Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae…. src=ph Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. Omigosh!!! Hazardous levels of cuteness! The little ears! The fuzzy little tails! The little faces! Squeal, thud! <melt Theresa,  I can’t seem to locate any bitty pictures of Pan, in answer to the question you posed on the Adoption Day thread. However, if you look at the pictures of Bear that Annie has just posted, you’ll get a pretty clear idea of what Pan looked like as a bitty baby.  Interestingly enough, Pan’s original name at the shelter WAS Bear. <G

Squeeeeeeeeelie squeals!!!!! Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Response:

They are so cute that I can hardly stand it!  I particularly like tuxie! Susan M Otis and Chester Middle-aged cats – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now.

LOL! Tuxie’s a real ham, isn’t he. Such cute little bitties. — Marina, Frank and Miranda. In loving memory of Nikki. marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

EEEk!  Thud… awwwww, they’re adorable, esp. Marley! Kristy

Response:

<snip My DH is threatening to leave if I keep all the kittens.

Will you miss him? — Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. EEEk!  Thud… awwwww, they’re adorable, esp. Marley! Kristy

I lurve my little Marley.  He used to be Squeaker…  You know until I realized that he was wearing "fingerless" gloves, like old timey accountants.  Decided that I couldn’t call him Scrooge, since he was too sweet, but I always thought that Jacob Marley was a "nice" man. Smokie Darling (Annie)

Response:

<snip My DH is threatening to leave if I keep all the kittens. Will you miss him? — Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat.

Ya know…  hadn’t even occurred to me…  Gonna have to think about that…. Smokie Darling (Annie)

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. LOL! Tuxie’s a real ham, isn’t he. Such cute little bitties.

Yep, Tuxie loves any form of attention.  He is also incredibly ornery. He likes to go all "Halloween kitty" (back arched up high) and jump sideways…  Never seem to have the camera at those times, darnnit. — Marina, Frank and Miranda. In loving memory of Nikki. marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. EEEk!  Thud… awwwww, they’re adorable, esp. Marley! Kristy I lurve my little Marley.  He used to be Squeaker…  You know until I realized that he was wearing "fingerless" gloves, like old timey accountants.  Decided that I couldn’t call him Scrooge, since he was too sweet, but I always thought that Jacob Marley was a "nice" man. Smokie Darling (Annie)

I thought you named him after Bob! Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. EEEk!  Thud… awwwww, they’re adorable, esp. Marley! Kristy I lurve my little Marley.  He used to be Squeaker…  You know until I realized that he was wearing "fingerless" gloves, like old timey accountants.  Decided that I couldn’t call him Scrooge, since he was too sweet, but I always thought that Jacob Marley was a "nice" man. Smokie Darling (Annie) I thought you named him after Bob! Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Ah, but then how would I explain coming to name?  Like I need an excuse for any names…  Besides, if I ever get a "full on" facial shot of Marley, you’ll see how freakin’ cross-eyed he is, couldn’t name him after Bob being *that* cross-eyed. Smokie Darling (Annie)

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. EEEk!  Thud… awwwww, they’re adorable, esp. Marley! Kristy

Yep, they are *all* beautiful but Marley is the one for me too!  Thankfully, he’s in the USA, and I’m not.  Whew.. Tweed

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

Oh- eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!  Precious fuzzybits!!! Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae…. src=ph Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

Omigosh!!! Hazardous levels of cuteness! The little ears! The fuzzy little tails! The little faces! Squeal, thud! <melt Theresa,  I can’t seem to locate any bitty pictures of Pan, in answer to the question you posed on the Adoption Day thread. However, if you look at the pictures of Bear that Annie has just posted, you’ll get a pretty clear idea of what Pan looked like as a bitty baby.  Interestingly enough, Pan’s original name at the shelter WAS Bear. <G Annie, how will you ever be able to bear parting with any of these little ones? =o) Melissa

Response:

Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae… Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday.

They are so cute. — Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi everyone, I’ve been busy chasing little furballs around, well, they run and I limp after them (ha)…  I’ve got new piccies from 18 May and then 7 June if you want to see how different they all look now. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/barnabus1993/detail?.dir=/b0d5&.dnm=eae…. src=ph Or http://snipurl.com/ff8a Smokie Darling (Annie) – the bitties will be 7 weeks this Friday. Omigosh!!! Hazardous levels of cuteness! The little ears! The fuzzy little tails! The little faces! Squeal, thud! <melt

What she said!!!! — The ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)

Question:

Hi,         We are currently setting up our guidelines for accounting and before going down the wrong road with this does anyone know if there is a rule or logic that one should follow when a business is setting up a customer number?         I have seen customer numbers use all sorts of logic but was wondering if there is a guideline to use when creating one. Thanks all! Chig

Response:

    We are currently setting up our guidelines for accounting and before going down the wrong road with this does anyone know if there is a rule or logic that one should follow when a business is setting up a customer number?

No guidelines or general rules except that it has to be something that works for your business. If you have to look up the customer by name, then it has to be one that is very flexible so you can add new customers between existing ones (to keep them alphabetical I suppose). In any event, you have to have a system in place to be able to look up the customer by other methods, name, phone number, etc. — Paul A. Thomas, CPA Athens, Georgia taxman at negia.net

Response:

