocations.  That COULD be a problem. I would want more detail before I said anything more.

Which is why it is bad advice.  "Whistle blowing" when there IS a problem causes enough trouble for the person doing the reporting.  To do so when there is no problem, just a lack of understanding, is even more likely to piss people off.

Response:

  Some of the division of labor rules, particularly as they related to allocating OT hours, I thought (and still think) are unfair to some clients in some circumstances, so I was not at all reluctant to shade the precise requirements to achieve an equitable allocation for a client.

If you have a spare couple of minutes, can you be more specific on this topic? This is an issue that we address at my firm. However, we’re not government contractors so the rules do not apply to us really. However, I’m just curious about the way the OT issues we face could be handled if we were. A

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. Rick You have a dilemma faced by many accountants and engineers. Apparently, you have surfaced your concerns to your superiors.  Now, you have to make a decision.  Take care if you plan to whistle blow. If your clients include the U.S. gov’t, you can blow the whistle and collect under qui tam.  Best, far best, to remain anon, or to keep your identity protected by the gov’t.  I would recommend finding another job (and letting the "independent" auditor know, again anon). Tippy What bad advice.

I’m not so sure about that.  Rick doesn’t give much in the way of detail, however what he does give us indicates that he thinks there is a problem with cost allocations.  That COULD be a problem. I would want more detail before I said anything more. Jim Hudspeth

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this?

job costing?  responsibility accounting?   it’s only poor accounting if the cost of the work or time is not accurately assigned or billed to the intended company or project. 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here?

Enron was different, they were using "off balance sheet" subsidiaries, dubious energy trades, etc.  There is a problem if any of the companies or sites/projects does government contract work.  Shifting costs from one contract to another is illegal ! 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself.

make sure the work or time you perform is assigned or billed to the correct job – check with the accounting or audit dept.!

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. Rick You have a dilemma faced by many accountants and engineers. Apparently, you have surfaced your concerns to your superiors.  Now, you have to make a decision.  Take care if you plan to whistle blow. If your clients include the U.S. gov’t, you can blow the whistle and collect under qui tam.  Best, far best, to remain anon, or to keep your identity protected by the gov’t.  I would recommend finding another job (and letting the "independent" auditor know, again anon). Tippy

What bad advice. How they do internal cost allocations has nothing to do with him or his company, and, quite frankly, there is no indication here that anything untoward is going on.  Allocation of costs across multiple projects is a cost / benefit exercise.  Sometimes the cost does not justify the benefit.

Response:

After hearing the responsibility chain concerns after Enron, I have some questions about where I work. I work at an engineering company which performs services for a variety of international chemical/refinery companies.  We have a program with one of our clients where we provide services to a large group of sites across the country.  Our client corporate headquarters requires us to bill all our time to specific production sites and projects within those sights.  We have activities that actually benefit groups of projects within a site and other sites.  But we are required to bill this time to specific projects that we have to choose. I have a couple of questions and I am open to any additional comments: 1)  This is ovbiously poor accounting practice as it does not truely capture value we bring across our client’s sites.  Is there a specific term for this? 2)  In light of the Enron actions, is there a potential problem here? 3)  If there is a problem, what can I do to help resolve it and how can I protect myself. Rick

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Every time you speak, you prove there is nothing more ignorant than a low life muslim. Fuck your pedophile mohammad and his moon god ahley. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Press Groups React Angrily To Cameraman Slaying WASHINGTON, August 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian Journalist Syndicate has called Monday, August 18, for forming an international committee of journalists to sue those responsible for killing reporters. "We call upon all Arab journalists as well as international journalists to take the stand and resolutions through which U.S.-Israeli recklessness can be stopped. We call for the formation of an international committee to bring those responsible for such crimes to fair international prosecutions," the syndicate’s communiqu

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Accounting Talk » Business Accounting » Career (not a love question, just need some advice)

Career (not a love question, just need some advice)

Question:

