This is a rallying cry to professionals – accountants and lawyers – who are in danger of being caught in the headlights.
As business professionals, we think we have a pretty good idea of what it takes to run a successful professional practice. Attention to detail and a close eye on billing recovery rates are the benchmarks in an industry that is sadly still clutching onto the past.
Well, the bad news is that the future is here and it’s here now.
What do we really provide to our clients? An important service, certainly, but for the most part, clients only employ us because they have to. This is not a recipe for growth or optimal earnings.
We mustn’t kid ourselves that our firm has qualities that surpass anything our competitors can offer.
If you don’t believe this… Imagine for a moment a prospective client asking what makes your firm stand out from the rest. Certainly, we’d respond by saying that our fees are reasonable, that we are very approachable and knowledgeable etc. But the truth is, that if the prospect were to go to our competitor next door and ask the same question, they would get pretty much the same answer.
What does it mean?
What this means is that we don’t have an advantage at all. We are probably no better than most other firms that the prospective client meets.
To stand out from the crowd, a practice has to offer greater value than its competitors. Clients look to us to solve their problems; we are in the problem solving business, so we need to offer help and advice as well as a precise compliance service.
The nature of that advice should be wide-ranging:
Are our clients working as efficiently as they could be?
Do they have appropriate systems and processes in place?
Do they require additional services to make their working lives easier?
How do we do that?
By regularly reaching out to our clients with newsletters, factsheets, informative events or even the occasional lunch, we can provide the added value that will retain and grow existing clients and make us attractive to new ones.
The brilliance of the internet (and all-too often, the downfall of many firm), is that comparison between your competitors and your firm is easy and client mobility is rapid.
A strong web portfolio of resources such as blog-posts, fact-sheets, calculators and industry news helps to set one practice apart from another.
Clients don’t care about hourly rates or the processes we go through behind the scenes.
Ultimately, clients want to engage someone who is familiar with their business sector, who understands the pressures and opportunities that they face and who can be a trusted, caring adviser and friend.
At the end of the day, clients rarely complain about poor service, they vote with their feet. You want them to walk towards you rather than away.
Developing and maintaining new resources is no easy task, which is why Bizezia has developed a suite of tools that firm can access and brand for a low monthly payment.
It’s funny (actually, it’s not funny at all) how some accountants and lawyers throw money down the drain by not charging clients for the work that they do.
Most problems arise because without a template to start with, it takes too long to draw up an engagement letter for additional work that is undertaken.
Unproductivity and loss of drive can result from something nasty called decision overload.
DelanceyPlace (here) tell me that, “we live in a world with 300 exabytes of information (that’s (300 billion, billion) an amount that is rapidly expanding to ever-greater amounts from this already Brobdingnagian level. And yet the processing capacity of the conscious mind is a mere 120 bits per second. This presents a challenge to not only our processing capacity, but also our decision-making ability: Neuroscientists have discovered that productivity and loss of drive can result from decision overload.”
For the less clever clogs among my readers and those who may have forgotten, Brobdingnagian means hugely gigantic.
Click here if you don't want decision overload
You definitely don’t want decision overload. It seems obvious that making things easier is the answer. My company, BizeziaTM do just that – make things easier. I don’t want any of my readers to suffer from decision overload. What’s needed is organisation. So, to start with, here’s a book recommendation:
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
Author: Daniel J. Levitin
Publisher: Penguin Group
The author is a cognitive neuroscientist at McGill University, and this book is an ambitious attempt to bring research in neuroscience and cognitive psychology to bear on the more ordinary parts of our lives.
You never know, you might end up doing the really important things.
Round up
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week. Each week, I have included a section titled Technical Stuff. Also featured from now on is a section on Employment Stuff. These provide a useful reminder of some of the stories that emerged in the last week that touch on technical and employment issues. I hope that you find them useful.
Every now and then, I include details of something on offer from BizeziaTM – for example, this is the last chance for you to buy the 2015 Budget Summary.
The very best publication on the Budget
Chancellor George Osborne has chosen 18 March for his 2015 Budget. This will be the last Budget of this Parliament and is less than two months before the date of the general election.
His update on the economy, including any tax announcements, will come just weeks before Parliament breaks up ahead of campaigning for the 7 May 2015 poll.
Place your order now… The BizeziaTM 2015 Budget Summary is offered at an amazing price. It will be published on 18 March 2015, just a few hours after the Chancellor presents his proposals to Parliament.
It’s available this week only @ £155 + VAT. That’s a ridiculous price for something that’s worth thousands.
Anyway, the offer closes this Friday at 5pm. After then, it will cost £255 + VAT.
The ICPA said glowingly of last year’s publication: “This is simply the very best publication on the Budget available anywhere”.
See what you missed from the 2014 Budget publication, click here.
Troubleshoot and Analyze Your Mac’s Wi-FI With the Wireless Diagnostics Tool
From How to Geek: Mac computers include a Wireless Diagnostics tool that can help you speed up your Wi-Fi network and improve its signal strength. It also includes many additional tools for power users.
Click here to continue reading
This tool is useful for everyone from Mac beginners to experts, but it’s a bit hidden. It requires digging through your list of installed apps or just holding down the Option key as you click a menu.
To open this tool, hold the Option key down on your keyboard, click the Wi-fi icon on the bar at the top of your screen, and select Open Wireless Diagnostics. You can also press Command+Space and type Wireless Diagnostics to search for it.
By default, the tool opens to a simple wizard that helps you diagnose network problems. Select “Monitor my Wi-Fi connection” and click Continue to have the tool monitor your connection and attempt to detect any problems. You can also just select “Continue to summary” to see recommendations immediately.
The Secret to Peak Productivity (FREE eBook valued at $16.00)
From TradePub: Here’s a simple guide to reaching your personal best: in this constantly-connected, do-more-with-less world, being able to increase your productivity is a real advantage.
Click here to continue reading
Certified Professional Organizer and productivity expert Tamara Myles has developed a simple model—the Productivity Pyramid—which provides an actionable framework for anyone to achieve better results. Based on a sequence of steps leading to peak performance, the author’s easily adaptable system consists of five levels:
Physical Organization: from de-cluttering to filing—fool-proof strategies for handling incoming papers and ensuring information remains accessible
Electronic Organization: from dealing with email to electronic file management options such as cloud computing
Time Management: mastering the three P’s—Plan, Prioritize, and Perform
Activity-Goal Alignment: breaking objectives into specific, relevant, and measurable daily tasks
Possibility: identifying new life and business goals that will help you reach your greatest potential
By downloading this free book, you will need to agree to receive regular updates about books from AMACOM, as well as new tips from the author, Tamara Myles.
How to Quickly Type Special Characters on Any Computer, Smartphone, or Tablet
From How to Geek: Most characters you can type don’t appear on your keyboard, whether you’re using a physical keyboard or a touch one.
Here’s how you can type them on your computer or mobile device.
Click here to continue reading
You could always perform a search online to find the symbol and copy-paste it into the program you’re using, too. This is inefficient, but works for quickly inserting the occasional obscure symbol:
Windows: You can quickly insert special characters on Windows using Alt key codes. These require a separate numerical keypad on the right side of your keyboard, so they won’t work on most laptops. They’ll only work on desktop PCs if you have that number pad to the right of your Enter key.
Mac OS X: Mac OS X has its own Character Viewer, which is easier to access. In almost any application, you can click the Edit menu and select Special Characters to open it. Locate a symbol in the window and double-click it to enter it into the text field in the current application. If you use specific special characters frequently, you can add them to your Favourites list so they can be easily accessed here. The list is more organized than it is on Windows.
iPhone and iPad: You can type many additional characters on an iPhone or iPad’s touch keyboard by long-pressing the appropriate key. For example, to type the word “touché,” you’d type “touch,” long press the e key, and choose the é character.
