A continuous organization improvement program can be easily implemented and very beneficial using minimal organization resources; and become inherent in your culture and day-to-day activities throughout you organization.

Use These Guidelines To Foster A Continuous Improvement Focus.

• Top Management Must Lead
• Integrate Improvements Into Performance Reporting
• Staff Meeting Agendas That Include Improvement Status
• Rigorous Analysis of Improvement Ideas
• Position Descriptions Include Improvement Contribution Responsibility
• Recruit Employees With The Capability And Desire
• Performance Evaluations Include Improvement Contributions
• Recognize All Improvements
• Regular Assessments of Services, Products And All Operational Areas And Functions

For more information on these guidelines go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1576

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post How To Integrate Continuous Improvement Into Your Organization’s Culture And Daily Activities appeared first on Big4.com.

Improving the production and delivery of your services can positively impact customer satisfaction, competitive advantage and efficiencies.   The key is to identify where to make improvements and which improvements will deliver the greater benefit.  This easy to use tool will help you to identify and make those important improvements.

The criteria in this tool cover these service production and delivery components:

• Customer Focus And Understanding
• Service Alignment and Objectives
• Service Elements And Content
• Service Delivery
• Understand Your Service Production and Delivery Processes
• Employee Performance And Roles
• Technology
• Process Ownership and Decision Making
• Pricing, Cost And Revenue
• Measuring Service Performance
• Service Leadership

To view and use the tool go to “Services Assessment And Improvement Tool”.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1183

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Identify The Strengths Of Your Services And Where Improvements Can Be Leveraged appeared first on Big4.com.

Many workplaces employ relatively few people and have substantial ongoing change, along with minimal organization structure and informal work processes.  It’s also normal to “wear many hats” and change work focus with little or no advance notice.   This is particularly evident with startups and entrepreneurs.

Some people thrive in this workplace, others find it very challenging. Regardless, use these recommendations that are particularly applicable to fast moving/changing/unstructured work places to prosper.

Know what those in-charge are thinking.  Find out regularly what is on the mind of the people in-charge, their expectations and desires; also their vision and goals; as this can change frequently when there is a lot of fluidity. And align your work and mind-set accordingly.

Identify the type of work that is most important or needed in the organization.  When there is substantial on-going change it’s important to regularly consider the types of work that are most important and needed, as it can continually change.  How close am I aligned with it? How can I contribute to it? How can I be more proficient at it?

For more guidelines go to: How To Succeed In A Continually Changing And Unstructured Workplace.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2987

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post How To Succeed In A Continually Changing And Unstructured Workplace appeared first on Big4.com.

An organization restructuring will create substantial impacts that can extend throughout the organization and also with external relationships.  It should be evaluated with great care.  When you consider a restructuring apply these factors:

• Establish and document the reorganization’s objectives
• Where the organization will be in 2-5 years.
• Alignment of current positions with organization strategy.
• Should the position or the incumbent change, or both?
• Is it something else that should be improved, not the structure?
• Document tangible improvements, short and long term, resulting from any change.
• Develop criteria for evaluating alternatives.  This will help to ensure that your analysis is rigorous and consistently applied.
• What is required, in addition to making the change, for a successful improvement to occur?
• Document the risks and problems that could arise from the restructuring and how you will manage them.
• Include all relevant decision makers.

For additional information and details go to: http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2950

Also see “Implementing An Organization Realignment – Useful Guidelines” on my website.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2166

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Important Considerations For An Organizational Restructuring appeared first on Big4.com.

The post Performance Self Evaluation – Use Your Own Critiera appeared first on Big4.com.

A CEO/executive can have great satisfaction in fixing problems, but it may not be in the best interests of the organization; and a distraction from the important work of leading and directing the organization.

A leadership position has the authority, knowledge and perspective to do the quick fixes that subordinates may not be able to do as efficiently and effectively. However, this ability and willingness to resolve problems can be a trap that results in ineffective development of direct reports; lack of operational processes that mitigate the need for the same or similar fixes by the CEO; and/or uncertainty about roles, responsibilities and decision making authority of those that report to the CEO directly or indirectly. For more on this topic go to; http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2770

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Leadership Versus The Desire To Fix Problems appeared first on Big4.com.

The objective is the most important element of a successful endeavor; it drives everything.  If not well defined and understood, you will “miss the mark” – you will waste time and resources.  There can only be one objective; if there is more than one objective you have more than one project or initiative.

• What is the desired end-result and by when must it occur? What will the end result, i.e. objective, look like?  How do you define success?

Document your objective – this could be more challenging than you think. Let it sit for a day and then revisit it; have others read/review it, particularly those that have an important stake in the result.

Then work backwards from your objective, e.g. actions, steps, timeline, milestones, participants, status reporting, etc; and the resources needed to achieve your objective.

Also see these articles:

“Key Elements For Successful Project Planning and Implementation.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=915”

“To Successfully Implement A New Initiative Identify The Risks To Successful Implementation. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1953”

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Do You Know Your Objective – Thoroughly? appeared first on Big4.com.

CEO’s and Executives should annually evaluate their performance in key organizational areas; and also plan for the upcoming year.   How did the organization improve in these key areas; and how do you plan to improve and move the organization forward in the upcoming year?

The results of self-evaluation can also be the basis for information provided to employees, the Board and/or ownership, and external parties.  Granted, any planning should include other key members of your organization and also your Board and/or ownership, with the CEO providing the framework and being the driver for planning and execution.

This evaluation and improvement methodology also incorporates and provides an approach and guidance on good CEO leadership and management practices.   Depending on the size and type of organization CEO responsibilities will require more or less “leadership” versus “management” activities.

Cagegories for evaluating CEO and Executive achievements are:

• Overall Organization Position
• Services and Products
• Financial
• Marketplace Position
• Employee Competencies
• Strategic Initiatives
• External Relationships

For details, and other information and tools to improve your organization’s performance, go to: http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2523

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post CEO’s/Executives – Evaluate and Improve Your Performance appeared first on Big4.com.

A continuous organization improvement program can be easily implemented and very beneficial using minimal organization resources.  It’s important that you establish a continuous improvement program; not assume that improvement suggestions and efforts will appear without encouragement by management.  And it should be become inherent in your culture and day-to-day work activities throughout you organization.

A continuous improvement program can be implemented with these basic guidelines and principles:

• Top Management Must Lead
• Integrate Improvement Into Performance Reporting
• Staff Meeting Agendas That Include Improvement Status
• Rigorous Analysis of Possible Improvements
• Position Descriptions
• Recruitment
• Performance Evaluations
• Recognition
• Regular Organization Assessments

For detailed information on these guidelines and principles, and other information and tools to improve your organization’s performance, go to: http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1576

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Integrate Continuous Improvement Into Your Organization’s Culture And Daily Activities appeared first on Big4.com.

WeiserMazars , a leading accounting, tax and advisory services firm, today announced that former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newark Division Michael D. Schulstad has joined its New York City office as Director of Litigation Support and Forensic Accounting Services. Mr. Schulstad brings more than twenty-five years of forensic examination and analysis experience to his new role, especially in the area of white collar crime. His deep knowledge of these areas will enhance the firm’s financial advisory offering.

Most recently, Mr. Schulstad was the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. He was stationed in Afghanistan, where he launched operations targeting fraud and corruption which had become endemic to the Afghan reconstruction effort.

Prior to joining WeiserMazars, Mr. Schulstad spent twenty-five years with the FBI.  As Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Newark Division, Mr. Schulstad investigated and supervised a variety of criminal  programs in the areas of bank failure, money laundering and asset forfeiture as well as numerous types of fraud including contract, health care, bank, bankruptcy, government and procurement.

Since 1921, WeiserMazars LLP has provided a unique combination of foresight and experience when fulfilling client needs in accounting, tax and advisory services.  WeiserMazars’ team of over 100 partners and approximately 700 professionals is based out of six U.S. offices, Israel and the Cayman Islands.

The post WEISERMAZARS: NEW DIRECTOR FOR FORENSIC ACCOUNTING SERVICES appeared first on Big4.com.

You should be using performance measures to gauge how well your organization is doing, more specifically you should be measuring effectiveness – how well you are achieving your objectives; and efficiency – how well you are using your resources.  As you embark on developing performance measures or improving your current measures, there are guidelines to use.

• Link Performance Measures to Operating Objectives
• Track Historical Trends
• Reporting Must Be Appropriate For Decision-Maker Responsibilities
• Data Must Be Valid, Accurate and Current
• Reports Must Be Valid,  Accurate and Current
• Know The Processes and Activities Driving the Data and Reports You Use
• Start With A Few Measures and Use as Few as Possible
• Use the Measures in a Positive Manner
• Know How To Measure Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Using Efficiency and Effectiveness Measures to determine, for example, if you are doing better / worse over time or achieving expectations; or to help identify where your strengths and weaknesses are.

For details and more information go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1596.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Performance Measures – Guidelines For Developing And Using Them appeared first on Big4.com.

When conducted correctly a consulting project interview will result in more than just useful information directly linked to a question or a form to be completed.  Properly conducted interviews will go a long way in building client confidence that you are competent; and that you will deliver what is required from the objectives of the consulting project.  And you will have enhanced your relationship with the client. This can be essential for a successful project particularly those that will result in providing the client with contentious, controversial or negative information and/or that will require substantial changes in its operations.

Here are some useful tips.  You may have others that you follow.

• Be Actively Interested
• Confidentiality
• Your Interviewee Will Talk With Other Employees
• Prepare In Advance
• Review With a Colleague
• Research The Interviewee
• Visualize The Interview
• Make the interviewee comfortable
• Interviewee Questions
• Progress From the General and Non-Controversial to Specific and More Controversial Questions
• Actively Listen
• Use Two Interviewers
• Type Your  Notes In Most Instances
• Anything Else?

For details go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1261

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Organization Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post The Art of Conducting A Consulting Project Interview – Includes Active Listening appeared first on Big4.com.

Management positions on the front lines of your organization are a very important resource and require attention and resources tailored to their important role.  Therefore, it’s important that methods are in-place to support and aid newly hired managers. Combined into one document are three of our popular articles on New Managers.

I.      New Manager On-Boarding Delivers Success For The Manager And Organization

Guidelines for planning and implementing a successful on-boarding experience for new managers; resulting in fewer mistakes and disruptions to workflow; also reduced time to be fully productive.

II.   Getting A Good Start As A New Manager – Your First 90 Days

Guideline for new managers -where and how they should focus in their initial 90 days.  Also, employers can provide these guidelines to a new manager as a work plan to follow.

III.           Problems With Your New Manager? Reset Their Performance & Success With This Guidance

Sets forth an approach and considerations to address a less than successful start for a new manager.

For details go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=2432

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Pragmatic Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Tools To Improve New Manager Performance – New Manager Suite appeared first on Big4.com.

Startups, with their very necessary focus on funding, product/service development, and sales tend to overlook fundamental management practices that can support their efforts to be successful.  Management practices important for startups include:

• Think-through and document planning for your work efforts and projects.  Also identify risks that could impair the successful achievement of your work objective.  Identify what could go wrong and determine in advance how to manage those risks.  This will help to minimize unexpected problems
• Define and describe – with documentation – your product or services
• Set targets and measure performance
• Balance the need for entrepreneurial flexibility with some structure to your work efforts
• Develop a balanced company strategy
• Have a funding strategy
• Establish accountability and trust; and a positive work environment
• Seek and engage smart people with the skills, knowledge and experience you need

For details and more information go to Management Essentials For Startups, http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2406

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Pragmatic Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Management Essentials For Startups appeared first on Big4.com.

Measuring various aspects of your organization’s performance requires the transformation of data into useful “knowledge” for decision-making. Most organization’s find it relatively easy to measure financial performance as there are commonly accepted principles and reporting practices that everyone uses.  Measuring other aspects of your organization so that the information can be used for effective decision making can be more challenging as there are no common data collection and reporting practices.

Use these guidelines to implement organization performance measures.

• Define what you want to measure and objectives for doing so
• Link the measure to strategic and operating objectives
• Data manipulation
• Start small
• Do a risk assessment
• Compare costs versus benefits
• Review and test data validity
• Do test runs
• Include all users, collectors and producers

For details and more information go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2385

Additional information on performance measures.

Performance Measures – Guidelines For Developing And Using Them.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1596.

Useful Performance Measures & Metrics – How To Measure Efficiency & Effectiveness.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1071.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Pragmatic Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Implementing Organization Performance Measures – Best Practices appeared first on Big4.com.

Challenges for professional service firms include securing and retaining clients, profitability and recruiting and retaining employees.  There is also the challenge to revise services, or develop new services, as client requirements and competition evolves.  This evaluation and improvement framework can support a review of your organization to determine your strengths and where there is a need to make improvements.  It’s structured so that you can focus on certain organizational areas or your entire organization.

Professional service firms include services provided by accountants, business consultants, financial services firms, attorneys, architects and real estate brokers; also in-house process improvement groups or internal audit departments.  And they entail several or all of these characteristics:

• Applying synthesized information and knowledge; analysis and hypothesis testing incorporating client needs, wants and circumstances.
• Fluid client environments.
• Delivering work results verbally and in writing.
• Preparing proposals describing the scope of work to be performed, pricing, qualifications (prior related experience and qualifications of employees that will deliver the service) to do the work and a work plan.
• Extensive interaction with the client and normally more than one person at the client.
• The specific content of the deliverable is not known at the start of your work.
• Work performed by teams which could have multiple disciplines (e.g. technical, sales and generalist) represented.
• A matrix organization structure and fluid work environment that is continually reacting and adapting to business opportunities and client requirements.

Our Evaluation and Improvement Framework Has The Following Categories:

• Direction and Focus – Top Management
• Positive Work Culture
• Strong Understanding of Core Competencies
• Knowing Your Strategic Environment
• Marketing and Sales – Getting Work Opportunities
• Directing Your Professional Services Organization
• Client Risk Management
• To Propose Or Not To Propose
• Contracts
• Managing Service and Project Delivery
• Managing the Professional Service Team
• Financial Operations

For details go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1980

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Pragmatic Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Professional Service Firm Assessment And Improvement Tool appeared first on Big4.com.

Well planned and implemented on-boarding specialized for new managers results in fewer mistakes and disruptions to workflow and reduces the time it takes to be fully productive.

For newly hired managers any formal on-boarding process usually involves a one-size-fits-all organization-wide process and then the person to whom they report will develop an orientation to the specific position and department.  However, many times the position specific on-boarding is ad-hoc and may, or may not, include introductions (in-person and/or by email) to employees; review of a variety of reports and documents; and explanations and descriptions of work processes, vendors and, customers.  And then the manager is expected to get-to-work and become productive as quickly as possible.

Given the importance of managers to organization success their on-boarding should be comprehensive and extend for at least 90 days, or ideally for 6 months.  The on-boarding specific to their position as a manager should cover the following important areas.

Below are categories and items to include in new manager on-boarding. For details go to  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2255.

Prior To The New Manager’s First Day

• Create an on-boarding agenda
• Meet with your current managers in advance
• Introductory e-mail to current employees

On-Boarding Content And Activities

• Why we hired you
• Organization overview
• Department overview
• Review strategic objectives and core competencies
• Department employee characteristics
• Customers - internal or external .
• Relationships with other departments
• Department strengths and weaknesses; and opportunities for improvement
• Manager responsibilities
• Manager decision making authority
• Your decision making style
• Work culture and values
• Introductions
• Initial meetings with fellow managers
• Manager goals and performance objectives
• Status meetings

For the detailed information for each of these items, and other information and tools to improve your organization’s performance, go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2255.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Michael VanBruaene Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Specialized New Manager On-Boarding Delivers Success For The Manager And Organization appeared first on Big4.com.

After a couple of months your new manager is not performing as you expected.  He/she was apparently a good fit and clearly the best applicant for the position.  However you are seeing that their actions are not aligned with what you expected and wanted.  To address this challenge:

Meet with the manager soon to start the reset process

You should not wait until a formal review to address this problem.  Do it soon, there is too much at stake.  And more than likely their performance will improve.  When you meet be specific and direct, but not harsh.  Communicate the reasons for the meeting, state examples of what you are seeing compared to what you had expected.

Find out what the manager is experiencing, feeling and thinking.  It’s possible that the manager is not completely responsible.  Ask open-ended questions and allow the manager to fully present their thoughts. You must be an active listener and facilitate a back and forth flow of information and perspectives.

You should have no preconceived solution for the manager’s performance problem.  The solution will flow from your honest and objective discussion with the manager.  The end result should be a plan of action on the manager’s part, and possibly also you, to address the problem.  And set a schedule for additional meetings, at least every two weeks, to continue the discussion and review progress until the problem is resolved.

Considerations For Your Discussion With Your Manager

You want to make sure that in the course of your discussions with your manager you address all possible factors that could be affecting the manager’s performance, keeping in mind that the manager may be doing well considering the challenges and circumstances being faced. You just had not known about them.  Take into consideration these factors.

• The position description
• Reasons for the hire
• Soft or hard skill problems
• Communicating your expectations
• Your support
• Manager expectations
• Organization culture
• Organization challenges
• Your decision making style
• Decision making discretion
• Getting to know staff
• Effective on-boarding
• Staff and peer cooperation.
• Key messages to staff
• Cabability as a manager
• Position fit

To learn more about these factors and how to reset your manager’s performance, and other management tools,  go to  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2221.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Problems With Your New Manager? Reset Their Performance & Success With This Guidance appeared first on Big4.com.

With any organizational realignment or restructuring the challenge and real work is in the details of implementation. There are risks, challenges and issues to identify, address and manage.

Realignment can be as small as rearranging a few positions and responsibilities or a major re-positioning of large divisions, along with changes to their operating units, processes and position responsibilities.

Below is a summary of guidelines to use for your particular realignment or restructuring implementation. For details go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2166.

Document the End Result, Also Benefits and Negative Impacts. Have a specific, well documented and understandable (to all constituencies) description of the end result.

Manage the Implementation – Assign Responsibility and Authority, Also Necessary Resources. One position should be given authority and responsibility for managing the realignment implementation.

Have an Implementation Plan. Your implementation plan will lay-out your objectives, actions, timelines, milestones, responsibilities and points in the implementation when you review the status of the realignment implementation – what is going well, not going well and any adjustments to make. Your plan should also state the risks to a successful realignment and how you will monitor and manage these risks, including employees responsible for managing each risk.

Deliver Orientation and Training. If employees will be reassigned to new operating units and/or positions, give them the necessary orientation to the new operating unit and training if there is a change in their responsibilities.

Prepare Executives and Managers for Transferred Employees. Managers in work units to which employees are being transferred, should receive the necessary help in preparing for the new employees.

Have a Communications Plan. Identify all parties that should be informed at each stage in the realignment implementation process, and the timing and content for the communication.

Include Key Executives Early. Include your key executives in the initial considerations of how the realignment will be implemented and monitored. In any event, most of them should have important roles. Do not overlook IT.

Empower Employees and Listen to Them. Hopefully you included employees in considering and planning the realignment

Establish Trust. Organization leaders, particularly those directly involved in the realignment, must establish employee trust in their leadership, and also between employees.

Consider Human Concerns – Resistance to Change and Morale. Change, sometimes even minor organization change, can create uncertainty about the future, and causes fears about a job loss or the ability to succeed in doing something new. During the realignment closely monitor employee morale, interactions, comments and complaints. Implement whatever remedial action is necessary to address these issues which should be taken seriously.

For the detailed information for each of these considerations, and other information and tools to improve your organization’s performance, go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2166.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post Implementing An Organization Realignment – Useful Guidelines appeared first on Big4.com.

A sound understanding of your service production and delivery assumptions and process, and your customers, can position you to make continuing improvements in all aspects of your service related processes.  It’s important to understand and consider the interface(s) with your customers, how your customers are using the service and/or your internal processes for producing and delivering the service.  Our tool has criteria within the following categories to help you with.

• Designing Your Improvement Efforts
• Customer Focus And Understanding
• Service Alignment and Objectives
• Service Elements And Content
• Service Delivery
• Understand Your Service Production and Delivery Processes
• Analyze The Process
• Employee Performance And Roles
• Technology
• Process Ownership and Decision Making
• Pricing, Cost And Revenue
• Measuring Service Performance
• Service Leadership

For the criteria and details go to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1183

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com). He can also be contacted at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

The post SERVICES ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT TOOL appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Managing Your Organization’s Fast Growth – Important Areas Requiring Your Attention

Fast and sustained growth is sought by many organizations.  Fast growth, particularly when it continues for a long time, can substantially strain your organization; and negatively impact customers, finances, business processes and employee effectiveness and morale.  And you may find yourself continually compelled to resolve too many daily problems resulting from the fast growth.  To effectively manage your growth focus on the following organizational areas:

• Essential Processes And Activities
• Current Services/Products
• Current Customers
• Costs
• Long Term Perspective
• Employees
• Board Functioning (If You Have A Board)
• Board and CEO Relations
• Measuring Organization Performance
• Accountability
• Technology
• Risk/Problem Identification And Management

Go to to http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2126 for more information on these important organizational areas to be addressed when you have fast growth.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at  Performance Improvement Services – Advancing Your Organization (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com)

The post Managing Your Organization’s Fast Growth – Important Areas For Your Attention appeared first on Big4.com.

Hurricane Sandy, making its way through the northeast of the United States, has caused several Big4 firms to close their offices in addition to closing trading on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

On Sunday, NASDAQ and the NYSE announced that they would close exchanges on Monday and possible on Tuesday. This is the first time markets have closed because of weather since 1985, when Hurricane Gloria stormed through New York City and the region. Several companies were planning to release earnings on Monday, including Pfizer, Thomson Reuters, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The end of October is typically busy with activity, as many blue chip companies announce their quarterly reports.

Big4 firms have also shut their headquarters in New York City and in nearby cities including Philadelphia and Boston. Public transport has also been shut in several cities, including New York City, where several highways already flooded early Monday as the storm moved northward.

Although Hurricane Sandy has not yet hit land, already several parts of New York City flooded Monday morning and power outages were reported downtown around Wall Street.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs New York City public transport including its subway and busses, said it will probably suspend service on Tuesday. It remains unclear when trading on Wall Street will resume, and workers can return to their offices at Big4 headquarters in the northeast.

The post Hurricane Sandy Closes PwC Offices in NYC, Surrounding Area appeared first on Big4.com.

Management Practices Assessment And Improvement Tool

Are you wondering how you can improve your management effectiveness? Here is a comprehensive approach for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your management practices, along with guidance for positioning yourself to make appropriate improvements.  The management principles and practices described in the Tool apply to managers at all organization levels, with some being more applicable to different levels of the organization.   The Tool’s categories are:

1. Strategic Thinking, Vision and Actions
2. Strategy and Goals
3. Organization Culture
4. Clear Direction and Project Planning
5. Maintaining Priorities
6. Using Performance Measures
7. Regular and Productive Meetings With Direct Reports
8. Responsibilities and Authority
9. In Touch With Employees
10. In Touch With Customers – External and Internal
11. Delegating Work
12. Communication
13. Organization and Team Leadership
14. Supporting Employees
15. Interest In Employee Personal Lives
16. People Development
17. Constructive Feedback to Employees
18. Staffing Levels Management
19. Bottom Lines
20. Conflict Resolution
21. Self-Awareness

Go to this page on my website for the specifics under each category. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403.  Review them and consider the extent to which you want to use them. You do not have to use all of them and can tailor them to your specific organization circumstances and improvement objectives. You may also want to add categories and practices.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at AdvancingYourOrganization – Performance Improvement Services (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com)

The post Do Your Management Practices Need A Tune-Up? appeared first on Big4.com.

With many organizations wanting to be lean and have a flat organization reporting structure, managers may become overwhelmed by the number of employees reporting directly to them; and have difficulty effectively managing their direct reports and the operations for which they are responsible.  Before you start to change your organization structure (or give up on improving your circumstances) there are many options and factors you can consider and address to address this issue.

• Do you have current and documented position descriptions?
• Are your hiring criteria adequate?
• Do you require accountability?
• Do you provide understandable and actionable directions?
• How can you reduce and condense workplace interactions?
• Review your work procedures documentation and templates.
• Are you too “helpful”?
• Improve your business processes.
• Evaluate your personal work habits.
• Is the actual problem a cyclical work calendar?
• Consider developing one or more lead workers.

Go to this link for the detailed information for each of these considerations. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=2071; and other information and tools to improve your organization’s performance.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at AdvancingYourOrganization – Performance Improvement Services (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com)

The post Too Many Direct Reports With Your Flat Organization Structure? Considerations To Lessen The Impact appeared first on Big4.com.

As you commence your new managerial position it’s important that you quickly develop an understanding of your department/functional area’s operations.  You want to know its processes, strengths, weaknesses, culture and employees; also key peers within the overall organization, and key external entities and stakeholders.  You also want to develop a good rapport with, and understanding of, the person(s) to whom you report.

Going into the position you should have a game plan for developing this understanding of your department so that within 60 – 90 days, maybe sooner, you can start correcting some problems and/or improving certain operations.  You do not need to correct all problems or improve operations in a comprehensive way in the first few months in the position; however by then you should be in a position to make improvements.

Below are important elements of your first 90 days in the position.

• Effective Meetings With Your Boss
• Meet With Your Predecessor
• Effective Meetings With Key Staff
• Meet With Key Peers
• Documents/Information Review
• Information You Need
• Personnel Qualifications
• Organization Structure
• Financial
• Employee Accountability
• Regulatory and  Compliance
• Your Personal Agenda
• Key Messages To Staff
• Regular Staff  Meetings
• Walk Around, Be Visible, Say Hello

Go to this link for detailed information under each of these elements. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1518

And how can I help you to improve? Michael VanBruaene mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at AdvancingYourOrganization – Performance Improvement Services (www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com)

The post Getting A Good Start As A New Manager – Your First 90 Days appeared first on Big4.com.

