World's 10 best companies to work for. This list was published in Fortune magazine in Feb 2009 as Top Employers. I have picked up the first 5 to know why they are at the top.


Company: NetApp : Rank: 1

Why: The essence of what fuels the quality of the workplace at NetApp is the high trust culture. Leaders reach out to employees, sharing information, support and time in a variety of ways. This generosity of spirit is reciprocated many times over, creating within NetApp its own version of a fail-safe networked organisation.

Company: Edward Jones Rank: 2

Why: 'Employees receive a whopping 149 hours of training on average a year, more than three times the 100 best average of 45. But Edward Jones doesn't just train people for the job they're doing. The management's philosophy is that employees who are passionate about their jobs will make the company a better place, so managers encourage people to develop skills even when they know the new skills will lead to a different job.'

Company: Boston Consulting Group Rank: 3

Why: BCG prides itself on its employee focused culture. 'Training opportunities abound, even for senior partners. All employees are encouraged to continuously learn, accept responsibility and take on challenges. BCG is viewed as an apprenticeship and most training actually takes place within the project team. Associates who commit to returning to the company after receiving an MBA are fully reimbursed for tuition, given a promotion and a raise. Administrative staff may be reimbursed upto two job-related courses per semester.'

Company: Google Rank: 4

Why: The company slogan is 'Don't be evil.' Google is famed for going all out to keep their employees happy. Professional development opportunities include classes on individual and team presentation skills, content development, business writing, executive speaking, delivering feedback and management/leadership.


Company: Wegmans Food Market Rank: 5

Why: Wegmans believe that good people, working toward a common goal, can accomplish anything they set out to do. They also believe that they can achieve our goal only if they fulfill the needs of our own people.

Find out what makes companies the best


I can assess from what companies look for in your to hire you or promote you. My Top 10 choice of words you should use during the interview and demonstrate in your job and career progression.

• Passionate about their jobs
• New skills
• Learn
• Accept responsibility
• Take on challenges
• Committed
• Individual and team presentation skills
• Can accomplish
• Achieve our goal
• Focused

Find out ...How to tackle tough interview questions

I have also worked in a company that was in one of the top ratings. I never tried to explore the metrics and mechanism on how they arrive at a rating. If you rate your company anonymously, then you rate on Vault.com The information you provide will help hundreds of thousands of job seekers better evaluate their employment options and make better career decisions.






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According to Linkshare on consumer research, adverts placed on the more mainstream social networking sites are unlikely to be effective as direct marketing tools.

The research, which surveyed 2,000 consumers, found just 5% of respondents considered adverts on professional social networks, such as LinkedIn and just 9% of adverts on personal social networking sites, such Facebook helpful in assisting their purchasing decisions on the web.

Vouchers, promotions and special offers were shown to be most effective way to encourage consumers to click on content displayed in banner ads and were also considered the least invasive form of online marketing at 11%. A resounding 59% said they thought that the promotions and offers available online were useful and only 19% of people had never responded to a voucher advert online.

So there has been a race by supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsburys or chains like Argos and Homebase to build their presence online. The marketing is more focussed on providing offers and discounts to the customer both online and in store.

The accounting standards have to be up-to-speed with the changes occurring in the business environment. An unclear standard may have an material affect on the financial statements.

TESCO published their Annual Financial Statements and accounting policies for revenue recognition are:

Revenue consists of sales through retail outlets.

• Revenue is recorded net of returns, relevant vouchers/offers and valueadded taxes, when the significant risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to the buyer. Relevant vouchers/offers include: money-off coupons, conditional spend vouchers and offers such as buy one get one free (BOGOF) and 3 for 2.
• Commission income is recorded based on the terms of the contracts and is recognised when the service is provided.

Clubcard and loyalty initiatives

• The cost of Clubcard is treated as a cost of sale, with an accrual equal to the estimated fair value of the points issued recognised when the original transaction occurs. On redemption, the cost of redemption is offset against the accrual.
•  The fair value of the points awarded is determined with reference to the cost of redemption and considers factors such as redemption via Clubcard deals versus money-off in-store and redemption rate. 
• Computers for Schools and Sport for Schools and Clubs vouchers are issued by Tesco for redemption by participating schools/clubs and are part of our overall Community Plan. The cost of the redemption (i.e. meeting the obligation attached to the vouchers) is treated as a cost rather than as a deduction from sales.