Android: Android’s keyboard works similarly. Long-press keys on the keyboard to access related characters and symbols. For example, long-press the e to find the accented e characters. Long-press other symbols — like the currency symbol — to access additional related symbols.
Promo Marketing is the leading publication serving the $15.6 billion promotional products industry.
Click here to continue reading
Written and edited for distributor sales professionals, Promo Marketing is dedicated to helping them increase sales. Supplier products are showcased in a high-impact, easy-to-read format and feature topics are chosen to improve distributors’ selling opportunities.
Geographic Eligibility:
USA (Print or Digital), Mexico, Selected International (Digital Only)
Offered Free by: NAPCO Media
From Marketing Profs: Before the challenges of marketing an app overwhelm you, get answers to all of your important questions—from acquisition to revenue.
Framed around the app marketing cycle, The Complete Guide to Enterprise App Marketing takes a close look at David McClure’s Pirate Metrics to help educate you on developing the ideal app marketing strategy.
Click here to continue reading
With over 115 pages filled with tips, tactics and real-world examples, this ebook is an essential resource for marketers, developers, CMOs, and everyone in between.
How to Use OS X Virtual Desktops More Effectively with Keyboard Shortcuts
From How to Geek: The author says: We like having multiple virtual desktops on OS X, especially when we can supercharge them by combining them with a few simple keyboard shortcuts. So, on that note, here are some practical ways to use OS X’s virtual desktops like you mean it.
Click here to continue reading
Virtual desktops are hardly a new concept. They’ve been around for quite some time, especially on various Linux distributions, and now more recently, they’ve been added to Windows 10.
Apple’s own take on virtual desktops Spaces, has been around since the introduction of Snow Leopard in 2009, and in the latest OS X release, Yosemite, we find it alive and well.
Out of the box, Spaces works great but it can be so much better with a few simple keyboard shortcuts. To access your Spaces, you can use the Mission Control button (aka F3) on your Mac’s keyboard. If you’ve no idea what we’re talking about when we say “Mission Control,” then you should definitely read the Mission Control 101 article.
From UK BusinessInsider: By Sara Silverstein: Microsoft Excel is an amazing piece of software, and even regular users might not be getting as much out of it as they can. Improve your Excel efficiency and proficiency with these basic shortcuts and functions that absolutely everyone needs to know.
Click here to continue reading
The article covers, in detail, the following shortcuts:
Jump from worksheet to worksheet with Ctrl + PgDn and Ctrl + PgUp
Jump to the end of a data range or the next data range with Ctrl + Arrow
From Simply Measured: Improve your brand’s performance on Twitter and take your strategy to the next level with this four-part kit. This collection of resources is designed to help you master the channel and develop a Twitter strategy that works for your brand.
4 Tools to Help Retailers Sell More With Pinterest
Found in Channel Advisor: With its high-quality images, shareable content and 70 million users, Pinterest seems like a social network made with retailers in mind. If you’re not on Pinterest yet (or even if you are), find out how to best use the site to showcase your brand and products.
Build Better Facebook Videos by Using Insights Data
More from Simply Measured: By Kevin Shively: Videos seem to be all we hear about lately. New native videos on Twitter, enhanced video service on Snapchat, and in their Q4 2014 Earnings Call, Mark Zuckerberg announced that there are over 3 billion video views on Facebook each day.
Click here to continue reading
This number is no fluke. Facebook is putting serious weight behind native videos, which now autoplay in users’ feeds. Many marketers on Facebook have started to see more reach from videos than other media types, including photos.
While videos may be seeing more organic reach than photos, producing high-quality and relevant videos can be a much bigger task than producing photos, so many marketers are tentative to focus too much effort on this content type.
How do you ensure that your time is well spent on a Facebook video? Simple: You use your data. Facebook provides some crucial metrics that you may be overlooking when planning your videos.
The latest Briefings from AccountancyAgeInsight are listed below. Click on the hyperlinks for details for each item.
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What can a two-tier strategy do for your bottom line?: For organisations that have multiple sites and multinational locations, the decision to upgrade or transition to a new financial management solution can be complicated. This whitepaper studies the benefits of deploying a ‘two-tier’ financial strategy and how to find the right solution. VIEW SUMMARY Company: Infor
5 ways cloud security beats what you have on-premise: Cloud-based computing is often more secure than on-premise computing for businesses. It’s like elevating your security from a humble, DIY tree fort to the sophistication of Fort Knox. This white paper explores what cloud offers. VIEW SUMMARY Company: Infor
Outperformance: What it means and how to achieve it: Have you noticed how some organisations do better by every measure? At Investors in People, we call these organisations the Outperformers. When we redesigned our Framework for 2015, we decided to focus on them. What makes them tick? And how can others become Outperformers themselves? VIEW SUMMARY Company: Investors in People
How to grow your business: This short guide explains how accountancy practices are using the principles of automation, integration and collaboration to achieve sustained growth. There are links to customer case studies and two short videos. VIEW SUMMARY Company: CCH, A Wolters Kluwer Business
Knowledge of Auditor’s Bias May Be a Dangerous Thing
In CFO.com, By Matthew Heller: Audit reviewers may be unduly influenced by preparers’ feelings about individual clients, finds recent research. Those lunches or other gatherings where audit preparers vent or enthuse about a client to accounting-firm reviewers may have a counterintuitive effect on the reviewer’s judgment, according to a new study.
Click here to continue reading
The conventional wisdom is that reviewers who are aware of a preparer’s positive or negative feelings toward a client will correct for those biases, not allowing them to influence the final audit. The reality, though, may be quite the reverse.
University of Pittsburgh researchers found in a paper published in The Accounting Review, the journal of the American Accounting Association, that a reviewer’s awareness of bias may cause them to rely more on the preparer’s judgments than they would without such awareness.
The study’s findings were derived from an online experiment involving 119 audit managers and senior managers from two Big Four accounting firms who had an average of 9.37 years of experience.
Learn from the best: Jim Collins on 12 steps to taking your business from good to great
From Smart Company, By Eloise Keating: What separates the good companies from the great? This was the topic of a three-hour session with business guru Jim Collins [pictured] in Melbourne on 3 March.
Collins, the author of six books, including the best-selling book Good to Great, was a guest of the Growth Faculty’s 2015 Growth Summit, alongside Verne Harnish and Liz Wiseman.
Addressing 1500 entrepreneurs and managers yesterday morning, Collins distilled 25 years of research into “what makes great enterprises tick” into 12 questions that all business owners and leaders should seek to answer. The process of answering the questions will reveal the principles leaders need to make their companies great, he said.
“It’s dangerous to study success,” Collins said. “So instead we studied the contrast between great and good and endurance and collapse … those who thrive in chaotic environments and those who it gets the better of.”
“The answer isn’t circumstances … building a great company is not primarily a matter of circumstance, it’s a matter of choice and discipline.”
But before he revealed his 12 steps, Collins walked the audience through what great leadership is.
Collins says it is common for leadership to be confused with a big personality, but most of the leaders of great companies he has come across through his research had “a charisma bypass”.
Instead, Collins defines leadership as “the art of getting people to want to do what must be done”.
“First you have to decide what must be done,” he said.
From Citrix Systems UK Limited: Look at any great leader from history — in business, sport, military or any other industry — and you’ll notice a wealth of distinctive character traits, from strength and determination to intelligence and eloquence.
Click here to continue reading
But which traits are common to all great leaders? There’s no need to guess – just download this FREE eBook, where we examine eight of the most common traits of truly great leaders, from empathy to decisiveness, from vision to calmness under pressure. Learn 8 common traits of the best leaders, then how to avoid doing the things that can bring it all crashing down.
Read this free eBook to learn:
The domino effect of remaining calm under pressure
From Smart Company: There are two types of leaders, according to author and researcher Liz Wiseman [pictured]. Some leaders encourage intelligence and creativity in their employees, creating other leaders, while others “shut down the smarts of others and waste talent and intellect”.