In response to increased scrutiny from Boards, Revenue Authorities and other regulators, many businesses are now formally documenting their indirect tax strategy and implementing formal processes to evaluate and approve planning ideas.

For leading companies, a tax strategy is a dynamic framework that is shaped by internal and external drivers.

A tax strategy should cover all key taxes and business locations and should be aligned to the overall business strategy.

Potential Benefits Of A Documented Indirect Tax Strategy Include:

1. Obtaining clarity around the business’ indirect tax risk appetite, which should facilitate the identification of planning opportunities appropriate to the business’ wider commercial objectives
2. Providing the business with a consistent and efficient review and evaluation process over tax-related matters
3. Raising the profile of Indirect Tax with key business and Finance stakeholders
4. Monitoring and strengthening governance procedures in decentralized and overseas jurisdictions
5. Identifying improvements in indirect tax-related systems, processes and controls
6. Identifying areas where additional indirect tax resources or funding may be required

To challenge the Indirect Tax Function’s short and long term business plan objectives the site contains a roadmap of an ‘Indirect Tax Strategic Plan’ and includes examples of ‘Setting the Objectives Of The Tax Function’.

Tax Control Framework

Tax Control Framework forms an integral part of an organisation’s Business or Internal Control Framework, ensuring that the organisation’s processes have been structured so that the tax risks or potential savings become visible on time.

Download

Proving The Reliability Of Accounting Records For Tax Purposes

The New Trend might be to have a more open dialogue between revenue bodies, taxpayers, and tax intermediaries. The at times prolonged operational audits performed by the tax authorities seem to be turning into a thing of the past.

Initiatives Of Tax Authorities

• In 2005, the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration (TCA) initiated a pilot ‘horizontal monitoring’ programme involving 20 of the country’s largest corporate taxpayers
• In 2005, the United States initiated a Compliance Assurance Process
• In September 2005, the Irish Revenue Commissioners initiated their ‘Co- operative Compliance’ programme with large corporate taxpayers.
• Budget 2009, Senior Accounting Officer sign off in the United Kingdom
• GST Assisted Compliance Assurance Programme (ACAP) in Singapore

We refer also to OECD promotion of ‘enhanced relationship’ (OECD report: Study into the Role of Tax Intermediaries). Even if the authorities have not embraced such an approach (yet), a proactive mode can not only safe time and money but result in a good relationship.

With the arrival of horizontal supervision the Netherlands, combined with the use of audit samples and data analyses, businesses can prove the reliability of their accounting records for tax purposes themselves, which offers the opportunity to avoid supplementary tax assessments and penalties.

The following benefits may be realised if VAT pre-audits are performed using, among other things, data analyses and audit-sample techniques:

1. Improved relations with the Tax Inspector (evidently, by using audit techniques similar to those used by the Tax Office, the first hurdle in any future discussions about the outcome of an audit is already taken).
2. Businesses obtain an understanding of the nature and scope of their tax risks in a statistically reliable, quick and efficient way.
3. The quality of the assessment of procedures performed by external auditors will increase, because they will have to spend less time on assessing risks in the tax chapter in the fields of, for instance, indirect taxes, payroll tax and national insurance contributions.
4. Less “vertical” audits and lower costs to be incurred on using business resources for such audits
5. Lower penalties

Statistical Sampling

Statistical Sampling is the tax audit methodology of the Dutch Tax Authorities and it can be used by companies for proactive audit defense: pre-audit and detective control resulting in quantification of potential amount of exposures and/or savings.

By identifying risks respectively opportunities, an action plan pertaining to both the future and the past may be drawn up to mitigate these risks or realize savings.

Data Analytics

An alternative for performing an efficient tax audit would be data analysis. Data-analysis options have increased and been refined rapidly over the past few years, allowing for large data volumes to be reviewed in an effective and efficiently way. Besides, data analyses can usually be performed using the same software tool as that used to statistical sampling.

Example of executive summary of data analytics – scope both savings as risks evaluation (source: KEY Group)

Download

Management Of Legislative Change

By The KEY Group specialized in ‘Business Control, ‘Information Technology’ and ‘Indirect Tax Performance’

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Indirect Tax Strategic Plan appeared first on Big4.com.

Professional service organization challenges include securing and retaining clients, profitability and recruiting and retaining employees.  There is also the challenge to revise services, or develop new services, as client requirements and competition evolves.  This comprehensive evaluation and improvement framework can support a review of your organization to determine your strengths and where there is a need to make improvements.  It’s structured so that you can focus on certain organizational areas or your entire organization.

Professional service organizations include services provided by accountants, business consultants, financial services firms, attorneys, architects and real estate brokers; also in-house process improvement groups or internal audit departments.  And they entail several or all of these characteristics:

• Applying synthesized information and knowledge; analysis and hypothesis testing to client needs, wants and circumstances.
• Fluid client environments.
• Delivering work results verbally and in writing.  Also preparing proposals describing the scope of work to be performed, pricing, qualifications (prior related experience and qualifications of employees that will deliver the service) to do the work and a work plan.
• Extensive interaction with the client.
• The content of the deliverable is not known at the start of your work.
• Being part of a team, which could have multiple disciplines (e.g. technical, sales and generalist) represented.
• A matrix organization structure and fluid work environment that is continually reacting to business opportunities and client requirements.

The Evaluation and Improvement Framework Has The Following Categories:

• Direction and Focus – Top Management
• Positive Work Culture
• Strong Understanding of Core Competencies
• Knowing Your Strategic Environment
• Marketing and Sales – Getting Work Opportunities
• Directing Your Professional Services Organization
• Client Risk Management
• To Propose Or Not To Propose
• Contracts
• Managing Service and Project Delivery
• Managing the Professional Service Team
• Financial Operations

The post IMPROVING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES appeared first on Big4.com.

Big4.com Guest Blogger

If you’re serving the wrong clients, you don’t have a chance for success.”  Bill Hermann, former Managing Partner, Plante & Moran

For professional service firms the client base, in effect, defines the business. Clients represent much more than a revenue stream: They are the magnet that attracts other desirable clients as well as top professionals to the firm. They help shape a firm’s brand and have a powerful influence on its reputation and standing in the marketplace.

In our research for my book, The Art of Managing Professional Services, we asked over 130 senior leaders to rate their firms on client portfolio management. Fifty-five percent of respondents gave themselves a top grade on performance in this area, as shown in the chart below. However, most indicated that they are good at individual client management – their weakness is in overall portfolio management and measurement.

Virtually all firms, whether global enterprises or niche players, allow for opportunistic client acquisitions. However, many believe they have erred too much in that direction and are far too ad hoc in their approach to acquiring clients, allowing partners to bring in new business at their discretion or reactively responding to pitch opportunities with little or no strategic planning. Traditionally, professionals have sought and served clients as part of their personal book of business – and this “lone ranger” mentality is alive and well throughout the professional service industry.

By nature, professionals like to own and protect their client relationships. They possess a natural reluctance to sever ties with clients, particularly those with whom they have long-term working relationships, no matter how unprofitable a fact-based assessment may reveal them to be. This reluctance often goes hand in hand with an unwillingness to conduct an objective profitability analysis.

A number of respondents observed that they have fallen prey to the Golden Goose syndrome: overreliance on a handful of clients who provide a major contribution to the firm’s revenues but who also result in dangerous vulnerability. We heard a number of sobering war stories about near disasters from firms that unexpectedly lost a key revenue-generating client. Everyone who runs a professional service firm understands the danger of keeping too many eggs in too few client baskets, but it is difficult not to be lulled into complacency when deep-pocket, long-term client assignments come your way. Small firms in particular tend to throw all hands on deck to manage these engagements, while long-term planning and business development to keep the new client pipeline active are put on hold.

Mastering the client management life cycle

Based on our discussions and experience in the industry, we have identified five steps to successfully manage the client cycle from concept through acquisition, retention, and renewal. The cycle begins with strategically determining and planning the client mix. As clients come onboard, they are carefully introduced into the firm and are nurtured and managed throughout the relationship via a well-defined process to sustain, grow, solicit feedback, and improve the client relationship. The cycle is completed with regular reviews of client profitability, partner management, and relationship status. Each step in the cycle is integral to building a profitable client base that sustains and nourishes the firm and its professionals.

1. Proactively strategize and plan“If you truly understand your clients, and you truly understand your mix within an industry or geography, you can more effectively manage the profitability of your portfolio.”  Rike Harrison, Chief Growth Officer, WipfliExpecting your business to grow opportunistically with no cohesive strategy underpinning individual efforts is rarely a recipe for success. Firms that adopt this approach run the risk of never gaining critical mass or reputation in any particular market. Leaders of the best run firms agree that the most effective way to maintain and build a strong client portfolio is to proactively plan and manage it. The process starts with an annual review of the entire client base. We have found the basic SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) to be a reliable tool for portfolio assessment. Start with the strengths – which clients are the most profitable, which provide the most promising opportunities for cross-selling or integrating additional firm services, and what type of client work offers the best platform to develop new services and skills?The next step is to pinpoint portfolio weaknesses. Most firms have some clients that don’t make sense from a variety of standpoints. Perhaps the most obvious is low profitability, but this can sometimes be justified if current work has the potential to lead to future, more lucrative engagements. Less obvious weaknesses are strategic and cultural mismatches. Too many pieces of business that are off target and out of sync with the firm’s traditional skill base can confuse the market, and use up a lot of senior time that could be better focused on strategic clients.In the next phase of the analysis, identify new business opportunities. Almost every professional service firm that we have consulted with has multiple opportunities to expand business with current clients. Time and again when we talk to clients of the firms we are working with, we uncover potential new business. And in fact, a significant number of our interviewees admitted that they do not do a good job of identifying the potential for growing current client relationships.Finally, a classic SWOT analysis can pinpoint inherent weaknesses in a client portfolio. Relying on too few clients creates dangerous vulnerabilities, but other threats also can seriously affect a firm’s profitability and positioning. It is always difficult to predict an economic meltdown, an unexpected merger or acquisition of a key client, or the departure of a partner with a large book of business, but top firms are fully aware of their vulnerabilities to these threats and make every effort to ensure that they are not caught off guard.

   Once the current client mix has been thoroughly reviewed and assessed, the next step is to create a vision of the ideal mix of clients that will drive the firm’s strategic direction while meshing with its values and culture. The most successful firms – both large and small – focus services around well-defined functional and industry areas of expertise. Industry is often the first screen applied to the profiling process, followed by determinations based on size, geographic dispersion, functional buyers, the competitive landscape, and an assortment of characteristics such as marquee value, emerging growth potential, level of innovation, and degree of distress.

2. Frame the client experience“Client relationship management is critical. You can take nothing for granted. It’s just like building a relationship with your spouse or your friends — you have to work at it.”  Ralph Baxter, Chairman and CEO, OrrickSavvy firms spend time discussing and documenting their philosophy and processes to create a client experience that exemplifies the firm’s work style, values, and culture. This is an inclusive process that involves partners across the firm in an evaluation of the factors that contribute to a successful client engagement, ranging from client early-stage needs, through the quality of interactions throughout a project, to follow-up activities to identify service strengths and weaknesses. Benchmarks and ROI metrics for determining client satisfaction and client service levels are captured and assessed frequently.Given the importance of clients in the life of a professional service firm, we are continually surprised and dismayed by the fact that so few firms have formal “welcome aboard” programs for new clients. Most firms rely on partners to introduce new clients to the firm. This casual approach works reasonably well for many of the firms studied because professionals typically don’t become partners if they can’t retain and expand client relationships. Yet many client managers readily admit that engagement start-ups can be rocky, both for the professional service team and its new client.An effective onboarding program creates positive expectations, builds familiarity and trust, and demonstrates value to a client early on with the goal of transforming an initial engagement into a long-term relationship. The best-led PSFs use a carefully selected mix of onboarding approaches that go well beyond standard “let’s get acquainted” letters and meetings. They view the initial honeymoon phase as the launchpad for a carefully orchestrated relationship-building strategy (For more onboarding practices listen to Four Tips for Bringing in New Clients).
3. Sustain and grow accounts“Every client has a coordinating partner responsible for overseeing the delivery of services and managing the client relationship.”Firms strongly committed to developing a comprehensive client strategy recognize that someone must be responsible for developing and monitoring every aspect of an integrated client program. Although top management owns the overall strategy, responsibility cascades to business unit leaders and individual partners and professionals to manage and monitor client relationships, solicit feedback, and review and measure progress.Forward-thinking firms have a detailed plan for each of their high-performing clients — that 20 percent or so of their client base that typically provides most of their business. The primary goal is to build a framework for a consistent, client management plan aimed at cultivating optimal clients. A good client plan features a clearly delineated profile of client resources and service needs, includes a service progression map built around a revenue strategy, and has a tracking process and benchmarks for measuring progress against objectives. In a formal client plan, roles and responsibilities are clearly laid out. Client ownership is well defined — not just from a service perspective, but in terms of accountability for expanding the client relationship and generating additional business (see below: Client Management at Ernst & Young).
4. Solicit client feedback“Clearly, getting feedback from your clients is like gold dust. It’s of immense value.”In the best-run firms, client opinions and recommendations are an integral part of service testing and innovation, structure and process improvements, and relationship management. Clients are contacted to solicit their viewpoints formally in periodic surveys or informally during regular engagement interactions. Some firms pilot new offerings and service delivery concepts with key clients to test-run ideas and deepen their commitment to and involvement with the firm.The most common feedback tool is some form of survey, whether face to face or online. Many years of conducting interviews both in person and via telephone have given us a bias toward having conversations rather than relying entirely on an online survey. However, some firms use online surveys as a first step, with in-person or phone conversations as a second-level vehicle if the initial online survey uncovers less-than-satisfactory results.A number of firms across the industry have well-defined and well-executed programs to regularly obtain feedback and mine it for relationship-building data. Some rely on their leadership team and staff to spearhead the feedback process, and others use third-party interviewers. Most who survey their clients do so annually.
5. Review results, establish rewards and accountability“We don’t trust our data on client profitability. We’re working toward it. I’d say we do it well enough to be directional. We’re continually pushing to make our systems better”By far the most politically challenging stage in client life cycle management is assessing and fine-tuning performance. This involves reviewing client service results, taking definitive action based on feedback and financials, and rewarding good performance and mitigating average or poor performance. In general, firms review and measure performance across three dimensions: Are the clients happy? Are the partners doing a good job? Is the firm making any money?Client feedback programs provide input on relationship status, problem areas and needed service improvements. Some firms tie feedback results into personnel evaluations and flag areas for improvement, and others, with formal client plans, review plan goals against performance which in turn links to compensation. And some firms — not enough in our opinion — conduct formal profitability reviews of each client and actually terminate unprofitable relationships.Technology is markedly improving data gathering in this area. Dashboards, that offer real-time reporting, highlight the impact of increased profitability on effective portfolio management and spotlight the negative effects of low-return clients on the firm’s bottom line.

Client Management at Ernst & Young

According to Jim Turley, Chairman of Ernst & Young Global, “At EY, the client is the center of the universe.” As a major global PSF, the organization’s client base is large and diverse with a wide spectrum of needs. To deliver consistent service across the portfolio, EY adopted a multi-level, account-centric client approach to service delivery:

• Account segments: The organization strategically classifies its clients into several categories based on the size and service needs of the client. The objective is to calibrate service levels to client needs or as Turley explains, “to better serve clients where and how they need to be served.” Major multinational clients, for example, require seamless service across the globe from a well-coordinated account team, while an emerging growth client needs hands-on attention from a team which is familiar with the needs of fast growing companies. The segmentation helps EY deliver the types of services required for each client. EY reviews the segment distribution on an annual basis and makes adjustments based on changing client needs.
• Coordinating partner: Every client has a coordinating partner (CP) who is responsible for overseeing the delivery of services and managing the overall client relationship. The CPs are selected based on their specific skill sets and usually reside in close geographic proximity to the client — account teams for multinational companies are typically led by a partner based at the company headquarters. For the largest accounts the CPs are required to develop an annual client plan to address the service needs of the client and deepen the relationship. Account plans are reviewed and approved by senior leadership and are monitored regularly for service quality and staffing consistency.
• Assessment of service quality (ASQ): EY monitors client satisfaction throughout the year through a formal and rigorous process called ASQ which is executed locally and monitored at the global level. A person independent of the account team meets with a number of senior executives — including the audit committee, board members and senior management — to assess the relationship status. The ASQ leader files a written report and any risk areas are promptly communicated to the CP and quickly addressed. For the firm’s largest accounts, the reviews are conducted annually; other accounts are reviewed on a rotating basis.

Turley emphasizes that, to grow the business, EY is looking for profitable work with clients it can serve in a quality way. The client management program supports this goal and creates a win-win situation for both the organization and its clients.

Maureen Broderick is founder and CEO of Broderick & Company (www.broderickco.com), a consulting firm specializing in strategy, training, and research for professional services. Her new book, The Art of Managing Professional Services: Insights from Leaders of the World’s Top Firms was published in November 2010 by Wharton School Publishing.

The post Client Portfolio Management appeared first on Big4.com.

Maureen Broderick

Broderick, Big4.com Guest Blogger

“The fundamentals of the professional service business are brutally simple; it’s about talent, it’s about clients, and it’s about teaming to bring it all together to create and deliver value.”  Jim Quigley, former CEO, Deloitte

Operating a professional service firm (PSF) is very different from running a product-based business. Infrastructures, governance, talent management, compensation, and profitability vary significantly from traditional corporate environments. Firm leaders will tell you that managing a successful PSF is a challenging business that requires a delicate balance between structure and autonomy and a unique leadership style.  Not to mention the enormous challenge of managing an organization of extremely smart, highly autonomous, and somewhat quirky professionals. It’s definitely not a job for the faint of heart.

In researching my new book, The Art of Managing Professional Services, my team conducted more than 130 in-depth interviews with leaders of the world’s top firms. What emerged were their proven practices on how to tackle the ten critical areas that firm leaders must monitor to build and maintain a strong organization: vision, values, and culture; people; clients; services; finance; positioning; partnership; strategy; structure; and leadership style.

To keep the firm operating at maximum strength, leadership must constantly monitor and tinker with each of these critical pieces of the organizational puzzle. But even the best firms in the business can find themselves out of alignment at certain periods in their life cycle. And virtually all of the leaders interviewed admitted that many areas of their organization need attention and improvement (to test your firm’s performance on the 10 critical areas, see Management Questions to Ponder). The key is maintaining a vigilant focus on the firm’s vision, values, and culture – the anchor and core of every successful professional service firm.

1. Vision, Values and Culture“For a professional service firm, vision, values, and culture are really 99 percent of the equation.”  Damien O’Brien, CEO, Egon Zehnder InternationalThe leaders of the professional service firms interviewed were passionate about their firms’ values and culture. Values are the bedrock of the organization – the rules that govern behavior toward colleagues, clients, and the communities in which they serve. In successful firms, adherence to the values is cultivated and rewarded; failure to comply can result in expulsion. The organizations we studied devote an enormous amount of time and resources to embedding their values and reinforcing their culture. In fact, the leaders we interviewed agree that the preservation and nurturing of their firm’s vision, values and culture is their number one job.
2. People“Creating an environment where people with very different backgrounds and skills feel that they can have a successful career is essential.”  Dennis Nally, Global Chairman, PwCYou might expect that professional services would be good at talent management. After all, people are the product. Without committed, highly skilled people, there is nothing to sell. Some impressive best practices emerged in our discussions, but perhaps the most important lesson is that people are treated with respect. Their opinions are valued, they are trusted to interact with clients early on in their careers, and their contributions are expected and rewarded. Successful firms invest significantly in recruiting, career management, training and mentoring of their professionals.
3. Portfolio“If you’re serving the wrong clients, you don’t have a chance for success.”  Bill Hermann, Former Managing Partner, Plante & MoranFor PSFs, the client base, in effect, defines the business. Clients represent much more than a revenue stream: they are the magnet that attracts other desirable clients as well as top professionals to the firm. The client base helps shape a firm’s brand and has a powerful influence on its reputation and standing in the marketplace. The best-run firms follow five steps to effectively manage the client cycle from concept through acquisition, retention, and renewal. The cycle begins with strategically planning and regularly reviewing the client mix. As clients come on board, they are carefully introduced into the firm and are nurtured and managed via a well-defined process to sustain, grow, solicit feedback and improve the client relationship. The cycle is completed with regular reviews of client profitability, partner management and relationship status. Each step in the cycle is integral to building a profitable client base that sustains and nourishes the firm and its professionals.

4. Services“Without productization, intellectual capital just builds brand; it doesn’t create a new service portfolio.”  Stephen Rhinesmith, former Senior Partner, Oliver WymanIf talent is the lifeblood of a firm, then an effective service portfolio strategy represents the arteries through which that talent is channeled – and innovation keeps the whole system healthy and energized. Firm leaders agree that successfully managing service development and renewal is a continuous cycle of activities that begins with a portfolio review to identify gaps and retire services that are no longer relevant. It continues with ideation, the often complex task of stimulating and capturing new ideas. The next step is selecting the best candidates for development. And finally, ideas are transformed into viable service offerings, the troops are trained on delivery, and the services are launched. Gathering and sharing knowledge and client experiences is integral to the ongoing success of a service strategy. Each step of the cycle is important in creating a consistent engine of innovation.

5. Finance“Financial management is the bedrock. You can’t be successful if you don’t end up with competitive earnings, whatever metrics you use.”  Steve Harty, North American Chairman, BBHOn the surface, professional services seem like simple businesses to manage financially.  As one leader told us, “It’s mostly a time and materials business driven by rates, revenue, utilization, realization, and expenses.”  But there are nuances that make it challenging. In the short-term project-based PSF environment it is almost impossible for many firm leaders to see beyond the window of a few months, which makes revenue forecasting a distinct challenge. The top firms have a clearly articulated financial strategy that establishes revenue and earnings goals, and responsibilities for financial performance. They are rigorous at tracking key financial metrics – both lagging and leading indicators – and invest in the people and the analytical tools that provide timely, action-oriented financial information. Cash flow is king, as one CEO told us, “If a firm has cash, it’s a well run place. If they don’t, it isn’t.”

6. Positioning“Your brand is the place you occupy in the consciousness of your constituents.”  Frank Burch, Chairman, DLA Piper Global BoardIn professional services, positioning is what you stand for. Positioning defines what the firm does, how it does it and why it is different from other organizations. To succeed, a PSF must identify a credible position to occupy in the market. Determining positioning involves decisions on a number of fronts. Will you be a lower cost/higher volume provider or will you offer high cost, unique solutions to unique problems? What specific services will you sell? Which segments, geographies, companies and buyers will you target? What is the service experience the firm will create for the client? The best firms know who they are and what they do and are masters at communicating their positioning both internally to staff and externally to their market.

7. Partnership“There has to be a lot more than money to hold a group of very smart, type-A partners together.”  Evan Chesler, Presiding Partner, Cravath, Swaine & MooreThe term partnership has a very special meaning in professional services. Much more than a type of ownership structure, the concept of partnership is both an industry mindset – a core belief that everyone is in it together, united by a common vision and cause – and a distinctive set of governance characteristics. A successful partnership-driven governance model is based on shared values, collaboration and teamwork, peer relationships, highly participatory decision making, and equity sharing with partner/owners.

8. Strategy“We spend a lot of time, as a management team, just making sure we are aligned in our ambition.” Steve Gunby, former Chairman, North and South America, The Boston Consulting GroupSome view strategic planning as an art, some as a science – and some as an inspired combination of the two. Firm leaders described their strategic planning processes as everything from intensive brainstorming marathons over weeks or even months to routine annual budget exercises. The best firms view strategic planning as a continuous cycle, not a one-time event. Long-term strategic plans are integrated with annual plans and progress is regularly reviewed and communicated to all stakeholders.
9. Structure“We really hate bureaucracy. That is why we are pretty flat and there is not a lot of politics happening here.”  Donna Imperato, President and CEO, Cohn and WolfeThe choice of the organizational structure and governance model has critical implications for professional service firms. Together they form the internal architecture of a firm – the invisible scaffolding that supports everything, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning and effective execution. The structure delineates the organizational layers and management reporting hierarchies within the firm. Governance is the leadership style – collaborative, dictatorial, or corporate – and the policies, systems and procedures that underpin the enterprise. Organization design choices can reinforce or undermine culture, endanger or enhance performance and service quality, and enable or diminish profitability.

10. Leadership“You’ve got to convince people with whom you are working that they want to follow your vision.”  Ben Fisher, COO, Perkins+WillOf all the ingredients in the professional service mix, leadership is probably the most essential to success – and often the most elusive. In most industries the person in the corner office calls the shots. Operating within a traditional command and control environment is relatively straightforward: the divisions between leading, managing, and following are clearly defined and widely understood. In contrast, the matrix structure that most professional service firms have embraced is a far more dynamic business model; it’s flat, fluid, fragmented, and often unruly.

We asked interviewees to describe the most important characteristics of a successful service firm leader. By a wide margin, the traits they believe define successful leadership – good influencer, listener and communicator; inspirational; passionate; visionary – fall under the umbrella of strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. As one CEO summed up, “There is an under-appreciation of what it takes to lead one of these kinds of businesses – better be darn sure you want to do it.”

