SME Blog

Where did my £1.3m go?

Sharon Hibbert had a reputation for efficiency. In fact she was very efficient.  Over 7 years she stole £1.3m from her UK employer.  As a bookkeeper on £15k a year that is quite a top up. Neighbours thought that she had won the lottery.  She hadn't, but like a host of lottery winners she went on to spend, spend, spend.....

No complicated trail to follow in this case - most of the cash went straight to her husband's bank account!  Not surprisingly, Sharon and her husband are guilty and going to jail.  Where did it all go wrong?

The usual reason is controls or lack of them.  Controls are what companies have to safeguard the company's assets.  I'll give you an example, 2 signatories on all cheques.  Give the bookkeeper the power to sign all cheques and you've got problems.  All it needs is a fake invoice (easily created in Word) and a cheque written out to a private bank account.  How do you pick that up?  If you have got good financial information then the greedy thief will reveal themselves.  Variances in the figures will appear in the accounts (high office costs, odd margins) due to fake invoices.  Financial information being reviewed by another pair of eyes noticing a supplier in the books does not actually exist. 

SME management are often locked out from the financial business information.  It sits on the bookkeepers PC closed to the world.  This is a nonsense. Good management leads to successful companies and good management needs access to accurate real time information upon which to make decisions and spot errors.  Share sales and debt information with the sales team, allow your external accountants access for tax mitigation and take a look yourself for any unknown suppliers.  It's easy to do and it's not expensive.  Just take a look at the online accounting systems now available.

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You're hired!

Why a job ad from my firm?  I'll come clean it's my department, it's expanding and we need someone to join the team.  I'm not above using any alternative means I can find.

We are a firm of approximately eighty people and of that number ten of us are Business Systems and/or IT specialists.  If you think you fit the bill then I would be delighted to hear from you.  If you know someone else that does then please ask them to read this ad.  Oh, one other thing we're a friendly bunch.

Many thanks.  Normal service will resume shortly :)

xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxxxxx

xxxxx

Manager – Accounting Systems and Services department with heavy emphasis on IT

We are a medium-sized practice of Chartered Accountants situated in the West End of London.  You will be a qualified accountant with a minimum of 3 years post qualification experience in an industrial / commercial environment, with a strong emphasis in accounting systems and computer technology. 

This role has two aspects:

• Managing the ‘team’ engaged in day-to-day bookkeeping, VAT, management accounts and budgeting for a wide portfolio of clients; and
• The implementation of accounting packages – from the initial potential client facing stage to the conversion, installation and configuration of the system, and the training of clients and staff.

You will be very computer literate and have good technical accounting knowledge.  You will possess strong communication skills, have the ability to manage others and to work independently.  Strong practical experience of accounting systems and Excel is essential.  Knowledge of Crystal Reports an advantage.

We will offer the right person a very good salary and the chance to work in an organisation where there is no barrier to your success.

Please email CV and covering letter, including current salary details, to philip.woodgate@goodmanjones.com quoting ref: phw/gpb/blg

All applications will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

For further information about Goodman Jones, please visit our website at www.goodmanjones.com

You're fired! We don't like your blog

Catherine Sanderson who uses the pseudonym La Petite Anglaise for her blog no longer has a job.  That's according to an article in the BBC. She has been fired because her employer took objection to some references to it on her blog.

The employer has just scored a spectacular own goal in PR terms, even if the employer does have a good case for gross misconduct or something similar (Catherine is currently suing the firm).  The firm is said to be old school.  It's got some global coverage by the BBC, but is it the message it really wants to give to potential employees?

Don't worry Catherine, you've got a great blog and it's about to get a huge uplift in readers. Just put your CV on the blog and you'll have a new job very soon.

As a guide to navigating high seas of the blogosphere safely it is worth reading Captain's Blog by Accountancy Age. Bon Voyage.

Technorati Tags: small business medium sized business sme smb blogging accountants  sme-blog

The big five

The big five in this case isn't the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, but blogging tools. Not as romantic, but useful if you are thinking about entering the blogosphere.  Anyway here are mine:

1. Typepad - the system that powers this blog

2. Technorati - the means to find new blogs and interesting people

3. ClustrMaps - a map that shows where vistors are located

4. HTML guide book - for the difficult bits

5. RSS feeds - for the left hand column of SME Blog Resource

For a different big 5 selection click here and discover more blogging tools which didn't make my top 5.

Networking & ads

We're still getting some great weather in the UK.  Last night I had the pleasure to be at event in aid of breast cancer.  As well as a good cause the organisers (those friendly London based Lloyds corporate and business banking people) got their event just right.  We were outside in the sunshine at historic Chandos House drinking a selection of fine cask conditioned British Ales they had transported in. The time flew by.

All this put me in mind of a rather clever article in BusinessWeek comparing networking events to advertising. It's a good article as it uses simple comparisons between networking and advertising to get some very good points across.  For example:

"It's a cliché, but it's true: Most of what we need to know for successful social interaction we learned in kindergarten. In the same way, most of what makes an ad successful can be gauged by whether it passes the cocktail-party test. It's easy to get attention by shouting, jumping up and down, or otherwise acting inappropriately. But that's not the kind of attention you want."

Getting the message across whilst keeping it simple is something that is not easy to do, but it's something I've noticed David Koopmans in Business of marketing and branding does well.

Technorati Tags: small business medium sized business sme smb blogging accountants  sme-blog

Revolution

"During certain periods in history, innovations in technology have grown at such a rapid pace that they have produced what have become known as industrial revolutions." (Source: Bergen)

About 200 years ago an industrial revolution was in place whereby machinery and steam power changed the world in a short period of time. 200 years later we are living in yet another revolution.

Technology is changing the way people live and interact.  Newlyweds meet online (est 12% in USA),  workers connect to the office from home and niche small businesses can now market and sell globally.

The use of technology will become increasingly important to help give SME's a competitive edge. Kevin Reed makes reference to this in his article in What PC. He discusses small accountancy practices, but the general points of how technology can help a small business operate and improve its service applies to all sectors.

One example he gives is online accounting products like Twinfield (which we use at work to power our GJ Online offering).  Using online products allow the business team to truly collaborate.  It opens doors that were previously closed to small businesses and available only to large companies. 

We are in a technology revolution and the reality is that we are nowhere near its end. 

Technorati Tags: small business medium sized business sme smb blogging accountants  sme-blog

Fish theme

My wife Sue came up with the fish theme for this blog. It's a theme I've always liked and stuck with.  The creators of the blog software (Typepad) must share the same opinion as they now use the same theme.  Click here to see their version. 

Marketing cost of fish theme for SME Blog:  Cup of coffee for wife Sue.

Marketing cost of fish theme for Typepad:  A lot.

Seriously, if you are interested in blogging then Typepad is as good a place as any to start.

Technorati Tags: small business medium sized business sme smb blogging accountants  sme-blog