Speaking at the Growth Faculty’s 2015 Growth Summit in Melbourne alongside Jim Collins and Verne Harnish, Wiseman said leaders who are able to get the best out of their teams are “multipliers”, while those that do the opposite are “diminishers”.
Click here to continue reading
Named as one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world, Wiseman spent 17 years as an executive at software giant Oracle before switching to research and founding leadership research and development firm, the Wiseman Group. Among her recent clients are Apple, Nike, PayPal, Salesforce.com and Twitter.
Wiseman is also the author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools.
On Tuesday she offered 1500 entrepreneurs and business leaders insights from the research that informed both books. In her research, Wiseman studied 150 leaders to determine what the role of a leader is in creating a brilliant team and the conditions under which people do their best work.
From AccountancyAGE, written by Chris Warmoll: The Financial Reporting council (FRC) has expressed its delight at the take-up rate and level of innovation demonstrated by the profession over the requirements for extended auditor’s reports.
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First announced in 2013, the requirements call on auditors to describe the assessed risks of material misstatement, materiality and the scope of the audit, which is beginning to shed more light and transparency on a process that had previously been described as a “black box” by investors. The profession’s watchdog hopes this trend will be converted into “improved justifiable confidence” in audit. Much of the FRC’s optimism has been gleaned from the contents of its newly published survey, Extended auditor’s reports: A review of experience in the first year.
Could your Organisation Move to an Empowerment Culture?
From Niojak.com, By Gary Cattermole who asks: What is an Empowerment Culture?
Employee empowerment is a management practice of sharing information, rewards, and power with employees so that they can take initiative and make decisions to solve problems and improve service and performance.
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Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as well holding them responsible and accountable for outcomes of their actions, will contribute to their competence and satisfaction. It essentially flips the traditional hierarchy of an organisation on its head, from a traditional ‘top down’ management structure to one where responsibility is placed with the employee.
Many organisations will have an employee engagement expert as part of the HR team, which will work with staff to increase levels of wellbeing and productivity in an organisation; and employee engagement is the first step on the road to creating an empowered culture. However, it’s a big step forward, but one that if you get right can lead to a more entrepreneurial business, which in our service-driven economy, can lead to increased profitability. But where do you start?
With Spring just around the corner, and the end of the financial year for many, you may be thinking of growing your business and recruiting your first employee or taking on more staff.
Stand back and take a look where your business has come from and where it’s going
Pinpoint the key tasks of a job, and the personal qualities and make these clear when advertising
Advertise through at least two different channels
Avoid interview bias by having at least two people interviewing candidates
Offer the going rate for the job in your business sector
Social media in the workplace
Using social media for recruitment is a growing trend as a cost-effective method to help widen your pool of candidates. Here are some tips on taking this approach.
Social media has had a huge impact on the workplace. As well as bringing great opportunities it’s also presented challenges, for example how organisations promote and control their reputation and how colleagues treat one another. It’s important to develop a policy on social media use at work view Acas social media guidance
From Advisor for Business: Secondments offer a number of benefits for employers and employees. However, employers that are considering agreeing a secondment arrangement need to be aware of the potential issues that can arise. For example, which organisation will be the individual’s employer during the secondment and what happens when the arrangement comes to an end?
Click here to continue reading
This FREE “How to” guide provides practical guidance for employers that are considering setting up a secondment arrangement. It covers:
The issues that can arise;
How to address them; and
Example clauses that employers can use when agreeing a secondment.
The guide is published by XpertHR, the UK’s leading online resource for employment law, HR good practice and benchmarking, bringing together everything HR professionals need to stay compliant with legislation changes, operate cost-effectively and maintain a competitive edge.
From amp.dynamicsignal.com: No matter how expert your marketing and PR teams are there are physical limits as to how much time they can spend on social media engagement.
Click here to continue reading
Launching an employee advocacy program is a great way to expand a company’s digital footprint and reach a wider audience.
Download this FREE eBook and learn:
Key elements of employee advocacy that successful programs share
How to target and recruit the right employees
Strategies to boost employee participation
A list of key performance indicators to follow and set goals around
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published its report into simplifying the difficult issue of how to determine whether a worker is employed or self-employed for tax purposes.
The report lays bare the complexity of the current system with different tests for employment used for tax, employment law and pensions auto-enrolment.
Click here to continue reading
There is no definition of self-employment in law leaving businesses, individuals and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to wade through case law to establish employment status. Special categorisation rules and practices help some but can create anomalies.
The consequences to employers of an incorrect decision can be significant tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) bills, leading many to hire contractors only through intermediaries.
John Whiting, Tax Director of the Office of Tax Simplification, said:
The tax system is stuck in an out-of-date mind set. In the 1950s and 1960s the distinction between employees and the classic self-employed jobbing plumber was clear and easy. Nowadays working patterns are hugely varied, freelancing is a way of life for many and that simple split doesn’t work often enough.
This causes uncertainty, risk and administrative burdens all round. We have heard from businesses about transactions being delayed or even abandoned due to the risk posed by employment status uncertainty.
This is a difficult area with no simple solutions. We identify both direct ways of simplifying things – such as streamlining definitions – and indirect ones, which would take the heat out of the issue. Some should be acted on in the short to medium term, others are promising routes to reform that warrant further work but which would mean major changes.
The OTS recommends various improvements including:
Better employment status guidance, in one place with more real-life examples;
Help for individuals and small businesses on what action a business should take, and the documentation it should have, when engaging a self-employed individual, to preclude or reduce the burden of HMRC enquiries;
Setting up a HMRC employment status helpline and allocating more resources to this area.
Here are two stories: the first is about truth and lies (and confabulation). The second is about the science of something called captivology.
Truth and Lies
In ICAEW Economia, Mike Straw, CEO of Achieve Breakthrough, argues that companies need to have a genuinely open culture about setbacks. Otherwise people will ‘edit the truth’ about how projects are faring which can have implications for financial reporting.
There’s something you may have heard about. It’s called Confabulation. It isn’t lying as such. Confabulation is distinguished from lying as there is no intent to deceive and the person is unaware the information is false. It happens when a person fills in gaps in their memory with fabrications that they, more or less, believe to be true facts.
When Max Reede in the 1997 film, Liar Liar tells his father, Fletcher (played by Jim Carrey), that his teacher told him that ‘beauty is on the inside’, he responds promptly and honestly (in his own view) that ‘this is just something ugly people say.’ Perhaps not an advisable approach for good parenting, but what if people in business always told the truth? Would this help the FD and the accountants auditing the books?
In the past year alone the truth – or lack of it – has been a key component in a number of business scandals. From Tesco allegedly falsifying profits to Apple who are being sued for misrepresenting the amount of storage on iPhones and iPads, the truth – or the bending of it – is a key issue in business today. Accounting scandals have become almost a regular feature of the news these days.
From a book review from HarperCollins: Why are we captivated by sites like Facebook and Instagram, but couldn’t care less about MySpace? Why do some musicians grow as popular as Beyoncé, while others never make the charts? Why do some non-profits, such as Charity: Water, succeed in getting our donations, while other charities are ineffective? And why can’t anyone seem to ever get the attention of their kids?
In Captivology, Ben Parr, former editor of Mashable and cofounder of DominateFund, reveals how and why our mind pays attention to some events, ideas, or people and not others. Vividly bringing to life the stories of entrepreneurs, musicians, filmmakers, thought leaders, political strategists, magicians, and other masters of attention, Parr presents a new understanding of how attention works and identifies seven captivation triggers—techniques guaranteed to help you capture and retain the attention of friends, colleagues, customers, fans, and even strangers. These triggers spark our brain’s attention response systems by appealing to fundamental aspects of human nature.
Combining the latest scientific research with interviews of visionaries who have successfully brought attention to their ideas, projects, and companies (Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, film director Steven Soderbergh, LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner, New York Times bestselling author Susan Cain, and more), Parr makes the case that you can rise above the noisy crowd and be heard—without having to shout.
