Financial Management (UK) articles from September 2004

Financial Management (UK) archives from September 2004

Editorial comment.
September 1, 2004... Energy has loomed large in the news recently--the need to conserve it, ways to increase it and, most importantly, how to use it most efficiently. And that was just in the Olympics. The sight of world marathon champion Paula Radcliffe collapsing...

CIMA member helps aid agency.(News Round-Up)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Paula Downey ACMA is on her way to Sudan to join Landmine Action as a finance management adviser. The 34-year-old financial trainer from High Wycombe recently led a community project in east London sponsored by her employer, Coca-Cola. She will...

Event to focus on performance.(News Round-Up)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Organisations including Reuters, the Environment Agency and Bupa will share their experiences of business performance improvement at a special conference organised in conjunction with CIMA Mastercourses and Deloitte among others. "Focus on...

Budgeting insights revealed.(News Round-Up)(best practices report)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... A new report published jointly by CIMA and the ICAEW has provided a snapshot of budgeting best practice at some of the UK's leading firms, which are "looking to the finance team to work across the business to pull together both financial and...

Aid organisations found wanting: charities are under pressure to report more transparently.(Third Sector)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Aid agencies working in Sudan are being urged to strengthen their financial management by learning from the experiences of previous campaigns. Alex Jacobs ACMA, director of Management Accounting for Non-Governmental Organisations (Mango), has...

Green groups launch offensive against negligent directors.(News Round-Up)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Leading environmental bodies are calling for tougher penalties against company directors who are convicted of environmental offences. In the past year a record number of directors have been found guilty of breeching environmental...

CIMA enters merger dialogue; a three-way amalgamation is under consideration.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... A national accounting body consisting of more than 200,000 members could be on the cards if merger talks between CIMA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and...

FEE backs third-party assessment of CSR reports.(News Round-Up)(Federation des Experts Comptables Europeens, corporate social responsibility)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... A leading European accountancy body is calling for the independent monitoring of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. In a recently published paper, the Federation des Experts Comptables Europeens (FEE) has warned that the...

Outen about to share wisdom.(News Round-Up)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Guy Outen, chief financial officer at Shell Gas and Power, will be among the speakers at CIMA's annual conference on 25 November. He joins other leading financial experts, such as Sir Andrew Likierman, Roger Bootle and Robert Kirk. Outen will...

You have to be in it to win it.(News Round-Up)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The deadline for nominations for the annual CIMA and Financial Management Awards is drawing closer. Don't miss your chance to put the spotlight on a friend, colleague or employer who has made a notable contribution to the profession. The awards...

SME accountants reign in Spain.(News Round-Up)(Federation des Experts Comptables Europeens (European Federation of Accountants))(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The first Europe-wide congress for accountants in small and medium-sized enterprises and practices will be held next month in Sitges, near Barcelona. The two-day event, organised by the FEE, aims to raise awareness of how new European...

Revenue gives way on Form 42 deadline.(Regulations Update)
September 1, 2004... In response to lobbying from professional bodies, the Inland Revenue has announced that companies will be allowed nearly three months longer to report transactions involving shares and other securities on Form 42. The deadline is now 30...

AIM status change offers respite from IFRS.(Regulations Update)(Alternative Investment Market, international financial reporting standards)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Proposals by the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) are likely to provide a 12-month breathing space for listed companies to make the transition to international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The AIM is...

Builders face tax status crackdown.(Regulations Update)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Inland Revenue has written to 13,000 contractors and 44,000 subcontractors in the construction industry to warn them that they may have either classified employees incorrectly as self-employed workers or been misclassified themselves....

VAT bad debt relief shock.(Regulations Update)(Value-added tax)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Businesses that have failed to follow strict procedures in dealing with VAT bad debt relief may have a tough time with Customs at their next VAT inspection, according to accountancy firm PKF. Two areas are being scrutinised: aged creditors'...

SMEs fail to act on disability law.(Regulations Update)(Small and medium sized companies)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Two-thirds of small firms have yet to make any preparations to comply with the disability discrimination rules that apply from October, according to research by the RNID. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 forces SMEs to make reasonable...

Presidential engagements.(Institute News)(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... 7-8 Sept Conference of professors of accounting and finance, Manchester 9 Sept CIMA council meeting CIMA head office 10 Sept New members' celebration, Milton Keynes 11...

New presidents elected in Ireland and Malaysia.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Fellow Chartered Management Accountant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Karl Young FCMA (right) has been elected president of CIMA Ireland. He is finance director of Kraft Foods Ireland. Y C Lee FCMA (right) has become CIMA Malaysia division's sixth president. After his election, he told the 120 guests at the...

Pay subscriptions with CIMA Online.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants )
September 1, 2004... CIMA Online can save valuable time by allowing you to update your details and pay subscription fees. Instead of waiting for a paper receipt or financial statement to arrive by post, you can print your own copy, saving you a call and helping to...

Disciplinary committee hearings.(Institute News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Stephen James Phelps ACMA (8344667) The disciplinary committee found misconduct in that Stephen Phelps had been convicted of theft. The committee considered that theft from an employer was an abuse of trust incompatible with being a...