As a management accountant, you should be aware of the ever changing business environment and the accounting standards. I would also request you read the Annual Review of TESCO group as a case study.


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3. What is unbundling ?
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Unbundling: The process of taking over a large company with several different lines of business, and then, while retaining the core business, selling off the subsidiaries to help fund the takeover.

Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very common in the software business (for example: bundle a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a database into a single office suite), in the cable television industry (for example, basic cable in the United States generally offers many channels at one price), and in the fast food industry in which multiple items are combined into a complete meal. A bundle of products is sometimes referred to as a package deal or a compilation or an anthology.

Recent Example:

NITEL faces unbundling -  Oct 22, 2009 If proposals to unbundle Nigeria Telecommunications (Nitel) yield results, at least five new telecommunications companies will come into being in this densely populated African country.

These plans follow suggestions by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) submitted to the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) for consideration.

The ball is now in NCP’s court, and the telecommunications industry believes that a green light would be crucial to enhancing employment creation, service delivery and competition.

If approved, Nitel would be split into five telecommunications companies, comprising Long Distance Licence, International Licence, Infrastructure (MTel) and DML Licence.

Unbundling may occur when a company purchases another for its most valuable divisions (its crown jewels) with little desire for the other aspects of the business.

References:

• Investopia
  
• Wikipedia - Product bundling

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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a draft change to narrow the scope of its fair value or mark-to-market standard in July. It seeks to classify assets for valuation either at cost or at the going rate.

The measure was in response to calls from the Group of 20 group of leading economies to simplify fair value accounting rules in time for 2009 annual statements.

Policy makers blamed the rule for unnecessarily forcing banks to value some assets at depressed going rates amid extreme market turmoil, triggering huge writedowns and the need to recapitalise in a frozen credit market.

A key change will be much greater emphasis on the bank's business model so that many big banks in Europe with portfolios of low risk corporate or government bonds can value them at cost, rather than at fair value as they must do at present.

A ban on reclassifying of financial instruments has also been removed from the draft so that when business models change and become more focused on the longer term or are less risky, some assets can be valued at cost rather than fair value.

Sources:Reuters , IASB

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Did you google yourself ? This is question which a professional person ask. The first thing the head hunters  do when they hear your name or someone recommends your name, they search it on google. I was quite surprised when one of my colleague with whom I was working10 years ago called me up and told me you are everywhere on google.

Google places a high level of importance for people search to those who are registered on Linkedin and Facebook.  You can search your name on google and you should see your Linkedin account on the search results.

A couple of days ago, I had written a step by step approach on how to book your domain name yourself. I feel every accounting or IT professional should have a domain name. Then they can redirect the domain name to their Linkedin or Facebook profiles.

Three simple steps:

1. Book your domain as your name. I prefer www.GoDaddy.com . You are free to choose your domain service provider.
   
2. Domain Forward: Domain forwarding lets you automatically direct your domain's visitors to a different Web site. See how . Also see www.santoshputhran.com . Forward the domain address to your linkedin or facebook profile.
   
3. Configure MX records on Google Apps: You can enable email delivery by modifying MX (Mail Exchange) records; you'll just need to point your MX records to Google. Click here for instructions on how to configure for Godaddy.

How will you benefit professionally:

1. You will have a personalised email id name@domain.com on Google Apps. Email looks professional ie no more name.surname@gmail.com but you will enjoy all the features of gmail.
   
2. Your domain name is visible in every email and so will be Linkedin or Facebook. Read Mashable advice on how to maintain the profile on Linkedin and Facebook for professional networking. You will come out of obscurity.
   
3. Participate in professional networking forum like CMA India Portal and give professional opinions and views on events. This will make you visible among professionals.
4. You should always spend money on yourself to professionally upgrade yourself rather than thinking too much on how much you can put in your pension fund.

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New ACCA report reveals best practice planning for finance professionals

'The report looks at how accountants add value to business in what remains a very dynamic and challenging environment,' said Tony Osude, ACCA acting director of professional development and one of the report's authors.