Insightful and practical, Captivology will change how you tell your kids to clean their room, deliver your next presentation, convince the world to support your cause, or attract users to your product.
Captivology is published by HarperCollins £16.99: Available 3 March.
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week. Each week, I include a section titled Technical Stuff – it provides a useful reminder of some of the stories that emerged in the last week that touch on technical issues. I hope that you find it useful.
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs. Here they are:
From Informita: this is a FREE Mobile App available on Windows, Apple, Android, Blackberry and Kindle. Informita have designed this app to give fast and efficient link to the latest news and developments on working capital, cash flow and procurement. You will have instant access to our latest twitter and Facebook feeds, Informita’s weekly blog and quarterly newsletter so that you can be up to date on the latest developments about working capital, cash flow and procurement. This brings the latest news on working capital and procurement directly to your fingertips.
How to Access Region-Restricted Websites From Anywhere on Earth
From the clever people at How to Geek: The Internet is supposed to be a global network that links the entire world, but many websites are confined to specific countries. Unsurprisingly, piracy is higher in countries where content isn’t legally available.
These are the ways people around the world are actually accessing that geo-blocked content today. If you live outside the US, this will get you a lot — and even US residents might want to access BBC iPlayer or a similar service sometimes.
Hola is one of the most popular ways to access geo-blocked websites, and there’s no sense in ignoring that. This is primarily because it’s free and easy-to-install. Hola, formerly known as “Hola Unblocker” and now known as “Hola Better Internet,” is available in a variety of forms. It offers browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and these can be easily installed with a few clicks. After, just click the Hola icon on your browser’s toolbar and select a country. It’ll route your browsing activity through IP addresses in that country. This means you can access the US Netflix library from your current country, or the UK-based BBC iPlayer website from USA, for example.
Are you ready for it? Apple Watch will replace your car keys, says Tim Cook
In the Telegraph: In an exclusive interview: The Apple chief executive Tim Cook reveals to Allister Heath how the revolutionary features in the company’s smartwatch could forever alter our daily lives.
Like millions of people, Tim Cook stopped wearing a watch a while back. The Apple boss no longer needed one: his iPhone told the time just fine. There was just one problem, as he readily acknowledges in his interview with The Telegraph: glancing at one’s wrist can be a very useful way to find out information. It is less rude and less intrusive.
So Apple now wants to pull off something that no company has ever managed before: it wants to reverse a cultural trend that it had created itself. It wants us to start wearing a watch again.
The big event on 9 March will showcase the Apple Watch; and it will be launched to consumers in April. Cook, needless to say, is already wearing his new Apple Watch. He couldn’t even contemplate living without it anymore, he says.
“I’m now so used to getting all my notifications and all my messages,” he says. “It’s so incredible just to do this.”
In CITY A.M.: Samsung has unveiled two flagship Galaxy S6 smartphones in Barcelona marking the start of this year’s Mobile World Congress. The S6 and its curved screen sibling, the S6 Edge, are the South Korean conglomerate’s latest attempt to restore growth to its smartphone division, which has seen margins and profits erode in the face of competition.
The S6, which also comes in a curved glass S6 Edge version, boasts an even thinner body than its predecessor the S5, built-in wireless charging compatible with the charging pads being rolled out by McDonalds and Starbucks, and Samsung Pay, a mobile payments system launching in the US this summer to rival Apple Pay.
How to attract customers after a Google search engine penalty
Read on 123-Reg: By Will Stevens who asks – How much of your website traffic comes from Google? What would happen if that source of potential customers were to dry up overnight? Would your business be able to cope if your search engine rankings suddenly plummeted? Maybe they already have and you’re wondering where your next customer is going to come from.
If your site has been penalised by Google, or you’re worried that a penalty might be heading your way at some point in the future, it’s important that you start attracting visitors from sources other than organic search. If you’re unsure as to whether your site has been penalised by Google, then this guide will help you find out. It will also tell you how you can get on the road to recovery.
Unfortunately, recovering from a penalty can be a long process. So while you’re working on getting a penalty removed, here are five ways to attract traffic and potential customers. If you were attracting most of your customers through organic search before you were penalised, these alternative channels could be what you need to keep the sales coming in.
And remember, even if you haven’t been penalised, it’s never a good idea to be overly reliant on one source of traffic. Adopting these methods before something happens to your search rankings could save you a lot of trouble if your site does one day fall out of favour with Google.
3 Principles Of Storytelling You Can Learn From Kevin Spacey + House Of Cards
From NewsCred Blog, By Chase Neinken: It is no secret that storytelling has become the pinnacle practice of 2015. So what can content marketers learn from some of the best stories going right now?
Looking ahead to a new “House of Cards” release on Netflix, the author began to think about the parallels between content marketing and traditional media (in this case television). In Kevin Spacey’s keynote from Content Marketing World 2014, he told a half hour story about the importance of storytelling using his own career as a vehicle and the stories of the actors he’s played along the way as the gasoline. I distinctly remember this being one of the most #meta speeches the author has ever heard.
So what advice does Francis Underwood have to dish on storytelling? Spacey recommends that before you even begin, it’s important to ask yourself, “What story do you want to tell?” He suggests that everything will fall in line “if you start with what the result is going to be.”
“Ubuntu Linux Toolbox: A $29.99 Value, FREE For a Limited Time!”
FREE from Wiley: This book will prepare you with a host of updated tools for today’s environment, as well as expanded coverage so you can confidently start using Ubuntu today.
As a longstanding bestseller, Ubuntu Linux Toolbox has taught you how to get the most out Ubuntu, the world’s most popular Linux distribution. With this anticipated new edition, Christopher Negus returns with a host of new and expanded coverage on tools for managing file systems, ways to connect to networks, techniques for securing Ubuntu systems, and a look at the latest Long Term Support (LTS) release of Ubuntu, all aimed at getting you up and running with Ubuntu Linux quickly.
Covers installation, configuration, shell primer, the desktop, administrations, servers, and security
Delves into coverage of popular applications for the web, productivity suites, and e-mail
Highlights setting up a server (Apache, Samba, CUPS)
Boasts a handy trim size so that you can take it with you on the go
Mac OS X Isn’t Safe Anymore: The Crapware / Malware Epidemic Has Begun
Mac OS X users like to make fun of Windows users as the only ones that have a malware problem. But that’s simply not true anymore, and the problem has increased dramatically in the last few months.
This article exposes the truth about what’s really going on, and hopefully warn people about the impending doom.
Since it is actually Unix under the hood, OS X has some native protection against the worst types of viruses. But the problem these days isn’t viruses that completely break your computer, it’s spyware, crapware, and adware that sneaks onto your computer, hijacks your browser, inserts ads, and tracks what you are looking at. And much of it is legal, because you get tricked into clicking the wrong thing during an installer.
Finding your PC’s Windows Product Key to reinstall Windows
From How to Geek: You’ll need a unique product key to reinstall Windows on your PC. This is more confusing than it sounds — you may not be able to re-use the key your computer’s manufacturer used.
Stored in software on your PC: When you (or your PC manufacturer) installs Windows, Windows stores its product key in the registry. You can extract this product key, and — often — enter it when reinstalling Windows on your PC. Crucially, you’ll need to grab it from your operating system before you begin reinstalling Windows or it could be deleted if you format your hard drive.
Printed on a sticker: Some PCs use a technology called “System Locked Pre-installation,” or SLP. If your PC uses this, the product key on your PC — the one stored in the registry, and the one key-viewer applications display — will be different from the actual key your PC needs. The actual key is on a certificate of authenticity (COA) sticker on your PC or its power supply. The one in the registry and key-viewer application is a red herring. This system was common for Windows 7 PCs.
Embedded in your PC’s UEFI firmware: Many newer PCs that come with Windows 8 use a new method. The key for the version of Windows the PC comes with is stored in the computer’s UEFI firmware or BIOS. You don’t even need to know it — assuming you’re installing the same edition of Windows the PC came with, it should automatically activate and work without you needing to enter a key. It’ll all happen automatically.