Hi Chig In larger businesses, the account numbers assigned to customers have very definite patterns.  Before changing to SSN numbers, the drivers licenses of our state were calculated using both the Name of the individual AND their birthday separated by a rotational number, but all were exactly the same length the way the formula worked.  The last four digit sequence not only gave in mathematical code the birthdate, but also whether they were male or female. I myself loathe being a number, so for most of my customers, I use no numerical designation.  But in some cases, (namely for privacy) it does become a necessity to use an account number. Is your business one that can eventually expand to more offices, different states or possibly even different countries?  Wherein you are looking at tracking customers on a global scale. Or is it down home and only needs to track a few hundred or few thousand customers? Many account numbers contain the Year, or month and year the individual or company became a client, and often in what region or state they became a customer in.  In some cases, the account number also shows which ’salesperson’ or ’sales office’ initiated the account.  Sometimes even the day of the week and which week of the month is included in the coding system. It really depends upon your needs and if you want the account numbers to have some meaningful significance to you.  Many loan companies have a key number in their account numbers that shows how many times you have borrowed from their company, and you get what appears to be a different account number with each new loan. Some companies go way overboard with their numbering systems, having an account number for the client, a sub-account number for each order, which also has it’s separate order number, an invoice number and a statement number, all different. Just one point that many companies follow.  They do NOT normally assign account numbers sequentually.  Especially credit card companies or companies who give credit in the course of their business!  And this applies to other numbers also, such as tracking numbers, to prevent fraud. If you have ever shipped multiple packages through UPS, you will note that even if they all go to the same address, each parcel number (the last four digits) are NOT sequential.  Well, they are sequential, but with a large gap between the numbers themselves.  You know what I mean!  It helps prevent false missing package claims. You should ask yourself if it is even necessary or even beneficial to use account numbers in the first place.  If it is beneficial, what information should be contained in those numbers, besides the obvious customer number? TTUL Gary

Response:

Hi,     We are currently setting up our guidelines for accounting and before going down the wrong road with this does anyone know if there is a rule or logic that one should follow when a business is setting up a customer number?     I have seen customer numbers use all sorts of logic but was wondering if there is a guideline to use when creating one. Thanks all! Chig

Customers can adequately be identified with a simple sequential numbering. Technology allows you to search your files for a customer by his/her/their name, geographical location, year the account was opened, department if separate from others, etc.  Why wrestle with coming up with a scheme that isn’t going to work in every situation no matter what?  Let your computer do the work. Robert Crouser AdenaPro Solutions

Response:

My thoughts are this: I want the customer to one day soon be able to go onto the website and type in a so called number identifying them and to pull up information about their account. My concern is that I may have a large coporation with 2 divisions underneath so I don’t want to just have "Larg Corporation" but have it to where they are assigned some sort of code. Prospects are for just a few hundred to a thousand customers. The reason for all of this is because of QuickBooks Pro and the Job Listing. In the view, it only shows you the Name and not the company. If I assign it a customer number that’s all I get to see and that can become irratating if I don’t know the company (Keeping track of what customer number is who is not my ideal way). Thanks Gary! Chig

Response:

Hi,     We are currently setting up our guidelines for accounting and before going down the wrong road with this does anyone know if there is a rule or logic that one should follow when a business is setting up a customer number?     I have seen customer numbers use all sorts of logic but was wondering if there is a guideline to use when creating one. Thanks all! Chig

Most of our clients use the following methodology. The premise being: Businesses actively pursue Prospects; some Prospects will become Customers; some Prospects will say "I’ll deal with you, if you deal with me"; hence, the Customer may also be a Suppliers/Vendor; for that matter even Staff members may be Customers. With this in mind they set up a "Names" table containing all possible/required information (e.g. contact information, contact person(s) based upon area of responsibility, status flags such as Prospect, Customer, Supplier, Staff etc., etc.), there being virtually no limit to the number of fields that can be maintained in the table. Each "Name" is assigned a Names ID (usually system determined sequentially; since not every "Name" will be a Customer, the Customer Number "appears to be random"*). In our jargon the Names table is a global table as it will be linked to all other global or subledger tables where the Names are being utilized e.g. Customer – (Accounts Receivable Subledger(s)), Suppliers/Vendors – Accounts Payable Subledger(s), CRM system, or whatever. With respect to Prospects, the Names table will be used by the marketing people. *There is usually no good reason that the account number should not be used for any other information purposes, there are better ways of doing that. Also, if you have a small accounting department where one person may handle both AR and AP, some people find it beneficial to have the same Names ID for the same company, the differentiating factor being the General Ledger Account Number. Under this concept, you will have a single repository of Names and any change of address needs to be recorded only once and will automatically become visible in all linked tables. Wolfgang Rochow, CGA wolfgangATgestaltDOTcom www.gestalt.com

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thoughts are this: I want the customer to one day soon be able to go onto the website and type in a so called number identifying them and to pull up information about their account. My concern is that I may have a large coporation with 2 divisions underneath so I don’t want to just have "Larg Corporation" but have it to where they are assigned some sort of code. Prospects are for just a few hundred to a thousand customers. The reason for all of this is because of QuickBooks Pro and the Job Listing. In the view, it only shows you the Name and not the company. If I assign it a customer number that’s all I get to see and that can become irratating if I don’t know the company (Keeping track of what customer number is who is not my ideal way). Thanks Gary! Chig

Obviously, you will have to work within the limitations of your software. Since I am not familiar with QuickBooks Pro, this response is generic. I still favor the idea that a Customer is a Customer of a Corporation, large or small, rather than having multiple customer accounts for the same entity dispersed over Divisions. This also simplifies Credit Management. Web reporting/interrogation is another matter and again software dependent. My recommendation would be … Wolfgang Rochow, CGA wolfgangATgestaltDOTcom www.gestalt.com

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My thoughts are this: I want the customer to one day soon be able to go onto the website and  type in a so called number identifying them and to pull up information about their account. My concern is that I may have a large coporation with 2 divisions underneath so I don’t want to just have "Larg Corporation" but have it to where they are assigned some sort of code. I still favor the idea that a Customer is a Customer of a Corporation, large or small, rather than having multiple customer accounts for the same entity dispersed over Divisions. This also simplifies Credit Management.