I think the other person gave you some excellent advice.  I work with accountants all of the time and have just completed a masters.  I have had friends who worked either for the Big 5 or 2nd tier national firms that have gotten assigments overseas.  Accountants will be in short supply in the next few years and IMO this shortage will give you a lot of leverage.  Also, by getting experience overseas, you become more valuable.  What I am not clear on is what your current job is?  Is it part of a corporate type accounting department or an accounting firm? If it is with an accounting firm, you have lots of options.  Options become more limited if you are working in private sector. About getting a masters, do it now or relatively soon.  Trust me, going back to school after being out for 20 years is a big adjustment.  Do it while you are still use to the environment.  The admission’s tests are the biggest pain and it helps if you do right shortly after being out of school.  Trust me it hurts the brain to wake those cell up after not being used for a few years, if you wait.  You can do it later but I still would advise within 5 years of college. Many MBA programs have an international business option.  Find a large school and you can find a lot of internation experience.  An MBA can be a launching pad to what you want.  Think of it as a 2fer.  It will move you up the ladder when looking for a job.  The time in school is treated like additional experience and can make it easier to get past the screeners that you are facing now.  It will be treated as if you have 2 years of experience for every one year you are in school. Bottom Line, Go for it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -@_@ wrote: > I’ve been debating on something for a long time. I just graduated from > school and got this job as an accountante. Currently work is ok. I like my > job but it is not in the field that I would love to get into. I know what > I want to do and have a plan of how to get there but I just am unsure to > when. I’d love to work as a linguist in a foreign country. College helped > me learn what i want to do for the rest of my life. I chose business > because i knew i could get a job after i graduate. Since I went to a small > university we didnt have a linguist major. So i just took Russian language > as a minor. > My situation is quite odd because i am so undecisive on somethings. Id > like to learn more foreign lanugages, maybe become a linguist. I’d also > like to go back to my Masters Degree but am not sure in what field. I want > to live in a foreign country but dont want to get paid in their local > currency. For a time i was thinking about going to college overseas. By > doing that it would be a great advantage in what i want to do. i mean if > you are a US corporation in, let’s say, Vietnam. Two Americans come to you > for a job. One has lived there, have an education from a Vietnamese > University, and speak the language. The other speaks the language and have > a degree from a US institution. Which one would you hire. I’d love to get > my degree overseas but i have obligations here that i have to take care of > (Debt, credit cards, student loans). Gosh i wish i could just get away and > do what i want. However i have my responsibilities and can’t abandon them. > I sent lots of resumes overseas, but since i just came out of college it > is quite a problem. Many corporations dont hire entry-level overseas. > What do you think i should do? > If you do respond respond to my email address and the newsgroup. I dont > get all newsgroup emails so if you respond to me and newsgroup it would be > a great chance that I could get the message.

Response:

I have > had friends who worked either for the Big 5 or 2nd tier national firms > that have gotten assigments overseas.

I worked FOR a "Big 5" company and noticed tons of horrible behavior. Walked out in disgust, in fact. One of the firms said they don’t promote blacks, women, or Jews to partner. You sing their praises? Tsk.

Response:

Paul Duren <bank…@earthlink.net> wrote in message <news:3C2FA0DA.4010104@earthlink.net>… > I think the other person gave you some excellent advice.

Thanks, Paul!  You are obviously a man of discriminating taste! I have > had friends who worked either for the Big 5 or 2nd tier national firms > that have gotten assigments overseas.

See, it’s true! > About getting a masters, do it now or relatively soon.  Trust me, going > back to school after being out for 20 years is a big adjustment.  Do it > while you are still use to the environment.  The admission’s tests are > the biggest pain and it helps if you do right shortly after being out of > school.  Trust me it hurts the brain to wake those cell up after not > being used for a few years, if you wait.  You can do it later but I > still would advise within 5 years of college. > Many MBA programs have an international business option.  Find a large > school and you can find a lot of internation experience.  An MBA can be > a launching pad to what you want.  