Be sure to use the same version and edition of Windows the computer came with. In other words, if it came with Windows 7 Home Premium, you can’t install Windows 7 Professional.
Get your cash flow back on track with a free SmartCompany eBook
From missing payments, juggling credit cards, loans, mortgages, telephone and internet bills, cash flow is the issue most likely to influence a business’s operations. Even the most successful of SMEs can struggle.
Future business growth hinges on your ability to resolve these issues – luckily there are some easy steps you can take.
The latest SmartCompany eBook, Payment systems made simple – how to get cash flowing in your SME, brings to light the difficulty that companies face in regulating their cash flow and offers up strategic tips for your peace of mind.
In this free eBook, brought to you in partnership with Ezidebit, you’ll learn about:
Work-Life Balance For Dummies eBook (a $21.99 value) FREE until 3/7!
From Wiley: Work-Life Balance for Dummies offers readers advice and simple strategies to achieve more balance whatever their situation.
A survey conducted by Universum Communication found that work-life balance is No.1 on the list of short-term career goals amongst professionals. But while work-life balance is an increasingly popular term, many of us are still unsure about how to achieve it, or lack the confidence to approach employers to negotiate flexible working hours.
Discover how to:
Work out your priorities
Put off procrastination and improve your time management
From TradePub: Download this kit to learn everything you need to know about IT Management. The Essentials of IT Management Kit Edition brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your IT Management related decisions.
The Essentials of IT Management Kit Edition, brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your IT Management related decisions.
The following kit contents will help you get the most out of your IT Management research:
Executive Guide: Harnessing the Power of Enterprise Social Collaboration
How Will Mobility Change The Face Of Videoconferencing?
When Cloud Makes Sense
The 10 ‘Must Haves’ for Secure Enterprise Mobility Management
Found in Business Matters: Most people who we think are working hard are mismanaging their time.
When it comes to many of the people who we think are hardworking, we’re really just misinformed, says Inc. For instance, it is a common thought that people who work late are hardworking. Why? Because the assumption is that they have so much work to do that they must burn the midnight oil to get it done. Another example is when we see people who always seem like they are busy all the time. Again, they have taken on so much work that they must work all the time.
In truth, most of these “hard workers” are just inefficient. Look closely and you’ll see they use these methods to produce the same results as everybody else. And while it can be argued that these people are disciplined because of their work ethic, more of a focus should be put on productivity. And to produce more results, you don’t have to work longer, just smarter.
This article provides some easy ways to do this that most people don’t take advantage of. Start using these strategies today and watch your daily output increase significantly.
The latest Briefings from AccountancyAgeInsight are listed below. Click on the hyperlinks for details for each item.
2014/15 Tax Planning for Non-UK Domiciled Individuals: After more than 200 years of development, the UK tax regime remains generous to those who are resident but not domiciled in the UK. With care and good planning, you can have tax-free access to your funds that might otherwise be taxed up to 45%. Download this guide to find out more. View summary Company: Buzzacott
Tax Newsletter February 2015: Welcome to the first Kreston Reeves Tax Newsletter, this month we bring our readers valuable tax year end planning tips, important news for homeowners in the UK and overseas and some particularly good news for property owners in France. View summary Company: Kreston Reeves
The Twilight World of Lawless VAT: CCH have identified a worrying trend – HMRC’s cavalier attitude to the letter of the law. Glyn Edwards, Senior VAT Consultant, reports on recent examples of how HMRC behaves as if the law only applies against taxpayers and can be disregarded when it suits the Department. View summary Company: CCH, A Wolters Kluwer Business
Associated companies – prior to 1 April 2015: The existence of associated companies means that the corporation tax limits of £1.5m and £300,000 are divided equally among associated companies. With the unification of corporation tax rates, this guidance note discusses the current associated companies’ rules which apply until April 2015. View summary Company: Tolley
UHY Financial Planning review – Spring 2015: The review is intended to give insights into the current financial landscape, highlighting topical and timely issues that could affect you, your business and your financial arrangements. View summary Company: UHY Hacker Young Group
Accountants for business: Reporting risk: This report examines how the quality and value of risk reporting can be improved. It reviews current practice in risk reporting, the barriers to better risk reporting, the wishes of users, and the concerns of preparers. View summary Company: ACCA
Year-end tax planner 2014-15: As the end of the financial year approaches, taxpayers should review their financial, business and tax arrangements. This Year End Tax-Planner provides useful planning suggestions. View summary Company: Saffery Champness
Back to Happiness ‐ The Life of a Business Owner: Haines Watts’ latest White Paper explores the experience of being a business owner in the UK. It looks at a range of factors, from Government initiatives to whether owner-managers are managing to find a better life-work balance. View summary Company: Haines Watts
Ending late payment, part 1: Taking stock: ACCA conducted a review of the widespread problem of late payment. Ending Late Payment, Part 1: Taking Stock combines an extensive literature review with quantitative data from ACCA’s member surveys to correctly define late payment, trace its precise origins and document its impact on the globally. View summary Company: ACCA
Recent IFRS standards and interpretations: This bulletin provides a high level overview of the most recently issued International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and interpretations, to ensure compliance with international financial reporting requirements. View summary Company: UHY Hacker Young Group
FRS 102 bitesize: Dividends and distributable profits: This Financial Reporting Brief looks more closely at the impact of FRS 102 on profits available for distribution by private limited companies, with a particular focus on the transition period. View summary Company: Saffery Champness
Weekly tax update – February 23rd 2015: This tax update reviews recent announcements from the HMRC, including that online registration of interest for marriage allowances is open for married couples and those in civil partnerships and employers will be able to avoid penalties for delays of up to three days when filing PAYE information. View summary Company: Smith and Williamson
Ending late payment, part 1: Taking stock: ACCA conducted a review of the widespread problem of late payment. Ending Late Payment, Part 1: Taking Stock combines an extensive literature review with quantitative data from ACCA’s member surveys to correctly define late payment, trace its precise origins and document its impact globally. View summary Company: ACCA
Research reveals Top 10 questions new SMEs have
From ICAEW: Thousands of people have started new businesses already this year. For anyone thinking of starting a new business, there are some questions you need to know the answer for before you get going.
Research by ICAEW’s Business Advice Service has found the most frequently asked questions that people starting new businesses want answered:
When should I write a business plan and how do I do it?
How much money will I need to set up my business?
How can I raise the finance I need for my business plans?
How much should I pay myself?
How should I approach recruiting new staff?
Should I go into partnership with someone else?
Do I really need an office?
Do I have to set up a limited company?
What marketing and advertising should I be considering?
How do I find the business support and advice I need?
Accountants: Lots of letters for new financial reporting
From AccountingWEB: iXBRL, RTI, IFRS, AE and new UK GAAP: Download this FREE new whitepaper for ‘Acronyms: Explained’ + top tips for easing the compliance burden.
The new whitepaper from IRIS reviews developments in the compliance landscape. It also includes some tips for easing what otherwise threatens to be an escalating burden on busy corporate finance professionals.
In this article, I hope to show you that having a formal letter of engagement in place can help you avoid getting sued. And how, if you do it properly, you can earn more fees too.
It makes sense…
Setting out your terms of business with your clients, with specific agreement on the work you do for them and the fees you charge, is the only sensible way to deliver professional services. To do anything else is professional suicide. I feel very strongly about that.
We can’t complain if we get into trouble with our clients. After all, our professional bodies have been telling us for years that we must issue engagement letters.
Nevertheless, for many busy practitioners, the whole business of issuing an engagement letter to clients is a bit of a nightmare. And when something goes wrong, not having an engagement letter is going to bring you problems and cost you shedloads of money.
There had to be a better way and I found it!