I worked for a multi-national brokerage corporation, where customers were given multiple account numbers based on which type of account they had. The woman who managed to coordinate the software design that brought all those accounts together on one monthly statement was generally hailed as a genius. The numbering system evolved into something 9 digit complex, but it basically looked something like: 1’s – Equities 2′2 – Margins 3’s – Employee & Family 4’s – Managed 5’s – IRA’s 6’s – Managed Subsidiary 7’s – Trusts 8’s – Fee based Also, if you pulled up the screen, you would see the branch and rep associated with the account. So, if I saw OH32Y 3374 424123364 I knew that the account was in Ohio, in the office of 32Y, handled by rep 3374, Also, could you have them log in under a "User ID" and then let them see the account(s) associated with that ID?  When logging into the internet, I think most users prefer to assign their own access criteria. I personally hate it when I have to try to remember a name or number that somebody else gave me.

Response:

I think most users prefer to assign their own access criteria. I personally hate it when I have to try to remember a name or number that somebody else gave me.

The biggest potential downfall of the internet as a business tool is the log-in / password fiasco.  Almost every website that requires this seems to have differing criteria, alpha only, alpha/numeric, numeric only, case sensitive, and oh-by-the-way, that user name is taken, try "Paul1239868976218" as that seems to be free.  Then, that password is not long enough, to long, needs to be preceded/followed/contain at least one/two/three alpha characters, needs to be preceded/followed/contain at least one/two/three numeric characters.  By-the-way, that password has been taken, try "3S548k9652dK879.32" as that seems to be free. I have a 327 page notebook with all the usernames and passwords that I need to obtain my bank accounts, insurance policies, brokerage accounts, and my personal favorite, the "free" sites that require registration. The real killer is that if you don’t use/access that account every 30 days, it becomes inactive, and you have to re-register and…….see above. *Although there are some exaggerations in the above post, most of it is true. — Paul A. Thomas, CPA Athens, Georgia taxman at negia.net

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I think most users prefer to assign their own access criteria. I personally hate it when I have to try to remember a name or number that somebody else gave me. The biggest potential downfall of the internet as a business tool is the log-in / password fiasco.  Almost every website that requires this seems to have differing criteria, alpha only, alpha/numeric, numeric only, case sensitive, and oh-by-the-way, that user name is taken, try "Paul1239868976218" as that seems to be free.  Then, that password is not long enough, to long, needs to be preceded/followed/contain at least one/two/three alpha characters, needs to be preceded/followed/contain at least one/two/three numeric characters.  By-the-way, that password has been taken, try "3S548k9652dK879.32" as that seems to be free. I have a 327 page notebook with all the usernames and passwords that I need to obtain my bank accounts, insurance policies, brokerage accounts, and my personal favorite, the "free" sites that require registration. The real killer is that if you don’t use/access that account every 30 days, it becomes inactive, and you have to re-register and…….see above. *Although there are some exaggerations in the above post, most of it is true.

yes, I’ll agree —   there are password managers where you can store many passwords and recall them with one password but I still use a hidden cheat sheet

Response:

Hi Chig The leading first couple of numbers could designate the company, sub-company or division.  This would allow for 99 company names or divisions. The next four numbers could be a code to determine the first four letters of their last name.  There are many ways to come up with a code where all 26 letters and a space can be denoted with the numbers 1 to 9 and not even use a zero at all. I would suggest that you do not use sequential numbering, but insure gaps between customer numbers.  This helps catch typo’s and prevents people from guessing at customer numbers to place fraudulent orders. If you want to see customer number in place of names on your screen, and know what company or division.  It only makes sense to start with the company as a numeric code.  If you don’t expect more than 9 divisions within the company, simply use 1 through 9 as the leading number, avoid using zero if you can. As I mentioned once before, part of our customer account numbers are generated by the date they became a customer, but the twin date numbers are separated by a single number that represents country and state or territory sales regions. In our case 1 represents USA, 2 Canada, 3 UK and Ireland, 4 Germany and most of Europe, 5 Spain, 6 France including Italy, 7 East Asia, including Japan & Korea, 8 Africa, primarily South Africa and 9 Australia including New Zealand. So a new customer lets say from Denver Colorado who ordered their first order today would be assigned. (USA is 1, Colorado is region 4 within USA 1 and Denver is warehouse 6 within region 4.) 104403617  You can see the 04 03 & 17 which represents the year, month and day.  Also the 1 for USA, the 4 for Colorado and the 6 for Denver. Our customers are commercial wholesalers, so it is very unlikely we will pick up two wholesalers within the same warehouse district on a single day.  But we have made provisions for that also, by changing the DAY from 17 to 47 or up to 97 which allows for the instance of 2 more wholesalers to be added on that same day.  Highly unlikely! Why only 2?  Because if the date was the 27th then 57 would be used for the second customer, so 57 cannot be used to represent the 3rd customer on the 17th. We have a similar system in a different business to track individual customers, such as retail customers.  Country codes are not used either.  We do however use 2 number distributor codes.  For the example, lets assume distributor number 27 brings in 4 new clients today.  The clients would have the following account numbers; 41032177, 42032177, 43032177, 44032177.  This is in a business where it is normally impossible for a distributor to attain more than 5 new clients per day.  And the date they became a client is important to us.  If they reach the 10 year mark as an ongoing client, their number 4 would be changed to the letter D.  Considering the nature of the business, if someone remains a client for 10 years, there is something drastically wrong with what are doing for them.  The account normally closes automatically when the contract is fulfilled. In other businesses, where the date they became a customer is not important, we just use their telephone number as their account number, the area code gives us the region they are in.   For those with no phone or who want to remain unlisted, we just use their postal zip+4 code, we can tell which is which by the number of digits in the account number. There are so many possible ways of coming up with account numbers, it almost boggles the mind! TTUL Gary

Response:

Question:

I will appreciate if someone could tell me were to find an accounting chart of accounts for an airline. I know that airlines due to the nature of their business, have specific requirements regarding its accounting procedures. I need this information for a future job in the accounting department of a regional airline and will like to have an idea before starting. Thanks in advance for your help Livianin

Response:

I need this information for a future job in the accounting department of a regional airline and will like to have an idea before starting.

