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The internet audience for ACCA’s Student Engage reached record figures this year. The webcast, aimed at students of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and broadcast by web TV agency BroadView, achieved almost three times the number of viewers compared with this time last year.

Student Engage has been viewed 32,000 times since it was broadcast on 23 April this year. This is a significant increase on 2007’s viewing figures and clearly demonstrates a demand for web 2.0 as a means of really engaging with the next generation of accountancy students.

Click here to Watch Engage 2008 Web broadcast

ACCA chief executive, Allen Blewitt and president, Gill Ball answered members’ questions in another successful ACCA Engage live web-broadcast which took place on 23 April 2008.

Over 200 questions were submitted for the event with Allen and Gill answering issues ranging from global recognition to maintaining professional standards.

“Access to the web and all of the rich educational content it offers should be a key component of every student’s education. By working with ACCA we’re developing the toolset of the next generation of accountants, but new media ought to be used across a broader range of academic disciplines,” said Stuart Maister, managing director of BroadView.

AGM 2008

ACCA’s 103rd annual general meeting (AGM) took place on Thursday 15 May 2008.

Click here to View the web broadcast

Source:

1. utalkmarketing
2. ACCA website

Helen Brand has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of ACCA - 29 May 2008

Helen Brand, 43, has been appointed as the new chief executive of ACCA.

Currently the managing director of strategy and development at ACCA, she joined the global accountancy body in 1996.

She replaces Allen Blewitt, with effect from 1 September 2008, who is leaving ACCA to return to Sydney, Australia, after five years based at the London HQ.

Commenting on the appointment, Brendan Murtagh chairman of ACCA’s remuneration committee, said: ‘We are delighted we have been able to appoint a worthy successor to Allen Blewitt. After a four month, global recruitment search, it is especially pleasing to be able to appoint from within the organisation. Helen Brand brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the 170 markets in which ACCA currently operates. Her global understanding of the sector and experience of working with bodies, such as IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants) will be of great benefit as we move into the next phase of our strategic programme to be the leading global professional accountancy body in reputation, influence and size.’

Helen Brand said: ‘I am truly honoured to be appointed chief executive of ACCA and to build on the lasting contribution which Allen Blewitt has created for the profession. It’s to the credit of the organisation’s succession planning that the new CEO could be recruited from within its own ranks.’

Allen Blewitt said: ‘I’m very proud that I leave ACCA in an even stronger position than when I joined in 2003. Today we have 122,000 members and 325,000 students. It has been quite humbling to see how the organisation transforms the lives of many who pass its exams and I’m sure Helen will steer ACCA to even greater success under her leadership. I shall track its performance with great interest and affection.’

Source: ACCA Website

Cheers,

Santosh Puthran

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Raj asked me following questions:

I believe that most of the readers of Management Accountant Blog will have similar questions.

Stumbleupon: If you want to buy a TV, you will look for an expert guide on the features, price, competition analysis, ratings and so on and forth. And then you decide which one to buy. However, now a days, you will look for the reviews made by the ordinary users who have bought the actual product. More the reviews you are better informed to make decisions. Stumbleupon works on same concept. Click here to know more

Easy to Use, Community-based surfing:

The StumbleUpon Toolbar is integrated with the user’s browser to allow for one-click access to quality web sites. A simple 2-level rating system gives users the opportunity to pass on or give their opinion on any webpage with a single click. These ratings also connect people sharing unique combinations of interests. Stumblers share their favorite web sites and interact with other users to further improve their web surfing experience.

Spock: Spock is the first editable search engine for finding people on the web. You may be participating in lot of forums and are in the news quite often. All these information are fragmented.

E.g.

The people who know closely only know about you. Spock will help people to know about you. with a search on the internet. If you are a accountant or Consultant in practise then Spock is one of the best way to promote yourself. Click here to know how it works.

What is meant by Feed ,in one of your article you mentioned about RSS Feed.

There are two short videos that explains how RSS functions

Google Reader - Introduction

RSS Feeds - Introduction

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the following feeds. The feeds are driven updates from informative sites.

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If you have any questions, please comment on the blog or write to me, I will try to address them. The questions that you have may also be relevant to other readers of the Management Accountant Blog.

I was listening to “Steve Jobs Macworld 2008 Keynote in 60 Seconds” and he emphasised how his company and products are getting better and better and better.

Unable to see the above video. Click here

The questions we can ask ourselves

To demonstrate an example, latest mobile phones have MP3 player, Camera, GPS, Wifi, Games, Radio, Calendar, Contacts, Blue Tooth and much more. How much of it do you actually use ? The mobile phone comes with a fantastic price and you want to spend on a new one annually !!!

Q: When did you last change your landline phone ?

The world is moving towards internet. Yahoo, Google or MSN provides all the services on the internet. So if you have a phone with an inexpensive internet connection, you can manage everything. The current mobile phone is no good for good photography or with GPS you may get lost on the road since the primary use of phones are to make calls.

So if you can manage your calls, calendar, games, browse internet, use skype or any other instant messenger…. you will get much more return on investment from your phone.

I reckon following phones or similar ones are value for money

Have you exchanged your business card with a prospective client using blue tooth of your mobile phone. The advantage is your contact information like phone number, email and website is always handy with the recipient and there are high chances he contacts you to do business.