When I was in public practice, I found the whole process of writing something down and agreeing it with the client to be a clumsy and time-consuming exercise. It often got in the way of doing the work itself. There had to be an easier way, I thought. Although there were plenty of standard formats available that covered a few situations, all too often the particular client assignment didn’t seem to fit those formats.
That’s when I set out to create an engagement letter system (called Contract Engine) to simplify the whole process, eliminate uncertainty with the client, and make it very easy to agree terms – including fees payable. It also had to be a management system that allowed me to find the original engagement letter and update it as and when required.
I came to the conclusion that what was needed at the front end was a very detailed “Terms of Business” letter that took into account all the risk management clauses we would all like to see. To this important letter, my idea was to append schedules for each category of work to be undertaken for the client.
Are Engagement Letters necessary?
The answer to the question, Are Engagement Letters necessary, is a resounding YES!
In recent years, litigation against professional advisers has increased both in scale and frequency.
Standard practice and indeed a requirement of many professional bodies, is for accountants and lawyers to issue a formal letter of engagement defining their relationship with the client.
Statistics gathered by the AICPA Professional Liability Insurance Program in the USA provide dramatic evidence of the importance of engagement letters:
More than two-thirds of professional liability claims in that Program arise from client allegations of professional lapses in tax practice and in approximately 25% of all claims made, the client alleged that the scope of the engagement went beyond the services which the accountant believed he or she had agreed to perform. The resulting claim then alleged that when performed, these disputed services were performed negligently.
Information from the AICPA Professional Liability Insurance Program shows that in over 40% of all claims, no engagement letter was issued at all.
Engagement letters are certainly necessary today as they form the basis of the contract between the professional and client for the provision of professional services. Your engagement letter could become a crucial controlling factor in determining the responsibilities of both parties.
Fail to have an engagement letter system in your firm at your peril. The risk is just too great.
Engagement Letters help to avoid getting sued
After Enron and other high profile failures, accountants and lawyers everywhere are right to worry about the potential of negligence claims and what the ultimate effect on their practice might be on increasing indemnity insurance premiums and an escalating level of claims.
As an accountant or tax advisor or lawyer, your primary aim must always be to make sure that you don’t get sued and that you get paid for what you do.
Unless you have an up-to-date engagement letter in place, you could be in big trouble if there is a dispute over fees or the work you’ve done (or not done, as the case may be). Your engagement letter ought to make it clear as to the scope of your responsibility and limitations on liability so that your first line of defence when a dispute arises is to show what was agreed at the start of the engagement – who does what and when.
One engagement letter is no longer enough – you should have separate engagement letters for each work assignment you take on for your client.
And you might consider updating your engagement letters at least once a year and whenever the nature of your engagement changes.
…and if you do get sued
Engagement letters are a very effective loss avoidance tool such that if problems arise in the client relationship, the engagement letter can provide essential evidence of the exact terms agreed, and may well head off an incipient legal action.
When professionals are sued, the first two questions they are asked are:
(1) Do you have indemnity insurance? and
(2) Do you have an engagement letter with the client that’s suing you setting out what was agreed?
The lack of either can make the defence against a professional indemnity claim all the more difficult.
Two good reasons…
Engagement letters help drive down the cost of indemnity insurance: Increasingly, insurers will look at your arrangements on the issue of engagement letters and take this into account when setting the level of your indemnity premiums.
Engagement Letters reduce the risk of fee disputes: Professionals should get used to using engagement letters for all new clients, new matters with existing clients and contingent fee matters. The likelihood of a fee dispute – leading to a possible later malpractice claim – can be substantially reduced if the key details of the fee arrangements are made clear at the outset and confirmed in writing.
Engagement Letters make good business sense
Whilst engagement letters are not a panacea for all disputes and disagreements, and they don’t always protect professionals from litigation, they make good business sense, because:
They help prevent misunderstandings with the client by describing, in writing, the mutual understanding of the terms and conditions of the engagement.
They eliminate any staff misunderstandings by providing those involved on the engagement with the specifics of the services to be rendered.
Enhanced client communications, such as regularly issued and updated engagement letters, help to avoid expectation gaps for services to be rendered. By re-emphasising both the value and the scope of services in advance, professionals can improve clients’ overall satisfaction with professional services rendered. A satisfied customer is more likely to continue or expand a relationship with the professionals involved.
Engagement letters can also be an effective marketing tool for clients and prospects as the professional can easily promote related services by mentioning them in their engagement letters.
Engagement letters reduce any potential legal liability by defining the responsibilities of both the professional and the client.
Introducing Engagement Letters to Clients
Proper communication of your firm’s risk management programme is important. Although other firms may have used engagement letters for years, introducing them in your practice may be new to many clients and will require some advance preparation.
It’s important that you should explain to the client why an engagement letter is required. Make the explanation from the client’s perspective to help build understanding of the change. You should mention that your engagement letter:
Defines the services you are being engaged to perform;
Identifies engagement responsibilities of both your firm and the client;
Explains fees, billing, and payment terms; and
Assures the client that additional services will not be initiated without advance approval
You may wish to emphasise that engagement letters are required of all clients. Some firms also mention “insurance requirements” when introducing engagement letters into a client relationship for the first time.
You want the best don’t you?
The chances are that you want the best, most effective and friendliest engagement letter system. That’s true isn’t it?
Well, now you can have what you want with Contract Engine. Don’t just take my word for it. Take a product tour by clicking on the video link to the right.
What is Contract Engine?
Contract Engine is the UK’s leading online engagement/client care letter system. It features a comprehensive suite of fully-editable engagement/client care letter templates (up to 150+ for accountants and 200+ for lawyers) together with market-leading terms and conditions.
Contract Engine is designed for professionals – this complete system for managing all your client engagement letters allows you to create work schedules (to cover exactly the scope of what you’ve agreed to do for the client) in seconds. And it includes your firm’s name and address details as well as properly identifying the client.
Features
Fully-editable, regularly-updated templates
Market-leading terms and conditions
Edit and manage your client contracts online
Fast and easy-to-use – create client work schedules in seconds
New templates can be added upon request
Single or multiple users, each with a secure username and password
Highly secure back-up
No set-up fees – just an easy affordable monthly or annual payment option with a minimum 12 month subscription
Free support from Bizezia
Benefits
Capture fee-charging opportunities
Improve fee income
Better cashflow
Reduced risk of client disputes
Save time and reduce admin costs
Pricing
There is no set-up fee for Contract Engine, just an easy, affordable monthly or annual payment option with a minimum 12 month subscription.
Before 1984, accountants and lawyers didn’t really need to worry too much about communications or marketing. There’s a simple reason why: they weren’t allowed to engage in any marketing as we know it today.
Back in 1984, it was unethical to engage in any marketing. So, most firms did not have a brochure describing what they did, what services they offered and so on.
It was virtually unknown for a competitor to “steal” a client from you.
In October 1984, professional firms were liberated from the no-marketing or advertising constraints by the OFT. I remember it well.
My firm was one of the first in the UK to have a coloured logo and a powerful brochure. In fact, we were the first accountancy firm to advertise on British Television. Roughly four times a night for seven weeks, my firm brought a new message to prospective clients across Southern England… But that’s another story.
Today, firms have to communicate information to clients quickly and efficiently. If you can’t keep your service documents and information brochures up to date, you’re wasting a real marketing opportunity.
Providing technical and other information to clients and prospects
There are three ways in which a firm can maintain relationships with its clients and prospects in providing technical and other information in response to a request for information from clients and prospects.
Buy in publications from publishers
The problem with this is that this is a costly thing to do. The information can easily go out of date and it’s a clumsy way of providing information to those who ask for it. What happens in practice is that there are piles of brochures in the corner of an office, gathering dust, part of a long-forgotten marketing plan that didn’t work.
Buying in pre-printed publications was a good idea over 30 years ago when I launched the CharterGroup Partnership and LawGroup UK because small to medium sized firms couldn’t afford to write or publish their own brochures, so they had to be syndicated and bought in from a group publisher. But it’s old hat today. Today, we’re supposed to be saving the Planet and going paperless is one way to do just that.