Proviso:  get yourself int to the best school you can.  An MBA from Podunk U. will be educational and you will learn a lot, but it will not be particualrly marketable!  Trust me on this one. Another thing—-when you get into B-school, the contacts you make there will be just as important as the actual knowledge you gain! Go you it now when you are young. you do not want to be a 45 year old newly minted MBA hitting the job market. PS:  Thunderbird, in the Southwest, has an excellent rep. Artemesia MBA, Standford (marketing)

Response:

"@_@" <dmda…@saturn4.acs.oakland.edu> wrote in message <news:Pine.OSF.4.21.0112272004250.369-100000@saturn4.acs.oakland.edu>…

Since I went to a small > university we didnt have a linguist major. So i just took Russian language > as a minor. > My situation is quite odd because i am so undecisive on somethings. Id > like to learn more foreign lanugages, maybe become a linguist. I’d also > like to go back to my Masters Degree but am not sure in what field. I want > to live in a foreign country but dont want to get paid in their local > currency. > What do you think i should do? > If you do respond respond to my email address and the newsgroup. I dont > get all newsgroup emails so if you respond to me and newsgroup it would be > a great chance that I could get the message.

HI:       I have experience in this area.  The #1 "linguist job" overseas is Teaching English as a 2nd language.  You can usually do it at the college level if you have a masters.       One of the best programs is at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in Honolulu. CAll or write for their program in TESL.  UH Has one of the top 10 Lingistics programs in the US.  Excellent specialties in Asian Paific Languages. Beause they have the EAST_West Center (heavily supported by the US State department) their Language Labs and Language departmes are quite good.      Their Linguistics Department is heavily grounded in Chompsky’s Genartitive/Transformational grammar…….whihch in my opinion, and that of serious Linguistics scholars is the soundest approach in language acquitistion. It’s the real thing, about how the mind funtions in the use and aquisition of language.     However:  You might be happier working in accounting or business on the international circut.  My father did this for years with one of the US’s largest and most respected civil engineering firms.  That way, you work in your field and live over seas.  The life style can’t be beat if you are more interested in using your language and absorbing the culture.     A job with a US firm will give you an oportunity to mix with a fascinating ex-pat’s from the US, Britian and many other countries, as well as the locals. Remember that many countries outside of Europe don’t have an extreemly large middle class.  A  professional job with a large American based multi-national will render you an opportunity to meet just about any one you would want to meet in your target country.  The live style is magnificent if you are paid in US funds and live on the local economy.     I would not recommenmend moving overseas without a job.  Working in the local economy will probably blow your mind.  As for getting hire in country by a multinational will give you less of a chance at tenure and growth, long term, and salaries for in county hires can be as low as 1/4 the salaries of of career persons with the firm.     Another excellent route is working for the US Feds.  After a relatively short time in the US you can get overseas postings, mainly because many Federal employees are not really interested in them. Call up the feds–there is a generic exam you can take, and they have excelent possitions in acounting and budget analyst positions.  Again, being hired in the US to work for an organization overseas has much better benifits and salary than an in country hire.      There are also a number of UN Agencies that work overseas.  This can be very attrative and will look good on your resume and give you cocktail party conversation for the rest of your life.      Good luck with your search.  It will be much, much easier than you think. I’d apply to a big firm like Arthur Anderson, or as an accountant with a large mutinational in any field that interests you.      It can be a realy, fantastic live style! Artemesia

Response:

I’ve been debating on something for a long time. I just graduated from school and got this job as an accountante. Currently work is ok. I like my job but it is not in the field that I would love to get into. I know what I want to do and have a plan of how to get there but I just am unsure to when. I’d love to work as a linguist in a foreign country. College helped me learn what i want to do for the rest of my life. I chose business because i knew i could get a job after i graduate. Since I went to a small university we didnt have a linguist major. So i just took Russian language as a minor. My situation is quite odd because i am so undecisive on somethings. Id like to learn more foreign lanugages, maybe become a linguist. I’d also like to go back to my Masters Degree but am not sure in what field. I want to live in a foreign country but dont want to get paid in their local currency. For a time i was thinking about going to college overseas. By doing that it would be a great advantage in what i want to do. i mean if you are a US corporation in, let’s say, Vietnam. Two Americans come to you for a job. One has lived there, have an education from a Vietnamese University, and speak the language. The other speaks the language and have a degree from a US institution. Which one would you hire. I’d love to get my degree overseas but i have obligations here that i have to take care of (Debt, credit cards, student loans). Gosh i wish i could just get away and do what i want. However i have my responsibilities and can’t abandon them. I sent lots of resumes overseas, but since i just came out of college it is quite a problem. Many corporations dont hire entry-level overseas. What do you think i should do? If you do respond respond to my email address and the newsgroup. I dont get all newsgroup emails so if you respond to me and newsgroup it would be a great chance that I could get the message.