You have been reading Management Accountant Blog and receiving updates via email or RSS feeds. Have you looked at the options of sharing the posts to your friends or professionals in Accountancy. This would make the Management Accountant Blog richer and interactive when people start to discuss articles, give opinions and view points.

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2. SezWho: Your rating on the blog will definitely help me to improve the contents on the blog. Moreover, if you are a blogger or website owner, you should install sezwho add-on your website. To demonstrate hover the cursor on check me out in this post below. You notice the posts and comments of the commentor. The more you rate posts, more people are going to know about you.
3. Stumbleupon: Stumbleupon addons on your browser lets you share informative and interesting website you stumbleupon with your friends by click. Similarly updates from your friends are visible to you. Whenever I get bored and have nothing to do, then I start clicking on photo and video icons on the tool bar. I must admit, it shows me the best photos and videos people have stumbleupon across the world. Add me as your friend on http://talk2santosh.stumbleupon.com and share Management Accountant post with your friends.
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Santosh Puthran

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Should the President or CEOs should blog ? A bit contentious issue. But it happens the same when a new technology is introduced. Remember what Western Union said to Bell, Inventor of Telephone.

“Mr. Bell,” he wrote, “after careful consideration of your invention, while it is a very interesting novelty, we have come to the conclusion that it has no commercial possibilities… What use could this company make of an electrical toy?

The companies have been promoting Instant Messenger, Collaborative Blogs or wikis for their employees as official communication. So companies have been adopting the technology and learn to use them effectively for business.

I feel that CEOs / President of Accounting bodies should blog just like they communicate. The blog post may not be frequent but it will influence the members of their body to embrace technology quickly and collaborate.

What do you think ? I would be happy to read you views on the subject. Please post comments on the post.

Regards,

Santosh Puthran

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I have never seen such nastiest comments in my life about the accounting profession in India where the readers have commented on the article “IFRS: The magnificent obsession of ICAI by P S Prabhakar”

The writer has makes a valid point,

ICAI draws a lot of consolation from the fact that the Standards Advisory Council — another organ of the IASB — has a 1/38th share for India (Sailesh Haribhakti, again not nominated by ICAI) among its members (including 7 representatives from organisations such as World Bank, Basel Committee, IFAC, UNCTAD, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, etc). The EU has 12 members, Africa has 2, Latin America has 3, the United States has 3, even Singapore has 2, while countries like Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Israel & Brazil have one each, like India.

If, in spite of such scant respect shown to the Indian accounting profession and conscious ignoring of India’s premier accounting body, the ICAI, if the IASB is able to make ICAI simply dance to the tunes of IFRS (like cheerleaders), then what could be the motive?

However I believe that adopting IFRS by all the countries in the world will bring about standardisation as well as comparability of financial reporting. No local GAAP… less burden on business.

The MCA is moving in right direction where the NACAS with comprehensive mix of people will discuss on Accounting Standards and recommend as necessary. The role of Accounting bodies like ICAI and ICWAI should be primarily to train its professionals / students on accounting and auditing standards. (Judges do not prescribe laws). Globally you will notice that the standards are independent bodies FASB, IASB, IRBA, AASB.

What about other professions in India where the practising members are more than accountants ? Does the apex bodies regulate the profession in practise. Read the objective they have been set up for. Click below:

The objectives of both the apex bodies mentions more about how they regulate the education standards rather than how it regulates the profession. The apex bodies do not mention how it promote standards in practise (professionals) and how does it protect the customer (patients). If the controlling body lacks tooth, how can professions its monitors recognised internationally.

I do not feel good to read comments like

However the bottom line is ICAI (and ICWAI) has been protected statutorily for long enough. Now time to gear their professionals to develop 360 and face the reality of globalisation.

Regards,

Santosh Puthran

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7. ICAI’s new logo for its member

As Canadians adopt international accounting standards, they should know the rules may change at the last minute.

It’s rare to think of accountants and bold change in the same sentence. However, accountants will be leading the next wave of major regulatory changes affecting the Canadian business world: the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).

Accounting transactions are governed by a set of rules known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Each country has its own GAAP; the goal behind IFRS is to create the same set of accounting standards for all nations, which should ultimately make it easier to conduct business internationally and raise funds in global capital markets.

Read the full article by Karine Benzacar, Financial Post

Regards,

Santosh Puthran

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A Stakeholder Analysis is an approach that is frequently used to identify and investigate the Force Field formed by any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the objectives of an organization. Stakeholder Analysis identifies the ways in which stakeholders may influence the organization or may be influenced by its activities, as well as their attitude towards the organization and its targets.

List of typical stakeholders

The power and influence of stakeholders:

The extent to which stakeholders affect the activities of an organisation depends on the relationship between the stakeholder and the organisation. Mendelow’s matrix provides a way of mapping stakeholders based on the power to affect the organisation and their interest in doing so. It identifies the responses which management needs to make to the stakeholders in the different quadrants.

Following categorisation of stakeholders in a manufacturing company:

Low + Low : Small customers, Small Shareholders
High + Low: Major Customers, Central Govt, Media
Low + High: Employees, Environmental Groups, Local Community
High + High: Institutional Investors, Local Planning Authority

Regards,

Santosh Puthran

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