Maureen Broderick is founder and CEO of Broderick & Company (www.broderickco.com), a consulting firm specializing in strategy, research and training for professional services. The Art of Managing Professional Services (www.theartofmanagingprofessionalservices.com) was published in November 2010 by Wharton School Publishing.

The post How are you Performing on the PSF Leadership Model? appeared first on Big4.com.

By Tim Reed, Big4.com Guest Blogger

You’ve just walked out of an operations review, only to hear that another project has not delivered as expected. The team lead had been called on the carpet, having to explain what has gone wrong with deployment and what actions are going to be taken.  The team lead has just completed a lackluster review of the project’s current status and most of the meeting was a critique of actions taken and the directive to fix the current problems and then report back to leadership.  You have now witnessed so many of these meetings, that aside from the specific crisis at hand, you have the gut feeling that ‘there has to be a better way’!

It is likely that your  team and organization has become overwhelmed and  too focused on remediating  current issues. The same issues continue, happen repeatedly  and the result is that there is little or no change to the conditions that created the problems in the first place.

There is a better way and a solution. I’m calling it “Precision Transformation’ .  My definition of Precision Transformation includes the specific activities, metrics, measures and change management required to deliver results with precision.

My premise is that although IT organizations are well known for gearing up a project plan and project team to deliver a solution, there is limited focus on delivering with precision. Given the complexity of delivering results, the focus needs to change.

Driving precision transformation will change IT delivery, whether it is in the execution of the software delivery life cycle or  in IT operations.  To make this happen consider the following:

Defining Need : Are your customers able to accurately describe what is needed ?  (This goes beyond the classic use of business analysts to refine customer requirements)  If the customer cannot define the need with some level of detail, then why are we doing the project to begin with ?  Three simple questions to ask when defining the need include: 1)  Is the need defined in detail  ?  2) What is the expected impact to the end customer ?  3) What will this new functionality do to  current state operations ?

Quick Hint: If you cannot define the need with some detail, then why are you doing the project ?

Defining Delivery:  Ask your customer to close their eyes and define the perfect delivery..aka ‘nirvana’.  3 simple questions to ask include: 1) What does best in class delivery of the solution look like ?  2) What does delivery look like for operations and IT ? 3) What would be their worst nightmare …things that could go wrong ?

Quick  Hint: If the customer cannot answer all of these questions, then go back to the drawing board !

Defining Operations :  Pull out your current documented operational and IT models, all the metrics, all the reporting and examples of  the operational reports that are created today.  Or if you don’t want to collect this data, draw it on the white board.  Ask you team these three simple questions: 1) What are we going to eliminate / improve / change with the rollout of the new initiative ?  2) What is the impact to our architecture and infrastructure when rollout happens ? 3) What steps were taken throughout each phase of the SDLC to make sure operations are going to be robust ?

Quick Hint:  Ask these questions as the start of project and ask them at the end !

Tim Reed, CEO at ReedITC worked at E&Y , focusing on Global Fortune 50 Firms. ReedITC is a strategic IT & Operations consulting firm focused on Cost (Ability to operate efficiently at scale ), Growth (Ability to drive top line growth) and Compliance (Ability to provide services securely). For more information, please visit www.reeditc.com or contact tim.reed@reeditc.com

The post Delivering Transformation with Precision appeared first on Big4.com.

Clients have asked me which of my website articles and tools get the most interest.   Below are the 15 most visited articles and tools, in descending order of interest, on my website.

• Useful Performance Measures and Metrics – How To Measure Efficiency and Effectiveness.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1071 

• Organization Assessment and Improvement Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1106 

• Getting a Good Start as a New Manager – First 90 Days.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1518. 

• Defining Your Organization’s Values and Core Competencies Will Have Positive Results Throughout the Organization.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=468 

• Implementing an Organization Realignment – Useful Guidelines.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1638 

• Integrate Continuous Improvement Into Your Organization’s Culture and Daily Activities.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1576 

• Designing an Effective and Flexible Organization Structure – It’s More Than The Organization Itself.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1397 

• Organization Strategy Is All Inclusive – Comprises Your Entire Organization and External Environment.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1531 

• Key Elements For Successful Project Planning and Implementation. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=915 

• Too Many People Reporting To You / Too Many Interruptions? How To Manage More Efficiently.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=272 

• Human Resources Improvement Assessment Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1244 

• Match Manager Responsibilities With Equivalent Decision Making Authority. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=201 

• Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403 

• Chief of Staff – Do You Need One? http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=959 

• Organization Silos Are Always a Challenge, But Do Not Have to be a Problem.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1694.

Do contact me to assist you in improving your organization and its performance.  Michael VanBruaene mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post 15 Most Viewed Organization Improvement Articles and Tools appeared first on Big4.com.

By: Mary Werner, CPA, MOD, Big4 Guest Blogger  

“In these troubled and uncertain times, we don’t need more command and control; we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.”

~Margaret Wheatley

Command and control leaders. You love to hate them. These leaders are the “my way or the highway” type where the phrase “Just Do It” takes on quite a different meaning than Nike ever intended. But the reality is that this form of leadership has been the long standing default style for many leaders in our Firms and Corporations.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had the “pleasure” to work with more than a couple command and control type leaders in my years as a practicing CPA.  And my experience is consistent with the research on the negative impact of this leadership style:

No Flexibility - “My way or else.”

No Clarity  – “I only know what not to do.”

No Responsibility – “Just doing my job.”

No Commitment – “I’m just looking out for myself.”

But there is great news coming from a research study of 1,700 CEOs recently completed by IBM. The study reported that these leaders clearly see that the command and control leadership style is outdated and ineffective.

The implications are clear for the CPA profession as well. It’s time for Partners and Managers to move off this outdated and non-productive leadership style and embrace the leadership style that engages, inspires and aligns their professionals to outstanding performance and results. New behaviors can be learned and when CPA leaders see the positive impact on the bottom line, they’ll be more motivated than ever to shift their approach.

A New Era of Openness and Collaboration

The study also revealed what CEOs are looking for in employees, another clue that we’re moving in a direction that’s more open and collaborative. These CEO respondents want to recruit and hire people who excel at working in open, complex, and team-based environments. Highly valued skills are collaboration (75 percent), communication (67 percent), creativity (61 percent) and flexibility (61 percent).

It’s a new day and Firm and Corporate leadership must change with it.

How about you? What is your experience with “Command and Control” leaders? How do you see your leadership style shifting in today’s complex business environment?

To your success,

Mary

Mary C. Werner, CPA, MOD is the founder of Werner Coaching and Consulting, Inc., an executive coaching and organizational change consulting firm.  Mary was formerly with Ernst & Whinney (now E&Y) and Partner with Plante & Moran.  She is also a founding member of  The CPA Consultants’ Alliance, a working group of thought leaders unified in their efforts to further leadership in the accounting profession.  Mary, a certified executive coach through The Hudson Institute, is especially skilled at coaching and consulting with CPAs and other business professionals who are interested in accelerating their personal and professional growth for breakthrough results. She blogs regularly about leadership and change in individuals, firms and organizations.

The post The End of the Command and Control Leader? appeared first on Big4.com.

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eye for an instant?”

~Henry David Thoreau

My dog Zoey should have been named “Radar.” She has an uncanny ability to sense what family members are feeling and react to those feelings in kind. Whether we’re watching an exciting basketball game on TV (she goes crazy when we do), or one of us is feeling sad or discouraged (she makes a bee line for our lap), Zoey, completely without judgment, is in tune with our feelings.

Possessing accurate radar is in a sense what the EQ skill of empathy is all about. And empathy is the fifth and final skill that I’ll discuss as being critical to becoming a “trusted advisor.”

When you have empathy, you are “tuned in” to how others are feeling. You are able to look at a problem or conflict from another person’s perspective. Empathy is also a critical skill for negotiation as well, understanding what the other side wants and working to create a win-win result. (So it’s far from a “touchy-feely” skill.)

Empathy involves understanding another’s perspective, even if theirs’ is much different from your own. (Remember, it’s without judgment.) It involves letting the other person know that you have understood them, thus creating a bond and a relationship that surpasses “box checking” or “order taking.”

According to David Maister, one of the key hallmarks of a trusted advisor is their “focus on the client rather than themselves.” That is the essence of empathy. To put yourself in the shoes of the client in order to see a challenge from their perspective, understand what they are feeling and why.

This key EQ skill allows you to forge a strong bond of collaboration that helps you to solve your client’s problems and create successful and lasting client relationships.

Five EQ Skills Critical Trusted Advisor Skills

To recap, over the last several posts I’ve shared five key EQ skills:

1. Pursuit of Meaning: Your goal, desire and motivation to become a trusted advisor.
2. Emotional Self Awareness: You are aware of your emotions and how they impact your behavior and others.
3. Interpersonal Relationships: You have an ability to build and develop mutually satisfying relationships.
4. Problem Solving: You effectively use your emotions in the process of solving a problem by gathering information and making decisions without being emotionally distracted, stuck or overwhelmed in the process.
5. Empathy: You are “in tune” with how others are feeling, understanding their perspectives and forging a bond that builds outstanding relationships.

The good news is that each of these EQ skills can be learned or enhanced. If your goal is to move your role from client server to the next level of trusted advisor, add these five skills to your foundation of technical expertise.  I know it can happen. I’ve witnessed my previously reticent coaching clients successfully make that shift.

What do you think? What are your perspectives on what it takes to be a trusted advisor?

To your success,

Mary

Mary C. Werner, CPA, MOD, formerly with Ernst & Whinney (now E&Y) and a Partner at a regional CPA firm, is the founder of Werner Coaching and Consulting, Inc., an executive coaching and organizational change consulting firm.  She is also a founding member of  The CPA Consultants’ Alliance, a working group of thought leaders unified in their efforts to further leadership in the accounting profession.  Mary, a certified executive coach through The Hudson Institute, is especially skilled at coaching and consulting with CPAs and other business professionals who are interested in accelerating their personal and professional growth for breakthrough results. She blogs regularly about leadership and change in individuals, firms and organizations.

The post How’s Your Radar? appeared first on Big4.com.

, Big4 Guest Blogger  

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence,

it is not the triumph of heart over head, it is the unique intersection of both.”

~David Caruso

My last three blog posts discussed your desired movement from technician to becoming a trusted advisor for your clients and the EQ skills you must possess to make that move. The three EQ facets I’ve shared so far are:

1. Pursuit of Meaning: Your goal, desire and motivation is to become a trusted advisor
2. Emotional Self Awareness: Your awareness of your emotions and how they impact your behavior and others
3. Interpersonal Relationships: Your ability to develop mutually satisfying relationships

But even if you possess each of these emotional intelligence skills, in order to become a true trusted advisor you must still solve your client’s most challenging problems. And at the leader level, you must regularly solve their problems when the pressure is on, when the stakes are high and all focus is squarely on you. All while keeping your emotions in check.

In the realm of EQ, what does this problem solving skill entail? Problem solving in an EQ sense is not about the quality of your solutions, but rather at how effectively you use your emotions in the process of solving a problem. It’s your ability to gather information and make decisions without being emotionally distracted, stuck or overwhelmed in the process.

You can possess all the technical knowledge in the world but if your emotions cause you to be frozen in your decision making, unable to consider various perspectives or  avoid dealing with the problem all together, your technical expertise is of little use to your client.

It’s fitting that I’m writing this blog post on the day that one of my former business partners (and trusted advisor extraordinaire) retires from Plante & Moran. My dear friend, Brent Cousino, is one of the most amazing trusted advisors I’ve ever worked with.

Brent had many client facing roles at P&M and, regardless of his position, his clients could always count on Brent to solve their most challenging problems calmly, methodically and effectively. Pressure, deadlines, budgets and client expectations were a constant in Brent’s consulting role and he managed these challenges brilliantly. His clients knew that he would utilize his technical expertise combined with exceptional problem solving skills to make a difference for them

Oh, and he also possesses the first three EQ skills in droves! Brent will certainly take his trusted advisor skills on the next leg of his leadership journey.

How would evaluate your problem solving skills when emotions are in play? Can you be relied on to be there for your clients, cool headed, focused and determined?

Becoming a trusted advisor truly demands these superior problem solving skills.

To your success,

Mary

Mary C. Werner, CPA, MOD, formerly with Ernst & Whinney (now E&Y) and a Partner at a regional CPA firm, is the founder of Werner Coaching and Consulting, Inc., an executive coaching and organizational change consulting firm.  She is also a founding member of  The CPA Consultants’ Alliance, a working group of thought leaders unified in their efforts to further leadership in the accounting profession.  Mary, a certified executive coach through The Hudson Institute, is especially skilled at coaching and consulting with CPAs and other business professionals who are interested in accelerating their personal and professional growth for breakthrough results. She blogs regularly about leadership and change in individuals, firms and organizations.

The post Solving Problems: Trusted Advisor Style appeared first on Big4.com.

By: Mary Werner, CPA, MOD, Big4 Guest Blogger  

“At its core, trust is about relationships.”

~David Maister

In my last two blog posts, I talked about two of the five key EQ skills needed to move from technician to trusted advisor: self actualization and emotional self-awareness.

It won’t come as a shock to you that the third EQ skill is your ability to build mutually satisfying relationships. The key words here are mutually and satisfying.

We’ve all been in client relationships that are one-sided or give us heartburn. Those relationships can never make it to a true trusted advisor status.

What I’m talking about in a trusted advisor relationship is based on a mutual give and take. You must give a favor to earn a favor.  In trusted advisor speak, you must “display your willingness to make an investment in the relationship in order to earn your client’s trust.”

What efforts do you put into maintaining healthy and effective relationships with your clients? Is your talk all technical and single focused? How do you get to know them on a personal level? What matters to them? Do they know what matters to you?  In the end, building a strong relationship requires a certain level of vulnerability and a willingness to open yourself up.

And we all know that a relationship that’s strong and satisfying is one based on thoughtfulness and openness to another’s ideas. The idea of collaboration and connection to others is something that trusted advisors value. And when a conflict arises, both parties work to resolve issues in a manner that is respectful and professional.

There is a misconception that strong trusted advisor relationships can only be built when the advisor is extraverted or gregarious. Quite the contrary. One of the most effective legal advisors I know is quite introverted but has forged strong relationships with his clients in a more reserved, one on one manner. Still strong. Still effective. Still a trusted advisor. He just accomplishes it in a more low-key manner. And his clients love him. He is their “go to guy.”

How would you rate your client relationships? Excellent? OK? Box Checking?

If you didn’t choose excellent, what’s holding you back from building deeper, more meaningful relationships with the clients you serve? Regardless of whether you’re an introvert or extravert, you can begin today to build the skills that it takes for forge mutually satisfying relationships with your clients and move yourself to that coveted “trusted advisor” status.

To your success,

Mary

Mary C. Werner, CPA, MOD, formerly with Ernst & Whinney (now E&Y) and a Partner at a regional CPA firm, is the founder of Werner Coaching and Consulting, Inc., an executive coaching and organizational change consulting firm.  She is also a founding member of  The CPA Consultants’ Alliance, a working group of thought leaders unified in their efforts to further leadership in the accounting profession.  Mary, a certified executive coach through The Hudson Institute, is especially skilled at coaching and consulting with CPAs and other business professionals who are interested in accelerating their personal and professional growth for breakthrough results. She blogs regularly about leadership and change in individuals, firms and organizations.

The post Rate Your Client Relationships: Are You a Trusted Advisor? appeared first on Big4.com.

Contracting-out or outsourcing in-house functions is many times viewed as a panacea to problems an organization is facing or as a sure way to reduce costs…. which is not always what happens.

Here are some considerations in planning to implement the contracting-out or outsourcing of an-house function and then their implementation.  Use these guidelines as a starting point; the steps you end-up taking should be specific to the process at-hand and your particular circumstances.

• Document your objectives and list the reasons why you want to do it.
• Is it a strategic “asset” of the organization? This can affect what you specifically outsource and how you manage it.
• What are your expectations for the outsourcing?
• Document the process you want to outsource – in detail.
• Document your current costs, in detail. Will be needed when you receive bids.
• Document expected cost savings or improved effectiveness, if any.  Quantify as much as possible.
• Determine the position (not person) in your organization responsible for contract / vendor management.
• Determine how to maintain adequate knowledge of the technical content of the outsourced processes.
• Determine the term of the outsourcing agreement.
• Consider talking in advance with a couple of vendors regarding your intention to outsource to gain relevant knowledge.
• Establish the criteria you will use to select the vendor.

After the contract is signed.  After the contract is signed, the following should occur.

• Establish a project implementation office
• Develop an implementation and transition plan
• Develop a mutual understanding of organization cultures
• Establish formal points of contact between the organizations;
• Establish invoicing procedures and content
• Service review at regular points in time

For more detailed information on contracting-out/outsourcing click this link:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1502.  or contact me at mvanbruaene@pacbell.net

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Contracting-Out or Outsourcing In-House Functions – Doing It Right appeared first on Big4.com.

by Maureen Broderick, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Developing and managing the service mix is challenging for many professional service firms. Even in the most sophisticated firms, service portfolio management is often a reactive rather than a proactive strategic priority. Few firms review their current service portfolios regularly, and even fewer have processes in place to capture, select, and commercialize innovative new offerings.

And, of course, change is difficult. Professionals, like all human beings, are often reluctant to change how they do things. Services and methodologies become entrenched, and even with compelling market reasons to upgrade or exit current approaches and offerings, it can be a painful process to convince people to do things differently. Rocking the service boat can be dangerous; a firm runs the risk of losing highly skilled performers who have an “I’ll do it my way” mentality.

So, how do you do it? In the course of interviewing leaders of professional service firms for the “The Art of Managing Professional Services”, a comprehensive, research-based new book on firm management, a number of common best practices for effective service management and innovation emerged:

• Strategically plan and manage the service portfolio. The best firms incorporate service strategy into both their long-term and annual planning cycles. The portfolio is regularly reviewed and analyzed to assess market relevance, identify gaps, and purge nonproductive services. Criteria are clearly established that provide the rationale for making tough decisions to jettison offerings that are not profitable or that are of marginal value to the marketplace.
• Establish and follow a protocol for innovation. The firms that excel in this area have a well articulated and communicated process for stimulating, capturing, selecting, and transforming the best ideas into market offerings.
• Validate offerings with the market. Astute firms talk to clients and prospective clients to test and validate current services, identify gaps, and uncover ideas for new services. Some firms integrate clients into the service innovation process to provide advice and direction on development and to test, debug, and validate a new offering.
• Assign ownership and accountability. Like any other important activity with bottom-line impact, successful service management requires ownership and accountability. Responsibility for keeping current offerings fresh and generating potential new service offerings must be clearly defined.

Innovation and the service strategy cycle

“There are probably 20 client meetings and valuable discussions happening right this minute in this building alone which could positively impact our current service offerings.”

Successfully managing service development and renewal is a continuous cycle of activities. The process begins with a portfolio review to identify gaps and retire services that are no longer relevant. It continues with ideation, the often-complex task of stimulating and capturing new ideas. Then comes selecting the best candidates for development. And finally, ideas are transformed into viable service offerings, the professionals are trained on delivery, and the services are launched. Gathering and sharing knowledge and client experiences is integral to the ongoing success of a service strategy. Each step of the cycle is important in creating a consistent engine of innovation.

Professional service firms deploy three basic approaches to service innovation. They can build it themselves by incubating and developing new ideas internally. They can acquire it by buying or merging with businesses or practice groups that bring new or complementary experience and knowledge. Or they can redesign, repackage, or bundle current services to create a “new” service or deliverable.

Stimulating smart, ambitious professionals to think creatively about what they do and how they do it would seem like an easy task for firm management. Yet the leaders we interviewed agree that there is definitely an art and science to innovation and that it is, in fact, not easy. Most firms choose to develop services through a variety of formal and informal internal vehicles. The firms that do this best deploy a combination of cultural reinforcement and an appropriate amount of structure and process. It is extremely important to create a culture that supports exploration and rewards and recognizes good ideas. But without a well-defined process to capture and nurture ideas and manage the development process, a tremendous amount of value can be left on the table. As Lem Lasher, Chief Innovation Officer at consulting firm CSC, says, “The best approach is to assume that professionals are creative by nature. They want to innovate and do new things, and it’s our job to create the ecosystem – the governance, the leadership, the structure, and the process to support and nurture a culture of innovation.”

Select the best ideas, and take them to market

“The challenge is capturing the ideas, selecting those that have applicability to broad populations of clients, and then driving the investment and development process.”

The approaches that firms pursue to select the best new ideas vary widely by culture, size, and organizational style and range from a “gut decision” to a formal committee review and analysis. Arguably the most difficult step in the innovation process – and the one that leaders struggle with the most – is translating ideas into action.

Based on our interviews, a ten-step strategy for moving from concept to commercialization has been identified:

• Develop criteria for service viability. The first hurdle for a potential new service offering is to satisfy a predetermined set of criteria for applicability, marketability, and profitability. In the applicability arena, key questions typically include the following: How big an idea is this? Does it have cross-practice potential? Can it go global? Does it meet a compelling and substantial client need? Does it have enduring value from a service perspective?In terms of marketability, key questions are likely to include the following: Does this idea have potential for enhancing our brand and reputation as a thought leader? Is it easy to sell both internally and to clients? Will it be a major differentiator from a competitive standpoint? Can we get it into the marketplace quickly and efficiently enough to make it worth the investment of time and energy required? Does it have breakthrough, best-practice, performance-boosting potential?From a profitability standpoint, a baseline ROI analysis generally is conducted that objectively reviews direct development expenses, top-line revenue projections, gross margin, and other financial performance metrics. If an idea is given the green light for development, results are carefully tracked and measured against projections.

• Build a business case for potential service. After an idea is vetted for service viability, most firms construct a business case to sell it to a review committee or top management group. The business case may be extremely detailed or a concise four-to-five-page proposal. Whatever form it takes, generally the business case covers the service viability considerations just outlined and includes a development timeline and ramp-up requirements.To drive innovation within the firm, Booz Allen Hamilton created a formal service campaign program. When senior leaders in the market surface new service areas that they think will be big opportunities, they can garner investment dollars from the leadership team if they put together a good business case to justify the investment. To do so, they must spend time thinking about methodologies, people requirements, and projections for growth. Campaigns have a two- or three-year lifetime. The campaign either grows up and becomes an embedded service offering, or it becomes what Booz Allen calls a sunset: It makes a splash, but the result doesn’t rise to the level of refreshing the firm’s core service offerings. Partners are highly motivated to build a successful business, which can mean promotion within the partner rank.
• Select the best ideas. The management team responsible for the selection chooses the ideas that best meet the firm’s criteria for viability, timing, budget, and resources.
• Test-market for receptivity. At this stage, firms with well-developed innovation programs move from internal to external review. This may involve a range of activities: brainstorming with clients, submitting service concepts to a client advisory board, consulting with independent experts, researching the competitive landscape, and evaluating potential market use.
• Establish benchmarks for the launch plan. After the business case has been presented and the development process approved, the next step involves determining a time frame and project milestones. The time frame from planning to launch can extend anywhere from a matter of months to three years, with clearly defined benchmarks to measure progress along the way.
• Pilot service offering. As with any standard product or service, the next step generally involves testing with a limited number of client implementations and then rigorously evaluating the road test results. In most cases the original service viability criteria are revisited.
• Refine and blueprint offering. When the testing process is complete, the next step is to fine-tune the offering and map it fully, with an eye toward market introduction. At this stage, a marketing plan for communicating the new offering and its client benefits is developed. If the offering has brand enhancement and/or thought leadership potential, promoting these assets will be integral to the marketing communications mix.
• Train teams. As part of their go-to-market strategy, the best programs make sure that internal support and expertise are fully mobilized to give the new service offering the best possible chance for a successful market introduction. Practice leaders and their teams are fully briefed on the offering, instructed in effective service delivery, and given the communication tools they need to promote it to their client base.
• Launch. If all the other pieces are in place, the launch stage should unfold smoothly. In some cases the launch may involve introducing the service on a limited basis and then rolling it out nationally or globally. A strong marketing communications strategy and its aggressive implementation are critical for maximizing market impact.
• Monitor and refresh. The service is tracked and reviewed on a regular basis to continuously test its market acceptance and financial performance against plan. Clients are interviewed on the offering pros and cons, and adjustments are made as appropriate.

Maureen Broderick is founder and CEO of Broderick & Company (www.broderickco.com), a consulting firm specializing in strategy, training, and research for professional services. Her new book, The Art of Managing Professional Services: Insights from Leaders of the World’s Top Firms(www.theartofmanagingprofessionalservices.com), was published in November 2010 by Wharton School Publishing.

The post Staying Relevant appeared first on Big4.com.

By Andrew Sobel, Big4.com Guest Blogger 

It has happened and will happen to every professional who deals with clients: something goes wrong or your client gets upset about something you’ve done or said. Here are eight tips for dealing with an unhappy client and starting the process of resolution:

1. Respond rapidly. If a client is unhappy, deal with it immediately. Your willingness to drop what you’re doing to urgently discuss your client’s concerns will by itself improve the situation.
2. Listen without being defensive. When someone is upset, emotions are like facts. Listen deeply, and thank your client for sharing their concerns with you.
3. Say you’re sorry. Even if you think the blame is equally spread, apologizing can help to defuse the situation and begin a new dialog. It’s hard to keep kicking someone when they apologize to you.
4. Collaborate on the solution. Don’t jump too quickly to a solution (“We’ll put a new project manager in immediately…”). Involve your client in developing it, and only do so after thoroughly understanding all of their concerns and the actual circumstances.
5. Offer amends. If in fact you have fallen short in some way, it can help to restore trust if you offer amends, e.g., doing a small piece of value-added work for the client, or reducing an invoice.
6. Avoid excuses. It’s very natural to want to explain to the client all the reasons why you are not completely at fault, and why they may share some of the blame. But save that for later—if ever.
7. Rebuild trust through small, frequent, confidence-building measures. When trust is lost, you must increase transparency and communication, and show you can deliver on small, discrete, agreed-upon follow-up steps.
8. Get things out into the open. When negative emotions are kept in the dark, they fester and grow. When you get them out into the light of day, they shrink and often disappear. This is illustrated in the opening stanza of William Blake’s famous poem, A Poison Tree:

A Poison Tree

by William Blake (1757-1827)

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe;

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

Remember, a crisis that is successfully navigated can often strengthen your relationship with the other person.