Except for federal regulations (if any apply), the chart of accounts at Delta would be a tad different than the chart of accounts at Air Jamaica. Why don’t you just let the future employer train you the way they want you trained. — Paul A. Thomas, CPA, PC Athens, Georgia

Response:

I know that your suggestion is the right thing to do. I just wanted to have an idea of what they were going to be talking about and not be totally lost.

Response:

Question:

June 23, 2003 A Challenge in India Snarls Foreign Adoptions By RAYMOND BONNER HYDERABAD, India, June 16

Question:

The Accounting Cycle: Wash, Rinse and Spin Klayman’s Suit Against Halliburton By: J. Edward Ketz July 2002 — Recently Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch filed suit against Halliburton and its managers, its auditors, and some of its directors on behalf of three of Halliburton’s shareholders. I found the complaint fascinating to read and encourage readers to go to www.judicialwatch.org and download the file. While Halliburton has several questions to answer more plainly than it has to date, I find most of Klayman’s charges premature. That’s never stopped him before, so we shouldn’t be surprised now. <snip The heart of the matter pivots around the issue of revenue recognition. Klayman correctly cites Statement of Position 81-1, which deals with disputed claims. According to SOP 81-1, "Recognition of amounts of additional contract revenue relating to claims is appropriate only it is probable that the claim will result in additional contract revenue and if the amount can be reliably estimated." Klayman contends that Halliburton’s managers, directors, and auditor committed fraud "because such revenues were not probable and could not be reliably estimated." I think Klayman’s assertions are merely and only assertions at this point in time, although they form the basis for further exploration. Halliburton needs to explain how it estimates the probable disputed claims, which includes how it differentiates the probable from the improbable claims, and it should clarify how it measures the amounts and substantiate that this measurement scheme is reliable. If Halliburton can defend the disputed amounts as probable in collection and reliably estimated, then Klayman’s case fizzles away; otherwise, the walls will cave in for Dick Cheney and the other defendants in this theater. <snip http://accounting.smartpros.com/x34715.xml — Jim Hudspeth, CFE, CPA   http://survivalworks.com

Response:

I think Klayman’s assertions are merely and only assertions at this point in time, although they form the basis for further exploration. Halliburton needs to explain how it estimates the probable disputed claims, which includes how it differentiates the probable from the improbable claims, and it should clarify how it measures the amounts and substantiate that this measurement scheme is reliable. If Halliburton can defend the disputed amounts as probable in collection and reliably estimated, then Klayman’s case fizzles away; otherwise, the walls will cave in for Dick Cheney and the other defendants in this theater.

I would have to agree that the suit seems premature.  I don’t see how you can file suit over something that *might* have happened. — Todd Stephens

Response:

I would have to agree that the suit seems premature.  I don’t see how you can file suit over something that *might* have happened.

Happens all the time. The plaintiff (Klayman’s client in this case) alleges that XX happened, and files suit.  This is followed by "discovery", where the plaintiff’s lawyers attempt to collect enough evidence to prove that XX happened. — Jim Hudspeth, CFE, CPA   http://survivalworks.com

Response:

Happens all the time. The plaintiff (Klayman’s client in this case) alleges that XX happened, and files suit.  This is followed by "discovery", where the plaintiff’s lawyers attempt to collect enough evidence to prove that XX happened.

Yes, that makes sense.  It also helps explain why our courts are so clogged-up. — Todd Stephens

Response:

Question:

gardening is a disease. "Backwage" <backw…@aol.com> wrote in message

news:20020409114651.01928.00002489@mb-df.aol.com… >    I grow a lot of heirlooms, roses, tomatoes and wildflowers.  Mack

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Response:

Backwage wrote: >    If you didn’t think I was crazy, know that I must spend a thousand bucks a > year on manure.  The cows may as well be eating my wallet.  And all for a few > (well, maybe 130) roses.  And wildflowers and tomatoes and asparagus and > apples. . . write and I’ll send a picture. >    Mack

Have you ever tried growing heirloom veggies – the old varieties you can’t get in the shops anymore? At one time I had a shared veggie garden with my neighbours and we grew about 15 different flavours of basil (ginger basil, licorice basil, lemon basil etc), and 25 different types of heirloom tomatoes including green, yellow, pink, purple and striped ones.

Response:

   I grow a lot of heirlooms, roses, tomatoes and wildflowers.  Mack

Response:

On Mon, 08 Apr 2002 19:40:22 GMT, bjpar…@sympatico.ca (William – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Parker) wrote: >Jet Nebula <thi…@spamfreezone.com> wrote in >news:can3bu4hk77t4vce2a4an0be3veotqnjo5@4ax.com: >> On Mon, 08 Apr 2002 03:31:21 GMT, bjpar…@sympatico.ca (William >> Parker) wrote: >>>Cubic 1.5 foot, assuming it actually is cubic, is 1.5*1.5*1.5 cubic >>>feet so 3.375, so the price is about what you’d expect. >> Huh!  Last time I checked, 1.5 cubic feet was 1.5 cubic feet.  Little >> did I know 1.5 cubic feet is actually 3.375 cubic feet!  I wonder if >> 3.375 cubic feet is really 38.44 cubic feet, and if 38.44 cubic feet >> is really 56815 cubic feet?  Wait a minute!  I can see a pattern here! >> As 1.5 cubic feet approaches, umm…, 1.5 cubic feet, it actually >> approaches infinity!  So Backwage actually got off with an infinite >> supply of manure for just $58!  Hot DAMN! >Word placement, guy!  I said "Cubic 1.5 foot", not "1.5 cubic feet".  You >knew what I meant anyway:)  (Or at least you seem analytical enough on the >surface.)