Do nothing
This option costs nothing.
Clients get nothing that they need.
Prospects avoid firms that do nothing and move on to firms that provide details of their services and issue free publications.
The last option is to subscribe to a digital business library and have hundreds of brochures available via your website 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
The advantage of this option is that because the publications are digital they are up to date and always available. Once clients and prospects register on your website they can simply take what they need.
Even better still is that the cost to a firm is a fraction of printing publications under option 1 and helps prevent trees being chopped down and endangering the Planet.
Statistics
According to recent research over a third of small business owners feel isolated when making key business decisions.
43% confess to loneliness when focusing on changing strategy or direction, and another two fifths feel detached over business planning matters.
Accountants and Lawyers are uniquely placed to help businesses by providing them with information direct from their website through a digital business library.
Have you got 8 to 10 years to spare?
When I was in public practice as an accountant, I set about creating a digital business library. It took me about 8 to 10 years to get it right. However, it was all worthwhile as Bizezia’s Online Business Library now leads the digitally-delivered dynamic market with a comprehensive collection of some 700 professionally-written informative publications that you can offer free to your clients direct from your website.
The publications cover an extensive range of business topics from tax to marketing and most things in between.
Digital publications allow you to add significant value to the service you offer your clients, and enable you to build relationships with prospective clients. The alternative, as mentioned above, is to do nothing – it costs nothing but clients get nothing they need.
What is the Bizezia Online Business Library?
Every publication in the library is personalised and branded to your firm and available for your clients and prospects to download from your website.
These business publications provide valuable information on diverse subjects such as law, finance, marketing and management. The Online Business Library is an impressive knowledge resource, underlining your credentials as a knowledgeable, professional firm.
Features
Nearly 700 personalised publications
Choose from 5 to 21 categories
Unrivalled quality and depth of content and subjects
Online, on-demand delivery through your website
No work on your part: Bizezia regularly update each publication automatically
Users can print, save or email the publications to a friend/colleague
Users can browse the library or search for a particular topic
No programming experience is required on your part
No set-up fees, just an easy and affordable monthly or annual payment option with a minimum 12 month subscription
Free support from Bizezia
Benefits
Cost savings compared to any other library method
Always available from anywhere in the world
An impressive knowledge resource for your website
Each personalised publication is a powerful marketing tool for your firm
Attract new clients and build existing client loyalty
Valuable research resource for your staff
Bring your website to life
Keep yourself up-to-date with this valuable technical updating and personal development tool
Categories
Marketing and PromotionTables, Plans and ChecklistsLawyers and Accountants
Taxation
Legislation
Pensions, Investments and Estate Planning
Company Cars
Stock Markets and Going Public
Employment and Work
Miscellaneous
Charities
International PackBusinesses and those who run themTechnology and the Internet
Insolvency
Buying, Selling, Valuing and Financing for Businesses
Marketing: In today’s competitive business environment, firms must do everything they can to stand out from the crowd. The Online Business Library is a true differentiator: it underlines your knowledge credentials and brings new clients to your firm.
Website: What does your website say about your firm? Is it full of useful content which encourages visitors to come back time and time again? Or is it merely a static online brochure with nothing to capture visitors’ attention? The Online Business Library, with its 700+ publications, is a great, instant knowledge resource to make sure your website works hard for your firm.
Time & Research: The publications are so useful that even your staff will want to use them when researching client queries. With some 700 publications to choose from, the chances are that you will find the answer in the Online Business Library.
Installation is easy. Simply paste our HTML code into the website page of your choosing (your web developer or IT personnel will be able to do this for you)
A portal will automatically appear as a window on the page you choose (in a colour to match the rest of your website)
Through this portal, visitors to your website will browse the library or search for a particular topic
Each publication downloaded will be automatically personalised to your firm
Pricing
There is no set-up fee for the Online Business Library, just an easy and affordable monthly or annual payment option based on how many categories you select (minimum 12 month subscription). The Online Business Library allows unlimited downloads which means visitors to your site can download 100 or 1,000,000 publications and you won’t pay a penny more.
If you’re an accountant, you will surely have heard of Ric Payne. Ric, together with Paul Dunn pretty well changed the face of the accounting profession in the 1990s through their transformational boot camps across the world.
Today, Ric runs Principa – its object is simple: Principa was created solely to turn the challenges facing the small and medium-sized business communities around the world (SMEs) into opportunities for forward thinking accounting practices and business consulting firms.
Upcoming Webinar
Ric has an upcoming webinar titled: Why most SMEs don’t want to invest in your business advisory services and what you can do about it.
What’s it about?
There are few, if any, SME owner-managers who would not benefit from the help of a competent external advisor and yet the vast majority of them do not accept this.
For this reason most SME advisors confront a “sales barrier” that is not only disappointing but can also be a serious waste of time.
In this webinar Ric Payne will share his insights on how to deal with the cognitive, interpersonal, motivational, and resource scarcity challenges that result in so many business people refusing help from business advisors.
Ric will draw on his personal successes and failures as a business advisor in practice and, for the past 20 years, as a coach to advisors in the accounting profession. He will complement his practical experience in selling and delivering advisory services by incorporating contemporary research findings from the behavioural and neuro-sciences that explain why there is a natural tendency for people to reject assistance, and he’ll explain how you can use this understanding to achieve dramatically better results.
Note: If you were unable to make it to Ric’s webinar, you also have the opportunity to register to view the recording on Friday, February 27, 2015 or Wednesday March 4, 2015. To learn more, click here.
I’ve written before to say that perhaps the recession hasn’t actually gone away: here, here, here, here and again here.
We already knew (from what we’ve been told by the papers and on TV) that France was doing badly. But most people thought the Germans were running a strong economy and were the powerhouse of Europe. Now, there’s even a suggestion that the German economy could lead Europe back into recession. German business confidence has fallen to its lowest level for some considerable time.
Last week, the Telegraph reported that Germany, the euro area’s economic titan has joined the rest of the currency bloc, and has entered deflation in January, for the first time since October 2009. It may not see inflation again before the year is out. Analysts had expected deflation – but not at this pace.
The Greeks are taking a tough line over their debts and it will be interesting to see if other Member states who received bail-outs, challenge the deals they made.
But the really worrying thing is that we are all in for a second dose of the recession. Rachel Savage wrote last week in Management Today – she says that Crispin Odey, the hedge fund manager who correctly predicted the financial crisis in 2007 that brought the world to its knees, believes the global economy is about to crash again but this time it’s going to be even worse.
Lightning can strike twice.
‘We are in the first stage of this downturn. It is too early to see what will happen – a change of this magnitude means the darkness and mist is very great. This down cycle is likely to be remembered in a hundred years,’ wrote Crispin Odey in ‘a portentous letter to clients at his hedge fund Odey Asset Management’, which manages around $12bn (£8bn).
The recession he sees looming over the horizon will ‘devastate’ stock markets, and the European Central Bank’s €1.1tn (£830m) quantitative easing bazooka will not stop the coming storm. ‘We used all our monetary firepower to avoid the first downturn in 2007-09, so we are really at a dangerous point,’ he warned. ‘If economic activity far from picks up, but falters, then there will be a painful round of debt default.’
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week.
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
In Finance Rising, written by Huw Jenkins: Gmail has latched onto the UK currency revolution: users can now attach money to their messages to send to people – regardless of their email brand.
Much like attaching a folder with the infamous paperclip – a ‘£’ icon will now allow you to stick money on to emails, and will let you request amounts.
Those wishing to use the service must first setup a Google wallet account, which requires users to link a debit or bank account. The Google wallet will hold the cash for use on Google Play, or money can be shipped back to existing accounts.
The feature will be gradually rolled out to all UK Gmail users who are 18 years old or older.