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Accounting Talk » Accounting » I'm stumped too!

I'm stumped too!

Question:

When I shaded in some cells in Excel, I lost my gridlines, even though the gridline option was still checked. Does anybody know a way around this?

Response:

Do you mean on-screen, or printed?  All gridlines, or just those in the shaded cells?  Is this an accounting question?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I shaded in some cells in Excel, I lost my gridlines, even though the gridline option was still checked. Does anybody know a way around this?

Response:

Do you mean on-screen, or printed?  All gridlines, or just those in the shaded cells?  Is this an accounting question? When I shaded in some cells in Excel, I lost my gridlines, even though the gridline option was still checked. Does anybody know a way around this?

format the shadded cells with a border. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

Thanks.  That worked.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Do you mean on-screen, or printed?  All gridlines, or just those in the shaded cells?  Is this an accounting question? When I shaded in some cells in Excel, I lost my gridlines, even though the gridline option was still checked. Does anybody know a way around this? format the shadded cells with a border.

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Category: Accounting
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Accounting Talk » Accounting Software » QB Condensing

QB Condensing

Question:

Unless the next version of QB is almost out the door and includes many improvments, it appears that it is time to start looking for a better mouse trap. – There must be better software available. What we need is an open source accounting system – something like ‘Linux books’. BTW the news group biz.comp.accounting seems to be ‘Moderated’ by Intuit – they did not post my submission with questions about condensing transactions containing Inventory items – perhaps they don’t want anyone to know?

NUTS! I moderate biz.comp.accounting and have been an extremely outspoken Intuit critic. http://blocktax.com/ News February 16, 2000 shows that our biz.comp.accounting users were the main reason Intuit dropped a $40 million payroll tax table increase. Also click on the CNET story and our Accounting Today story. biz.comp.accounting and blocktax.com are the first places you will VERY SOON see an inexpensive program to stop QB payroll tax tables from expiring. This will make Intuit very unhappy, but I am on record in strongly criticizing Intuit’s monopoly pricing of public domain tax tables. Note: the add-on company also has inexpensive QB menu and password skip programs. The latter will show why QB passwords are a joke compared to the real security of http://netledger.com/ I am a QB Certified Professional Advisor & NetLedger Certified Consultant (referral code 10260 for free consulting). Blocktax has nearly 100 QB Add-on and companion programs. No one else has more than four. On the other hand, blocktax should have a direct link to NetLedger tomorrow. In my opinion, and the recent opinion of PC Magazine, Netledger is a Better QuickBooks. http://zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/reviews/0,6755,2621851,00.html Still think biz.comp.accounting is moderated by Intuit? Our moderating may delay posts a few hours, but we usually only kill spam and excessive ads. I may delete profanity, but not   posts containing it. I even take time to clean up Mime & V cards, while asking posters to drop them next time. On the other hand, the almost always spam HTML code gets discarded without notice. Unlike most newsgroups, if you have news reader problems you can still read and post to biz.comp accounting by going to http://www.bizynet.com/faq-news.htm. Look for biz.comp accounting and hit the GO on the right. Alternatively, go to: http://bizynet.com/BIZyNews/dnewsweb.exe?cmd=xover&group=biz.comp.acc… helps those who do not know how to turn off Mime in newsgroups or choose not to do so. So read the FAQs. As the man used to say, "Just the FAQs, mam."   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.  World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester FREE NetLedger consult refer #10260   FREE 462p QB book/error codes/ 80 QB add-ons http://blocktax.com/