Yeah, I knew what you meant.  But you know, I have to use this calculus knowledge for SOMETHING!  :)

Response:

Backwage wrote: >    If you didn’t think I was crazy, know that I must spend a thousand bucks a > year on manure.  The cows may as well be eating my wallet.  And all for a few > (well, maybe 130) roses.  And wildflowers and tomatoes and asparagus and > apples. . . write and I’ll send a picture. >    Mack

When I had a garden a few years back, I spent all my spare cash on it before I furnished my apartment. I remember somebody at work being completely dumbfounded by my buying a load of compost for the veggie garden before I had a shower curtain for the bathroom. Some people just don’t understand what’s really important…..

Response:

backw…@aol.com (Backwage) wrote in message <news:20020408085131.00775.00002813@mb-bg.aol.com>… > If you didn’t think I was crazy, know that I must spend a thousand bucks a > year on manure.  The cows may as well be eating my wallet.

Eww. It’s not leather, is it? Cause that would be….. eww.  And all for a few > (well, maybe 130) roses.  And wildflowers and tomatoes and asparagus and > apples. . . write and I’ll send a picture.

Asparagus is my current favorite. And look! From my local paper… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51331-2002Apr2.html Asparagus recipes! Yum. lm

Response:

Jet Nebula <thi…@spamfreezone.com> wrote in news:can3bu4hk77t4vce2a4an0be3veotqnjo5@4ax.com: > On Mon, 08 Apr 2002 03:31:21 GMT, bjpar…@sympatico.ca (William > Parker) wrote: >>Cubic 1.5 foot, assuming it actually is cubic, is 1.5*1.5*1.5 cubic >>feet so 3.375, so the price is about what you’d expect. > Huh!  Last time I checked, 1.5 cubic feet was 1.5 cubic feet.  Little > did I know 1.5 cubic feet is actually 3.375 cubic feet!  I wonder if > 3.375 cubic feet is really 38.44 cubic feet, and if 38.44 cubic feet > is really 56815 cubic feet?  Wait a minute!  I can see a pattern here! > As 1.5 cubic feet approaches, umm…, 1.5 cubic feet, it actually > approaches infinity!  So Backwage actually got off with an infinite > supply of manure for just $58!  Hot DAMN!

Word placement, guy!  I said "Cubic 1.5 foot", not "1.5 cubic feet".  You knew what I meant anyway:)  (Or at least you seem analytical enough on the surface.)

Response:

   If you didn’t think I was crazy, know that I must spend a thousand bucks a year on manure.  The cows may as well be eating my wallet.  And all for a few (well, maybe 130) roses.  And wildflowers and tomatoes and asparagus and apples. . . write and I’ll send a picture.    Mack

Response:

On Sun, 07 Apr 2002 23:45:24 -0400, san <sokker…@mail.com> wrote: >Backwage wrote: >>      Today I went to a couple of places to pick up some necessities.  First, to >> the Home Depot for some manure. >Geez I hope you are talking about fertilizer

It took his wife 20 years to get him to say "manure". (Old joke;-) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->s >"Last night >                        How to find my soul a home"–Maya Angelou

Response:

On Mon, 08 Apr 2002 03:31:21 GMT, bjpar…@sympatico.ca (William Parker) wrote: >Cubic 1.5 foot, assuming it actually is cubic, is 1.5*1.5*1.5 cubic feet so >3.375, so the price is about what you’d expect.

Huh!  Last time I checked, 1.5 cubic feet was 1.5 cubic feet.  Little did I know 1.5 cubic feet is actually 3.375 cubic feet!  I wonder if 3.375 cubic feet is really 38.44 cubic feet, and if 38.44 cubic feet is really 56815 cubic feet?  Wait a minute!  I can see a pattern here! As 1.5 cubic feet approaches, umm…, 1.5 cubic feet, it actually approaches infinity!  So Backwage actually got off with an infinite supply of manure for just $58!  Hot DAMN! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->>        And these places wonder why people go to Home Depot.  They may >>        be idiots >> there, but they aren’t crooks. >The moral of the story is that the people who can do the math aren’t out >there selling you shit:)

Response:

William Parker <bjpar…@sympatico.ca> wrote: > The moral of the story is that the people who can do the math aren’t out > there selling you shit:)

But whose the guy buying shit?  I know…I’m just kidding.

Response:

san <sokker…@mail.com> wrote in news:3CB11254.A5BD3D9B@mail.com: > Backwage wrote: >>      Today I went to a couple of places to pick up some necessities. >>      First, to the Home Depot for some manure. > Geez I hope you are talking about fertilizer

Wow, I am enjoying the recent infusion of strange sarcasm into this group.   Wry Bread, Jet Nebula, meg, and now you.

Response:

William Parker wrote: > san <sokker…@mail.com> wrote in news:3CB11254.A5BD3D9B@mail.com: > > Backwage wrote: > >>      Today I went to a couple of places to pick up some necessities. > >>      First, to the Home Depot for some manure. > > Geez I hope you are talking about fertilizer > Wow, I am enjoying the recent infusion of strange sarcasm into this group. > Wry Bread, Jet Nebula, meg, and now you.

it wasn’t meant to be sarcastic, strange or otherwise.  tremendous apologies. s "built in slavery’s name. our hungered eyes                               do see/refuse the dark"–wanda coleman

Response:

Backwage wrote: >      Today I went to a couple of places to pick up some necessities.  First, to > the Home Depot for some manure.

Geez I hope you are talking about fertilizer s "Last night                         How to find my soul a home"–Maya Angelou

Response:

William Parker wrote: > Lol, people love this:)  I’ve been feeling like a total ass this week.  Like > at radio shack, I was buying a 70 dollar printer, and the guy was trying to > sell me an extended warranty (what the hell?  It’s not worth anything > anyway.), and I told him no, and that I didn’t need it and also I didn’t > need an extended warranty on the paper.

