Financial Management (UK) articles from October 2005

Financial Management (UK) archives from October 2005

A 26-year-old FCMA.(Christian Wolfenden, Fellow Chartered Management Accountant )(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... A 26-year-old FCMA has been nominated for two prestigious business awards for his work developing an innovative environmental website. Christian Wolfenden was inspired to start Growaforest, a not-for-profit tree-planting project, after reading...

The Financial Services Authority.(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... The Financial Services Authority has secured its first successful prosecution for market misconduct. The former chief executive of the AIT Group, Carl Rigby, and its former FD, Gareth Bailey, were found guilty of recklessly making a misleading...

More than 500,000 US accountants.(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... More than 500,000 US accountants will have the chance to learn the views of CIMA's chief executive, Charles Tilley, next month. On a recent business trip to the US he was interviewed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants'...

European Parliament establishes third money-laundering directive.
October 1, 2005... CIMA is advising members and students to take heed of a number of changes to money-laundering legislation in the EU. The European Parliament has approved a third money-laundering directive, which is intended to bring member states'...

Further EU directive to affect cross-border services.(FIRST IN ...)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... The European Parliament has also approved proposed legislation on the acceptance of professional qualifications across borders: the mutual recognition directive. CIMA members may be affected by changes concerning the temporary and...

Reporting alteration threatens to wipe 1bn [pounds sterling] from FTSE-100's profits.(ACCOUNTING STANDARDS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... The move to international financial reporting standard IFRS2 will reduce the combined pre-tax profits of the FTSE 100 by at least 1bn [pounds sterling], according to a leading firm of actuaries. Changes to the way employee share schemes are...

CIMA seeks end to academic research funding bias.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... A CIMA forum has warned that a failure by higher education experts to recognise the value of practical research could widen the gap between academia and business even further. The forum was responding to a consultation paper published by...

The debate on the FRS17 pension: the debate on the FRS17 pension accounting standard has been reopened by a report that claims its discount rate of the AA corporate bond yield "overestimates the true pension deficit or underestimates the surplus".(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... The debate on the FRS17 pension the debate on the FRS17 pension accounting standard has been reopened by a report that claims its discount rate of the AA corporate bond yield "overestimates the true pension deficit or underestimates the...

Blue-chip CFOs have criticised.(Jon Symonds, Hundred Group )(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Blue-chip CFOs have criticised international financial reporting standards (IFRS) for rendering accounts less relevant and comprehensible. Jon Symonds, chair of the Hundred Group of FTSE-100 finance directors and CFO of AstraZeneca, said...

Four out of ten UK finance directors want to leave the country and work abroad.(surveys)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Four out of ten UK finance directors want to leave the country and work abroad, according to a survey by Robert Half Management Resources. Of the 5,000 FDs it polled, two-thirds said that their role was becoming increasingly stressful. They...

Mike Jeans and Claire Ighodaro Independent board members, DTI.(Department of Trade and Industry)(Interview)
October 1, 2005... On April 1 two former CIMA presidents were invited to join two different Department of Trade and Industry committees as independent board members. Mike Jeans was appointed to the performance monitoring committee, while Claire Ighodaro took her...

The new black: when David Jones took over as CEO of Next, half its stores were loss-making, the brand was splintered and a recession was looming. He explains his role in rescuing the business.
October 1, 2005... In the second hall of 1988, Next was a company in a crisis. George Davies had created the brand in 1982. He believed that the high street offered fashionable clothes that were expensive and inexpensive clothes that weren't fashionable, but...

Back to school: UK teenagers may be getting ever-higher grades, but do they know business? Stephen Hoare considers how employers can teach them entrepreneurship.
October 1, 2005... Enterprise is flavour of the year. More than five million people tuned in to watch the UK version of The Apprentice, in which Sir Alan Sugar, chief executive of Amstrad, put a band of would-be executives through their paces in a contest to win...

Share buybacks: there are good reasons for a firm to buy its own stocks, so why does it sometimes go so horribly wrong? Michael Goddard Looks at the debts behind the headlines.(The Companies Act 1981)
October 1, 2005... For several years now, share buybacks have been extremely popular. Companies that have done this recently include BE Barclays Bank and Alexon. But are they really good for the firms and shareholders concerned? There are several reasons...

Strategic decision-making: M&S was once a shining beacon of retailing success. Tony Grundy asks whether a strategic option tool could help its board to win back customers and investors.(Marks and Spencer PLC)
October 1, 2005... Marks and Spencer is a fascinating case of a company that has lost its strategic focus. Its story illustrates how even the strongest of businesses cannot afford to take their eyes off the competition. M&S lost its way as the UK's leading...

