Pondering

Dump the timesheets? Not so fast.

Leave a Comment / Audits, Pondering /

There is a movement afoot in the CPA world to get rid of timesheets.  A major part of the concept is to move away from billing by the hour and move toward “value billing.”

Instead of charging based on how many hours you spend, bill the client for what your services are worth or what you can negotiate in a lump sum.

In my tiny part of the accounting world, I’ve been billing on a fixed price basis for the vast majority of work for around 20 years or more.  (So does that mean I was a value-biller before value-biller was cool?)

Getting rid of the timesheets entirely is an idea I have been highly uncomfortable with, but hadn’t thought through why.

Until now.

Ed Mendlowitz, CPA, has a great article at CPATrendlines explaining the reasons I’m uneasy. He explains 13 Reasons Timesheet Will Never Die.

In one sentence, look at the opposite side of the income statement – timesheets are a cost control.

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Dump the timesheets? Not so fast.Read More »

Dump the timesheets? Not so fast. Read More »

Three skills for living in a social media world

Leave a Comment / Pondering, Social media /

There will be three career fields in huge demand in the social media world. That is the idea Mark Schaefer presents in his blog, {grow}.

I discuss his post and my thoughts in my post Three Skills for Living in a Social Media World at my other blog, Outrun Change.

At an individual level, I think these three careers point to skills each of us need to develop if we wish to function in a world dominated by social media.  The career fields and individual skills are: …

Three skills for living in a social media worldRead More »

Three skills for living in a social media world Read More »

Self-deception – a major obstacle to thinking clearly

Leave a Comment / Audits, Pondering /

I am reading through a book that outlines ways our thinking processes will sometimes lead us to decisions that are actually wrong.

While pondering those ideas, I realized there is another severe flaw in the way we humans think that is described in the Bible.

The book is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.  My posts on the book applying it to the audit context start here.

The problem is worse than just incorrectly thinking fast

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Self-deception – a major obstacle to thinking clearlyRead More »

Self-deception – a major obstacle to thinking clearly Read More »

Struggling with changing circumstances in your community

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Have a post up at my other blog, Outrun Change, describing a conversation started in the humanitarian aid community about how to deal with military forces moving into the aid environment – Grappling with change – another sector talks about their environment.

That conversation is an example of one community trying to deal with the change that is taking place in their environment.

Struggling with changing circumstances in your community Read More »

Tell my again why there’s nothing to write about in accounting?

2 Comments / Pondering /

I was out-of-town four days towards the end of January.  Provided a peer review to a CPA firm.  Took a break from the ‘net as much as I could.

I drove across the Central Valley of California for the first time and after the project, enjoyed taking one of those away days seeing Yosemite.  Haven’t been there before.  It’s breathtakingly awe-inspiring. (Yes, I know. I don’t get out enough.)

While driving I came up with two or three ideas for blog posts. Couldn’t help but think about some things and translate them to blog ideas as I was driving and observing and pondering.

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Tell my again why there’s nothing to write about in accounting?Read More »

Tell my again why there’s nothing to write about in accounting? Read More »

Q: How do you make sure you can take a stand for your real client, and stand up against the person that signed the engagement letter?

1 Comment / Pondering /

A: Be ready to fire the apparent client.

If your real client is the stockholders or an NPO itself and not the CFO or CEO, then you may have to take a stand against the CFO or CEO.  How can you make it possible to do that since they can fire you?

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Q: How do you make sure you can take a stand for your real client, and stand up against the person that signed the engagement letter?Read More »

Q: How do you make sure you can take a stand for your real client, and stand up against the person that signed the engagement letter? Read More »

Our responsibility as CPAs is to our clients, the shareholders

2 Comments / Audits, Compilations & reviews, Pondering /

Francine McKenna reposts one of her favorite discussions on the responsibility of CPAs: – Madoff, MLK, Buddha And Elusive Nature of Self-Interest

The core question is where do we place our ultimate focus and loyalty?

Management who hired us?  The CFO who could get us fired?  The board of directors? Senior partners of our firm?

No, no, no, and no.

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Our responsibility as CPAs is to our clients, the shareholdersRead More »

Our responsibility as CPAs is to our clients, the shareholders Read More »

What’s the impact when there is zero cost to distribute one more item?

Leave a Comment / Pondering /

I have a series of posts up on my other blog, Outrun Change, discussing the radical changes in how books, music, and video are distributed today without having to use a traditional middleman.  There is a dramatic shift when it doesn’t cost anything to make and distribute one more copy of something.

This doesn’t just impact writers and musicians.  This has a huge impact on nonprofits that want to get their message and resources out, or businesses that want to start producing materials for education and promotion.

Check these out:

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What’s the impact when there is zero cost to distribute one more item?Read More »

What’s the impact when there is zero cost to distribute one more item? Read More »

Rate of change in accounting rules

Leave a Comment / Pondering /

Coming away from the 2011 CalCPA A&A conference, I realized again what a huge volume of change we are seeing in the accounting rules now.  There is a lot of stuff in exposure draft and more things just over the horizon.  

Just in terms of GAAP, I think that volume of change is going to increase.

In addition, I learned that SSARS rules are being rewritten into the clarified structure. Also, I’ve previously read the independence rules are being rewritten in clarified structure.

Coming to terms with that idea of increasing rate of change is the whole purpose behind my other blog, Outrun Change, by the way.

Rate of change in accounting rules Read More »

Pendulum swings in how we use computers

Leave a Comment / Pondering /

The swinging of a pendulum is a great word picture for describing change.   Especially helps for explaining shifts in computing power.  The pendulum swung from dumb terminals to personal computers and now to ‘the cloud’.

I mention this in a post at my other blog, Outrun Change:  The computing pendulum has swung back to dumb terminals and service bureaus – will it swing back?

There I discuss and link to a post by John Bredehoft.

By the way, my ponderings about the change taking place around us are posted on the other blog.  That leaves this blog focused on attestation issues.

Pendulum swings in how we use computers Read More »

Reflections on the zero cost and inconsequential time to deliver a 2,500 page book.

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Delivering books in PDF format is old news.

Today I looked at the process anew and laughed in marvel at the simplicity, low-cost, and blinding speed of doing so. Posted my thoughts on my other blog Outrun Change at: It’s a blast being alive today, or, isn’t technology cool?

Reflections on the zero cost and inconsequential time to deliver a 2,500 page book. Read More »

If you are in business, you should be familiar with these writers

Leave a Comment / Books you might enjoy, Pondering /

A few weeks ago I attended the Dave Ramsey Live! event in Long Beach.  Here is just one of the many great comments he had:

If you are in business, you should be reading these three authors:

  • Jim Collins
  • Seth Godin
  • Malcolm Gladwell

I wholeheartedly agree.

I have read all of the following books and heartily endorse them. If you want to grow and learn and stretch your brain, dive in anywhere!  Here’s a few titles to check out: …

If you are in business, you should be familiar with these writersRead More »

If you are in business, you should be familiar with these writers Read More »