They have paid informants you know.  They are perfectly aware you need the extended warranty s "For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,                         Turning again toward childish treble, pipes"–William Shakespeare

Response:

backw…@aol.com (Backwage) wrote in news:20020407231054.01976.00002168@mb-df.aol.com: >        So I said to the proprietor, "Hey Sport, how’s about you explain >        this to > me.  I’ve had a few blows to the head and my arithmetic may not be > functioning properly."

Lol, people love this:)  I’ve been feeling like a total ass this week.  Like at radio shack, I was buying a 70 dollar printer, and the guy was trying to sell me an extended warranty (what the hell?  It’s not worth anything anyway.), and I told him no, and that I didn’t need it and also I didn’t need an extended warranty on the paper. >        And so he said, "Five times two and a quarter plus the buck each >        manure > is fifty-eight bucks, including tax."  And he didn’t seem at all happy > to explain it.  So, I gave him the smile I reserve for the mentally > ill, paid out the cash and left the office.  Outside, I made a quick > calculation of the difference according to the math system on this > planet and said to the yard guy, "I’ll back up to the rear for the > manure.  Sit tight."

Lol, I was expecting a seriously funny end to the story, like maybe the manure ending up somewhere intersting while he "sat tight". >        He sat tight.  They like me in these places because I load my >        own > manure.  And so I backed old Betsey down the narrow lane to the rear of > the lot, got out and commenced loading my manure.  On the way out I > gave the proprietor a kindly wave, then went home– with an extra > fifteen bags of manure.  And not the one cubic foot bags I wanted, but > the foot-and-a-half bags that they sell to the landscapers.  All in > all, I got thirty-five bags times 1.5, which put me a little closer to > even than if I’d accepted the calculation of the guy at the desk.  By > the way, they charge a dollar for a cubic-foot bag, and 2.80 for 1.5 > cubic-foot bags.  You figure it out.

Cubic 1.5 foot, assuming it actually is cubic, is 1.5*1.5*1.5 cubic feet so 3.375, so the price is about what you’d expect. >        And these places wonder why people go to Home Depot.  They may >        be idiots > there, but they aren’t crooks.

The moral of the story is that the people who can do the math aren’t out there selling you shit:)

Response:

     Today I went to a couple of places to pick up some necessities.  First, to the Home Depot for some manure.  I got there and discovered that the place had been absolutely cleaned out by a contractor that morning.  They had a dozen pallet loads, and this guy took it all.  And they let him.  Why they didn’t leave a bag for anybody else is beyond me.  But there you have it.        And so I got just a few small items and departed for home.  Two of the items were sale roses– an Iceberg and a miniature that they’d mislabeled. These will eventually go into the ground in the spots where my brother-in-law killed the last ones I planted.  Hope springs eternal.        On the way home it occurred to me to stop at one of the local neighborhood nurseries to see about the manure.  I pulled into one (which shall remain nameless) and bought five small perennials, whose price was listed and quoted to me as 2.25 apiece.  You math majors can cipher this to 11.25 without tax.  And then I asked them to give me twenty bags of manure, at a buck the copy.  This should have come out to 31.25 without taxation, license or registration.  At least on the planet where I reside; we use a base-ten number system here, last I noticed, but my friend at the nursery totalled up my purchases and came out with 58 dollars and some change.          Now, I may have been a labor history major, but these numbers did not seem right.  I asked for an accounting, and the man told me the same figure– firmly.  Then I remembered something.  The last time I was there, the guy charged me twice the listed price for some trifle, and they don’t give itemized receipts.  I was only out a couple bucks, and it didn’t occur to me until I was well on the road.  So I ate the loss.  This time, the loss seemed too big to walk away from.        So I said to the proprietor, "Hey Sport, how’s about you explain this to me.  I’ve had a few blows to the head and my arithmetic may not be functioning properly."        And so he said, "Five times two and a quarter plus the buck each manure is fifty-eight bucks, including tax."  And he didn’t seem at all happy to explain it.  So, I gave him the smile I reserve for the mentally ill, paid out the cash and left the office.  Outside, I made a quick calculation of the difference according to the math system on this planet and said to the yard guy, "I’ll back up to the rear for the manure.  Sit tight."        He sat tight.  They like me in these places because I load my own manure.  And so I backed old Betsey down the narrow lane to the rear of the lot, got out and commenced loading my manure.  On the way out I gave the proprietor a kindly wave, then went home– with an extra fifteen bags of manure.  And not the one cubic foot bags I wanted, but the foot-and-a-half bags that they sell to the landscapers.  All in all, I got thirty-five bags times 1.5, which put me a little closer to even than if I’d accepted the calculation of the guy at the desk.  By the way, they charge a dollar for a cubic-foot bag, and 2.80 for 1.5 cubic-foot bags.  You figure it out.        And these places wonder why people go to Home Depot.  They may be idiots there, but they aren’t crooks.        Mack, unashamed.

Response:

Question:

Our experience is similar to Kieth’s. Para professional= $50,000 to $80,000. CPA = $125,000 to 250,000. Greg Hurlburt, CPA Portland, Oregon

Response:

(snip) One other question:  How do other offices handle payroll tax deposits. Most of our clients have deposits due on the 15th; the tradition in our office has been to have the client get their work in by the 7th, we figure the deposit & they bring checks by for us to make them for them.  What this means is we have a crunch from the 7th to the 15th but after the 15th it’s over.  My feeling is we work up the deposits by hand or whatever, get those handled, then we’ve got the rest of the month to get the work done.  Anyway, I’m curious as to how others handle this monthly crunch time.

