2 > 2 X 1 (Accounting Can Be Lonely)

Accounting can be lonely.  So much of what we do is by ourselves.  I was at a the finance committee meeting of a charity last week.  We were discussing how much money the charity needs to have on hand as a contingency fund.  We decided that three month's worth of expenses was a realistic, practical amount.  After the discussion, the Treasurer thanked us.  He said he and the other management staff had wrestled with the question, but he felt better having the chance to work with other accountants.

I have to agree.  Having another professional accountant to challenge your thinking and check your work is invaluable.  The work of two together is worth more than the two individuals.  Sometimes you get that kind of discussion with your auditor, but I find a peer's advice so much more practical and useful.  It also helps that I'm usually not paying my peer by the hour!

Earlier this week I attended a meeting of an industry group.  They bring together representatives from the various organizations in our industry.  This, too, gives me a chance to check in with my peers.  I can stay up to date with them, check our performance against theirs, find out what issues they face and what opportunities there are to work together.

So, this is just a little reminder:  if you're feeling alone in your work, consider volunteering on the finance committee of a charity or getting involved in your industry association.  You'll be glad you did.

What Should They Teach Professional Accountants?

Where I live, in order to become a Chartered Accountant (the Canadian equivalent of a CPA), you need the following:

Courses Hours

Financial accounting 15
(introductory, intermediate and advanced)

Cost & management accounting 6

Advanced accounting elective 3

Auditing 9

Taxation 6

Business information systems 3

Finance/financial management 3

Economics 3

Law 3

Total credit hours 51


What do you think? Is the above enough? What skills seem to be lacking in the young accountants work with?

Here's my wish list:

Communications - how to explain financial information to non financial people, how to present clearly, making a clear case for action, how to organize the lines on a financial statement, how to analyze data so that the analysis leads to a clear course of action.

Working With Data - how to select, filter, sort and present data. How to build a spreadsheet model. How to use a report generator.

Project Accounting - I don't know why we teach cost accounting but not project accounting. Most of my clients have had some form of project work.

Business Ethics - These days, I think that is self-explanatory. If you don't start when you are a student, when will you have time for this subject?

Additional Topics Statistics, Interest calculations (discounting, annuities, mortgages) and risk management (including insurance).

What would you add?

R U My Mentor?

Wouldn't it be nice to find someone who has seen it all before and is willing to share their experience with you and show you the ropes? Or maybe it would be nice to find someone young and eager to apply their book learning to the real world. Either way, we're talking about the mentor / protege relationship (although in some circles it's called the mentor / mentee relationship). Every professional body on the planet should have a formal mentorship program like the Project Management Institute Southern Ontario chapter.

My Door Is Always Open

How many times have you heard that from someone senior in your company? Even with all the best intentions in the world, the reality is that neither you or your potential mentor probably have that much unstructured time that you can have general discussions about your career. Left to chance meetings, it won't happen.

Just waiting to be noticed, recognized and promoted is a low probability tactic as well. You may well be the only person in your organization who appreciates your potential!

Making the First Move

What if you were a Controller and really admired how the VP of Marketing ran her department. What if you walked into her office when she wasn't busy and said, "You run an excellent department. Your people cover for each other without complaining. They also enjoy working here and with each other. I would like my department to run that way. I'm taking a course in leadership and working on a plan for my department, but I would appreciate practical input from someone who understands what it's like working here. Would you have one hour a week to check in with me about how we're doing?" Who could say no to that?

Here are some things to consider:

• Ask for a specific amount of time from your mentor (e.g. an hour a week). They are busy, but can probably find an hour a week.
• Ask for help with something specific and something the mentor does easily. It shouldn't look like you're asking for a lot of their time or effort.
• Limit the length of the relationship. If the project you want help with is successful, you can always go back and ask about something else afterwards.
• The mentee sets the agenda. Always go to your mentor with a specific question or discussion point in mind. You don't want to waste the mentor's time.
  
• The PMI mentoring program has participants complete a mentoring agreement that specifies what the mentee wants to accomplish as well as when and where the two will meet.
  
• Don't be shy - if you don't ask for help, you won't receive it. You might be afraid that asking for help will be viewed as a sign of weakness, but usually the reverse is true. You are respected for realizing your limitations and working to overcome them.

What do mentors get out of the relationship? My experience has been that people are usually delighted to help someone who is sincerely looking to learn from them. It is truly a mutually beneficial relationship.

Lifelong Learning

When you see a new version of your accounting software, does it feel like Christmas or April Fool's Day? Is your mood one of happy expectation or is your cynical side just waiting for disappointment?