Response:

Mike Block, who is definitely NOT an Intuit apologist, is one of the moderators of Biz.comp.accounting – Intuit has nothing to do with moderating it – I have noticed other complaints about moderating – and several of my posts appear to have disappeared also.  It’ll be interesting to see if this makes it.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I understand replacing many transactions with a summary – there is no reason that a file structure that can support condensing Inventory could not be built – Please note they have changed the file structure several times – why not fix it at the same time? Are they emulating M$’ attemepts to propriatorize everything as Todd asserts? Or have they lost their key programmer, and now just don’t have the competence? How hard would it be to write some code to allow finding a customer by phone number or ‘Company name’ (as opposed to ‘company name’)? After the poorly done addition of multiuser support, and the lack of any improvment on the GUI level to support standard key strokes, I can only come to the conclusion that they have lost key programming talent. I doubt they will have anything much to add in the next version (lets call it Quick Bucks 2001 where you pay per transaction entered <grin). I found some references to large file problems in earler posts – there is danger if your file size grows larger than 60 Megs from what I have read. But really, there is no reason for my files to be 1 meg let alone the 23 megs they are at now. I read some where that QB is built on M$ Visual BASIC – which would explain the poor preformance and silly file sizes. Unless the next version of QB is almost out the door and includes many improvments, it appears that it is time to start looking for a better mouse trap. – There must be better software available. What we need is an open source accounting system – something like ‘Linux books’. BTW the news group biz.comp.accounting seems to be ‘Moderated’ by Intuit – they did not post my submission with questions about condensing transactions containing Inventory items – perhaps they don’t want anyone to know?

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Accounting Talk » Accounting Software » combined Invoices and statements

combined Invoices and statements

Question:

We are a small but growing web hosting company that is looking for a software package that will produce combined Invoices and statements for reoccurring monthly billings. We are looking for something that will produce an invoice that show current months billing in detail and then summarizes the previous invoice showing if paid. Also if there are multiple prior invoices still open these should show up as well. Quick books pro sort of works except it won’t automatically generate bills each month…you have to manually generate each invoice…a pain for 300+ invoices! (unless of course we have missed something). Any suggestions… Neil

QB cannot include prior balances on an invoice. If this did not only appears on statements we would use QB for client billing. However, QB is very good for recurring bills, which you can easily memorize in groups.   Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.              World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

Response:

I’m also very interested in an accounting program that will show detail of each invoice on a statement – like I get from the credit card companies – so that I can invoice customers for misc services during the quarter, then at the end of the quarter send a statement with a closing date and a line with detail for each envoice during the previous period.  Also, memorized transactions are important.  Any help would be greatly appreciated! VH – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -We are a small but growing web hosting company that is looking for a software package that will produce combined Invoices and statements for reoccurring monthly billings. We are looking for something that will produce an invoice that show current months billing in detail and then summarizes the previous invoice showing if paid. Also if there are multiple prior invoices still open these should show up as well. Quick books pro sort of works except it won’t automatically generate bills each month…you have to manually generate each invoice…a pain for 300+ invoices! (unless of course we have missed something). Any suggestions… Neil QB cannot include prior balances on an invoice. If this did not only appears on statements we would use QB for client billing. However, QB is very good for recurring bills, which you can easily memorize in groups.  Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.             World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/      Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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Accounting Talk » Accountants » CPA's recommending software (wasRe: Accpac for Windows?)

CPA's recommending software (wasRe: Accpac for Windows?)

Question:

Learn the software that small business people in your area are buying.  The days when accountants could tell clients what software to buy have passed (if they ever existed).