For small clients we have long estimated the next three deposits when we did quarterly returns. We try to go 5 to 10% high. We never had problems telling clients that the time and penalty savings were worth more than the out-of-pocket cost.         Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.         275 E Oakland Park Blvd, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33334  #1 national QuickBooks TopTester, 954-566-7540    

Response:

Keith M. Wagner, CPA The Wagner Company, P.C.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.  This is useful information. It seems the consensus is consistent with my experience in my previous practice — I had been out of practice for a few years; just wanted some 2nd opinions….Thanks for everyone’s remarks… David

Response:

for payroll taxes, it would depend…..do you do the payroll? if so, do the 941 deposit with each payroll. if not, then teach whoever is doing payroll how to figure it. pardon me while i finish laughing… for the couple of clients i have that do their own payroll, i have just run a quick manual 941 total off their medicare/ss/fit withholdings on the stub. then, come quarter end, it is really easy to catch any cent rounding errors on the 941 report. it works for me to do it that way. Confidential, professional, affordable bookkeeping for Boulder City, Henderson, & Las Vegas

Response:

My partner & I purchased an accounting practice a couple years ago.  Since that time I have become concerned about the [lack of] efficiency in the office; we have not changed any personnel and their ways of doing things are, it seems to me, pretty antiquated.  I don’t feel our profitability is where it ought to be and that we could get by with one fewer staff accountants, maybe even two fewer.  My partner thinks that would leave us unable to make it through tax season.  Our tax seasons, like everyone else’s, are way more demanding than, say, this time of year. So my question is this:  How many typical, small business, monthly bookkeeping accounts should a good accountant be able to handle?  I understand this is a broad question, but I’m trying to get some sense of what this ought to be.  I feel our staff accountants are not nearly as productive as they ought to be, and I think it is because of the inefficient ways in which these accounts are handled.  We use WS2 software, doing the usual stuff — G/L, Financials, P/R Taxes. One other question:  How do other offices handle payroll tax deposits.  Most of our clients have deposits due on the 15th; the tradition in our office has been to have the client get their work in by the 7th, we figure the deposit & they bring checks by for us to make them for them.  What this means is we have a crunch from the 7th to the 15th but after the 15th it’s over.  My feeling is we work up the deposits by hand or whatever, get those handled, then we’ve got the rest of the month to get the work done.  Anyway, I’m curious as to how others handle this monthly crunch time. TIA for any help anyone can provide. David

Response:

I have asked the same question of myself regarding efficiency over the last couple years and I, along with my partner, have concluded that an average "para-professional" type of person can handle approximately $80,000 – $90,000 per year of volume in write-up services.  We did have the pleasure of employing a prar-professional a few years ago who was capable of handling approximate $120,000 – $130,000, but this is more the exception than the rule. We have also talked with other accountants who focus heavily on write-up work and they all have indicated a range of approximately $80,000 worth of billing.  However, how many clients this represents varies greatly from the accountants I have talked to.  In our practice, we have approximately 25 locations of write-up clients (I refer to locations because we do a couple restaurant chains where the work for each location is equal to a typical client).  I have talked to others who say that there bookkeepers/paraprofessionals handle 50+ clients each.  But our average write-up fee is much higher than theirs, and the related work is more complicated, hence the higher fee.  So from my experience, any way you cut it, if you are getting $80,000 in billable time from a paraprofessional level person, you are probably doing pretty well. If your practice is more geared towards outside accounting work with staff accountants where you visit the clients offices to perform the year end compilations, reviews, and/or audits, then you may be able to obtain more billable time out of your papraprofessionals or staff accountants.  However, these types of clients are typically limiting in that you can usually only handle a certain small number of them because inevitably a significant amount of work will need to be handled by a partner, or at least someone at that skill level. In reference to your payroll tax deposit question.  We attempt to avoid doing them at almost all costs.  However, on about 5-7 clients we do them and the process varies for almost every clients.  Some pay all employees fixed salaries and merely estimate the deposit based on the number of pay periods and reconcile it all with the last deposit for the quarter.  Others wait until after the deposit is due to provide us the information so that we can advise them as to how much the deposit is and then explain to them repeatedly why they have a penalty in spite of our begging for the records for a week prior to the due date. I have put a stop to this begging a couple months ago by preparing a form for our office intranet for each client with details of the records required to be received.  My receptionist now takes care of contacting the clients to arrange the pickup of their records and then reviews those records immediately upon receipt.  She will compare the information provided to the checklist we have saved and prints a form letter immediately requesting the required information from the client and notifying the client that such information was missing from our original receipt of records.  This is done in html format and the letter is created by pulling the client’s letter template up in Internet Explorer, checking the appropriate boxes, and pressing the print icon.  We do not save these letters to the hard drive, but we do place them in the client’s files. I have trained many clients to do their own deposits by creating a form for them to use which helps them handle the math in a very simple manner, but they do have to summarize their own payroll information.  When confronted with the prospect that my cheapest person is $32.00 per hour, it is amazing what simple tasks you can get the clients to perform.  Adding up rows of numbers on payroll sheets is not really a value-added function.  In addition, most clients who would have us prepare the deposits inevitably incur more cost in penalties then it would cost to hire a payroll service because they often fail to adhere to our explicit instructions. Sorry for the long winded post.  I hope this helps. Keith M. Wagner, CPA The Wagner Company, P.C. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My partner & I purchased an accounting practice a couple years ago.  Since that time I have become concerned about the [lack of] efficiency in the office; we have not changed any personnel and their ways of doing things are, it seems to me, pretty antiquated.  I don’t feel our profitability is where it ought to be and that we could get by with one fewer staff accountants, maybe even two fewer.  My partner thinks that would leave us unable to make it through tax season. Our tax seasons, like everyone else’s, are way more demanding than, say, this time of year. So my question is this:  How many typical, small business, monthly bookkeeping accounts should a good accountant be able to handle?  I understand this is a broad question, but I’m trying to get some sense of what this ought to be. I feel our staff accountants are not nearly as productive as they ought to be, and I think it is because of the inefficient ways in which these accounts are handled.  We use WS2 software, doing the usual stuff — G/L, Financials, P/R Taxes. One other question:  How do other offices handle payroll tax deposits. Most of our clients have deposits due on the 15th; the tradition in our office has been to have the client get their work in by the 7th, we figure the deposit & they bring checks by for us to make them for them.  What this means is we have a crunch from the 7th to the 15th but after the 15th it’s over.  My feeling is we work up the deposits by hand or whatever, get those handled, then we’ve got the rest of the month to get the work done.  Anyway, I’m curious as to how others handle this monthly crunch time. TIA for any help anyone can provide. David