****************************
Andrew Sobel helps companies and individuals build their clients for life. Andrew was a Senior Vice President and Country Chief Executive for Gemini Consulting (15 years). He is the co-author of the newly-released Power Questions as well as the author of the business bestsellers Clients for Life, Making Rain, and All for One. He can be reached at www.andrewsobel.com, where you can download a free set of Power Tools to help you get better at asking Power Questions.

The post How to Handle a Crisis with a Client (or anyone else!) appeared first on Big4.com.

I’ve developed tools you can use to evaluate and improve organization operations and business processes.  You can use these tools yourself or they will help you to establish a scope of services if you want to use a consultant.

We have five tools at this time.

• Organization Self-Assessment Tool  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1106
• Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Tool  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403
• Services Delivery Improvement Assessment Tool  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1183
• Human Resources Assessment and Improvement Tool  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1244
• Information Technology Operations Improvement Tool  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1471

Their content is summarized below.  And contact me if we can assist you in improving your organization and its operations.  mvanbruaene@pacbell.net.

Organization Self-Assessment Tool. A comprehensive approach for evaluating and improving all aspects of your organization.  It covers fundamental organizational elements including:

• Organization Drivers - Core Values; Mission, Goals and Objectives; Strategic Planning;  and Ethics
• Governance - Board of Directors and Leadership
• External Environment - Marketplace; Alliances and Relationships
• Functions - Organizational Structure, Operations, Financial, Human Resources, Information Technology and Performance Measures
• Proactive and Reactive Controls - Risk Management, Financial Controls, Administrative Controls and Compliance

To view the entire tool go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1106

Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Tool. Provides a baseline of important management practices for assessment and improvement.

• Strategic Thinking and Actions
• Strategy and Goals
• Organization Culture
• Clear Direction and Project Planning
• Maintaining Priorities
• Regular and Productive Meetings With Direct Reports
• Responsibilities and Authority
• In Touch With Employees
• In Touch With Customers – External and Internal
• Delegating Work
• Communication
• Organization and Team Leadership
• Supporting Employees
• Interest In Employee Personal Lives
• People Development
• Constructive Feedback to Employees
• Staffing Levels Management
• Bottom Lines
• Conflict-Resolution
• Self-Awareness

To view the entire tool go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403

Services Delivery Improvement Assessment Tool.  A focused tool for finding out what’s right and wrong with your services; underlying causes of problems and how to improve the service.  This tool covers:

• Directions for setting objectives for the services improvement project
• Methodology to guide your analysis, including process flow diagrams and questions that  drive your assessment and set the stage for improving your service delivery
• Evaluating the roles of service process participants, technology, and decision-makers
• Evaluating and improving service measurements and metrics
• Pricing, costs and revenues related to the service
• Framework for organizing and reporting on the results of your work

To view the entire tool go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1183

Human Resources Assessment and Improvement Tool.  Supports a comprehensive assessment and improvement of your HR functions.  It includes:

• HR’s Position and Importance within the Organization.
• Organization Culture and Morale
• Workforce Planning
• Recruitment Interview and Selection
• On-Boarding
• Employee Performance Evaluation and Management
• Employee Compensation and Benefits
• Continuing Education
• Promoting Employees
• Succession Planning and Management
• Employee Turnover
• Flexible Work Schedules and Location
• Maintaining Awareness of, and Compliance with, Labor Laws
• Employee Record-Keeping and Confidentiality
• Employee Resignations
• Terminations and Workforce Downsizing

To view the entire tool go to:  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1244

Information Technology Operations Improvement Tool.  Comprehensive approach for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your IT function; and then positioning you to make the correct improvements.   It covers:

• IT’s Position and Importance In the Organization
• Direction and Management
• IT Costs and Their Recovery
• Staffing
• Managing IT Assets
• Supporting the Organization and its Departments
• Measuring Performance and Using This Information
• Network Capabilities
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
• IT Project Management
• Compliance Laws, Regulations and Organization Policy
• Change Management
• Innovation
• Assessing and Managing Security Risks

To view the entire tool go to: http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1471

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Organization Evaluation and Improvement Tools appeared first on Big4.com.

Drive Process Optimization

 A common approach is to seek the optimization of processes such that quality improves and cycle time is reduced. The simple steps of mapping the current state Operational and IT processes, breaking each process down into three levels of delivery will identify opportunities for improvement. Key items to look for include: repeatable actions or processes, actions that results in defects, and actions that result in mis-information.

For example, take a look at your current processes for Level 0 to Level 3 IT support. What are the handoff’s and processes that occur once the call is taken initially or the issue becomes known? Mapping each process, each handoff, who is involved, the amount of time, the amount of effort, the number of manual and automated tracking systems will identify the opportunities. The team should be looking for waste (e.g.: steps that can be removed from the process, areas to apply standardization for repeatability of process, removal of bottlenecks to achieve more productivity in the same time period). The objective is to make the changes without compromising the quality of the product or service delivered.

Conduct a Lean Operations and IT Walkthrough

 There are four common areas of focus when conducting a Lean Operations and IT walkthrough, namely; operating practices, management systems, organization and capabilities, and mindset and behavior. Conducting a Lean Operations and IT walkthrough of these four areas will provide some unique opportunities and items to consider.

The post Lean Operations and IT – A great challenge ! appeared first on Big4.com.

Clients have asked me which of my website articles and tools get the most interest.   Below are the 15 most visited articles and tools, in descending order of interest, on my website.

• Useful Performance Measures and Metrics – How To Measure Efficiency and Effectiveness.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1071 

• Organization Assessment and Improvement Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1106 

• Getting a Good Start as a New Manager – First 90 Days.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1518.

• Defining Your Organization’s Values and Core Competencies Will Have Positive Results Throughout the Organization.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=468 

• Implementing an Organization Realignment – Useful Guidelines.http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1638 

• Integrate Continuous Improvement Into Your Organization’s Culture and Daily Activities.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1576 

• Designing an Effective and Flexible Organization Structure – It’s More Than The Organization Itself.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1397 

• Organization Strategy Is All Inclusive – Comprises Your Entire Organization and External Environment.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1531 

• Key Elements For Successful Project Planning and Implementation. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=915 

• Too Many People Reporting To You / Too Many Interruptions? How To Manage More Efficiently.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=272 

• Human Resources Improvement Assessment Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1244 

• Match Manager Responsibilities With Equivalent Decision Making Authority. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=201 

• Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Tool. http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403 

• Chief of Staff – Do You Need One? http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=959 

• Organization Silos Are Always a Challenge, But Do Not Have to be a Problem.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1694

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post 15 Most Viewed Organizational Improvement Articles and Tools appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Your Board of Directors can have appropriate policies and procedures and yet not be providing effective governance for itself and your organization.  You can have the correct number of members, good committee structure, members with a sufficiently diverse competencies, and ethics and conflicts of interest policies, and even a mix of inside and outside directors.  However this does not guarantee that your Board will deliver on its governance responsibilities.

These polices and procedures provide an important framework for Board functions.  However, how your Board members see their roles and interact with each other, i.e. Board culture, is very important.  And a productive Board culture will also positively affect the culture of your organization.

An effective Board culture should embody the following characteristics:

• Taking responsibility, individually and as a group, to positively manage its internal relationships and dynamics.
• Open, candid and respectful discussion and debate, including:
  • Tolerance for differing viewpoints
  • Valuing respective expertise and perspective
  • Strong interest in hearing dissenting and varied viewpoints.
  • Freedom to challenge one another’s assumptions and conclusions
• Ethical behavior demonstrated by honesty, fairness and respect for others
• Accountability for one’s actions.
• Willingness to transparently confront and grapple with organization problems.
• A commitment to actions that is focused on what is in the organization’s best interests.
• An understanding that negotiation is important to a successful Board.
• Management can deliver bad news and the Board will listen even if they don’t like what they are hearing.
• Willingness to measure its own performance and measure its effectiveness – of each Board member and as a group.

Board Chair and Tone at the Top – of the Board.  Your Board Chair has a key role in establishing and maintaining a productive Board culture.  The Chair should explicitly communicate, and personally demonstrate, the above principles.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Positive Board Culture Is Critical To Its Successful Governance appeared first on Big4.com.

The aim of the blog is to discuss fraud in general and more specific VAT fraud.  What is the positive correlation? What is the impact on tax controversy, company’s prioritization and the game plan needed to mitigate risks?

“While 37.6 percent of respondents expected to find fraud among the accounts they audit, they anticipated their competitors would find fraud at a much higher rate of 66.9. That represents a disconnect between a given auditor’s expected fraud exposure risk and the general expectations for the industry” Auditors Anticipate Finding Fraud at Clients: Accounting Today.

Top Official Arrested For Bribery

In the Netherlands a top official of a housing organization has been arrested. The housing organization had invested in derivatives and speculated on interest rates. It went wrong and the housing organization needed EUR 1.6 billion to make the payments to the banks.

According to the prosecutor the top official received a kick back for purchasing these financial products and is now investigated for bribery, tax fraud, and money laundering.

In order to survive the housing organization has to raise rents and sell 15,000 houses (within a period of 10 years). The housing organization is the biggest Dutch provider of affordable housing, owning about 89,000 houses.

KPMG withdrew its approval for Vestia’s 2010 annual account.  KPMG said it doubts whether all derivatives have been processed properly in the annual account (Bloomberg).

VAT Fraud

Evaluating post Enron has much really changed from an internal and external control framework if top officials can still execute their ‘evil’ plans.

I have written in my recent blogs about VAT fraud.

Do external auditors investigate and review company’s indirect tax policies and controls?

The same question can be raised about the mandate and associated risks of top officials.

From Netherlands Intensifies Efforts To Combat VAT Fraud:

1. Nasir Khan had a successful accessories business, a jet-set lifestyle and reputation as a pillar of the community. But all that vanished in December when he was jailed for his part in a £250m VAT fraud - March, 2012
2. According to a PwC report: “11 percent of VAT revenue is lost annually through fraud – principally ‘missing trader’ or ‘carousel fraud’ – which equates to in the region of €100 billion.

Based on benchmark findings it is doubtful whether VAT fraud (caused internal or external) is in general managed and monitored closely via good functioning internal VAT controls.

“Only 32 percent rate their VAT / GST policies as very good or excellent. Worse still, only 20 percent rate their implementation as very good or excellent. Sounds like most businesses are well behind where they need to be” - KPMG Benchmark Survey 2012 

According to survey findings C-level (including external auditors) often considers VAT still a ‘cash in’ and ‘cash out’. That impacts prioritization and thus likely spending time and money on the set up of  good functioning internal VAT controls.  I refer to my Blog ‘How To Manage The Perception of C-level and Realize Tax Objectives‘.

However, it is recommended due to the intensified efforts to combat VAT fraud by the governments, the cause effect an increase of tax authority scrutiny, to reevaluate the prioritization of VAT overall and set up the right detection controls to manage VAT risks.

From VAT Throughput – Calculating The Taxes:

“What is the effect of increasing VAT/GST rates on this “VAT throughput”?  Governments increase the VAT rates to balance their budget. More VAT/GST in the system equates to more tax authority scrutiny and higher penalties for errors – the greater the amount of tax in the system, the greater the tax risk. Could be that an update of the tax risk register and tax risk evaluation is necessary.”

KPMG says that fraud is on the rise

We have seen similar fraud where goods or companies were sold lower than market value and a company’s official received a kickback or direct or indirectly ownership of the property sold.

Property traders were suspected of forgery, corruption and money laundering and involved in stealing some €250m from their companies. The two most important suspects were the former heads of Bouwfonds (Rabobank)  and the Philips pension fund.

‘The case came to light when a tax inspector checked out one of top official’s (red: name removed) receipts’ (red: a former director at Rabobank’s property development arm Bouwfonds)

‘He asked questions but did not get a clear answer. He then came across a money trail which led to more dubious bills.” DutchNews

KPMG says that fraud is on the rise. According to the latest KPMG Fraud Barometer a total of 546 large frauds were brought before the courts between 2008 and 2011, costing the Australian economy an aggregate value of over $1 billion.

“We have previously found a positive correlation between levels of fraud and periods of financial instability. We are seeing the first of frauds committed against organisations with gaps in internal controls in this cash-constrained environment”  Gary Gill, National Head of KPMG Forensic

Significant findings in this Fraud Barometer include:

• “80 percent of frauds against commercial businesses are ‘inside jobs’ committed by rank-and-file employees or managers, averaging $1.8 million per fraud. The largest recorded fraud in the Barometer ($45 million) and the largest against an Australian listed company ($19 million) were both insider frauds;
• frauds committed by management cost Australian businesses $400 million over four years, averaging over $2.78 million per fraud, almost triple the average for non-managers. Managers were the culprits in nine of the eleven ‘superfrauds’ (frauds greater than $10 million);
• accounting fraud, which invariably involves insiders, weak controls and a lack of detection processes, remains the most common type of fraud;
• cases related to bribery and corruption are starting to come before the courts as Australia plays catch-up with many other developed economies in toughening its anti-bribery and corruption regime.”

The above study and findings relate to Australia. Are these findings also applicable for the rest of the world?

A Game Plan For Detection And Management

Based on the above examples it might seem that this relates to the real estate industry. That is not the message I want to get across as greed by top officials – Enron scandal, Parmalat scandal, Ahold scandal, Baring Bank (rogue trader Nick Neeson), Societe Generale (rogue trader Jerome Kerviel), Global Financial Crisis etc –  goes beyond that industry.

Sometimes it relates to budget-based incentive targets of the brass. Artificially boosting up company’s performance is not integer but profitable when your bonus is related to that KPI. Often it is simply greed and the opportunity as proper oversight is lacking.

I have written about pitfalls of Budget-based Compensation Targets in my Blog “Pitfalls Of Actual To Budget Exercises Especially In The Downturn“.  I focussed in that blog on disconnect and internal competition within an organization by employees, but a code of conduct such as integrity and common values is something to practice within the entire organization.  The brass has to be role models.

People are getting caught because the fraud itself becomes unmanageable or the company is suddenly not able to fulfill their financial obligations or somebody had reason to whistle. Based on Accounting Today it is not because of proper risk management and controls:

“… typically shows that external audits historically have been among the least effective means of uncovering wrongdoing—well behind accidental discoveries and whistle-blowing” Auditors Anticipate Finding Fraud at Clients: Accounting Today.

An example of a game plan

“Fraud continues to cost Australian organisations and in many cases it’s an internal problem, but fraud should never be seen as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Undertaking robust risk assessments, using data analytics to identify potential fraudulent activity, providing staff with fraud awareness training and putting in place an effective plan for responding to fraud will go a long way in minimising or avoiding losses,”  Gary Gill, National Head of KPMG Forensic

Above game plan can be copied paste from VAT strategic and VAT control framework perspective.

What is your view? Do you agree?

Related Topics

From Management of Reputational Risk:

“The contribution of a tax professional is nowadays not only on not paying more tax than necessary and evaluating associated tax risks when implementing (rate level of tolerance on a risk scale), but should also take in consideration the impact of such planning on the reputation of the company.”

From Recognizing Tax Avoidance Schemes:

“Check out this video by Paul Clitheroe a financial expert and financial commentator. Recommended as it is entertaining and educational at the same time.”

From Audit Defense: Key Considerations:

“The new trend is to have an open dialogue between revenue bodies, taxpayers and tax intermediaries.”

” (…) written ‘agreement’, by which the taxpayer undertakes principally to “actively notify the Tax Administration of any issues with a possible and significant tax risk.”

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Fraud On The Rise: Auditors Anticipate Finding Fraud At Clients appeared first on Big4.com.

The post But What IS an Interim Consultant….? appeared first on Big4.com.

“The challenge is really how to take this very, very talented, high-strung group and mold them into a confident, cohesive team. It would be easier if they were less talented and more malleable.”   Ralph Shrader, Chairman and CEO, Booz Allen Hamilton

By Maureen Broderick, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Of all the ingredients in the professional service mix, leadership is probably the most essential to success – and often the most elusive. In most industries the person in the corner office calls the shots. Operating within a traditional command-and-control environment is relatively straightforward: the divisions between leading, managing, and following are clearly defined and widely understood. In contrast, the matrix structure that most professional service firms have embraced is a far more dynamic business model; it’s flat, fluid, fragmented, and often unruly. “In a partnership,” observed one CEO, “everyone’s an owner, so you have to make sure that everyone’s interest is heard and dealt with.”

In a professional service setting, influence trumps control. Leadership requires powerful motivational skills and adroit maneuvering, coupled with the willingness to make tough calls and to take the heat for them. It also requires a consummate communicator to manage a partnership of equals in which everyone is an owner and entrepreneur.

In the course of conducting research for my book, The Art of Managing Professional Services, we asked over 130 interviewees to describe the most important characteristics of a successful service firm leader. By a wide margin, the traits they believe define successful leadership fall under the umbrella of strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. In fact, of the 12 success characteristics identified in our interviews, only one, “understands the business,” involves technical expertise. The other 11 qualities considered essential for effective leadership can accurately be described as soft skills necessary to effectively navigate the interpersonal dynamics of a partnership enterprise.

Good Influencer/Builder of Coalition

When everyone in an organization is an owner, intellectually intense, and has a view of what should be done and how it should be accomplished, getting the buy-in necessary to make decisions can be an arduous process for those at the helm.  Building consensus in an entrepreneurial environment requires a gifted facilitator. This person must command respect, inspire confidence, and reinforce cultural values within a firm’s partner corps, while also reassuring individual performers that their experience and expertise will be recognized and rewarded. Shifting between mobilizing a partnership around pivotal decisions and managing the needs and expectations of what one CEO called “anxious overachievers” requires enormous patience and mental agility.

Inspirational and Passionate

“A good leader is someone who uses their mind for a sense of direction and analysis, their heart to manage the people, and their guts to have clear values and vision.”  David Dotlich, Founder and Chairman, Pivot Leadership

The ability to inspire and excite people around ideas, strategies, and opportunities is one of the most compelling traits of a leader in virtually every industry. But when the business is dependent on strong individual performance, the ability to inspire people to operate at optimal levels and consistently provide excellent client service is of paramount importance. Passion, energy, and enthusiasm are the currency leaders use to obtain buy-in from their colleagues. As one managing partner told us, “If you don’t passionately care about the business and the service you provide and the value you are bringing to clients, you should find something else to do.”

Visionary

Our respondents placed high value on a leader’s ability to create, clearly articulate, and align a partnership around a vision and then sustain that vision in the face of external and internal pressures. Time and again in our interviews, we heard that professional service leadership isn’t just about the power of ideas; it’s about emotionally engaging people around a shared vision. That vision must be both compelling and attainable in order to mobilize people to pursue it and to keep them on course. Respondents caution that leadership without followership does not work. Paul Reilly, CEO of financial services firm Raymond James, explained the concept, “The problem with leaders is that sometimes they convince themselves they’ve earned the right to lead, and they charge the next hill, and they turn around and there are no troops behind them.”

Good Listener

Almost one-third of respondents identified strong listening skills as one of the key requirements for successfully guiding a professional service firm. Here again, many interviewees raised the issue of striking a balance between listening long enough and well enough to gather input from the right people without being overwhelmed by the force of their positions or paralyzed by the diversity of their opinions. The appetite for debate in a professional service firm can be almost insatiable. A good listener leaves his or her ego at the door while skillfully managing the egos of others. As one firm leader told us, “Strong leadership is grounded in the ability to listen and to be able to incorporate a lot of partner voices into a cohesive course of action – a program and a plan for how to move the company forward.”

Good Communicator

“You’ve got to convince people with whom you are working that they want to follow your vision.”   Ben Fisher, COO, Perkins+Will

Effective leaders stay connected. They visit the trenches to identify issues and problems that need handling, they stay attuned to shifting levels of client and partner satisfaction, and they know the key internal stakeholders and regularly reach out to them. Bruce Boulware, retired COO of law firm O’Melveny & Myers, explained the dynamics, “Communication involves connection, constructive candor, and listening. It also involves curiosity – seeking contrasting views. That’s how you get creativity and innovation and create forward thinking in a structured environment.”

Understands the Business

Understanding the business is a given for leaders of professional service firms. Virtually all the leaders we interviewed grew up in their respective professions and are highly skilled and respected in their areas of expertise. Many have spent their entire careers in the organizations they now lead. All have managed some of their firm’s most valued client relationships and have generated significant revenue over time. Some leaders acknowledge that the best client service professionals are sometimes not the best firm leaders. Leading a firm and leading a client engagement require very different sets of skills. However, no one we interviewed contested the importance of having hands-on knowledge of the business.

Without a question, leading a professional service firm isn’t for the faint of heart. A successful leader of professionals wears an impressive array of hats: visionary, values watchdog, motivational coach, consensus builder, and, in many cases, rainmaker and revenue generator as well. As one CEO summed up, “There’s an under appreciation of what it takes to lead businesses like this – better be darn sure you want to do it.”

Maureen Broderick is founder and CEO of Broderick & Company (www.broderickco.com), a consulting firm specializing in strategy, training, and research for professional services. Her new book, The Art of Managing Professional Services: Insights from Leaders of the World’s Top Firms(www.theartofmanagingprofessionalservices.com), was published in November 2010 by Wharton School Publishing.

The post Not a Job for the Faint of Heart appeared first on Big4.com.

By Andrew Sobel, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Sometimes it can feel like buyers have the upper hand. They have many service providers to choose from. Everyone calls on them and aggressively pitches for their business. How can you be viewed as a peer, as someone who has something valuable to offer, rather than a commodity vendor? Thoughtful power questions can help you earn greater respect immediately.

To begin with, your behavior and demeanor at the outset have to telegraph that you consider yourself a peer. The scene in The King’s Speech where the speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffry Rush) meets the future king Prince Albert (Colin Firth) is a wonderful illustration of the importance of this. When Prince Albert tells Logue to address him as your Majesty, Logue shoots back, “I shall call you Bertie,” which is the Prince’s childhood nickname. Prince Albert is outraged, but he acquiesces. Logue’s point is that for therapy to work, they must be equals. So skip the “Oh, thank you so very much for meeting me, I know how valuable your time is and how busy you are!” Walk in as a peer, an equal.

Psychologically, you want to put yourself on the same side of the table as your potential client. Consider these questions to help you do that:

1. “I view this as a chance for us to get to know each other and understand each other’s business—and, potentially, to identify an issue of mutual interest where I could add value to your business. From your perspective, what would be the best way for us to use this time?” On the surface, this seems like a deferential question. But it actually has the effect of making the client come up with their own reasons for having a conversation with you. You set a very broad agenda, and then you turn it over to them.

2. “I’m curious about what in particular interested you in meeting with me?” This could come across as a somewhat cheeky question, but when asked at the right moment it can create very powerful “reach” on the part of your client. It can shift a client from sitting back and commanding “OK, impress me” to leaning forward and asking, “Can you tell me about yourself and how you think you could help me?”

3. “You’ve defined a coaching program as the solution here, but in my experience there are other interventions that may possibly work better. Can you talk about the underlying goals you’re trying to achieve” Challenging the client’s definition of the problem and the solution is not only the right thing to do, but it quickly puts you on even footing with them.

4. Who would made the final decision on a project like this? Who would the ultimate executive sponsor be?” This may seem like a very basic question about the client’s decision-making process, but actually it’s more than that. It shows confidence. It demonstrates organizational savvy. And it communicates that you’re not just an order-taker. A follow-up question might then be, “Can you organize a meeting between the two of us?” This establishes you as someone who doesn’t just take orders (in both senses of the phrase!) from feasibility buyers.

****************************
Andrew Sobel helps companies and individuals build their clients for life. Andrew was a Senior Vice President and Country Chief Executive for Gemini Consulting (15 years). He is the co-author of the newly-released Power Questions as well as the author of the business bestsellers Clients for Life, Making Rain, and All for One. He can be reached at www.andrewsobel.com, where you can download a free set of Power Tools to help you get better at asking Power Questions.

The post How to Build a Peer Relationship When Selling to a Prospect appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Are you managing as well as you should? Or are you being asked to improve how you manage your operating unit or teams?

Our Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Tool provides you with an approach and guidance on good management practices.

The management principles and practices described in the tool apply to managers at all organization levels, with some being more applicable to different levels of the organization.  For example, a manager of a discrete business process must develop and implement strategy, but granted it will differ from the strategy development by a higher level manager or CEO; however both have many similar characteristics.

Follow this link to the tool.  http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403.

The Management Practices Assessment and Improvement Categories are:

1. Strategic Thinking, Vision and Actions
2. Strategy and Goals
3. Organization Culture
4. Clear Direction and Project Planning
5. Maintaining Priorities
6. Using Performance Measures
7. Regular and Productive Meetings With Direct Reports
8. Responsibilities and Authority
9. In Touch With Employees
10. In Touch With Customers – External and Internal
11. Delegating Work
12. Communication
13. Organization and Team Leadership
14. Supporting Employees
15. Interest In Employee Personal Lives
16. People Development
17. Constructive Feedback to Employees
18. Staffing Levels Management
19. Bottom Lines
20. Conflict Resolution
21. Self Awareness

See and use the tool at http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?page_id=1403.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganizatin.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance.