'We see finance professionals adding value in five areas that we call the five domains of finance - strategy, analysis, operations, custodial and regulation. We have used the finance function as a case study to demonstrate the role that professional accountants play and to identify the differences between the good and the great.

'The skills of finance professionals are examined, revealing that organisations and accountants have an opportunity to enhance the value they provide by understanding more clearly how and where value can be added in the business, and developing an operating model for finance that clearly aligns skill capabilities to this value provision. The report provides a framework for organisations assessing and reviewing the effectiveness of their finance function, and suggests how an optimal model can be derived.'

Source: ACCA Global

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In my last post, I had given the procedure how to book the domain name on www.GoDaddy.com . The next step is to build a website and configure email ids for your company. You have two choices

First Option

You can have a look at hosting plans at GoDaddy.com. I would suggest the Economy plans would be a good option for a small business, since it provides 1GB of space and 100 email. If you have more email accounts, then you need configure Outlook to download the emails on your local computer. GoDaddy also offers WordPress plans for blogging. So you have decide on your budget and then select the hosting plans that is suited to your needs.

Just to let you know I have hosted my blog http://iwaant.com on WordPress Hosting on Godaddy.

Second Option

This is the free option on Google Apps.

Why Google Apps ? Google Apps Standard Edition makes it easy for your business or group to communicate and collaborate online - and it's free. Tools include:

• Gmail : Get custom email like hikingfan@your-group.com.
• Google Calendar Organize your schedule and share events with your employees.
• Google Sites Create websites and group wikis
• Google Docs: Share online documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.

Simple steps to configure:

After you have booked your domain name on Godaddy, start here on Google Apps. Select the option "Administrator: I own or control this domain" and enter your domain name and continue with all the steps. This should register your domain name with Google Apps.

Google Apps will ask you to do two things:

1. Domain verification - CNAME Records: This will help google to verify that you are the owner of the domain. So you have do settings at Godaddy account as per the instruction in Google Apps. Then Google will fetch the information from Godaddy and verify the ownership. Click here for instructions
2. Configure Email Accounts - MX Records : You can enable email delivery by modifying MX (Mail Exchange) records; you'll just need to point your MX records to Google. Click here for instructions on how to configure for Godaddy.

After you done the above settings, it would take 24 to 48 hours for the changes to take effect. Till such time, you will notice on your Google Apps Dashboard, the status of various services as "Updating". Once google apps has established connection with your Godaddy account, it will show status as "Active". Now you are free to use the features of Google Apps for your email, website and documents.

You will notice, the default setting for Google Apps services will be set like this. Eg. Site will be

http://sites.google.com/a/domainname.com. Use the function Change url and select http://www.domainname.com. Do this for all the services. Now you have fully configured your Google Apps. For more help, on how to use various services on Google Apps, click here.

So if you are a small business or practising firm who does not want to invest on website and email ids, but at the same time want to have professional website I feel the second option would be a better one. But everything is your choice including the domain service provider.

Please discuss if you need any help.

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Starting your own business, it requires determination to go ahead with what you think you do the best. Then position your niche to make money. To position and advertise yourself in the market you need a website.  There is a general impression that creating a website is expensive and maintaining email ids would require expertise. Here are simple steps to how you can do it yourself.

Simple steps to create your own website. - Part 1

1. Book your domain on www.GoDaddy.com . There are other domain registrars like 123-reg or Network Solutions , Yahoo but I prefer www.GoDaddy.com

2. After you visit GoDaddy, change the country and region of your choice (top right hand corner). It is very easy. See screenshots below

3. Start Domain Search. Enter the website name you want to register. You should enter the name with a www. or .com. www.GoDaddy.com will suggest you various domain names available. In this instance, I am searching for availability of domain cmamanmohan either .com or .net

So I enter the domain name in the box provided and hit Go.

There are many suggestions available for me to decide. If the domain name is already booked, then start your search again with a new name.

4. After you select your domain name, click on "Add and Proceed to Checkout". GoDaddy will prompt you to book for related domain name with .net or .org. So you have the option to buy them at this instance.

At this instance, I am clicking on "No Thanks" and proceeding further. This will take me to the checkout page, where I make the payment and register my domain name.

This is the first step of booking your own domain name.

In the next post, I will cover on configuration of website and email id registration

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