Financial Management (UK) articles from September 2002

Financial Management (UK) archives from September 2002

Editorial comment.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The accountancy profession has taken some knocks over the past few months. As world economies teetered on the edge of recession, financial scandals at Enron and WorldCom sent share prices plummeting--and they dragged the reputation of...

IASB issues changeover guidance. (Technical Update).
September 1, 2002... The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published proposals on how organisations should make the transition to international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) from other accounting rules. Exposure draft ED1, First-Time...

IFAC offers IT monitoring advice. (New Round-Up).(The International Federation of Accountants)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published a guide to help accountants involved in IT decision-making better understand the principles and practices required to monitor the use of information technology in their...

Pickering's proposals `fall short': many stakeholders were hoping for more radical plans. (Pensions).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The proposals of the Pickering report on pensions have drawn a mixed reaction from employer groups and industry bodies. "Alan Pickering's proposals will cut red tape and help to contain costs, making it easier for employers to provide and...

Accounting Standards Board to postpone full FRS17 implementation. (Pensions).
September 1, 2002... Businesses have welcomed the decision by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) to defer the introduction of the FRS17 accounting standard. Both employers and employees will benefit from the postponement, according to David Fairs, pensions...

Hotels endure premiums hike: insurance charges have spiralled since 11 September. (Risk Management).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The rising cost of insurance and employee retention are the major challenges facing the hotel sector, according to speakers at the fourth annual forum of FDs in the leisure industry. Insurance premiums rose from about 1 per cent of revenue...

Ministers issue reform proposals. (News Round-Up).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Treasury select committee's report on accounting reform has been broadly welcomed by business. The CBI praised the government for not overreacting to the recent US scandals and approved its recommendations to strengthen audit committees and...

NHS receives shot in the arm; but the big cash injection will not be enough on its own. (Public Finance).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Financial managers in the NHS have welcomed the increase in funding outlined in the chancellor's spending review, but have warned that money alone cannot fix the organisation's problems. "We have secured significant, substantial and...

Firms revalue their technology. (News Round-Up).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Finance managers are changing the way they measure the benefits of IT, according to research by Unisys. Return on investment and direct cost savings are now seen as relevant measurement tools by fewer than half of UK businesses. The rest are...

Intransigence from the top. (News Round-Up).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... UK boards cannot cope with change, according to a survey of company directors by interim management firm Change Management Online. The average business starts three major change projects a year, but more than half are unsuccessful. The...

How to manage the risk of terrorism. (News Round-Up).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... The events of 11 September highlighted the threat of global terrorism, but at the same time smaller, local radical groups are also using more direct forms of attack. All organisations are exposed to such a threat, especially those in, or...

EU firms unprepared for IAS. (News Round-Up).(international accounting standards )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Almost 90 per cent of European companies will not be ready to report in accordance with international accounting standards (IAS) by the 2005 deadline, according to research by financial software provider Coda. More than half of the respondents...

Orchestral manoeuvres. (News Round-Up).(Royal Philharmonic Orchestra gets new financial software from Access Accounting)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has acquired new financial software from Access Accounting. The deal, worth 63,000 [pounds sterling] and organised by reseller Asyst International, follows the injection of additional funding announced by the...

Protection racket? (Letters).
September 1, 2002... David Allen ("False economy", June) rightly identifies the fallacy of FRS17 that shares do not have a value, but only a cost and selling price at two points in time. What happens between is an unreliable and irrelevant assessment of worth. ...

Setting a standard. (Letters).
September 1, 2002... Watching the FTSE100 oscillate like a demented animal, while trying to keep up with the consequences for our pension fund, it strikes me that there is one useful thing missing from the statutory accounts and that is an analysis of the share...

Thinking outside the black box. (Letters).
September 1, 2002... Airlines have applied human psychology to improve the time management of air travel by listing flight times as 7.54, 9.21 or 11.37. Let's learn from them and start work at 8.59 instead of 9pm and schedule meetings at 9.57 instead of 10pm.

Whistle stop. (Letters).
September 1, 2002... One of the most notable statements made following the Enron collapse has been that of Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, on corporate America. He said: "An infectious greed seemed to grip our business community... The...

Allen key? (Letters).
September 1, 2002... Unlike Chua Kwang Khim (Letters, July/August), I find David Allen's articles irrelevant and repetitive. Take the article "Warp factor" in the same issue: once again it ends with the admonition that "directors [should seek] to maximise the NPV...

Call waiting. (Letters).
September 1, 2002... How many members have received one of the following responses when calling an employment agency? * The person you wish to speak to has just taken another call. * The person has just gone to lunch (anytime between 11am and 3pm). *...