The post Improve Your Management Performance appeared first on Big4.com.

Aim Of The Blog

This guest blog is not about whether effective tax planning is right or wrong, but raises the question whether besides evaluating tax risks (level of tolerance) also reputational risks of the company as part of tax risk management should be determined and managed accordingly.

I don’t necessary agree with the content of various public statements below. For management purposes the objective is to predict the mindset of the public opinion.

• Is the public opinion important for tax planning and the company’s business objectives?
• Has that changed due to economic climate?
• What drives public opinion?
• What is the impact on the reputation of the tax professional if planning is implemented and becomes unforeseen public knowledge?
• How important is the reputation of the tax professional to establish company’s tax objectives such as tax controversy (‘enhanced relationships’ with tax authorities).
•  I quoted recent news stories that might influence public opinion overall. What would the opinion be if this is read by someone not in the tax profession?

Tax specialists.. Are you conscious of your reputation?

How about the perception of integrity of the tax profession?

Some quotes of a blog I recently read.

“The Chief Political Commentator of the Telegraph, Peter Osborne, recently wrote one of the most damning verdicts. He stated ‘there are few more worthless specimens of humanity than tax accountants and tax lawyers’.”

“Mark Robertson, representing the investment research service Eiris, highlighted how ‘significant reputational damage in the form of negative publicity arising from aggressive tax evasion’ can create financial risks for organizations.”

“Joe Stead from Christian Aid noted that ‘becoming known as a tax dodger can damage a company’s reputation and lead to costly penalties’.

By Beth Horne, Tax specialists.. Are you conscious of your reputation? – Talking Recruitment.

The Changing World From An Adviser Perspective

A tax professional should contribute and give guidance to achieve that taxpayers do not pay more tax than necessary. Every opportunity has to be considered and because of the different and highly competitive market in the past aggressive indirect tax planning structures were proposes and implemented.

I shared my view of ‘The Changing World From An Adviser Perspective’ in ‘One Man’s Weakness Is Another Man’s Strength: Let’s Team Up ’.

In the indirect tax field, especially value added tax, this kind of aggressive structures were for a long time often approved by case law. That has changed when the European Court of Justice ruled a couple of years ago that such behavior had to be punished and the tax advantage was revoked or denied.

The tax profession had to change as well and reposition itself to ‘manage the numbers of indirect tax’ (focus more on risk management) and because of new trends relationships with tax authorities became (more) important to realize the associated taxpayer’s tax objectives.

A New trend: Open Dialogue Between Revenue Bodies, Taxpayers And Tax Intermediaries

The new trend is to have an open dialogue between revenue bodies, taxpayers and tax intermediaries based on mutual trust. I refer to OECD promotion of ‘enhanced relationship’ (OECD Report: Study Into The Role of Tax Intermediaries).

In 2005, the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration (TCA) initiated a pilot ‘horizontal monitoring’ programme involving 20 of the country’s largest corporate taxpayers. At the core of the programme is a concerted effort by the TCA to build greater trust with this taxpayer constituency as a means of encouraging greater disclosure of tax uncertainties and risks.

Read more in: ‘Audit Defense: Key Considerations‘.

Is What Apple Did Wrong?

How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Global Taxes by Charles Duhigg and David Kocieniewski:

“Apple’s headquarters are in Cupertino, Calif. By putting an office in Reno, just 200 miles away, to collect and invest the company’s profits, Apple sidesteps state income taxes on some of those gains. California’s corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Nevada’s? Zero. Setting up an office in Reno is just one of many legal methods Apple uses to reduce its worldwide tax bill by billions of dollars each year.

As it has in Nevada, Apple has created subsidiaries in low-tax places like Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands — some little more than a letterbox or an anonymous office — that help cut the taxes it pays around the world.

Almost every major corporation tries to minimize its taxes, of course. For Apple, the savings are especially alluring because the company’s profits are so high. Wall Street analysts predict Apple could earn up to $45.6 billion in its current fiscal year — which would be a record for any American business. Without such tactics, Apple’s federal tax bill in the United States most likely would have been $2.4 billion higher last year, according to a recent study by a former Treasury Department economist, Martin A. Sullivan.”

About Change And Competencies

The contribution of a tax professional is nowadays not only on not paying more tax than necessary and evaluating associated tax risks when implementing (rate level of tolerance on a risk scale), but should also take in consideration the impact of such planning on the reputation of the company.

What is the impact if the tax planning becomes public knowledge? What are the consequences if a newspaper or politician picks it up to make statements about lack of ‘tax morale’ and the company is used as case study?

Think about the taxpayer’s customers, suppliers, employees, external auditors, financial institutions, the taxpayer’s credit rating.

Some examples of such a news briefings that could influence people’s mindset:

Political Double Dealing by James Green:

“On his 2008 Presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama made his hostility toward “offshore” jurisdictions very clear: “There’s a building in the Cayman Islands that houses supposedly 12,000 U.S.-based corporations. That’s either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world, and we know which one it is.”

Is China Bad For The U.S. Job Market? by Kenneth Rapoza

“Is China displacing U.S. jobs?” asks Scott Paul, executive director at the Alliance for American Manufacturers, a trade lobby. “No question about it. A lot the job losses have come from innovative states like Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas and California, where they do all the innovating, but China does all the manufacturing for them. The problem with that model is that manufacturing and production is where the middle class jobs are. China has had a huge impact on the U.S. economy,” Paul says.

Reuters, March 5, 2012:

“International tax evasion by multinational companies that take advantage of tax-rate disparities among countries is on the rise, according to an international study group.  By claiming multiple deductions and generating fake credits, corporations can cancel out taxes owed, said the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday. In a 25-page report, the OECD said billions of dollars of tax revenues were at risk through aggressive tax planning techniques used by companies to exploit tax rate differentials. The report says companies exploit national differences in the tax treatment of instruments, entities or transfers to deduct the same expense in several different countries, to make income ‘disappear’ between countries or to artificially generate several tax credits for the same foreign tax.”

The management of reputational risk is in my view a corner stone of tax controversy and becoming even more important in times of tax authority scrutiny as method of governments to balance their budgets.

The reputation of a company and that of a tax professional either in-house or external are linked.  The reputation of a tax professional, both current and past, is a key driver to contribute real value to the taxpayer’s tax controversy objectives nowadays and in the future.

What Determines Our Reputation?

A Tax Controversy objective ‘achieving mutual trust via ‘an ‘enhanced relationship’ is difficult to meet if the tax professional in-house or as representative of the taxpayer has a reputation of planning and implementing ‘tax’ schemes that allocates taxation to low rate countries abroad. Trust has to be earned and (mis)perceptions about ethical standards could cause real bottlenecks.

Is that also the real market danger for Apple: the mindset of the public opinion? What is the impact on Apple’s reputation with respect to this kind of stories?

Apple customers and suppliers face increase of taxes and you hear that Apple does not pay taxes (highly profitable). Would that customer have an opinion about tax morale in general and benchmark that with Apple’s tax strategy?

A public opinion is also about the perception of Apple ethics beyond tax via dotting all the pieces of bad press lately such as labor conditions and outsourcing manufacturing to China.

• What is the public opinion about the company’s code of conduct?
• Has that opinion changed and what was the cause effect?
• Does that impact Apple’s future tax strategy?

If you focus only on evaluating tax risk (level of tolerance) probably not. However, is such an analysis enough from a tax strategy perspective nowadays?

In Apple’s defense lots of multinationals are doing the same and change of the tax system – as those structures are often legally allowed – is the only way to close such gaps. I refer to Obama’s quote:

“There’s a building in the Cayman Islands that houses supposedly 12,000 U.S.-based corporations.”

Management By Apple

Based on the statement below it is likely that this risk has been foreseen, considered manageable and thus likely no need necessary to change its tax strategy at least for now. Apple’s message below highlights what has been contributed. The method is counterattack by telling – supported by facts – why such statements or public perception as mentioned above (all the questions raised) should be considered wrong.

Apple stresses publicly its code of conduct: ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘highest ethical standards complying with applicable laws and acounting rules’. Apple responded also very quickly.

It shows now a process from start (worse case scenario) to finish (game plan) as it  includes also how Apple manages reputational risk.

Apple’s statement:

Over the past several years, we have created an incredible number of jobs in the United States. The vast majority of our global work force remains in the U.S., with more than 47,000 full-time employees in all 50 states. By focusing on innovation, we’ve created entirely new products and industries, and more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. workers — from the people who create components for our products to the people who deliver them to our customers. Apple’s international growth is creating jobs domestically since we oversee most of our operations from California. We manufacture parts in the U.S. and export them around the world, and U.S. developers create apps that we sell in over 100 countries. As a result, Apple has been among the top creators of American jobs in the past few years.

Apple also pays an enormous amount of taxes which help our local, state and federal governments. In the first half of fiscal year 2012 our U.S. operations have generated almost $5 billion in federal and state income taxes, including income taxes withheld on employee stock gains, making us among the top payers of U.S. income tax.

We have contributed to many charitable causes but have never sought publicity for doing so. Our focus has been on doing the right thing, not getting credit for it. In 2011, we dramatically expanded the number of deserving organizations we support by initiating a matching gift program for our employees.

Apple has conducted all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules. We are incredibly proud of all of Apple’s contributions.

Apple responds to tax criticism by highlighting job creation by Steven Musil

Apple’s Public Image Is Made Of Teflon

“When the New York Times claimed incorrectly last year that General Electric (GE) paid zero federal taxes in 2010 on worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, the company’s reputation took a steep and prolonged hit, as measured by YouGov’s BrandIndex Reputation score.

Not so Apple (AAPL).

When the same paper ran a front-page story last week detailing — again incorrectly, according to Forbes — the lengths to which Apple has gone to avoid paying taxes, the company’s consumer reputation barely budged.

In fact, based on responses to the question “Would you be proud or embarrassed to work for this brand?” Apple’s reputation score actually went up modestly a few days after the Times story broke, according to a YouGov report issued Tuesday.

The market research firm concluded that Apple’s public reputation is “virtually Teflon” — at least in terms of tax avoidance.”

The N.Y. Times’ tax-avoidance story didn’t stick to Apple By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Management Of Reputational Risk appeared first on Big4.com.

Susan Bruno (divacfo.com), Big4.com Guest Blogger

Although all 5D’s are difficult (death, divorce, disaster, disability, debt), we can pretty safely say that death trumps them all. Coping with the death of a loved one is perhaps the hardest thing we have to encounter in our lives. But when your spouse or a family member dies, you’ll also need to handle numerous financial and legal matters. One of our favorite divas, Erin O’Toole, has not only coped with the loss of her husband, but has done so with incredible grace and dignity. Here is her story.

As if loosing her mother to cancer as a young woman wasn’t enough, Erin faced the “big C” a second time when her husband John fell ill. Erin and John were still newlyweds, only married for a year and a half, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. John battled six and a half long years after his diagnosis. You wouldn’t blame Erin if she allowed her life to go haywire. But instead, she took the bull by the horns and saddled up, all while raising her three young children.

“Emotionally, it was a total mess. A nightmare,” Erin remembers. Despite the whirlwind of emotion she was feeling, Erin knew she had to face several financial matters for the sake of her husband and children. “I wanted to make sure the finances weren’t a burden on John while he was sick,” she shared, “At the end, he wasn’t even aware enough to know it was all taken care of.”

How She Got Through It

Luckily, Erin had a financial background and was already very involved in her family’s finances. “When we got married, I told John to hand over his wallet,” Erin joked, “He was always a big spender.” Even if you’ve always handled your family’s finances like Erin, you may be overwhelmed by the number of matters you have to settle leading up to and following your loved one’s death. Here’s what she did:

• Worked closely with the family CPA and their attorney.
• Learned new financial concepts, such as refinancing a mortgage & budgeting a household with someone being sick and dying.
• Stopped working. (An obvious luxury and not an option for everyone).
• Became aware of John’s financial situation. “Thankfully John had upped his 401k to the max level and bought supplemental life insurance prior to getting sick. We would not be where we are today, living comfortably, had he not done that,” Erin says.
• Located paperwork and made sure forms were up to date before John passed. “John was always really good about updating his records throughout the years. He always made sure his will was aligned with our family goals,” she says.

And most importantly:

Erin never stopped asking questions. John was on long-term disability leave and Erin remembers worrying about whether she would get his full life insurance if he died while on disability. Although calling the insurance company was very difficult for Erin, she knew that it couldn’t wait. {The answer is yes, she would get his full life insurance even if he was on disability at the time of his death.}

Her Advice

• Don’t make any important financial decisions soon after someone dies. You won’t be thinking clearly and you will make bad decisions. “I panicked. I took John’s 401k and cashed it in instead of rolling it over. I did this all without talking to my accountant or lawyer and ended up paying $35,000 in taxes.” Erin admits that this mistake could have easily been avoided with a quick call to her CPA.
• Get a copy of the beneficiary designation form of the life insurance policy and retirement plan to confirm that you are the primary beneficiary and your kids (or a trust for their benefit) are the contingent beneficiary. If you do this before your loved one dies, it can be changed if need be.
• Estate planning is really, really important. ” I never realized it until it slapped me in the face,” Erin admits. Be involved in the estate planning process, if not fully, at least 50%. Erin says that she reviewed her will five years ago and is currently reviewing it for an update.
• Manage the finances together in a relationship.

Ps…while John was battling cancer he never felt sorry for himself. He and Erin not only took care of their own family but also raised thousands and thousands of dollars for The Lance Armstrong Foundation. An inspiration to all!

For more on the 5D’s or Death, click here or here.

Susan Bruno (CPA/PFS, CFP, CIC) is a private wealth specialist creating distinct and customized solutions for high-net-worth individuals; she also runs a blog to raise financial literacy among women (divacfo.com).

The post Death & Finances appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Some form of matrix organizational structure is the norm in many organizations.  It’s generally a blend of a formal long term structure (usually hierarchical) and temporary functional work teams comprised of employees with respective specializations from various organizational departments.  They focus on a specific project, with a specific scope of work, objectives and time frame. You can also see it in organizations with work groups that continually form to work on a specific project and disband upon its completion; with employees then returning to a work group that is their “home group” and whose existence is more long term.

In a matrix structure employees typically have a functional manager to whom they formally report, who has a similar technical expertise and provides an organizational home.  This this is the manager who probably conducted the employment interview and is responsible for conducting performance reviews and generally handling human resource type matters with the employee.  Some of the employee’s work occurs within this functional organization unit and this manager will oversee the work and evaluate the employee’s performance.  Employees are also assigned to work teams outside this department for a specific and relatively temporary project.  These work teams are comprised of employees with diverse expertise who have joined the team because of the specific contribution they can make with their expertise.

Challenges With Matrix Organizations

Matrix structures are advantageous for flexibly applying organization talent where it’s needed.  However, there are challenges that need to be monitored and addressed.

Role and responsibility confusion.  Employees can become confused about their roles and responsibilities as they are moved from one work group to another, with their role within the respective work groups also changing; particularly when they are required to perform work outside their technical specialty.

Conflicting loyalties to more than one manager.  As they work for multiple managers, functional and project specific, employees may develop loyalties to more than one manager; and that will vary in intensity and type among functional and work team managers.  Loyalty to managers is an important element for employee retention and productivity and should be encouraged and allowed to occur.  However, management should ensure that employees are not in a position in which their loyalty to one manager comes into conflict with loyalty to another manager.

Project status is not effectively monitored.  Current and accurate information about work team and project status should be readily available, as this supports the efficient and productive deployment of employees.

Employee status and availability is not readily known.  Without valid and current data on employee and project status, project and functional managers may be not aware of employee availability causing them to search the organization for appropriate expertise for their work effort.

Employee experience and expertise may not be readily known.  Potential project managers, and even functional managers, may be unaware of work tasks and projects on which employees have worked, and thus their ability to make a contribution on work assignments.  Also, this lack of knowledge regarding in-house work experience could impact how the employee’s performance is reviewed by a functional manager.

Employee work performance, bad and good, is not well known.  If there is inadequate information and weak communication between functional and project managers employee work performance will be inadequately known.

Overhead related costs are too high.  Matrix organizations may tend to have more managers than formal hierarchical structures.  Consequently, costs associated with manager positions may be higher.  These higher costs, which could be very minimal and should be offset by higher levels of productivity and getting the job done.

Maximizing Advantages and Overcoming Disadvantages

Matrix structures can support fully engaged employees doing work that is meaningful and fulfilling.  And in turn, as many studies have found, your organization’s bottom line and viability is positively impacted.

To be fully successful the following organizational elements should be in place in a matrix organization structure.

• Support from top management
• Well defined and communicated organization goals, objectives, and mission
• Cooperation and communication between functional and work team managers
• HR information system that is current and accurate
• Project management support information system that is current and accurate
• Documented roles and responsibilities
• Effective project management
• Communication that is transparent to managers and employees
• Continuing education – technical and how to work in fluid work environments
• Regular status meetings with functional managers
• Conflict among managers should be minimized or at least kept out of view
• Annual performance reviews

Support from top management.  Your organization’s top executives must ensure that all organizational functions support managers and employees in their work efforts and that all managers cooperate with and support each other.

Well defined and communicated organization goals, objectives, and mission.  It’s important to keep everyone focused on the big picture, rather than more narrow self-interests that may impede cooperation within the organization and minimizing any silo mentalities.  This is particularly important with a matrix structure that requires a lot of cooperation and communication among executives, managers and employees.  Continually, top management must communicate, in words and actions, organization goals, objectives and mission, i.e. the big picture.

Cooperation and communication between functional and work team managers.  This is critical.  There must be formal mechanisms in place so that managers (functional and work team) can obtain information regarding employee performance for performance evaluations, promotion, compensation decisions, continuing education and work assignments.

There must also be cooperation and flexibility among the managers in the “give and take” required to share employees.

HR information system that is current and accurate.  You should have a HR information system that provides current employee status, ideally daily or weekly, of their work activity, e.g. specific projects or work teams, anticipated availability, and skill sets.

This information system should also support the tracking of employee participation in work groups so that their performance managers and work team managers know their experience and work history.  This information should also support oppportunities for advancement, recognition, regular compensation and bonuses

Project management support information system that is current and accurate.  Work team projects, to be fully effective and efficient, and make effective and efficient use of employee specialists, require project management support systems that provide work team managers with accurate and current information such as hours worked to-date and costs by employee and the overall team, efficiency ratio’s, status vis-à-vis milestones, and budget expenditures and budget remaining to-date.  This information should be available to all managers and also team members (possibly summarized).

Documented roles and responsibilities.  It’s important that employees have job descriptions that state their responsibilities and roles.  Care should be taken so that these descriptions are not too narrow so that they limit opportunities to provide meaningful participation on work teams and advance their experience and careers.  Also, they should not be too broad which could result in confusion as to employee responsibilities and authority and also result in their assignment to project that are not a good fit.  You may want to describe two to five typical and fundamental employee tasks or work assignments as part of the job description.

Effective project management.  Work team and functional managers should be very effective at managing projects.  They should employ formal project methodologies appropriate to the work and projects at-hand.  This expertise can significantly contribute to fulfilling work experiences by team members, and result in effective and efficient projects that are on-time and on-budget.  Being on successful projects and having a meaningful role will contribute to employee retention and a positive work environment.

Communication that is transparent to managers and employees.  Communications regarding work and project status, forming and disbanding of teams, team success (or lack thereof), work activities should be transparent, other than those communications related to confidential HR matters.

Continuing education – technical and how to work in fluid work environments.  In additional to technical education your employees should have the skills to work in matrix work environments.  These work environments normally embody fluid work assignments and responsibilities, relatively ambiguous roles and interaction with employees who, due to their respective technical expertise, have different approaches to analyzing and resolving problems and project requirements.  It’s important that employees know how to navigate this environment and have education on how to adjust to, and master, fluid environments and working with employees with differing perspectives and personalities.

This ability and relevant education also applies to managers in their respective roles.

Regular status meetings with functional managers.  Employees should have regularly scheduled meetings, e.g. monthly or quarterly, to review their current projects and status and HR related issues; and to address any difficulties they may be facing.  These meetings can be very important when employees are fully engaged on work teams with a relatively long term project; as this may be the only opportunity for the functional manager and employee to meet.

Conflict among managers should be minimized or at least kept out of view. Top level management should make sure that this occurs.  Conflict is inevitable and it’s important to manage it so that it does not interfere with employee and work team performance.  Too much and visible conflict can cause employee uncertainty and compel them to take sides in these conflicts.

Annual performance reviews.  Annual, or ideally semi-annual, performance reviews are important regardless of the organization structure.  They are particularly important in fluid matrix structures in which there may not be substantial contact between employees and their functional manager.  These meetings should also compel the functional/performance review manager to obtain all relevant information on the employee’s role, experience and performance on work teams.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Guidelines For Managing Employees In A Matrix Organization Structure appeared first on Big4.com.

 Accountants understand auditing:  Accountants can trace the history of auditing back to ancient Egypt, but in its more modern form of independent CPA accounting back to 1593.  They were auditing and being held responsible for their opinions (through lawsuits) long before information security was invented.  By this I am trying to say that there is an audit process that is missing from the security assessment space.  PCI and ISO 27001 assessments provide a point in time assurance which is no assurance at all, and CSA STAR is a self-assessment at this point.  While I agree that the TSPC is a weak standard, at least with SOC2 you get a period of time assurance by taking advantage of the audit process that the attestation standard requires.  Then all you have to do is add the other standards into the covered areas and enhance the audit procedures to ensure that the controls are not only “in place”, but that they “have been in place” for the period of time that is covered by the report.

Security professionals know security:  CSA STAR, NIST, and ISO27001 are great standards, and security professionals are the only ones who can test them.  Accountants know that they cannot test security which is probably why the TSPC are so vague.  Security professionals have the right security standards, but they do not understand what assurance is, or how it is achieved.  The very fact that entire industries throw around words like “certification” and “compliant” demonstrate this.  Accountants understand that when you use words like this, the entity providing the attestation is opened up to huge liability.  Accountants are very careful to design and perform their tests to mitigate this risk, and use terms like “reasonable assurance”, “in all material respects”, and “in our opinion” to ensure that organizations that rely on their opinion know exactly what they can rely on.

Jon Long, CISA, QSA is a Senior Manager and Practice Builder at CompliancePoint  and is currently championing an audit approach that allows organizations to combine multiple compliance requirements into a single SOC2 engagement.

//

<div class=”statcounter”><a title=”customizable counter” href=”http://statcounter.com/free-hit-counter/” target=”_blank”><img class=”statcounter” src=”http://c.statcounter.com/7486493/0/46390f79/0/” alt=”customizable counter”></a></div>

The post So Many Security Standards, Audits, and Certifications. Which One is Right?! appeared first on Big4.com.

The CEO of a $12 billion company summed it up neatly when he told me, “When someone walks into my office and is trying to market to me or sell something, I can always tell how experienced they are by the quality of the questions they ask.”

A good power question helps you uncover a prospect’s most urgent needs. It cuts through the noise and gets right to the heart of the issue. It uncovers higher-level goals and aspirations. It shows, in the most convincing way possible, that you’re thoughtful and smart.

When you first meet with a potential client, you must establish your credibility and understand their goals. Our natural tendency is to do this by telling—by describing our company, our services, and the uniqueness of what we do. That’s boring.

The best way to build trust in your competence is to ask credibility-building questions.  These are questions that implicitly demonstrate your experience while encouraging the client to talk about their issues. This is what the CEO was talking about.

It requires good upfront research and planning to develop strong, credibility-building questions. Your questions will vary based on your particular client and industry, but they should sound like these:

• “How are you reacting to the new reporting requirements [i.e., to a trend or a new regulation]? Several of my largest clients have taken a wait-and-see attitude, but others are already conducting in-depth assessments…”
• “Your CEO’s speech to last month’s industry conference certainly put a stake in the ground in terms of your international growth aspirations…how is this going to impact your talent acquisition and development efforts?

A credibility-boosting question, in short, explores the client’s issues while demonstrating your knowledge, experience, and preparation for the meeting.

A second essential objective with a prospect is to understand their issues—what I call their agenda. Every executive has an agenda of three to five critical business goals or priorities. Your job is to explore, understand, and add value to this agenda. One of the most direct agenda-sensing questions is, “How will you be evaluated at the end of the year by your leadership? What metrics will be used?”

A second type of agenda-uncovering question focuses on why. Clients often specify a particular intervention—“We need a training program” or, “We need coaching.” When they do, you must ask “Why?”: “Why have you decided that?” If you ask this, even four or five times, you will expose the underlying need or goal. By expanding the conversation you will expand the potential engagement.

Other agenda-setting questions could include:

• “Where will your future growth come from?”
• “How will you decide whether or not to…(make an important decision)”
• “What organizational or operational capabilities do you need to strengthen in order to support your future strategy?”
• “Who or what could be a disruptor in your business?”
• “As you think about the future of your business, what are you most excited about? What are you most concerned about?”

Remember, one of the important ways you add value in a first meeting is by being thought provoking and helping your prospect think differently about his or her issues. Good questions are a great way to do this.

***************

Andrew Sobel was a Senior Vice President and Country Chief Executive for Gemini Consulting (15 years). He writes about building long-term client relationships, and is the author of four business bestsellers including Power Questions, All for One, and Clients for Life. www.andrewsobel.com.

The post Use Power Questions to Engage with Prospects appeared first on Big4.com.