Accounting standards: it professes to be a global body, but is it truly representative of all constituents? David Tyrrall fears for the International Accounting Standards Board's credibility.(TECHNICAL MATTERS)
October 1, 2005... The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has been extremely successful to date in promoting the harmonisation of accounting practices around the world. A welcome outbreak of mutual back-scratching between European and US...

Sukhi Sandhu, finance specialist, client financial management, Accenture.(Interview)
October 1, 2005... Congratulations on achieving the highest mark in the first Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting (TOPCIMA) paper. Were you surprised to have done so well? Completely. Before the exam I was quite nervous, because it was...

Global contact details.(financial )(Directory)
October 1, 2005... CIMA Services was relaunched as CIMA Contact from 1 July 2004 to reflect that students and members now contact us via e-mail, from our website, via fax and via telephone, and that we offer information to students, members, organisations and the...

Management accounting--performance evaluation: analysing cost variances is no easy task, because a single variance may contain four different elements. Falconer Mitchell offers his guide to interpreting them.(PAPER P1)
October 1, 2005... Standard cost variances provide feedback information designed to help managers control operations in accord with the plans they have set. They highlight the difference between the planned costs of a period--ie, the standard costs that are...

Test of professional competence in management accounting: has Domusco come a bridge too far? Adrian Sims analyses the pre-seen material for November's case study and finds that the company's foundations are shaky.(TOPCIMA)
October 1, 2005... The Domusco case study may look extremely complex and open-ended, but don't despair. It bears all the hallmarks of one particular case writer who likes to ensure that a financial issue forms the backbone of their cases. Candidates must be...

Exam notice.(Public notice)
October 1, 2005... * November 2005 exam dates Tuesday November 22. Wednesday November 23. Thursday November 24. * Exam closing date The deadline for Late entries passed on September 21. In extreme circumstances we will consider a very Late entry. You...

Plan and record your CPD activities online.(PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT)(Continuing Professional Development)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Members voted at this year's AGM to introduce the new CPD scheme, CIMA professional development, which will apply to all members from January. The institute is supporting the scheme with a wide range of products and services called CPD...

Declared purposes.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2005... Since the rules were changed at the AGM, CIMA has elected not to require an annual declaration for the critical issue of having completed one's own assessed CPD need. But a condition for membership will now be that one has done one's necessary...

US and them.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2005... Reports that the European Union plans to recommend that plcs of any nationality which report under US rules to a regulator in the EU needn't restate their figures to the standards used across Europe brings us one step closer to harmonisation....

Presidential engagements.(INSTITUTE UPDATE)(Brief article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2005... Oct 11 ATT luncheon, London. Oct 12 Area 1 retired members' luncheon, London. Oct 15 West of Ireland branch dinner, Galway. Oct 20 Past presidents' luncheon, London. Oct 20 CIMA president's dinner, London. Oct 21 CIMA...

Plaudits for Malaysian Award.(INSTITUTE UPDATE)
October 1, 2005... Malaysia's National Award for Management Accounting Best Practice (Nafma) gained international recognition recently when it won the Xerox Innovation Award in the Invention and New Product Exposition (Inpex) 2005 in Pittsburgh. Inpex, the...

Diary.(Calendar)
October 1, 2005... All branch events are free unless stated otherwise. To book places, get in touch with the CIMA contact for the relevant area (see panels). Visit www.cimaglobal.com/events for updates. To book places on CIMA Biz.Net events, call 020 8849 2244 or...

What do they know, anyway? Do your non-financial colleagues really understand the information you provide? J Alison Kennedy explains how your coaching can help them to help themselves.(JOBS & CAREERS)
October 1, 2005... "As we know, there are known knowns--there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns--that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns--the ones we don't know we don't...

HEAT Foundation.(Umar Shariff appointed)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Umar Shariff FCMA has been appointed chief executive of the HEAT Foundation, a charity set up to encourage working children in India to return to school by supporting their families. He moves from the Millennium International Communications...

Information Integrity (Luxembourg).(Richard Gordon)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Richard Gordon FCMA has become head of a new corporate governance service at Information Integrity (Luxembourg). The ISAE3000-compliant service will audit firms' internal controls on the acquisition, storage and use of information. For further...

Arkell's Brewery.(ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2005... Raymond Fisher FCMA has been appointed Mayor of Swindon. He has been FD at Arkell's Brewery since 1992.

London Borough of Ealing.(Richard Ennis appointed)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Richard Ennis ACMA has been appointed executive director for finance and business support at the London Borough of Ealing. He was previously FD at the London Borough of Lambeth.

It's stressful being Piers Pommeroy. He now has so many secrets that he can't keep track of which ones have leaked out. It's little wonder that crisis has become his default emotional state.
October 1, 2005... Week 1 It's not exactly a setback as the financial controller explained to me, it should be thought of as no more than a minor timetable adjustment. Oh, yes presumably in the sense that the Hundred Years' War was no more than a slight...