Foresight saga: the onus is on employees to raise their concerns if they feel they are under excessive stress. But employers can't shirk their duty of care where the risk is predictable. (Legal).
September 1, 2002... Only two months ago, the Court of Appeal in Sutherland v Hatton had given hope to employers that the rising tide of stress claims would be stemmed, but further cases this month have shown the limitations of its decision. The resounding message...

Mixed messages: the UK's economic signals are confusing, having changed dramatically over the past couple of months. David Ross considers whether a further cut in interest rates is on the horizon. (Economics).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... First, the good news: data from National Statistics shows that the UK economy grew by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter and by 1.5 per cent on the previous year (see graph). National Statistics also revised away the standstill widely predicted...

The credible journey: the huge gap that has opened up between operating earnings and reported earnings among US firms has prompted Standard & Poor's to propose much-needed reforms. (City).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued WorldCom, alleging that it had counted $3.85 billion in expenses as capital spending over five quarters starting in 2001, hiding around $1.22 billion in losses over that time. The company is...

Raising the disinterest rate; should the FSA bring in stringent rules to ensure that analysts give impartial advice about firms they a reconnected with, asks Anita Howarth, or simply leave investors to decide for themselves? (Investment).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Financial Services Authority is considering a major crackdown on the use of research reports to overstate companies' performance. But there is evidence to show that major UK investors are already taking steps to prevent the kind of...

Sweet clarity: rightly or wrongly, recent high-profile accounting scandals in the US have dented shareholders' faith in the quality of UK firms' financial reporting. The whole accountancy profession is under pressure to improve the transparency of the information it provides. Ruth Prickett explains what management accountants can do to restore confidence. (Cover: feature reporting).(Cover Story)
September 1, 2002... Ask a City fund manager to identify the best investment of the past year and they are likely to say "bottled beer--at least when you've drunk it you can take the bottles back and get the deposit". What they don't add is that bottled beer has...

Artistic direction: as lover of fine art, Ian Blatchford, the new FD at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is happily mixing business with pleasure. He explains to Cathy Hayward why the job is never a case of painting by numbers. (Profile: Ian Blatchford).
September 1, 2002... Ian Blatchford finds it hard to get to his desk in the morning, and it's nothing to do with the journey from his south London home to his South Kensington office. With his passion for art, the new finance director of the Victoria and Albert...

Cheque up: in his latest spending review, the chancellor announced that the health service would receive 40 billion [pounds sterling] of extra cash. Anita Howarth finds out what this means to NHS financial managers. (Finance: NHS).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... This year's Budget held good news for financial managers in the health service. More money than ever before is going into the NHS. Spending reviews are to be three-yearly, rather than annual; inspections are to be streamlined; and a tier of...

Defence mechanism: it's impossible to eradicate the threat of fraud, but there are several steps that employers can take to minimise this very real risk. David Cafferty and Judy Finn offer a strategy aimed primarily at deterring would-be offenders. (How to: prevent fraud).(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2002... Fraud has rarely been out of the headlines this year, as millions have been lost as a result of the activities of a small criminal element. It's tempting to think that it'll always happen to someone else, but fraud can strike anywhere and at...

Generation next: world-class organisations are increasingly demanding that their finance functions move away from number-crunching and start creating real value. Margaret May explains how the profession must transform itself in order to rise to the challenge. (Finance: the future).
September 1, 2002... Since "big-box computers" first mechanised financial processing in the 1970s, the course of evolution has taken us through devolved finance using local servers and spreadsheets in the 1980s to global enterprise resource planning (ERP) and...

Cause and effect: it is highly inadvisable to set performance objectives and then let the measures take care of themselves. Mike Bourne and Andy Neely show how easily dysfunctional behaviour can result from a lack of forethought. (Management: balanced scorecard).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Books and articles on the balanced scorecard and performance measurement usually describe how firms set key business objectives, but most of them don't explain how to design the performance measures themselves. This is the missing link in...

Driven to distraction: traditional financial reporting gives non-accountants few useful signposts to aid decision-making and even creates unneeded diversions, argues Keith Cleland. He explains how to keep managers' eyes on the road by using a simple business `speedometer' called the targeted average rate index. (Finance: reporting).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In the late 1970s I thought that if businesses compared actual performance with budgeted performance every month instead of annually, they would achieve a major breakthrough. It was only after working with many companies that I came to...