Susan Bruno (divacfo.com), Big4.com Guest Blogger

We ladies face special challenges when planning for retirement. Because our careers are often put on hold to care for children or elderly parents, we may spend less time at work and earn less money than our male coworkers. As a result, our retirement plan balances, Social Security benefits, and pension benefits are often
lower. In addition to earning less, women generally live longer than men, and face having to stretch limited retirement savings and benefits over many years. To meet these financial challenges, you’ll need to make retirement planning a priority.

Ditch The Excuses

“I’m too busy to plan.”

We know about being busy. Perhaps you’re so wrapped up in balancing your responsibilities that you haven’t given retirement planning much thought. That’s understandable, but if you don’t put retirement planning at the top of your to-do list, you risk short changing yourself later on. Staying focused on your goal of saving for a comfortable retirement is difficult, but if you put yourself first it will really pay off in the end.

“My husband takes care of our finances.”

Married or not, it’s CRITICAL for women to take an active role in planning for retirement. Otherwise, you may be forced to make important financial decisions quickly
during a period of crisis (the 5D’s ladies!). Unfortunately, decisions that are not well thought through often prove costly later. Preparing for retirement with your spouse will help ensure that you’re both provided for, and pave the way to a worry-free retirement.

“I’ll save more once my children are through college.”

Many well-intentioned parents put their own retirement savings on hold while they save for their children’s college education. But if you do so, you’re potentially sacrificing your own financial security. Your children have many options when it comes to financing college–loans, grants, and scholarships, for example–but there’s no such thing as a retirement loan! Why not set a good example for your children by getting your own finances in order before contributing to their college fund?

“I don’t know enough about investing.”

Commit to spending just a few minutes a day learning the basics of investing, and you’ll become knowledgeable in no time. And remember, you don’t have to do it by yourself–a financial professional will be happy to work with you to set retirement goals and help you choose appropriate investments

Begin Saving Now

To maximize your chances of achieving a financially secure retirement, start with a realistic assessment of how much you’ll need to save. If the figure is substantial, don’t be discouraged–the most important thing is to begin saving now. Although it’s never too late to save for retirement, the sooner you start, the more time your investments have to grow. The chart below shows how just $2,000 invested annually at a 6% rate of return might grow over time:

Susan Bruno (CPA/PFS, CFP, CIC) is a private wealth specialist creating distinct and customized solutions for high-net-worth individuals; she also runs a blog to raise financial literacy among women (divacfo.com).

The post Women & Planning For Retirement appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

Contracting-out or outsourcing in-house functions is many times viewed as a panacea to problems an organization is facing or as a sure way to reduce costs, which is not always what happens.

Here are some considerations in planning to implement the contracting-out or outsourcing of an-house function.  Use these considerations as a starting point; the steps you end-up taking should be specific to the process at-hand and your particular circumstances.

Document your objectives and list the reasons why you want to do it, e.g.

• Not a core competency of the organization.  Be specific why you believe this.
• Too many mistakes. Be sure about this.  And be sure you have adequately worked on improving the process so that it is more efficient and effective.
• Can be done for less money (you think?) by an outside vendor.  Be very rigorous in your analysis in coming to this conclusion.

Is it a strategic “asset”?  If it is a strategic asset do you still want to outsource it completely; or possibly a piece of the process that is the strategic asset?

What are your expectations for the outsourcing? What are they; are they realistic?  Do they reflect stakeholders at various organization levels and operating areas? Are there conflicting expectations within your organization?  These need to be resolved as it can significantly impair outsourcing success.

Document the process you want to outsource – in detail.  This is important.  Before you outsource you must have full knowledge of the process.  Inevitably, by documenting the process you will identify certain elements of which you were not aware; or better ways to do it.

• Identify and analyze important process challenges such as multiple hand-offs, bottlenecks, etc.
• Identify key points in the process that can be milestones for managing your vendor and the transition process.
• Are there assets that will be transferred to the vendor?
• Will the vendor be using any of your assets, e.g. computers, IT systems, office space, desks, etc.?  If using your IT system, develop protocols for its access and the security of your system, data, etc.
• Start to develop decision criteria for selecting a vendor.  Sound knowledge of the process will be invaluable.
• Identify stakeholders and their roles.  Who will be involved in deciding on a vendor, service implementation, providing indirect support, etc?

Document your current costs, in detail. Will be needed when you receive bids.

Document expected cost savings or improved effectiveness, if any.  Quantify as much as possible.

Determine the position (not person) in your organization responsible for contract / vendor management. Maybe you will have to create this position.  Make sure the position embodies a mix of technical and project management skills.  Consider skewing towards project management skills as it is normally easier to obtain technical input as needed.

Determine how to maintain adequate knowledge of the technical content of the outsourced processes.  Over time you could find yourself beholden to outside vendors because you do not have adequate in-house expertise.

• You may want to require and implement your staff’s involvement in some elements of the process to help maintain a basic level of technical expertise.

Determine the term of the outsourcing agreement.  Needs to be long enough for a vendor to ramp-up and iron out challenges that will occur; also to make a profit.  You do not want a vendor who is not making an adequate profit as the effect may very well manifest itself in its performance. On the other hand you want to have the opportunity, without waiting too long, to find out if there are other vendors that can do a better and/or less expensive job for you.  Also to keep your current vendor “on-its-toes”.

Consider talking in advance with a couple of vendors regarding your intention to outsource.  Find out how they see your outsourcing, ask for “suggestions” for inclusion in your request for proposal.  As them for their perspective as to the adequacy of your budget.  This input can help you to develop a RFP that will garner good proposals, and hopefully a good vendor and service.

Establish the criteria you will use to select the vendor.  You may want to weight the respective criteria.

After the contract is signed

After the contract is signed, the following should occur.

• Establish a “project implementation office”
• Develop an implementation and transition plan
• Develop a mutual understanding of organization cultures
• Establish formal points of contact between the organizations;
• Establish invoicing procedures and content
• Service review at regular points in time

Establish a project implementation office.  After the outsourcing contract is signed, ideally before it’s signed, establish a project implementation office.  This could be a formal entity within your organization or a responsibility assigned to a current department and/or position.  This entity will be responsible for successfully transitioning the service to the new provider.  It should establish a formal implementation and transition plan in conjunction with the provider.

Develop an implementation and transition plan.  This plan should include quantitative objectives for the plan, all steps and milestones to be completed, a timeline, and dates for reporting status to management.  The implementation steps should cover when responsibilities for critical elements of the service are formally transferred and the respective positions doing the handing-off/receiving of the responsibilities.

Develop a mutual understanding of organization cultures.  Organization culture can sometimes create a lot of problems, particularly when the process/service outsourced is large and complex.   How the organizations “do business” should be discussed prior to implanting the outsourcing.  A good way to do this is for the outsourcing organization to visit the service provider’s offices and facilities.  A tour that includes a description of how the provider organization is organized, viewing people doing the work and interact with each other; and the type of work environment will provide many insights.  Ideally the provider should request this type of tour of the outsourcing organization before a proposal is delivered; and if not it should occur before the implementation plan is completed.

Establish formal points of contact between the organizations. The outsourcing contract should identify specific positions in both organizations where contact will occur and the nature of that contact.  Particularly important is that the responsibilities and decision making authority of these positions should be defined.  This will prevent a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities and authority and also identify any grey areas or overlaps that may not have been known.

Establish invoicing procedures and content.  The invoices provided by the service provider should contain information describing the status of the service it is providing and achievements.  The outsourcing organization should establish the content of invoices in the contract with the provider.  This is important for both organizations.  Invoicing becomes an opportunity for the provider to show how well it is providing the service and a tool for the outsourcing organization to evaluate performance.

Service review at regular points in time.  Every six months, or at least yearly, there should be comprehensive review of the service(s) being delivered.  This evaluation should be more in depth that the progress and activity reports generated by the provider.  It should also cover challenges the provider is having that were not known in advance of implementing the contract.  These challenges may be the result of changes in the political, administrative and/or societal environments in which the both organizations operate; or changes within the outsourcing organization.

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com.  Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Contracting-Out or Outsourcing In-House Functions – Doing It Right appeared first on Big4.com.

At times in history there are phrases and slogans thrown around which reflect the nature of the times in which we are living. It is little surprise that given the austere times in which we currently find ourselves that innovation is a real focus at the current time. A cursory glance at the mainstream media or the language coming from business leaders or politicians confirms this.

Innovation has been the heartbeat of businesses throughout time. We live in complex times and innovation for many is more complex now that it has ever been before. Big data rules. This data can yield insights that can really help to drive innovation. It also brings significant amounts of complexity for businesses.

There is one area of the business however that is frequently overlooked but that can be more insightful, more manageable and more informed than many other channels of innovation and insight. The internal organisation, the employees. Idea management software, enabled by emergent cloud technology is facilitating this for organisations. Businesses are empowered to engage their most valuable asset for true insight and even more than this are able to do this openly, collaboratively and the results can be incredible.

Businesses of all shapes and sizes can benefit, dispersed employees have a centralised place to share, the organisation a collaborative space to listen, pose challenges for targeted innovation and the collective group can help to shape the ideas, drive focus to the most relevant ones and deliver true value to the organisation.

Simon Hill is CEO and co-founder of Wazoku, an Associate Director with the Venture Capital Firm FindInvestGrow and an active member of the London technology and entrepreneurial community. Simon is an alumni of PWC, Deloitte and Cap Gemini.

The post The Power of Ideas – Embracing tech to engage employees in the ideas process appeared first on Big4.com.

By Michael VanBruaene, Big4.com Guest Blogger

With any organizational realignment or restructuring the challenge and real work is in the gritty day-to-day details of implementation.  There are risks and issues to identify, address and manage.  Realignment can be as small as rearranging a few positions and responsibilities or a major repositioning of large divisions, along with changes to their operating units, processes and position responsibilities.

Guidelines to Follow Include:

• Document the End Result, Also Benefits and Negative Impacts
• Manage the Implementation – Assign Responsibility and Authority, Also Necessary Resources
• Have an Implementation Plan
• Deliver Orientation and Training
• Prepare Executives and Managers for Transferred Employees
• Communicate Directly and In-Person With All Affected Employees Immediately
• Communicate Frequently
• Communicate Success
• Communicate To Your Customers and Stakeholders
• High Level Leadership Should Deliver the Information
• Include Key Executives Early
• Empower Employees and Listen to Them
• Establish Trust
• Consider Human Concerns – Resistance to Change and Morale

For the full text for each guideline go to: http://www.advancingyourorganization.com/?p=1638

Michael VanBruaene was a KPMG Director and blogs at www.AdvancingYourOrganization.com, Practical Tools To Improve Organization Performance

The post Implementing An Organizational Realignment – Useful Guidelines appeared first on Big4.com.

By Richard Cornelisse

In the last decade, companies have increasingly automated their business processes. The most common method is by using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Such a set up can be hugely complex. This is definitely the case where it relates to European based indirect tax. As manual processes are subject to human error, automation could – under circumstances – result in performance improvements and savings.

A third party tax engine might be a better solution than improving the indirect tax functionality of its own ERP systems when the organization uses multiple ERP systems. Interfacing via a bolt-on could be a better alternative.  Outsourcing is a topic for a next blog.

ERP Systems

ERP systems such as SAP and Oracle either determine the VAT treatment (liability and VAT recovery) of businesses’ transactions automatically or this is a (semi) manual process.

Multinationals run often various versions of ERP systems or legacy systems without harmonization. The ERP set-up is often per business unit and thus multiple set ups per country are possible.

This could be the root cause that:

1. running of system’s exception reports to look for missed opportunities, under claimed VAT and potential fraudulent transactions is still a challenging exercise
2. a lot of manual (re)work is often needed to file the VAT reporting and reconcile the VAT numbers due to the use of multiple spreadsheets and various data sources (divisions, different systems)

The latter is interesting as spreadsheets are usually found at critical points in the audit trail
 and are designed by non-specialists with no system expertise
.

An ERP system is not just an accounting system but also provides information about planning and production as well as being able to produce invoices and various reports.

Tax Controversy Strategy

The advantage of these systems is that management information is readily accessible and that should give some food for thought for tax auditors as well. Transactions from various business units can be monitored and managed on time. Is this something to take in consideration during updating or setting up your ‘Tax Controversy Strategy‘?

A ‘Material weakness’ Audit Item

The decision to adopt a particular ERP system is usually made for business reasons whereby the VAT administration is only a minor consideration or not considered at all.

Despite that according to Sarbanes Oxley the configuration of the VAT rules in an ERP system is a ‘material weakness’ audit item (a 1% mistake or less often impacts shareholders value), in practice, it is often still overlooked. The Global Survey of ‘KPMG Benchmark 2012′ confirms again that indirect tax policies are either not documented or monitored properly.

VAT as a transaction tax is an essential element within the ERP system.  The impact of the ‘VAT Throughput‘ should be understood and managed properly within the organization (See also ‘Managing The Perception Of C-Level‘).

Performance Improvement

The advantage is that Indirect Tax functionality can be automated (full or to a certain extend) in a company’s own ERP system especially if SAP or Oracle is used. It is about mitigating of risks and reduce the amount of manual work and rework (the ‘hidden factory’).

Is the functionality of the ERP system used at full VAT capacity? What are the gaps and consequences?

The perception of Plug and Play

If you provide goods and/or services locally subject to the standard VAT rate it might be ‘Plug and Play’. That is the most simple VAT business model I could come up with.

In practice, configuration (the amount depends) is needed when companies deal cross border and/or complex business models are set up such as a centralized principal structure with for example a “Limited Risk Distributor” or a “Commissionaire”.

VAT Automation of Complex Business Models

There are all kinds of business reasons for centralizing supply chains and set up models like “Limited Risk Distributor” or “Commissionaire”. The challenge from an implementation perspective is indirect tax.

What makes it complex

Lets take LRDs/Commissionaires as an example.

LRDs/Commissionaires have neither legal ownership to the inventory during storage nor during transport as the Principal is at that stage still the legal owner. It is often the case that the Principal delivers the goods physically and directly to the final customer. This creates only one physical departure of goods (`goods issue’) in the ERP system. However, two invoices should be raised (one from Principal to LRDs/Commissionaires and one from the LRD/Commissionaire to the final customer.

In the ERP system, the correct ‘ship from’ information at the LRD/Commissionaire level might be missing so that the VAT treatment by the system is determined based on the ‘ship from’ and ‘ship to’ information present at the Principal level. In principle, for cross-border transactions this results in an incorrect VAT treatment.

Therefore, in practice, it is time consuming to correctly configure the ‘Tax determination logic’ set up. You need to know your practical workarounds, preferable in the design stage.

Even More Bottlenecks In Case of a Commissionaire Structure

A “Commissionaire model” has some more bottlenecks. A “commissionaire” is never the legal owner of the goods. From a VAT perspective, the commissionaire acts as though he were the owner and a fictitious supply takes place to and subsequently by the commissionaire.

Since according to civil law, the commissionaire does not have ownership, the commissionaire does not own any inventory not even temporarily.

That is different with the LRD as normally LRD gets ownership via flash title for a very short period. Tax technical risk analysis about e.g. “flash titles and transfer of economic ownership” is outside scope of this blog.

Based on the above the commissionaire has to issue invoices in his own name which can create problems if there are no bookings with respect to inventory.

There are all practically workarounds of course but that needs planning in time again preferably in the design phase.

For what can go wrong see “Indirect Tax Exposures Others Have Faced“.

General Overview VAT and Systems

If you like to know more about where VAT impacts the systems watch ‘Systems For Dummies‘.

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’ appeared first on Big4.com.

In my blog “The Value Of Benchmarking: Get Some Objective Evidence” I wrote that both negative as positive experiences (e.g. (the first and final) assessments, the amount of savings) would be something to register ongoing and communicate effectively within the organization. These are the benchmark findings of the own company and extremely useful for setting also the own ‘tax audit defense’ strategy. Important as their is a shift from direct to indirect taxation, increase of VAT rates and an increase of tax authority scrutiny are methods of government to balance their budgets.

Overview of Indirect Tax Objectives

Tax Planning: identify, recommend and successfully implement indirect tax projects that assist in achieving the objectives of the indirect tax department part of the business objectives.

Tax Accounting: proactively anticipate on changes in the business and outside the business and successfully communicate these changes to the concerning departments. Furthermore look after a correct implementation of these changes.

Tax Compliance: look after a correct, complete and timely Indirect Tax reporting of all entities. This includes that additional reporting relating to these Indirect Tax returns is taken into account.

Tax Governance: all corporate departments are well informed and/or have the availability of a VAT work instruction so it is clear when to consult the indirect tax department.

Support Other Departments: activities of departments that are being affected by VAT risks have been successfully identified and these departments have been well instructed to reduce these risks.

Audit Defense: roles and responsibilities have been determined who deals with the tax authorities during an audit (announcement) and tax authorities questions and procedures “how to act” (e.g. appoint one contact person, never provide documents without first making copies) have been documented and rolled out.

Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing the Changing Landscape’

Developing a winning strategy to support your tax position requires having insight on how the tax authorities conducts their examination and anticipating their next move.

Some ‘Best Practice’ quotes

“be polite and cooperative, but don’t forget your rights, choose one room where auditors will be placed, don’t let them wander unattended (…) appoint one contact person to communicate with auditors and never provide documents without first making copies and list what has been handed over” Alexander Bychkov, Baker &McKenzie Russia

“give the auditor a presentation on the company and its business model to create trust” Nicole Looks, Baker &McKenzie Germany

A new trend: open dialogue between revenue bodies, taxpayers and tax intermediaries

The new trend is to have an open dialogue between revenue bodies, taxpayers and tax intermediaries. I refer to OECD promotion of ‘enhanced relationship’ (OECD report: Study Into The Role Of Tax Intermediaries). Even if the authorities have not embraced such an approach (yet), a proactive mode can not only safe time and money but result in a good relationship.

The Dutch ‘horizontal monitoring’

In 2005, the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration (TCA) initiated a pilot ‘horizontal monitoring’ programme involving 20 of the country’s largest corporate taxpayers. At the core of the programme is a concerted effort by the TCA to build greater trust with this taxpayer constituency as a means of encouraging greater disclosure of tax uncertainties and risks.

The TCA and all participating taxpayers enter into a non-binding but written ‘agreement’, by which the taxpayer undertakes principally to “actively notify the Tax Administration of any issues with a possible and significant tax risk.” In turn, the TCA promises, having received such disclosure, to “state its views concerning any legal consequences” of the matters disclosed, and to “take into account real commercial deadlines” when doing so. Importantly, the agreement covers both uncertain tax positions taken by the taxpayer in the past, and those which it is contemplating taking in the future.

Responses to the programme have been generally positive, with the majority of participating taxpayers and of relevant tax collectors agreeing that it has resulted in more effective and efficient working relationships. (Source: OECD report: Study Into The Role of Tax Intermediaries)

Some similar initiatives of Tax Authorities

1. In 2005, the United States initiated a Compliance Assurance Process
2. In September 2005, the Irish Revenue Commissioners initiated their ‘Co- operative Compliance’ programme with large corporate taxpayers.
3. Budget 2009, Senior Accounting Officer sign off in the United Kingdom

Audit Defense – Key Considerations (overview via YouTube)

Watch Here Via YouTube an overview of the ‘Audit Defense – Key Considerations’

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’ appeared first on Big4.com.

When conducted correctly a consulting project interview will result in more than just useful information. 

Properly conducted interviews will go a long way in building client confidence that you are competent; and that you will deliver what is required from the objectives of the consulting project.  And you will have enhanced your relationship with the client. This can be essential for a successful project particularly those that will result in providing the client with contentious, controversial or negative information and/or that will require substantial changes in its operations.

Here are some useful tips.  You may have others that you follow.

You should be really interested in the topic at hand and the operations in which the interviewee is involved.  Being genuinely interested in the key.  It will lead you to go beyond your prepared questions to ask important follow-up questions that can yield useful information.  Demonstrating your interest in their operations and what they do can significantly help in building their confidence that you are competent and will deliver what is required by the objectives of the consulting project.  And you will have enhanced your relationship with the client.  Your interest will also show in facial expressions and mannerisms, body language and tone of your voice; and how you generally interact with the interviewee.  Most interviewees will notice much of this.

Confidentiality.  Hopefully you can inform the interviewee that answers will be confidential and that the information you receive will be aggregated along with the results of other interviews.  This will also help in your obtaining the information you need.  Granted some interviewees may still be suspicious and not helpful.

What you ask and how you conduct yourself in the interview will be discussed by the interviewee with fellow employees at all levels of the organization.  Thus it’s important to follow the tips above and also to be professional in how you conduct yourself.

Develop your questions ahead of time based on the objectives of your consulting project.  Know what you want to achieve going into the interview.

Go over the questions in advance with a colleague.  It’s a good warm-up and sometimes you find that certain questions need to be restructured.

Before the interview find out whatever you can about the interviewee, such as history with the organization, responsibilities, possible opinion or perspective about the consulting project, performance issues, and personality.

Think about how the interview will go.  Consider the types of answers you will get.  How will you deal with a recalcitrant interviewee?

Make the interviewee comfortable.  Introduce yourself – name, title and role on the project.  Describe the nature and objectives of the project at hand, and the types of questions you will be asking.  Confirm the amount of time that the interview will take.  Its fine to come back a second time if you run over; or maybe you can do the follow-up by telephone or email.

Ask if the interviewee has any questions at the beginning of the interview.  You must be honest and forthright in your responses to the interviewee’s questions.  It’s fine to say that you cannot answer a certain question.  In most instances they will understand why you made this response.

Start with the more general and non-controversial questions.  This helps to establish a rapport with the interviewee.  Then later move into the more challenging questions and discussion.  The hope is that the interviewee will become more confortable over time in the interview and will then expound more about the topic at hand.  Ideally you should have an interview that takes on the nature of a discussion.

If possible, have two interviewers and no more than two.  One of you can be the lead interviewer and the other can be chief note taker.  However, the lead interviewee should take notes also, granted they may not be as complete. Allow the note taker the opportunity to ask some questions also.  Their perpsective on the interview can be valuable via their questions.   Howeever, there should be only one primary interviewer.

Type notes directly into a computer if you can.  This is particularly useful and efficient if you have a lot of questions and are acquiring a lot of discrete information.  In most instances this is an accepted method.

However, for high level executives it’s usually best to write your notes, as these interviews tend to be high level discussions and somewhat conceptual in nature.  They are not “straight ahead” fact finding.

Upon the completion of the interview ask the interviewee if there is anything that you should have asked and didn’t?  Or is there anything else you should know?

If a project objective is to improve some aspect of the organization ask the interviewee for suggested improvements.  The response to this type of question can be very useful.

 Michael VanBruaene is a KPMG alum and blogs at www.advancingyourorganization.com.

The post The Art of Conducting A Consulting Project Interview appeared first on Big4.com.

We all know the saying “change is never easy,” and have probably heard this when embarking on a new initiative or program. You may be calling the team to action or working to roll out a new program that will face significant challenges. In order to prepare for the change and take control of the situation, think about these key areas and what you can do:

Governance – The governance model needs to cover both IT and the business. Instead of defining a governance model and rolling it out to your business partners, why not engage your partners in a quick worksession or interview exercise to define what each party wants to see as a part of governance. For example, a common, combined taxonomy for measurement across both IT and the business can go a long way in running an effective governance model that drives value from the IT organization to the business. There are at least 6 core areas to consider as part of Governance and Program Management.

Value – Understanding the contribution of each partner in the delivery model is critical. Bringing together the combined team to define the value proposition and the desired outcomes will clarify objectives and help when faced with new demands and the need to re-prioritize projects, activities and other initiatives. A clear definition of value that can be periodically revisited when demand changes can be an effective tool to minimize the noise and keep the team on track.

Measurement – In order to prepare for the change, one of the most challenging aspects is how to measure success? What does successful completion of the initiative look like? Take a first step and forecast what you think the measurements should be. Then take the next step to determine if you can actually deliver the measurement, by collecting the data and then presenting it in a simple and concise manner. You may have a formula and a specification for a great measurement but gathering the data, analyzing the data, or explaining the measure may be more difficult or costly than the ultimate value of the measure. Strive for simplicity, look for measures that are not only practical, and look for fewer measures, not more.

Accountability – Understanding what each group brings to the table is critical and a great team exercise. A quick roundtable to get the opinion as to the role of each team member will probably demonstrate that accountability is not clear. Take the time before you begin the initiative to clearly identify accountability. Walking through a few examples and sample change scenarios up front will go a long way and help to eliminate confusion.

Tim Reed, CEO at ReedITC worked at E&Y , focusing on Global Fortune 50 Firms. ReedITC is a strategic IT & Operations consulting firm focused on Cost (Ability to operate efficiently at scale ), Growth (Ability to drive top line growth) and Compliance (Ability to provide services securely). For more information, please visit www.reeditc.com or contact tim.reed@reeditc.com

The post Preparing For Change appeared first on Big4.com.

The post Adobe Commissions Deloitte for eCommerce Consultation appeared first on Big4.com.

This blog dots all the postings to the building blocks of the Indirect Tax Strategic Plan (by Richard Cornelisse) and shows what a best practice should look like. It not only about the plan to be produced, but also gives my view about implementation. That could mean that some bottlenecks have to be conquered first.

I start with the “Company’s Culture and Code of Conduct” as it is a top down approach.

This blog includes the highlights of the various postings tagged to these building blocks. More detail about how I see things can be read via clicking on the links.