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My partner & I purchased an accounting practice a couple years ago.  Since that time I have become concerned about the [lack of] efficiency in the office; we have not changed any personnel and their ways of doing things are, it seems to me, pretty antiquated.  I don’t feel our profitability is where it ought to be and that we could get by with one fewer staff accountants, maybe even two fewer.  My partner thinks that would leave us unable to make it through tax season. Our tax seasons, like everyone else’s, are way more demanding than, say, this time of year. So my question is this:  How many typical, small business, monthly bookkeeping accounts should a good accountant be able to handle?  I understand this is a broad question, but I’m trying to get some sense of what this ought to be. I feel our staff accountants are not nearly as productive as they ought to be, and I think it is because of the inefficient ways in which these accounts are handled.  We use WS2 software, doing the usual stuff — G/L, Financials, P/R Taxes. One other question:  How do other offices handle payroll tax deposits. Most of our clients have deposits due on the 15th; the tradition in our office has been to have the client get their work in by the 7th, we figure the deposit & they bring checks by for us to make them for them.  What this means is we have a crunch from the 7th to the 15th but after the 15th it’s over.  My feeling is we work up the deposits by hand or whatever, get those handled, then we’ve got the rest of the month to get the work done.  Anyway, I’m curious as to how others handle this monthly crunch time. TIA for any help anyone can provide. David

I didn’t think larger practices had this problem.  Your concerns are a continual source of concern for me.  I have a 2 person office which includes myself and my partner.  She basically does the majority of the volume which consists of fairly simple tax returns and payroll, bookkeeping & sales and misc. tax.  I do the more complicated business returns and manage the computer equipment as well as the bookkeeping and misc work for my old clients.  I am always concerned that it seems that my productivity is deplorable.  Even during the offseason such as now, the interruptions, whether they be phone or in person, are such that it has a huge impact on the amount of work I get done.  I feel that I talk too much but it is hard to avoid being sidetracked and I don’t want to seem unconcerned about the clients.  I find that I get more work done in 2 or 3 hours at night at home than I do during the entire day at the office.  I am struggling to come up with a method to help me get my work done in a timely fashion.  If anyone has a time-tested secret, I would sure like to hear it. Michael Stults, EA

Response:

Question:

Does anybody have any information about starting pay for a staff accountant in the midwest? does an MBA get you any more? Big 6  vs.   Small practice tax   vs.  audit. thanks

Response:

Does anybody have any information about starting pay for a staff accountant in the midwest? does an MBA get you any more? Big 6  vs.   Small practice tax   vs.  audit. thanks

Check out : http://www.espan.com/salary/fin/comp/fincont.html Big 6 (Big 8 when I was in school)  will pay you great dividends when you put that on your resume.  You will be much sought-after. In the case of Philip Morris, you can’t advance far in the company without your MBA.  I’m sure other companies of that size would have similar requirements. Starting salaries in the Madison, WI area for regional and small CPA firms start at about $25,000.  Be sure to ALWAYS negotiate your salary when you interview!  I didn’t once, and I will never make that mistake again. As the saying goes:  A tax accountant is worth his weight in gold. Take that for what it’s worth.  A junior accounant in the tax dept of a regional firm probably doesn’t make shit.  The tax partner will be rolling in dough. As you advance, the salary for an "Accounting Supervisor" (again in Madison) looks like this: Min:  26,000 Max:  59,100 Ave:  40,222 Controller: Min:  31,500 Max:  99,704 Ave:  62,612 Hope this helps.  E-mail for specific questions if I can help. –Daedalus–

Response:

Question:

What is a systems Accountant? What do they do? What do I need to become one? Can anybody give me any info or resources. Thanks very much for your time. Angela Smith

Response:

I’m not sure what my title is anymore, since our company has been reengineered, but there are distinctive responsibilites and know-how that relate to a "Systems Accountant." In my opinion, a systems accountant is someone who is well versed in both the support and administrative side of accounting software.          This would include knowing how:         * a General Ledger Package operates and how it interfaces with Accounts Payable, Accounts          Receivable, Purchasing, Budgeting, etc.         * the importance of Audit Controls when dealing with highly structured systems.         * to manipulate data using spreadsheets and databases for purposes of management reports. The latter is key to the success of any accountant, and if I would suggest any one means of preparing oneself to be a systems Accountant, that would be to learn as much as possible when it comes to Spreadsheets, in particular: Microsoft Excel w/ Visual Basic. Hope this helps! What is a systems Accountant? What do they do? What do I need to become one? Can anybody give me any info or resources. Thanks very much for your time. Angela Smith

Response:

Question:

In article <4scao5$…@news.usit.net> Joe Belk, bel…@usit.net writes: >Now the connection has been made between the NEA’s sex education >preferences and the possibly criminal, possibly fraudulent research of >Alfred Kinsey fifty years ago. This research appears under scrutiny to >be akin to research conducted by German Nazis on Jewish subjects in >the 1940’s, ……..

You must read a lot of nazi research……… Have any improvements been made lately??? Just wondering, you seem like the one who would know!!! Member NEA/VEA/VBEA and proud to teach!!