CIMA sets up database of tutors. (Institute News).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In order to help course providers recruit suitably qualified staff, CIMA is seeking to establish a database of potential tutors. Opportunities for tutors to teach CIMA students occasionally arise in both the further and higher education...

Council seeks ways to differentiate ClMA's public image from auditors. (Institute News).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Council agendas are long these days, they concentrate primarily on strategy and every item is debated strongly. The 6 July council meeting was no exception. The meeting followed on from a council strategy day of workshops and plenary...

Disciplinary cases. (Institute news).(Fellow Chartered Management Accountant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Mohammed Fahmy Nizar FCMA (6783582) The committee considered a complaint from Centennial Food Corp concerning its former corporate controller, Mohammed Fahmy Nizar. The disciplinary committee considered in particular Nizar's response to...

New council member required. (Institute News).
September 1, 2002... Notice is given that, as John Perry, council member in electoral Area 4 (West Midlands), is retiring early, a new candidate is sought to represent Area 4 on council. The casual vacancy will be until the close of the AGM 2004, as prescribed by...

Institute diary.
September 1, 2002... CENTRAL LONDON AND NORTH THAMES For contact details and further information refer to the area newsletter 3 September How to make money from the internet Speaker: Graham Pottle, BT Open world Time: 6 for 6.30pm Venue:...

CIMA members awarded in queen's birthday honours list. (Institute Diary). (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Two CIMA members have recently been awarded CBEs for outstanding contribution to their professions. Brian Cass CBE FCMA, managing director of Huntingdon Life Sciences, has spent two decades in the medical research industry. He originally joined...

Adams Childrenswear. (On the move).(Kevan Witts hired)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Kevan Witts FCMA (left) hasbeen appointed group finance director of Adams Childrenswear. Witts will be responsible for the finance, HR, IT and logistics functions. He joins Adams from Thomson Travel Group where, over a period of 15 years, he...

Bukhatir. (On the move). (Bhaskar Banerjee appointed executive director).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Dr Bhaskar Banerjee FCMA has joined the Bukhatir group in Sharjah, UAE, as executive director. Banerjee was previously managing director of Duncans Industries, the flagship company of the Duncans group in India. He is a former partner of...

Nasa. (On the move).(Owen Barwell named senior financial advisor)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Owen Barwell ACMA has been appointed senior financial advisor at Nasa. Barwell will work in the administrator's office and will be responsible for implementing a programme of financial management reform. For the past seven years, he has been a...

Dyer Engineering. (On the move). (Trevor Adamson appointed financial controller).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Trevor Adamson FCMA has been appointed financial controller at Dyer Engineering, where he will be responsible for all financial aspects of the business, focusing principally on the development of planning, control and reporting systems and...

Dublin City University. (On the move). (John Lawlor awarded honours degree in information technology).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... John Lawlor FCMA has been awarded a first-class honours degree in information technology from Dublin City University. Lawlor is financial controller at Ryan Hanley Consulting Engineers and is a member of the American Production and Inventory...

Adventus. (On the move). (Robert Todd appointed director).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Robert Todd ACMA has been appointed business development director at Adventus. Todd has held senior positions at Ernst & Young Consulting, as well as financial and commercial positions at Time Warner, British Telecom and British American...

University of British Columbia. (On the move). (Niranjan Subramanian appointed senior manager financial systems).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Niranjan Subramaniam FCMA (left) hasbeen appointed senior manager, financial systems, at the University of British Columbia, where he will be responsible for the strategic management of enterprise resource planning systems. Previously, he held...

PDV. (On the move). (Christine Caffrey appointed finance director).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Christine Caffrey ACMA has been appointed finance director of direct marketing company PDV. Caffrey joined from eSkye Solutions, web technology provider for the drinks industry, where she was financial controller, Europe. She was previously...

United Nations Mission in Support of East Timor (UNMISET). (On the move). (Moses Tefula appointed consultant).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Dr Moses Tefula FCMA (left) has joined the United Nations Missionin Support of East Timor (UNMISET) as a consultant in the Banking and Payments Authority. Tefula has extensive experience in banking and management from his previous executive...

Altrix Healthcare. (On the move). (Neil Bundy appointed finance manager).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Neil Bundy ACMA has been appointed finance manager of laboratory-based drug-testing company Altrix Healthcare. Bundy's main areas of responsibilty will include general financial management and developing the company's financial reporting.

Chartered Institute of Marketing. (On the move).
September 1, 2002... Patrick Elliot ACMA has been appointed to the Chartered Institute of Marketing's international board of trustees as a non-executive member. In the July/August issue, we incorrectly printed associate member David Carter's name as David...