Company’s Culture and Code of Conduct

From ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’ (by Richard Cornelisse): If integrity is an important part of your organizations values, you should always act accordingly and proactively manage as leadership. It is always about doing the right thing and never bargain these values.

Leadership, Integrity, Trust…and Ski-Racing: “Without integrity, an organization is eventually doomed to failure–karma”

Greg Smith: “Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs: “The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for…. To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money…I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.”

Maureen Broderick: ”In a profession that sells a promise of performance versus a tangible product or service, a firm’s vision, values, and culture lie at the heart of that promise. Vision is where the firm is headed. Values are the behaviors the firm holds important, and culture is the feel, the energy, the society within the organization. Collectively, they form the core around which the business is built.”

From ’The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’’ (by Richard Cornelisse):

“A Ferrari is a beautiful, very fast and a state of the art car, but we should not put Stevie Wonder in the driver seat. He is an excellent song writer and performer but he never ever will be the next Michael Schumacher. It will be risky business if he controls the throttle”

The above might be considered a ridiculous example, but strangely enough happens often in our daily practice. The downturn might even make it worse. Why? It is because of budget-based incentive targets.

Everybody feels now the pressure and the focus is on making personal budget first. We might know the best driver, understand that he is the best option, but that does not mean we want Michael actually in the driver seat. It does not matter if Michael works for the same company or that it is in the best interest of the client. Stevie, wants to make his own comfort zone first. It is in his personal interest.

• Should we be surprised?
• Is this not part of our human nature?
• Is that not the reason we have our company culture?

Exactly, the reason why proactive management of common values is needed.

Business Strategy

The Tax Function has to contribute value to the company’s business strategy. What is the impact on business strategy of social media and technology developments and the market entry of non traditional competitors.   Are new business priorities needed?

From ”About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors“ (by Richard Cornelisse): The current impact of Google and Wikipedia is already huge as much content has become less valuable or even worthless from a pricing perspective. Will search engine functionality develop further? Will more content be available and contributed on the Internet?

Adrienne Graham: “With the Internet being so widely available loaded with free information, people automatically assume that you too have to provide information for free. My response to that is go ahead and read the free stuff. But when you still find yourself lacking answers, then apparently the FREE stuff doesn’t work. You can’t come to a professional and ask them to work for free. In essence, that is what you’re doing when you ask to pick someone’s brain. How would you feel if your boss came to you and said, Hey since we can get this done from information from the Internet, I won’t be paying you today. Go ahead, let it sink in. Got that visual yet? Good. That’s exactly how I feel whenever someone wants to take me to lunch or call me to pick my brain”

Benchmarking

From A Spotlight On “Management”: About Being Ambitious And Realizing Goals (by Richard Cornelisse): Negative experiences but also positive experiences (e.g. (the first and final) assessments, the amount of savings) would be something to register ongoing and communicate effectively within the organization. These are the benchmark findings of your own company and extremely useful for your strategy moving forward.

You need to know where you want to go and set up a roadmap how to get there. Benchmark against trends in the market might be supportive in your aim. It provides an overview of the experiences of others and is useful for setting own priorities going forward. It is always interesting to get insight of what others have experienced for own validation purposes.

Watch ‘Benchmark Findings’ Via YouTube

Overview of the ‘Key Risk Areas of VAT paid and VAT charged’ and ‘System Set Up’

From ‘The Value of Benchmarking: Get Some Objective Evidence” (by Richard Cornelisse): Watch an overview of the ‘Key Risk Areas of VAT paid and VAT charged’ and ‘System Set Up and Process Errors’.

Watch ‘Key Risks’, ‘System Set Up And Process Errors’ Via YouTube

This material might be useful for (internal) communication, risk analysis or self assessments:

• “The European Union VAT system – High Level Overview” (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “Why Manage Indirect Taxes” (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “Indirect Tax Exposures Others Have Faced” (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “Audit Defense“
• “System For Dummies“
• “Surveys And research“

Setting the objectives

From Setting The Objectives Of The Indirect Function (by Richard Cornelisse):

• Tax Planning: identify, recommend and successfully implement indirect tax projects that assist in achieving the objectives of the indirect tax department part of the business objectives.
• Tax Accounting: proactively anticipate on changes in the business and outside the business and successfully communicate these changes to the concerning departments. Furthermore look after a correct implementation of these changes.
• Tax Compliance: look after a correct, complete and timely Indirect Tax reporting of all entities. This includes that additional reporting relating to these Indirect Tax returns is taken into account.
• Tax Governance: all corporate departments are well informed and/or have the availability of a VAT work instruction so it is clear when to consult the indirect tax department.
• Support Other Departments: activities of departments that are being affected by VAT risks have been successfully identified and these departments have been well instructed to reduce these risks.
• Audit Defense: roles and responsibilities have been determined who deals with the tax authorities during an audit (announcement) and tax authorities questions and procedures “how to act” (e.g. never provide documents without first making copies) have been documented and rolled out.

From A Spotlight on “Management”: About Being Ambitious And Realizing Goals (by Richard Cornelisse): At the moment that these objectives are validated,  specific goals have to be set within these boundaries. The goals have to be specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and timely (SMART goals).

Getting support and the tools to make it happen

From ”How To Manage the Perception of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives“ (by Richard Cornelisse): In order to allocate resources to risk and reward areas that matter, the maximum level of risk appetite of the company in the worst case scenarios need to be determined. This facilitates such prioritization as defined acceptable levels of risk means that resources do not spend time on further reducing risks that are already at an acceptable level.

If you know the risk appetite, you have to identify the lowest performing indirect tax processes that have the most direct impact on the company’s business objectives (e.g. benchmark and measure). Short problem statements for the gaps found should be written. It should include an estimate of savings or the amount of hours currently lost due to rework. These statements can subsequently be prioritized and validated with top management. Various solutions are presented with cost benefit analysis, so a constructive discussion with top management can be held about what is needed to close these gaps (e.g. budget and/or resources needed or necessary change of systems, processes and controls etc).

In the worse case the gap(s) will not be closed, but at least you have achieved mutual awareness and hopefully responsibility. However, if the problem is material and addressed in the right way it more than likely it will be dealt accordingly. Why? It has become now a mutual responsibility.

From ”VAT Throughput – Calculating The Taxes“ (by Richard Cornelisse and Kelvin Hulsebos): Insight in the amount of VAT that globally has to be paid or recovered is important for creating proper internal awareness (top down, peers and bottom up), determining the risk appetite of the company and monitor as indirect tax function trends and changes. Throughput gives some insight where the scarce resources of the tax function should focus on.

Change Management:  legislative change

Tracking relevant changes across the globe can be realized via regularly monitoring these Website links (e.g. latest country updates, Global VAT rates and VIES validation, etc). Check this Blog’s Indirect Tax Newsreader often.

Richard’s postings about management of legislative change:

• “VAT Rate Increase Results In Extra Saving“ (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “European Commission – Greenpaper On The Future Of VAT – Towards A Simpler, More Robust And Efficient VAT System“ (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “Would Europe’s Value Added Tax Work For The United States” (by Richard Cornelisse and Kelvin Hulsebos)
• “My Own View” ((by Richard Cornelisse)
• “About US Tax Reform – Larry Lindsey, Former Fed Governor: “A Value Added Tax Should Be On The Table” (by Richard Cornelisse)
• “US VAT introduction: Any Lessons To Be Learned From European VAT Fraud?“ (by Richard Cornelisse and Kelvin Hulsebos)

Change Management:  business change

From a tax perspective the difference between future firefighting or being in control has to do with being involved and the timing of that involvement. A tight connection to the business units and their decision-making process is essential. Leading practice example re non routine transactions by Richard Cornelisse:

• Merger And Acquisition – Integration And Indirect Tax: Managing The Moving Parts Before, During And After A Transaction (by Richard Cornelisse )
• The intersection Of VAT And Shared Service Centers. A Site For Global Savings Or A Source For Worldwide Risk? (by Richard Cornelisse and Katie Downs)

Structure the tax function and people development

From ”The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport“ (by Richard Cornelisse): Due to all technological developments it is already part of our present and future. A tax technical advice has to be implemented in systems, processes and controls.  Instructions have to be given to people outside the tax function.  Alignment with the business is key for the tax function to plan in time and avoid future firefighting.

In order to challenge and support a client in his mission an adviser should besides excellent technical skills have a good understanding of communication and collaboration, project management, change management, information technology, negotiation and leadership.

These competences overall are needed to be successful. This is not only applicable for the individual adviser, but as well for an organization with the aim to achieve or maintain market leadership. It is simply no longer possible to excel in everything re global indirect tax management. That means that certain people excel in certain areas of indirect tax and the outcome of the overall team effort will make the real difference from a quality standard perspective.

Jack Welch: ”Break down barriers and improve teamwork up, down, and across organizational lines.  A considerable amount of money is lost due to disconnects or competition between groups that should be working for a common cause: providing value to customers”

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful appeared first on Big4.com.

I recently placed a candidate in a considerably lower level role than I normally do. Most of my recruiting assignments are for senior level positions with experienced executives. It’s always personally rewarding to enhance someone’s career, both professionally, financially and personally, but this recent placement gave me a different buzz. One I remember liking from earlier in my own career. It’s the great feeling of making a difference in someone’s life, probably one they’ll always remember and knowing I helped create a turning point in their careers.

This also put me in mind of experiences placing  candidates coming directly out of Big 4 for the first time. I did my fair share of these transitions in the good old pre-IPO, pre-SOX days, circa mid-late 1990’s. Hard to believe the many changes that have occurred since, from Enron to the great recession. The one thing that hasn’t changed though is how young talent feels, making the leap of faith from a public accounting firm to private industry. I’m quite sure attorneys and accountants struggle with some of the same questions when leaving the world of prominent law firms and the Big 4. After all, they’ve been groomed for success and high expectations, pitted against their peers for recognition, fostered in an environment of similar professionals; all hard working, bright and ambitious up and comers. Some see a clear path towards partnership while others dread yet another busy season.

And then someone like me comes along – whispering in their ear of opportunity, title, compensation increases, the chance to have a more structured lifestyle. Maybe they’ll work just as hard, after all I believe cranking out the hours is just ingrained in the Big 4 psyche. Regardless of the inducement, there comes a time when the right opportunity hits a nerve and the considerations of change come into play.

What makes transitioning out of Big 4 so different? In addition to their accounting firm experience usually being their first role out of a college they were recruited from, there’s the comfort level of professional commonality and equality. Everyone starts off in a comparable position, with similar skills and education. Everyone is working towards the same goal. Expectations are set and met; there are mentors and an established pattern for growth.

It’s no wonder the thought of leaving the prestigious society created in their firms is such a difficult decision. Here the CPA can rely on mentorship, interesting work and variety. Their peers share the same workload, similar challenges and are bound together in a culture of hard work and long hours. And even though they have worked with and alongside their clients, going to work for them is a completely different ball game. Contemplating submitting their work for the Auditors to review, getting involved in everything from journal entries to financials and often a big challenge in learning how to motivate and lead non professional staff.  Leaving the cocoon of a big 4 environment is a daunting proposition and let’s face it – Managers and Partners will always encourage their star performers to stay.

Despite all the inducements to stay (excluding the long hours!), Big 4 talent often does make it’s way into the private sector. Most do it successfully, embracing private industry, thriving in new challenges and learning how to lead and motivate. Transitioning into the corporate world is almost a right of passage. Their talent is welcomed and embraced whichever side of the fence they ultimately choose.

Cindy Cremona, CPC has over twenty years experience as an Executive Recruiter. Her main focus is in Accounting and Finance, primarily placing senior level roles for clients mainly in the technology sectors.

The post Musings From Cindy Cremona, CPC – Recruiter Of Big4 Candidates appeared first on Big4.com.

This Blog is about managing the perception of C-level and realize own tax objectives. Writing a set of standard indirect tax objectives is not that difficult. It is a paper exercise. Why? At the moment that these objectives are validated, specific goals have to be set within these boundaries. The goals have to be specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and timely (SMART goals).  You need to know where you want to go and set up a roadmap how to get there. The next steps is to sell this within the own organization in order to get access to the tools to make it happen. That might mean: “Managing the perception of C-level”.

Benchmarking

Benchmark against trends in the market could be supportive. It provides an overview of the experiences of others and is useful for setting own priorities going forward. This is the first step, measuring ongoing performance the next.

The Indirect Tax Strategic Plan has various building blocks. To make it more user-friendly, the benchmark findings I gathered from Big4 surveys, are tagged to these building blocks.

Watch Here Via YouTube

The root cause of defects

If you look at the overall picture some defects shown are the cause effect of other defects. Based on these finding, the root cause is likely the company’s culture, organizational structure, overall business processes and/or maybe a wrong perception of top management about indirect tax.

This follows from this ‘top down’ overview:

• Executive considering indirect tax not material and a high priority. The low risks evaluation of indirect tax likely results in budget constraints
• Lack of specific VAT/GST measurable performance goals visible to the CFO
• Lack of proper prioritization between lower value activities and higher value activities. Indirect Tax function has many competing priorities and insufficient time or resources
• Historically, the tax function in general focused on other areas, allowing other departments and local offices a free hand to deal with the company’s indirect taxes
• Finance and Accounting is in the majority considered accountable for Indirect Tax
• It seems that the indirect tax department is often the last to know what is going on, is forced to be the show stopper when other parts of the business thought they were are ready to ‘go live’

I refer to my guest Blog ‘The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’. That Blog dealt with company’s culture, business objectives and the conflict sometimes of personal performance targets.

Some governance and mandate needed first

If you know 1) the current state, 2) where you want to go and 3) have set up a roadmap how to get there, it is important to get a clear view of what is needed to meet these goals.

Someone wrote in literature that the first step to improve indirect tax management is to put someone in charge. Is it that easy or is that an example of one minute managership.

Assume that the significant majority of the findings are applicable to your organization. Do you want to have end responsibility under these circumstances?  Is delegating end responsibility to a new recruited global or regional leader going to contribute any positive change?

Having the responsibility without the tools is like being Michael Schumacher without a car. Not likely you are going to win a Formula One race. That means an unhappy Michael.

Accountability for indirect tax is often still in Finance & Accounting.  If you look at the findings is it likely that top management is going to support any change via issuing new policies about governance and mandate? More important, provide the new recruited or appointed indirect tax leader with the necessary tools for success such as:

• Budget
• Extra resources
• Performance evaluation of people who work outside the tax function but has a role in managing indirect taxes  (e.g. people in the finance function preparing VAT return, Shared Service Center staff re posting of AP invoices).

Without such support being end responsibility is in my view not a favorable position. If culture or organizational structure has to change, involvement of top management is mandatory. Without their support you will be on a mission impossible.

How to get their support?

Being effective and efficient at the same time

Is being fully compliant a realistic goal?

Effectiveness is the degree to which organization meets and exceeds the needs and requirement of their customer. When is effectiveness achieved? For the tax function if all risks are managed and opportunities spotted and implemented.

As indirect tax resources are normally scarce it is important that the available time is used in the most efficient and effective way. I refer to the findings about competing priorities and insufficient time or resources. Besides that managing all risks is cost inefficient and will have impact on efficiency beyond indirect tax.

Efficiency refers to the amount of resources consumed in being effective. Efficiency can be measured in time, cost, labor, or value. It is about being efficient and effective at the same time and therefore about making the right choices.

In order to allocate resources to risk and reward areas that matter, the maximum level of risk appetite of the company in the worst case scenarios need to be determined. This facilitates such prioritization as defined acceptable levels of risk means that resources do not spend time on further reducing risks that are already at an acceptable level.

Speaking the language of C-level

What are the requirements of client satisfaction of the C-level. Based on the above it seems that C-level consider indirect tax of lower priority than often the indirect tax function does. Is the cause effect misinterpretation or not understanding and speaking the same language?

The first step – to achieve mutual understanding – is to get agreement with top management on the level of indirect tax risk appetite of the company in the worse case scenario.

What do we know further about C-level?

They have to manage a lot and that means that prioritization is part of their natural skill set. It is about measure of risk and opportunity (selection via being material or not) and if indeed material what is needed to make it happen (balancing costs against gain).

If you know the risk appetite, you have to identify the lowest performing indirect tax processes that have the most direct impact on the company’s business objectives (e.g. benchmark and measure).  Short problem statements for the gaps found should be written. It should include an estimate of savings or the amount of hours currently lost due to rework. These statements can subsequently be prioritized and validated with top management.

Various solutions are presented with cost benefit analysis, so a constructive discussion with top management can be held about what is needed to close these gaps (e.g. budget and/or resources needed or necessary change of systems, processes and controls etc).

In the worse case the gap(s) will not be closed, but at least you have achieved mutual awareness and hopefully responsibility. However, if the problem is material and addressed in the right way it more than likely it will be dealt accordingly.  Why? It has become now a mutual responsibility.

How do you see this? Do you agree?

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post How To Manage The Perception of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives appeared first on Big4.com.

As an innovation company, our focus is on helping our customers to build innovation into the hearts of their business. An ambitious goal and one not easy to strive for, let alone achieve. It is a journey, but having the vision and confidence as a business to not just assert this value but actually work towards it is a giant leap. Not all businesses are ready for this, but as the world around us changes the need to innovate and adapt to the pace of change is becoming increasingly important.

In a recent presentation at the Digital London summit I spoke about the power of the crowd and explored this from the perspective of why many organisations have become accidentally social externally, but frequently prevent their internal organisation from being social at all. I find this fascinating and have been speaking with people to understand this trend properly. The interesting finding from all of these conversations is what I am broadly coining under the umbrella of ‘culture of fear’. HBR used this term in one of their publications, What makes a leader? (HBR,
2004). They looked at this through a different lens, but I think the conclusion when evaluating the question of What drives an innovative culture? is exactly the same, but perhaps even more pronounced.

Our software helps businesses by making the process of idea management within an organisation more social, more engaging and more collaborative. If you like it is a suggestion box, web 2.0 style! However, for the software to be effective the right culture must first of all be encouraged. In a culture of fear as defined in HBR and
reinforced by our findings, “people suppress their feelings” and do not feel confident to share or vocalise their ideas or thoughts. Instead the phenomenon of ‘groupthink’ ensues and innovation becomes stymied and falters. It may not feel like it, many of the people we speak to do not recognise this problem until they explore their organisational culture a little more.

Some good questions to ask are – where do our ideas and innovation come from? who are the most innovative people within our company? are we sharing ideas cross-functionally effectively? (the best ideas often come from people whose day job is far removed from the idea they shared, they just see the business through a different lens), how many ideas do we have each month/year and how many do we actually implement/shelf/miss?

Having answers to these questions (or not) can help you to better understand and place the current organisational culture. The next questions are then more around the preparedness to move towards a more open, collaborative and flat (in the sense of non-hierarchical innovation brainstorming) methods of engaging the collective
wisdom within your business. It works, we see it first hand every day and those embracing these principles have seen significant improvements to their overall business performance.

Simon Hill is CEO and co-founder of Wazoku, an Associate Director with the Venture Capital Firm FindInvestGrow and an active member of the London technology and entrepreneurial community. Simon is an alumni of PWC, Deloitte and Cap Gemini.

The post Escaping Cultures of Fear – A Key Pillar of Innovation? appeared first on Big4.com.

Is there a consultant out there who hasn’t heard of Big Data? Most probably can’t program map/reduce, the code behind Hadoop, but that’s not the point.  The vendors will take care of that.  Still, there is much left for consultants to do. The big action will be helping clients capitalize on the analytics possibilities, recognizing worthwhile insights, and putting them into action.

Big Data has become the latest rage and a survey by the IBM Center for Applied Insights shows why. Organizations that make extensive use of data analytics experienced up to 1.6x the revenue growth, 2.0x EBITDA growth, and a 2.5x stock price appreciation compared to their peers.  And what they are analyzing now is Big Data, a combination of structured data found in conventional relational databases and unstructured data pouring in from widely varied sources.

How big is Big Data?  By 2015 the digital universe, as forecast by IDC, will hit 8 zettabytes (ZB). (1ZB = 10²¹ bytes, one sextillion bytes). Adding to the sheer volume is the remarkable velocity at which data is created.  Every minute 600 new blog posts are published and 34,000 Twitter tweets are sent. If some of that data is about your clients or their brand, products, customers, competitors, or employees shouldn’t they know?

Large organizations, of course, can benefit from Big Data, but midsize and small businesses can too.  A regional pizza shop chain needs to know the consumer buzz about their pizza as much as
Domino’s. In that sense, Big Data needn’t be big.

Big data encompasses both structured and unstructured data. The data comes from a variety of sources. Traditional systems contain predominantly structured data. Unstructured data comes from general files; from smart phones and mobile devices; from social media like Twitter, Facebook, and others; from RFID tags and other sensors and meters; and even from video cameras. All can be valuable to organizations in the right context.

Since you are not likely coding map/reduce you will need appropriate tools and technology to leverage Big Data. Earlier this month, IBM introduced three task-specific Smarter Analytics Signature Solutions. The first addresses anti-fraud, waste, and abuse by using sophisticated analytics to recommend the most effective remedy for each case. For example it might recommend a different letter requesting payment in one case but suggest a full investigation be opened in another.

Another Signature Solution focuses on next-best-action.  This uses real-time analytics across various data to predict customer behavior and preferences. It then recommends the next best
action to take with regard to a customer, such as to reduce churn or sell more products.

The third Signature Solution, dubbed CFO Performance Insight, works on a collection of complex and cross-referenced internal and external data sets and applies predictive analytics to achieve increased insight, visibility, and control over financial performance along with predictive insights, root-cause analyses, and more. These are delivered via an executive-style dashboard.

IBM isn’t the only IT player to jump on the Big Data bandwagon. EMC has put a stake into this market.  Oracle, which has been stalking IBM for years, also latched onto Big Data through Exalytics, its in-memory analytics product similar to IBM’s Netezza. Of course, small players like Cloudera, which early on staked out Hadoop, the key open source component of Big Data, also offer related products and services.

For consultants, it is worth getting familiar with Big Data and the resulting analytics. Expect it to continue as an important issue for some years to come.

Alan Radding researches, analyzes, and writes about business and technology. He has worked with leading research and consulting firms including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (Center for Business Innovation).

The post Big Data Analytics Opens New Opportunities appeared first on Big4.com.

For a long time the indirect tax profession has been an individual sport.  Due to the change of the tax market and client needs the profession evolves or is evolving in more a team sport. It is simply no longer possible to excel in everything re global indirect tax management. What has changed over the years?

The scientific method

If the mutual aim is learning and growing together, it can never be about being right or wrong. It should be about recognizing together the problem, measure the size of that problem, determine why the problem exists, and generate a set of solutions to make sure that the problem goes away. This is the scientific method we know from high school and/or university.  The daily practice was about debating and challenging each other.

I have studied tax law myself. Based on factual information provided we had to find and analyze the appropriate tax and case law, take position and defend. That meant the ability to interpret and translate the somewhat ‘foreign’ language used by the legislator and judges.

Such scientific thinking could be trained and challenged further by simply changing the factual pattern and subsequently predict the impact and generate solutions to make the problem go away or to realize the opportunities.

Our profession will become a team sport

The next step is to think about an approach how to confirm any of these new risks or opportunities in an efficient and effective way at client’s level. What do I need to know to check whether the risk or opportunity exists for a specific client? The endgame is the ability to effectively communicate the solution, both internal (own organization) as external (clients, tax administration).

We learn a lot from others especially if we disagree, take position and keep an open mind. We might have forgotten to practice this scientific ‘teamwork’ method structurally in our day to day practice, but I believe the future role of an indirect tax professional needs such an approach to make a difference. Why? I believe our profession will become more a team sport.

The changing world from an adviser perspective

What is different nowadays?

When I started about 19 years ago, indirect tax specialists were scarce, hardly any in-house indirect tax functions and content that nowadays is free available on the internet could still be sold.

“In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king”

The adviser could work more reactive.  A comparison can be made with a doctor:  patients in the waiting room, diagnose the patients, find the problem and give some pills to remediate or optimize the situation.  We had full access of all kinds of VAT planning schemes and the tax profession – both buyer as seller – were both much more product focused. We as advisers were targeting new patients. That is how I did my first baby steps in the profession. An approach that I nowadays dislike.

When I started the (start up) salaries were much lower and that meant lower charge out rates. The cause effect of increase of salaries is one of the reasons why tax professionals nowadays have to grow up faster. Higher salary means higher charge out rates and from a client perspective higher bills means higher expectation. We need to deliver higher quality and practicality. That is a fact of life.

The changing world from a client perspective

Besides the introduction of anti abuse law, clients themselves and also their needs have changed. The patients have become doctors themselves via setting up own in-house indirect tax functions.  Via tax industry networks tax knowledge is shared and communicated within industry. The result is that the service offering and the level of ability of an external adviser had to evolve as well.

Change of client needs also took place because of factors such as:

• globalization,
• the use of technology,
• scandals like the global credit crisis and Enron,
• increased tax authority scrutiny, etc.

Discussions about accountability put not only the external adviser but also the in-house indirect tax function in a more proactive mode. I refer to my Blog of March 5.

My guest blog ‘About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors‘ was about social media and technology developments and the impact on both clients needs and the service providing industry in general.  Technology development will simply change clients needs further.

One man’s weakness, is another man’s strength, let’s team up

Because of these changes tax technical expertise has become more a basic skill from an adviser perspective. The soft skills of the adviser are and will become the key differentiator.  Due to all technological developments it is already part of our present and future. A tax technical advice has to be implemented in systems, processes and controls.  Instructions have to be given to people outside the tax function.  Alignment with the business is key for the tax function to plan in time and avoid future firefighting.