Probably 8 out of ten were probably selling product, with 50% of the remainder talking clients into using what they themselves use for ease of convenience. Perhaps it lessened a bit with the dominance of PT, QB et al but I’ll bet most recommend what they like using — rather than analyzing clients needs. We see it here all the time by some Of course, I’m one of those exceptions :-)

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Learn the software that small business people in your area are buying.  The days when accountants could tell clients what software to buy have passed (if they ever existed). Probably 8 out of ten were probably selling product, with 50% of the remainder talking clients into using what they themselves use for ease of convenience. Perhaps it lessened a bit with the dominance of PT, QB et al but I’ll bet most recommend what they like using — rather than analyzing clients needs. We see it here all the time by some Of course, I’m one of those exceptions :-)

Nice post. Of course, none of us really do this.  :-)  :-)      Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.                 World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester QB book/add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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Accounting Talk » Accountants » CPA Members listing

CPA Members listing

Question:

I am based in the UK and would like to verify (discreetly) whether a potential business contact of mine is actually a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants  as they claim. I have tried emailing the Institute (via their website)  without success and wondered if anyone out there could provide the specific phone , fax or email details of the Registry, or details of how I might otherwise  access  a members listing. Many thanks Bill

Response:

I would recommend calling the state Board of Accountancy of the state the CPA practices in. They should be able to tell you over the phone if the person is licensed. If you’re licensed, membership in the AICPA only requires cash, unless "you" are a firm that is required to undergo peer review of your practice. Then the requirements are more strict, I believe.

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Accounting Talk » Business Accounting » future accountant

future accountant

Question:

Hi. I am currently attending an accredited business college in my home town.  Once I graduate, I plan on continuing my schooling to receive my bachelors in accounting.  My question is… Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get my chosen career started? Any tricks of the trade for a beginner?

Julie

Amor Vincit Omnia

~ Love Conquers All

Response:

|Hi Julie Butler (Imzadi): |ps #1:  Your HTML used on your e-mail is very beautiful.  Keep up the |good work. |Best regards, | |Al Gershen, Grants Pass, OR, USA Perhaps, the HTML is why I didn’t see the post.  My ISP and many others are filtering out html from USENET, an ascii medium.  The fact that Microsoft and Netscape built it into their browsers does not make it an acceptable medium in USENET.  The web IS a HTML medium but not USENET. FWIW, J. Ime  (Reverse domain *&* suffix letters to respond by e-mail)

I got the HTML, it was a provocative art photo of "Julie", not something you would expect from an accountant!

Response:

Hi Julie Butler (Imzadi): I believe that the basic decision you should try to make as early as possible is whether you want your career in public accounting or private accounting. My suggestion is to start in public accounting and later on, you can switch to private accounting if you desire. While you are going to school, you should be working part-time for a CPA firm so that you can gain hands-on experience in public accounting. After graduating from school, you can take the CPA exam (some people take the exam while in school).  Some of the experience that you have while working part-time might qualify toward the experience requirement for the CPA certificate. After becoming a CPA, the real test begins.  I would suspect that the majority of CPA’s end up out of public accounting. The important thing is that with your public accounting experience and your CPA licence, a lot of doors will open to you should you decide to enter private accounting or even leave the accounting profession. I hope that I have been able to help you with your planning. ps #1:  Your HTML used on your e-mail is very beautiful.  Keep up the good work. ps#2:  Don’t you just love WEBTV? Best regards, Al Gershen, Grants Pass, OR, USA Have a good day (or night) on the web. Also, WEBTV "really" works great!

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Accounting Talk » Accounting » ACCPAC 6.0 for Dos

ACCPAC 6.0 for Dos

Question:

I’ve installed ACCPAC 6.0 for Dos on a new computer. I’m trying to add my accounting files but don’t know which directory to place them in.  Please help.

Response:

Accpac will usually create it’s own files the first time you go into a module and it’s default path is aspdata but you can put your data files anywhere you like as long as you change the Start List option to point at them regards Doug – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve installed ACCPAC 6.0 for Dos on a new computer. I’m trying to add my accounting files but don’t know which directory to place them in.  Please help.

Response:

I assume you are talking about the data files.  If so, you can place them anywhere.  After that, add an item on your Accpac start-up menu pointing to the file location.  If everything else was setup correctly, it should work. Good luck! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve installed ACCPAC 6.0 for Dos on a new computer. I’m trying to add my accounting files but don’t know which directory to place them in.  Please help.

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