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Accounting's Perfect Storm: Critical 2011 Events Will Change
Financial Reporting as We Know It

By William F. O’Brien, MBA, CPA | Santa Clara University | Executive Education, Inc.

According to Wikipedia, a perfect storm is a rare combination of circumstances that aggravates a situation drastically. The accounting profession most likely will face such an experience in 2011.

Three events have the potential to alter dramatically financial reporting for both
public and non-public companies alike. The events are ...

Good Legal Advice is Free

By David T. Daly, Sr., MBA, JD | Executive Education, Inc.

While common wisdom tells us "lawyers are expensive" and "legal costs are
unpredictable," a smart financial manager knows that getting the right legal advice up
front helps avoid surprises and improve a company's bottom line.

The Trustworthy Leader

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

The Productivity of Trustworthy Leadership - Have you ever noticed some teams are super productive, while others seem to take forever to accomplish anything? Many organizations are unfulfilling places to work. Management doesn't trust employees, employees don't trust management and managers may not even trust each other. This results in high political activity levels that drain the organization's productivity.

How does a management team create an environment of openness, honesty and trust? A
good beginning is to be trustworthy. ...

Have We Forgotten Fixed Asset Accounting 101?

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

If the final exam of your very first accounting class asked the following question, I suspect few of us would have gotten it wrong.

Your company purchases a machine for $140,000. Your operations manager estimates the company will use the machine for 15 years. He estimates a similar 15 year-old machine today would sell for $20,000. What would be the machines 1st year depreciation?
Answer: ($140,000-$20,000)/15 = $8,000

The math is simple. In a final exam, almost no one would get this question wrong. However, I know almost no U.S. accountant would do this calculation in the real world. ...

Success Beyond Public Accounting: Making the Transition of New Generation CPAs into Private Industry a Win-win Proposition

By William F. O'Brien, MBA, CPA | Santa Clara University | Executive Education, Inc.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of new jobs among accountants and auditors will increase by over 275 thousand in the next eight years. A majority of these accountants will be newly minted CPAs entering public practice. Within the first five years of their hire, most of these professionals will transition into careers in government, non-profit organizations or private industry. This article suggests 10 Keys to Success for those joining the ranks of private industry. It also provides several hints for the hiring managers of these transitioning CPAs. These suggestions result from interviews conducted with both seasoned financial professionals and CPAs who have successfully made the transition. ...

Acquiring the Skills to Make Your Organization a Success

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

My first corporate world experience lasted nearly 10 years as I rose from Controller to Vice President – Finance. During that time, my employer grew by some six-fold in size. However, despite growth that was sometimes 50% in a year, everything was always calmly in control and never frantic. For example, at 9 AM, I could usually find the company president sitting behind his desk reading the Wall Street Journal with a cup of coffee. ...

Grow Your Knowledge to Build Your Career

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell cites several studies saying it takes approximately 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything. Thus, after five years as a public practice CPA with good training, you might be an expert auditor. However, just as you begin to feel competent as an auditor, there is a good chance your firm will promote you to manager or you will move on to a corporate job where you have to manage other people. Suddenly you are a novice again. ...

Pricing for Profitability: Why the Company with the Best Cost Accountant Wins

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education
and Craig Carrel | President, Team 1 Plastics

One of the great legends of college football was Woody Hayes, coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1951 to 1978. Woody’s Buckeye teams were famous for their running game. “Three yards and a cloud of dust” was the style of most Big Ten teams in those days. Hayes might tell you that he did not like to pass because “there are three things that can happen, and two of them are bad”.

The same is true of product pricing. Three things can happen in pricing – and two of them are bad. A company’s reward for a price set too low is an unprofitable sale. Their reward for a price set too high is a lost sale that would have been profitable at a lower price. Only some place between these two numbers. ...

Succeeding as the OFO (Only Financial Officer): Four Tips for the Accountant Who Must Do it All

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

While many accountants in the corporate world have a business card reading “Chief Financial Officer” (CFO), this title is not necessarily an accurate description of their job. The word “Chief” implies that there is more than one. However, many of us are the only degreed accountant working in small and medium-sized businesses. In such cases, the title Only Financial Officer (OFO) seems a lot more appropriate. ...

Creating the Strategic Road Map: Becoming a Full Partner in the Process

By Dan Chenoweth | Executive Education, Inc.

I’ll never forget our company President’s wonderful speech vividly painting a compelling vision for the future of our business. He hit all the right notes for those of us in the audience --- his direct reports. “We are the best kept secret in our industry.” “We can be #1 in our industry if we just apply ourselves.” “Let’s look at where we could be, where we should be in our marketplace, and shoot for the stars!” After the speech, he pointed to each of us, one-by-one, and asked “Do you believe we can do it?” And one by one we all replied, “Yes brother, hallelujah, I believe!” And we did! At least in that glorious moment. An hour or two later when we saw each other informally in the hall we began to quietly voice our doubts. ...

Lean Accounting

By John L. Daly & Dan Chenoweth | Executive Education, Inc.

Lean thinking is not new. Business people have always known that efficient organizations can serve their customers better and make more money. However, the term 'Lean' is just over 20 years old. In 1988, a graduate student at MIT first coined the term in an article describing the Toyota Production System (TPS). While initial research into lean involved lean manufacturing, people studying these techniques quickly realized they could also apply lean thinking to all other business activities including running an accounting department. ...

Preparing for a CFO Role

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education
"What is your current level of learning toward CFO level skills? There is a lot more to know to be an effective CFO than most accountants imagine. Anyone aspiring for a high‐level job of any type should embark on a personal mission of lifelong learning. ...

The Skills that Accountants Need Most

By John L. Daly, MBA, CPA, CMA, CPIM | Executive Education

Almost twenty years ago, the 'Big Eight' accounting firms published their famous white paper on accounting education. In it, the first deficiency mentioned was communications skills. Studies that are more recent continue to draw the conclusion that accountants need to improve their writing skills. ... Despite these conclusions, most of us have not taken a business-writing seminar in years. Most of us probably do not think we need to take a writing class. ...

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