CIMA members honoured in Queen's birthday list.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Associate Chartered Management Accountant)(Fellow Chartered Management Accountant )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The following CIMA members received honours in the Queen's birthday honours list this summer: Paul Chandrasekharan Sabapathy ACMA was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to education and to business in the West...

CIMA invites applications for new research initiative.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(performance measurement systems)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... As part of its research agenda, CIMA is inviting research proposals on the benefits of performance measurement systems (PMS). In particular, it would like to encourage fieldwork and case studies that demonstrate the impact of PMS on business...

Medals, plaques and honours.(News Round-Up)(Fellow Chartered Management Accountant )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... At a council meeting on 19 March 2004, it was unanimously resolved that institute bronze medals be awarded to: Ronald Clive Mitchell FCMA; Seminda Nilam Jayasinghe FCMA; Pauline J Eagar FCMA; Philip John Osborn ACMA; and John Francis McLaren...

New president in Singapore.(News Round-Up)(Fellow Chartered Management Accountant)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Eugene Lim FCMA has been elected president of CIMA Singapore. Lim (right) is executive director and chief financial officer of MycoBiotech and has over 30 years' management experience in electronics, manufacturing, piling, civil engineering,...

Don't shoot the massager.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Imagine two accountants. The first has a well-paid job in the rat race. One day he decides to regain control of his life. He joins his wife in her business running a beauty salon and does odd jobs while studying for a diploma in body massage....

Attack on the clones.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Merrill Cassell's letter about computer viruses (June) highlighted a fundamental of the natural world: every living system has a predator or parasite. Computer viruses are no different from natural ones, but are helped by the fact that millions...

Repeat performance.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I am livid about David Allen's article "Dead reckoning" (July/August). As a management accountant, almost everything I do is about changing the future into something better. That means being able to recognise where mistakes were made, and where...

Provoked attack.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... David Allen's article used one-liners, generalisations and specific examples intended, I am sure, to encourage debate, but his reference to earnings per share (EPS) increasing overtime while the business collapses only serves to confirm that...

Continuing professional debate.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Peter Shailer (Letters, July/August) has failed to appreciate that, in order to make CIMA synonymous with quality, experience and knowledge, we must ensure that members are qualified to the highest standard, possess an appropriate qualification...

Time warp.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I was pleased to see the letter from Pamela Berkley (Letters, July/August). I am fortunate that, after working full time for two years, my employer has agreed to allow mc to work part time, although it does not usually recruit part-time...

Week arguments.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I recently returned to the UK after a year's career break travelling the world, and it has been interesting to see what has happened in the profession. There are many changes, such as the impending introduction of IAS, but, disappointingly,...

An even break? The prospect that employees will augment their holiday drinks budget by working their socks off in the three months before they go on leave seems to have receded.(Legal)
September 1, 2004... Although it seems that the question of holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) has received a more than thorough airing lately, the Court of Appeal has recently handled two further noteworthy cases. Both represent welcome...

Glad to be grey: legislation banning ageism in the workplace will take effect in 2006, but the smarter employers have already realised the business benefits of recruiting older people.(People Management)
September 1, 2004... Between them, supermarket giant Asda and HBOS, the parent company of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, serve tens of millions of customers a year, employ 200,000 people and have an asset sheet that stretches comfortably off to a place where every...

Higher circles: Adam Levy reports on how Intelsat has implemented a business intelligence initiative designed to support its change from intergovernmental entity to private commercial organisation to plc.(Technology)
September 1, 2004... Intelsat has been at the forefront of communications technology for the past 40 years. It broadcast the signals of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon and has transmitted the events of every Olympics since 1968 to ever-increasing TV...

Unbundle of joy: although it may cause some collateral damage, the Financial Services Authority's campaign to bring transparency and accountability to the industry is a welcome one.(City)
September 1, 2004... When CP176, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) consultation paper on bundled commissions, soft commissions and transparency, was published almost a year ago it prompted great discussion. The FSA has now announced that its policy is to...

Green grossers: whether they like it or not, FDs are starting to take a central role in an ethical business revolution. Eco-warriors with spreadsheets? Anything's possible.(Business: corporate social responsibility)(final deposit)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... Mark Dempsey is on a mission to turn management accountants into the coo-warriors of the 21st century. Don't laugh: he doesn't have visions of a tribe of New Age ACMAs growing their hair into dreadlocks and spending their weekends in a...

Watts going down.(Finance: energy costs)
September 1, 2004... Finance directors usually find energy-saving schemes a bit of a turn-off compared with other investment projects. Yet, with the cost of both gas and electricity due to rise soon, cutting your organisation's energy bill will become an...

Where there's brass ...(Business: risk management)
September 1, 2004... The environmental liability directive is the first EU law designed to make the polluters, rather than the taxpayer, pay for the harm they wreak, writes Neil Hodge. But firms are protesting that the new categories of pollution under the...

Pariah to messiah.(CIMA Conference: Roger Bootle)
September 1, 2004... It's a good job that Roger Bootle's not one for saying 'I told you so'. He's gone out on a limb to make contentious economic predictions before, and he'll do it again, but he has the knack of being right. Now one of the most respected pundits...

As easy as CBA?(Finance: costing methods)(contribution based activity )
September 1, 2004... Time-driven activity-based costing has a number of limitations when compared with the contribution-based activity approach. Keith Cleland outlines the key differences between the two methods Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) was...