In order to challenge and support a client in his mission an adviser should besides excellent technical skills have a good understanding of communication and collaboration, project management, change management, information technology, negotiation and leadership.  These competences overall are needed to be successful. This is not only applicable for the individual adviser, but as well for an organization with the aim to achieve or maintain market leadership.

The indirect tax profession has been an individual sport for a very long time.  It is still about the individual tax technical strength and personal practical experience and the supporting staff are often trained by that individual.

Without any doubt many are and will remain successful. It is, however, my opinion that the future indirect tax professional will need a different approach.

Why? It is simply no longer possible to excel in everything re global indirect tax management. That means that certain people excel in certain areas of indirect tax and the outcome of the overall team effort will make the real difference from a quality standard perspective.

“Break down barriers and improve teamwork up, down, and across organizational lines.  A considerable amount of money is lost due to disconnects or competition between groups that should be working for a common cause: providing value to customers” Jack Welch

That means:

“One man’s weakness, is another man strength, let’s team up” Richard Cornelisse

• Do you agree with the above?  
• Is teaming supported and stimulated within your organization? 
• How does your people performance matrices evaluate teaming? 
• What are the Key Performance Indicators? 
• What is the weight ‘in practice’ of team effort in overall performance evaluation?
• Looking back do you need any improvement?

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport appeared first on Big4.com.

What do I consider important from a business perspective?  I am rather new in the blogger society – published my first post on my own site on February 12 – got today my 2,500 views – and it is nowadays all about writing, introducing and getting introduced. It is about maintaining and building new relationships. My personal Blog is my brand-name (it is also my own name) and you have to be selective and careful to avoid any reputational damage. That means all the hard lessons of the real world are applicable.

This is what someone wrote me as way of first introduction:

“I do not lie, cheat or steal, nor do I tolerate those who do”

He started with mentioning his values and what he expects from me. That message still inspires me. It is all about doing the right thing and if that is lacking walk away as fast as you can. It triggered me to write a blog: “Richard, Why Are You Doing This?“. It was published on March 9, 2012.

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs?

Social Media is great as on March 19, I received a Tweet of Ed Oakley ” Leadership, Integrity, Trust…and Ski-Racing“.

Greg Smith: “Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs: “The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for…. To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money…I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.”

The great thing about the above is that it confirmed my own state of mind.

Do great artists really steal?

In the academic world we have experienced lack of integrity as well. Once respected professors are outcasted now. They either fabricated their scientific analysis or copy paste other people’s work without source mentioning.

Can this happen in our tax profession? If you publish an article in tax literature and have not provided any contribution, have no practical experience in the matter and the only personal aim is to establish the perception of being a subject matter expert in the market, is that integer?

What is the similarity with the professor who was outcasted? You not only lie to yourself, but you lie to your audience and that is not the way to maintain and start relationships.

If integrity is an important part of your organizations values, you should always act accordingly and proactively manage as leadership. It is always about doing the right thing and never bargain these values.

“In a profession that sells a promise of performance versus a tangible product or service, a firm’s vision, values, and culture lie at the heart of that promise. Vision is where the firm is headed. Values are the behaviors the firm holds important, and culture is the feel, the energy, the society within the organization. Collectively, they form the core around which the business is built.”  Maureen Broderick

Where did I get my inspiration?

I am a fan of Jack Welch, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. They inspire me. Understanding the bigger picture is what I consider important in order to function effectively. I like to know a common aim first and contribute value to make it happen. We simply learn from others especially if we disagree, take position and keep an open mind.

In the start up phase of my own site I read other Blogs simply to find a role model. I have found one in Chris Brogan. It is about common values.

My own mission statement

“How often do you see me selling directly to you? How often do I ask for your money? I ask for your time sometimes, but I usually trade you that time for something of value to you. Do you know why? I give away over 90% of what I do for free. There’s a method to this. I do it because my primary goal is to earn your sense of community. I want you to feel like we are going to learn and grow together. I want you to share with others that you’ve learned something. I want you to be successful. And there’s a reason for this, too. If you are successful, then two things will happen. One, you will do better and that just makes me happy. Two, if you’re successful, you’ll think of me when there’s an opportunity that might be of benefit to me, or to both of us. That’s the opportunity” Chris Brogan

Chris inspires me. My own mission statement is already written: this time all copy paste or as Picasso said steal.

Richard, why are you doing this?

I can repeat in my own words what Chris wrote and try to improve. For a Dutch guy that is definitely “being overambitious” and even if I would write it in my native language first, this will still not be possible. Why? His way of thinking – how it is written down – is exactly expressing what I feel. Don’t change the lyrics, a singer song writer would say.

My Guest Blog”About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors” was about vision. I gave my view on the impact of technology development on among others our profession and ended with a provocative statement about automating the adviser. I consider the use of ‘humor” important. However, I believe you can automate a lot more than we currently can comprehend. Having an open mind was the message I wanted to get across. What likely can not be automated is what we feel and how we interact. That is why it is and remains a people business. The conditions for success are “business integrity’ and ‘being inspired’.

Like to end with a quote:

“I want you to feel like we are going to learn and grow together” Chris Brogan

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’ appeared first on Big4.com.

My Guest Blog of March 13, 2012 “About US Tax Reform – Larry Lindsey, Former Fed Governor: A Value Added Tax Should Be On The Table” dealt with US VAT introduction as possible option to combat the deficit.

This Guest Blog is about the malfunctions of that “European” VAT systems and proposed improvements.  Based on the law of the handicap of a head start if indeed it is decided to implement a national US Value Added Tax,  it is better to implement “the  remediated” version and improve further of course.

The European Commission – objective statement about future of VAT

“Value added tax (VAT) constitutes a major source of revenue for national budgets of the Member States of the European Union. However, the VAT system, which is based on legislation adopted at European level and applied at national level, suffers from numerous shortcomings which do not make it fully efficient and compatible with the requirements of a true single market.

The aim of this consultation is to launch a broad based debate with all the stakeholders on the evaluation of the current VAT system and the possible ways forward to strengthening its coherence with the single market and its capacity as a revenue raiser whilst reducing the cost of compliance. 

The Green Paper covers in particular the treatment of cross border supplies, as well as other key issues addressing tax neutrality, the degree of harmonisation required in the single market and reducing “red tape” whilst ensuring VAT revenues for Member States”

The European Commission published its Final Report Dated December 6, 2011.

VAT future: simpler, more robust and efficient

An Extract Of Ernst And Young Tax Alert – Click Here For Complete Briefing 

“To move the current VAT to the future system, the Commission wants to implement the following short-term measures as a first step: 

• Setting up an EU VAT web portal that provides information in several languages on basic issues such as registration, invoicing, VAT returns, VAT rates, special obligations and limitations to the right of deduction
• In 2012, publishing the Guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee on EU legislation and explanatory notes on the new legislation before its entry into force, in order to inform businesses 
• Setting up a tripartite EU VAT forum (involving the Commission, Member states, and stakeholders) in the course of 2012
• Proposing a standardized VAT declaration (VAT Return) to be available in all languages and optional for businesses across the EU by 2013
• Ensuring the smooth introduction of the mini one-stop shop scheme (registration in a single EU Member State) in 2015 and envisaging a managed broadening of the concept from 2015 onward - Ernst & Young

I have a lot of questions and to be honest hardly any concrete answers. That is not that strange as we need more detail first. It is maybe all too soon, but we know that a small (legislative) change can have a big impact.

Can you imagine the impact when you completely change an entire VAT system, such as abandon the ‘origin principle’ and replace that by ‘destination principle’. I am aware of the VAT jargon used but to simplify, it means that the country that is allowed to tax the transaction changes. All supplies will be taxed for VAT in the country where the supply to the final consumer occurs. Systems, processes and detective and preventive controls will have to be amended.

It is about being well prepared, look at the bigger picture, plan and set already some key priorities where possible.

The EU VAT web portal, Guidelines and tripartite EU VAT forum are good initiatives and fit in the trend of tax authorities having an open dialogue with the tax payer. I refer to OECD ‘Enhanced Relationship’. Such a portal might for many tax authorities be the first baby steps to go in the direction of such an ‘enhanced relationship’. I am the opinion that such a relationship is the right strategically way for the authorities to manage that tax payer’s are in compliance with tax law and reporting requirements.

For every positive, there might be a negative that needs proactive management.  Does an open dialogue negatively impact tax risk management? Does it result in an increase of tax risks? That could be if such a dialogue results in for example higher penalties or an increased risk of (joint) liabilities. Will tax payer’s”Good Faith” towards the authorities even more difficult to prove? If you receive ‘how to do it’ instructions (EU VAT portal, Guidelines), can you still take the position that you could not have known? I don’t think so.

• How do you see this?
• What is the impact on company’s processes and controls?
• How do you see the trend of ‘enhanced relationship’ develop?
• What is the impact on Tax service offerings in general’?
• What can we expect more?

The above EU VAT Code is a regulation to replace the present VAT Directive. A directive has to be translated in national regulation first and that has as cause effect that Member States might have different views or interpretations. Root cause is delegation of authority. Besides that some ‘directive’ provisions are optional and that means that not in every country the same VAT rules apply.

A VAT code applies directly in all Member States as it becomes national law immediately and would increase harmonization between the Member States. Flexibility in view, interpretation or the optional model does in principle no longer exist. At least that is the aim of such an EU VAT code.

It triggers already the following questions:

• Is the playing field of the future indirect tax professional going to expand from an one country ‘VAT’ expertise to an European Union league perspective?
• How about litigation and national interpretation of the code? Nowadays the national court decides whether questions are raised to European Court of Justice, will that change?
• What is the impact of collaboration among tax administration?
• What about cultural differences from a people perspective?
• What is the impact on tax profession as in-house tax function can use its own indirect tax expertise in 27 countries?
• What is the cost benefit analysis on setting up an own in-house function indirect tax function compared to an outsource model to external advisers?

When is change going to take place?

I am aware that many questions are taking it too far. But if you consider this a brainstorm exercise you need to post first as many ideas as possible.  The next phase is about categorizing and selecting.

We don’t have to hurry as this will take a couple of years before this gets into force. It is all about politics and the right timing again. Last but not least at the end the Council of all Ministers have to approve.  The real political challenge would be to first agree on and implement the ‘All for One and One for All’ principle. A bottleneck could be the competition for tax revenues and the perception that somebody else wins. When somebody wins, somebody else must lose.

Back to the US introduction

Is the above also a bottleneck for the US?

Maybe everybody could learn something from the Canadian system.

“A benefit of an Canadian HST-styled VAT for the US is that the federal government computes the tax attributable to each province through a formula (based on census data, other economic indicators). There is no need for businesses or the tax authority to separately track the taxes of each province on returns or on invoices. As a result, such a VAT structure can more easily accommodate states wishing to have different rates from each other (which could well be a deal breaker otherwise). That said, it is of course simpler if the individual states all buy in to the same rate — if the rate is the same, and there is an HST-type formula driven revenue allocation to states, there would be less need to develop complex place of supply rules to determine which state’s VAT rate applies.”  Brian Wurts, PwC Canada

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System appeared first on Big4.com.

Interview link: http://www.accountantslike.com/2012/02/accountants-like-interview-with-bob.html

Amazon link (Kindle option too): http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Why-Bob-Sinnott/dp/146360677X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329317643&sr=1-1

The post Interview With Big 4 Satirist appeared first on Big4.com.

Methods of governments to balance their budgets are a shift from direct to indirect taxation, increase of VAT rates and tax authority scrutiny.

“The global spread of Value Added Taxes (sometimes referred to as Goods and Services Taxes) has been the most remarkable development in taxation over the last 50 years. Operated in less than 10 countries in the late 1960s, VAT now raises one fifth of the world’s tax revenue and still more countries are adopting it. The increasing importance of VAT as a source of government revenue is likely to continue as countries deal with fiscal consolidation pressures in the wake of the economic crisis while seeking to restore growth.”  Jeffrey Owens Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

From an economic point of view the question is what the impact will be on the economy in the downturn. Increase of prices and often the same or even lower available consumer’s budgets will result in less spending.

Levy of VAT and Impact on shareholder value:

“(UK) Budget 2012: Greggs shares fall on VAT blow. More than £20m was wiped off the value of bakery company Greggs on Thursday, following the Government’s announcement that all hot takeaway food would be subject to VAT.” The Telegraph

US Value Added Tax is considered

The effectiveness of indirect tax revenue is – based on considerable amount of tax literature and Reuters‘ article of March 14, 2012 (by Stella Dawson and its quotes are used) - also seen in the United States. Several prominent commentators, politicians past and present have suggested that the introduction of a VAT or GST may be the “least worst” option open to the US government to raising revenue and to combat the deficit.

“Very large changes are necessary. They need to be structural, they need debating, and this is the year to start the process,” Paul Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve

” About tax reform: the one thing that unites people right now. It is not only central to reducing the budget deficit and increasing growth, but also vital to economic fairness and social cohesion in a society that has largely lost faith in the political system. The richest 1 percent cannot expect a tax cut, and the U.S. budget deficit cannot be reduced by cutting spending alone. A creative approach to taxes must be part of the solution. We should be open to every possibility”  Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Democrat.

“a value added tax should be on the table. We need a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. But we need quality rather than quantity,” Larry Lindsey, a Republican and former Fed governor

“Growth-oriented tax reforms would generally involve shifting revenue from corporate and personal income taxation or social security contributions onto consumption and property taxes, including housing taxation.” Recent OECD analysis of growth- oriented tax reforms concluded that “A revenue-neutral tax reform that shifts the balance of taxation more toward consumption and recurrent residential property taxes could [...] strengthen the growth of output over the medium term.” as “… corporate taxes are the most harmful type of tax for economic growth, followed by personal income taxes and then consumption taxes, with recurrent taxes on immovable residential property being the least harmful.” (OECD (2010), Tax Policy Reform and Economic Growth, OECD Publishing).

Some highlights of European Union Value Added Tax system

What does it actually mean: an ‘European’ Value Added System?

In its most elementary form a business will charge VAT (‘output tax’) on its sales (‘supplies’), but will be entitled to deduct the VAT (‘input tax’) that it has paid on its costs and purchases (a multi-stage tax). We note that VAT can only be deducted if the invoice meets the invoice requirements (the conditions for this are summarized in national VAT Act) and is reclaimed in the right country (e.g. Italian VAT must be reclaimed in Italy) in the correct period. If these requirements are not met there is a substantial risk of additional VAT assessments increased with penalties and/or interest as a result of e.g. a VAT audit.

In the European VAT system one of the basic principles is that input VAT (VAT paid) can be off sett against output VAT (VAT charged). In case of a surplus of input VAT a refund of tax is claimed and often paid by the authorities.

Neutrality can only be achieved – better is the word earned – if certain formal and material requirements are met.

That means in practice that input VAT deduction and output VAT has to be managed separately to avoid substantial VAT assessments, penalties and interest payments. It is risky business to monitor only the balance between output VAT and input VAT.

Allowing businesses the opportunity to collect and retain large amounts of tax can leave the system open to fraud and manipulation by dishonest taxable persons.  VAT fraud is for a while a key issue for all European Member States.

“11 percent of VAT revenue is lost annually through fraud – principally ‘missing trader’ or ‘carousel fraud’ – which equates to in the region of €100 billion” PwC report

Macroeconomic effects – National Retail Organization reports

The National Retail Organization published their report about introduction of a VAT system and the macroeconomic effects.  It was on their request written by Ernst & Young LPP, Tax Policy Advisers LLC and Baker Institute for Public Policy and Economic Department, Rice University.

The executive summary:

• “As a consumption-based tax, an add-on VAT would be shifted forward to consumers through higher consumer prices. As a result, private consumption would fall. By increasing consumer prices, the VAT also reduces real or inflation-adjusted wages, which would cause labor supply to fall as well.
• An add-on VAT would have particularly adverse effects on the retail industry. There would be an especially pronounced reduction in retail spending because nearly all retail goods would be subject to double-digit VAT rates, while many other consumer purchases would be exempt under a narrow-based VAT. In addition, some consumers would evade the tax – experience in other countries suggests 12 percent non-compliance with the VAT – driving up the VAT rate.
• Moreover, an add-on VAT leaves the economy considerably worse off than a similarly-sized reduction in government spending on income transfers. With an add-on VAT, GDP would initially be lower and the economy would lose jobs; by comparison, GDP and employment would increase with a reduction in spending. Although lower deficits and debt would have positive long-run economic effects for the economy, most middle income Americans who are working age or older at the time of enactment of the VAT would be worse off.
• Perhaps the most troubling aspect of a deficit-reducing VAT is that, if enacted in the near future, its negative effects on GDP, consumer spending, and employment would occur in the face of the current economic climate of weak economic growth, high unemployment, and low consumer confidence. The near-term drop in output, loss of jobs, and sharp decline in consumer spending described by this report would raise additional economic worries, rather than shoring up the weak economy. With the CBO projecting unemployment to not fall below 7 percent until 2013, the initial reduction in employment from a VAT, estimated to be roughly equivalent to 850,000 jobs, would make full economic recovery much more difficult.” - National Retail Organization -
  

  The NRO complete report

Timing

Is the time right?

Some quotes from Reuters article:

“While tax reform as part of a budget overhaul is unlikely immediately after the November elections, progress needs to be made in crafting solutions” Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Democrat.

“There is a realistic chance that Republicans and Democrats after the election would be ready to strike a bipartisan accord on the budget deficit and taxes” Robert Rubin  former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Democrat”

• Based on the macroeconomic data is it smart to introduce a VAT system in the downturn?
• Is the first priority not to realize economic growth, establish trust in the market and therefore should the focus not be on findings ways to increase consumer spending?
• Is the introduction of a VAT system not counterproductive?

“Raising the standard VAT rate has often been considered as the easiest way to increase revenues from the tax, particularly at a time when many governments are seeking ways to address large fiscal deficits. Some countries have even explicitly linked rate increases to the objective of fiscal consolidation. For instance the Slovak Republic has temporarily increased its VAT rate until the deficit will be reduced to below 3% and in Poland the VAT rates will automatically increase if the public debt to GDP ratio increases above a certain level.” Jeffrey Owens Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

How do you see this?

Lobby groups

When somebody wins, somebody else must lose. Without any doubt indirect tax is the right and maybe only way to combat the deficit, unless of course the US government is going to cut their spending substantially. I don’t consider that likely.  Do you?

Who might feel a loss and what do politicians need to manage to make it happen?

Besides the end consumer, companies might consider it a loss. The implementation and compliance costs (e.g. managing ongoing the VAT numbers) and associated tax risks are bottom line costs of companies and a decrease of corporate income tax is above the line.  The question is whether the shift from direct (e.g. lowering corporate income tax) to indirect tax introduction is seen still as a positive.

The retail industry in general will face substantial costs and it is not a real surprise that the negatives are highlighted in the executive summary of the report of National Retail Organization. It seems that the lobby against has already started. The drop of Greggs share value is a good war story to use in that quest.

Public support for a VAT introduction – assuming it exists – will likely be lost when anti-fraud/tax evasion legislation causes disruption to daily business and is the cause effect of substantial implementation costs.

How do you see this?

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States? appeared first on Big4.com.

In one of my blogs on my personal website, I took the position that the tax profession evolves from an individual sport to a team sport. It is no longer possible to excel in everything re global tax management. Due to all technological developments it is already part of our present and future. A tax technical advice has to be implemented in systems, processes and controls. Instructions have to be given to people outside the tax function.  Alignment with the business is key for the tax function to plan in time and avoid future firefighting. That means that certain people excel in certain areas of tax and the outcome of the overall team effort will make the real difference from a quality standard perspective.

If teaming is part of a company’s business objective, the company’s “informal” culture or budget-based compensation targets can be the bottleneck to realize such teaming.

Is it good to have Stevie Wonder in the driver seat?

“A Ferrari is a beautiful, very fast and a state of the art car, but we should not put Stevie Wonder in the driver seat. He is an excellent song writer and performer but he never ever will be the next Michael Schumacher. It will be risky business if he controls the throttle” Richard Cornelisse

The above might be considered a ridiculous example, but strangely enough happens often in our daily practice. The downturn might even make it worse.

Why?

It is because of budget-based incentive targets. Everybody feels now the pressure and the focus is on making personal budget first. We might know the best driver, understand that he is the best option, but that does not mean we want Michael actually in the driver seat. It does not matter if Michael works for the same company or that it is in the best interest of the client. Stevie, wants to make his own comfort zone first. It is in his personal interest.

• Should we be surprised? 
• Is this not part of our human nature? 
• Is that not the reason why we have our company culture? 

Exactly, the reason why proactive management of common values is needed.

“In a profession that sells a promise of performance versus a tangible product or service, a firm’s vision, values, and culture lie at the heart of that promise. Vision is where the firm is headed. Values are the behaviors the firm holds important, and culture is the feel, the energy, the society within the organization. Collectively, they form the core around which the business is built.”  Maureen Broderick

Budget to actual exercises

Before I continue, I consider budget exercises still a necessity, especially for large organizations that need to manage the performance of a lot of people. The budget process provides top management some level of control.  Actual to budget exercises are and will remain an important part of people’s performance targets.

It is more about being aware of the pitfalls and its impact. After the budget is set, manipulation of the internal environment to make budget – at all costs – might results in disconnect and internal competition. Such behavior is in my view in conflict with the company’s business strategy such as growth, increase market share or market leadership.

One of the reasons could be that the personal performance -meeting budget-based incentive targets- is considered of a higher priority than the company’s own business objectives.  If this is something structural it becomes the company’s “informal” culture and result in:

1. power struggle over clients (protectionism, claiming clients and wins)
2. own “people first” attitude (no best team approach)
3. service offerings proposed that are actually outside the own area of expertise (no standard quality, increased liability, pricing variation)
4. lack of willingness to share relevant client related information (protectionism)

Budget-based compensation targets might also themselves create an incentive to underperform even in times of growth. Substantially exceeding budget could give discussions about how much the budget has been sandbagged last year with the result you getting higher targets next year. To avoid this, positive results might be carried forward to next year.

Jack Welch’s view

Jack Welch has his own view about budgeting.  He considers it number crunching and a waste of time that could be used in a more productive way. It is all about internal politics and time could be used better by focusing on the external environment: the customer.

What is the amount of time spent on budgeting?

The Beyond Budgeting Round Table, an industry research organization, estimates that the average corporation spends four months and 20-30% of senior executives’ and financial managers’ time on the budget.

“Making a budget is an exercise in minimization. You’re always getting the lowest out of people, because everyone is negotiating to get the lowest number”

” The budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management. It sucks the energy, time, fun and big dreams out of an organization. It hides opportunity and stunts growth. In fact when companies win, in most cases it is despite their budgets, not because of them” Jack Welch

I like and admire Jack Welch and this kind of statements.

Budgeting a waste of time

Jack Welch’s complaint was that he was being sandbagged in the planning process itself.  Waste of productive time starts during setting the budget.  It is all about managing an internal conflict. The aim of the leadership is to get the budget as high as possible, the manager has an opposite strategy: “negotiation to the lowest”. That is the side effect of budget-based incentive targets.

Such a behavior – “passionately defending modest projections of mediocre performance” – conflicts with business objectives, when the company’s mission statement is to increase its market share and/or maintain or achieve market leadership. Is that not strange?

Jack Welch’s hope was not a better way to negotiate budgets, but an end to the negotiation. However, is it likely that managers propose themselves aggressive goals? If not, does the company’s culture have to change?

Assume that the company’s business plan was to grow with 15% overall and one of the business units exceeds and realizes 25% growth.  The budget is made. What does that say about the responsible manager? Did he do a good job? Should he earn a big bonus? That all depends. If you focus internally only a confirmative yes is the obvious answer. However, it could simply be underperforming when the growth is the cause effect of unexpected increase of demand in the market (external factors).  The same is applicable if competition shows much higher growth figures.

In an ideal world everybody knows how competition is performing, how the teams are set up and what the client portfolio is.  The own strength and weaknesses have been analyzed and measured ongoing. A gap analysis is made with competition and the gaps found can be prioritized and validated with top management. The impact of these gaps on the company’s overall business objectives are discussed. For the various solutions cost benefit analysis are made, so a constructive discussion with top management can be held about what is needed to close these gaps.

In the worse case the gap(s) will not be closed, but at least you have achieved mutual awareness and hopefully responsibility.

The above example is not only applicable for external advisers, but this method could be used by in-house (indirect) tax functions during their budget negotiation (about external spending) and/or getting extra resources.

The strength of this approach is that you look forward and focus on what still can be managed.  Budget to actual is a ‘look back’ exercise.

Maybe the best of two worlds is the winning combination.  Life is often about a good compromise.

How do you see this all?

Richard’s other Big4 publications

• How to Execute A Tax Strategic Plan And Be Successful
• About Market Leadership And Non Traditional Competitors
• Centralized Business Models And ‘Indirect Tax Automation’
• How To Manage The Perception Of C-level And Realize Tax Objectives
• Tax Controversy Strategy: ‘Proactively Managing The Changing Landscape’
• About ‘Business Integrity And ‘Being Inspired’
• The Indirect Tax Profession Is Evolving From An Individual To A Team Sport
• Would European Value Added Tax Work For The United States?
• US VAT Introduction Versus The Proposed Changes Of The ‘European Union’ VAT System

Richard Cornelisse is CEO of the KEY Group and worked previously as Big4 Partner in the Tax Performance Advisory and Indirect Tax Practice and blogs on Tax Function Effectiveness and Tax Control Framework developments.

The post The Conflict Between ‘Actual To Budget’ Controls And ‘Budget-based Compensation Targets’ appeared first on Big4.com.