Here's what I saw in a recent demonstration of a new software version to existing, knowledgeable users: negativity. The conversation was dominated with worries about retraining existing users on the new interface. I'm not saying that the people were wrong to focus on this point. It is a valid planning concern. I'm saying the people were wrong to let that issue dominate. Note it and move on! Accounting packages are complex. Learn as much from the demo as you can.

The guy beside me was more philosophical. "Yes, the new interface is different, but we have the option of implementing the new version with the old interface and converting the users gradually."

To me, lifelong learning does not consist of just taking the odd course or keeping up with your professional development units. It's more a matter of approaching every new experience as an opportunity to learn. You need to treat your knowledge like a plant that will whither unless it is tended to and nourished.

In addtion, knowledge is getting increasingly transient. What was cutting edge two years ago became generally accepted last year and is getting close to obsolete now. In my youth, I was quite the DOS jockey. Now, people don't even know what it stands for (Disk Operating System). As an aside, one of my pivotal career choices was what to specialize in after getting my Chartered Accountant designation. I was torn between tax and computers. I ended up rejecting tax because of how quickly the rules change and become obsolete. Looking back on it, I was lucky: I made the right decision for me, but for the wrong reason.

Here's a little practical advice: there will always be a gap between what the users want and what the software delivers. Don't stress about it. Write it down and strategize. Maybe the expectations can be dampened or delayed a little. Maybe some small changes can be made to the software. Maybe there are some imaginative work arounds for the problem. And maybe the issue will not seem so critical after the users have worked with the system for several months. In all of the system conversions I have done, there was something that the users liked better in their old system than in the new. After all there had to be some reason why they stuck with the old one for so long!

Photo credit: mushon

Interesting People

It takes a lot of talent to be a consistently funny writer for your whole career, but John Cleese has done just that. I was a Monty Python fan and watched the TV show every week. I quoted Python skits in high school (Say no more!!). I watched the movies and Fawlty Towers. And now, I have started listening to his podcasts.

When Cleese is just talking to the camera, he can be quite humble. In the video podcast I watched this morning, he talked about how fortunate he was to meet so many intelligent and interesting people through Python. Then he said, ". . . which wouldn't have happened if I'd been an accountant."

Them's fightin' words!

But before I bristle with righteous indignation at the callous insult levelled at my profession, let me state that I realize that no slight to accountants was intended. With all of his royalty earnings, I expect that John could truthfully say, "Some of my best friends are accountants."

But it does raise the question of what makes an accountant (or anybody for that matter) interesting.

Here's my take. (Feel free to agree/disagree in the comments below.) When I look back to all the people I have found interesting, the thing they have mostly in common is that they knew what they wanted and had the courage to go for it.

Actually, you don't have to start an international comedy troupe to be interesting. You could even be just an accountant. All you have to do is reach down deep inside you and find a cause that resonates. Find something or someone worth dedicating your life to. That will force you to dig deep and find the personal resources you never knew you had. That will force you to look outside yourself and look to others for assistance. When you have a purpose in life, the other things just seem to fall into place and when they don't, you will find previously untapped reserves of energy to take on the challenges. Then, I guarantee that people will find you interesting, but by then you won't care. You'll be too busy following your dream.

Like the accountant in the Monty Python skit who wanted to be a lion tamer . . . hey, wait a second. Maybe Cleese does have a thing about accountants after all!

Accountants Helping Clients with Technology

AccountingWeb just published the results of a survey by their British counterpart that should be read by Canadian accountants interested in technology.

While in spirit accountants might like to get involved with e-business, the reality of their current knowledge and workload means that only a small minority are able to help clients take advantage of new technology opportunities.

E-Commerce is no longer new or bleeding edge technology. Many main stream large companies depend on web traffic for a significant part of their revenues. Accountants have an important role to play in this area: adding their business savvy to the technological solution. Let me give you an example. A former client was building an internet portal which would serve as the middle man between customer and manufacturers. Their goal was to provide a streamlined, 24/7 service in exchange for a small fee added to each transaction. Our company was engaged to import the resulting transactions into the accounting system. The implementer, an accountant, asked the key question, what happens if the customer wants to cancel the order. Simple, replied the technology consultant, we just reverse the whole transaction. Does that mean that the company gives up its transaction fee? asked the implementer. Certainly not! replied the client and a major system rewrite was initiated.

Information Technology is like any other specialty for accountants. It requires a large investment of time to gain the specialized knowledge and you have to keep renewing it. But it's worth it!