Also in NewsCred, It’s a fact: The average website conversion for companies with defined content processes is more than twice that of companies without. Why? These companies set clear goals, have a plan, and built the internal infrastructure to stay on track.
Download the FREE NewsCred guide to find out how you can develop and execute a killer content strategy.
In this guide you’ll learn how to:
Understand your audience in order to define your brand mission, content strategy, and useful distribution platforms.
Build a team that understands and is excited about the value of content.
Create an efficient workflow so you can easily respond to cultural moments in real time.
Measure, analyze, and iterate until you reach your content goals.
Free Toolkit: Learn to Create Killer Marketing Content in 15 Minutes
From Act-on Software: Content marketing is on the rise, and companies that invest in content creation generate 67% more leads than their competitors.
So if you want to launch a content marketing program of your own? No problem. Everything you need to start creating killer marketing content that attracts prospective buyers and creates brand affinity is right here. Fill in the form at the link given below, to access your Content Marketing Toolkit.
This toolkit will give you a clear methodology for developing the right types of content, implementation tips, and practical resources to help you get started.
What’s Included in the Kit?
1. 15 Minute How-To Video
2. Downloadable Resources
3. Community Support
5 Ways to Evolve the Dreadful Annual Performance Review
From The HR Brief: The dreaded annual performance review: whether you’re on the giving or receiving end, it can be an uncomfortable experience for both managers and employees. But it doesn’t have to be.
Download this FREE guide to see how organizations use reviews to:
Motivate employees
Increase employee productivity
Create an on-going dialog between employees and managers
Support overall organizational goals
Learn 5 key ways to driving productivity with performance reviews.
Read in Marketing Profs: Delivering a sales pitch is both art and science. It took intense amounts of work by sales and marketing to get to the right person with the right message, and convince them to make time for a conversation. The window of opportunity is small, so your sales pitch needs to sing.
How do you prepare yourself – and your pitch – for that conversation? Use this checklist to make that interaction more effective, for you and your prospect.
Having a boss could be bad for you: Freelancers are happier and earn more
From CITY A.M., written by Jessica Morris: Working for yourself could be the secret to happiness, a new report has suggested.
The report from Brighton University’s business school found the nation’s freelancers are happier – primarily because they don’t have a permanent boss – and due to taking home £42,857 per year, which is more than the national average salary of £27,200.
“For many, freelancing is emerging as the ideal lifestyle, especially in creative and digital industries where people can work from any location, including home, and which demand high levels of innovation,” Dr Jonathan Sapsed, who headed the report, told the Sunday Times.
The survey, which used funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), comprised 32 individual interviews, 304 questionnaire responses and two focus groups. Somewhat surprisingly, it found some respondents had been redundant, and said this actually benefited them in the long-run.
Reviewed on Amazon: Jim Mellon & Al Chalabi’s explosive new book ‘Fast Forward’. As the pace of technological progress intensifies, agile businesses and entrepreneurs are discovering new applications that take advantage of faster and cheaper computer processing power.
The status quo is being upended across all industries, and in some cases totally new industries are being created. Fast Forward is a book that filters this chaotic landscape and identifies the areas that will have the greatest impact to our lives, highlighting investment opportunities along the way. These disruptive technologies span the fields of robotics, transportation, the changing internet, life sciences, 3D printing and energy, all of which are experiencing tremendous growth. With their previous books published over the past 9 years, Mellon and Chalabi have established an excellent track record of recognizing investment opportunities before they become mainstream, starting with forecasting the Great Recession in 2005, and identifying gold as an excellent hedge. More recently, they have written about life sciences, and their recommended stocks in “Cracking the Code” have outperformed every major market in the world.
10 Creative Types You Need To Build A Killer Content Marketing Team
Read in NewsCred Blog, written by Lauren B. Mangiaforte: Creating content, especially in a lean marketing team, is an all-hands-on-deck endeavour. Having a dream team in place to create not only the social posts, blog pieces, and video snippets, but the strategy, big picture campaigns and creative long-term vision should be a top priority for marketers in 2015.
After all, we’re well past the infancy of content as a marketing maybe. It’s a marketing must: 78% of CMOs now believe content is the future of marketing. But where do you find the smart, creative, hard-working people to make your content strategy a success? In this new landscape, there aren’t a ton of experienced “content marketers” walking around, but that doesn’t mean people with the skills you need aren’t right under your nose.
The article lists descriptions of 10 creative types you need to build a killer content marketing team.
Found in The Register.co.uk: Discover how to get more bang for your buck by applying flash technology to your modernized infrastructure.
Flash technology is making quite a splash in the storage industry. Offering superior speed and reliability when compared to traditional hard disk drives, flash storage is a flexible and increasingly cost-effective technology that can be used to optimize enterprise storage environments running mission-critical, I/O-intensive applications.
Flash Storage for Dummies, NetApp 2nd Special Edition, explores the many uses and benefits of flash storage technology in the enterprise. From flash-accelerated storage to all-flash arrays, flash technology improves performance and increases reliability in storage infrastructures. It also reduces energy and real-estate costs in the data centre
Law Society: give accountants more guidance on breaches
In the Law Society Gazette, Monidipa Fouzder wrote about a consultation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority which closed last week. Accountants scrutinising law firm figures should be given reporting guidance to avoid the ‘considerable’ confusion that has arisen for compliance officers on reporting material breaches, the Law Society has said.
In the consultation, the regulator set out a list of accounting issues that would need to be ‘substantive deficiencies’ to require accounts to be sent to the SRA. Warning signs include the lack of segregation of client and office monies, controls and checks to protect against fraud and effective oversight by management.
The Society said in order for the proposal to be effective, accountants would need guidance on what might qualify as a ‘serious deficiency’.
In its response, the Society said: ‘Lack of guidance for COLPs (compliance officer for legal practice) and COFAs (compliance officer for finance and administration) on reporting material breaches has led to considerable confusion and a variation in reporting practices. We would not want to see this repeated for reporting accountants.’
The SRA also needs to carefully consider the potential costs to firms of changes, the Society said – both in terms of the cost of the report to firms and any wider costs for firms in gearing up to comply with changes. It was ’essential’ the SRA undertakes, and publishes, an impact assessment on the likely level of costs.
The Society described the current Accounts Rules as ‘complex’, with the lack of flexibility causing difficulties for firms, and said it would welcome the opportunity to work with the SRA on a forthcoming review of the rules as a whole.
Tips for reducing professional liability risk in business valuation
From the USA, written by Frank Vinluan, in CPA2biz.com: Using engagement letters and adhering to AICPA valuation standards are among the best practices that can help CPAs (US accountants) protect themselves.
The risk of a lawsuit can start with the most innocent of questions. Take, for example, a client asking an accountant, “How much do you think my business is worth?” Even if the accountant initially declines to answer, the client may persist. After all, says Mark S. Warshavsky, CPA/ABV/CFF, the client may believe that who else but the company’s CPA, someone who has worked with the company’s financial records for years, would know the value of the business. With more prodding, an accountant may relent and provide a number—without performing the due diligence required by AICPA Statement on Standards for Valuation Services No. 1 (SSVS No. 1). If the client uses that off-the-cuff valuation on a financial statement, tax return, or loan application, or for some other financial transaction, the CPA could be held liable for failing to comply with the professional standards and face a professional liability claim.
Business valuation claims are not as common as other litigation risks facing accountants. The majority of professional liability claims brought against CPAs in the AICPA Professional Liability Insurance Program emanate from tax work.
Even when a practitioner follows proper due diligence in conducting the valuation, a party who relies on a valuation may later be unhappy about what was paid—and then blame the accountant, Sterna says. These situations can arise when an asset underperforms after the transaction.
[In my view, this is equally applicable to accountants in the UK] This is a good article that every accountant should read and inwardly digest.
Five common VAT MOSS misconceptions
In AccountingWEB, written by Les Howard – A lot of material has appeared online about the Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) in the past few weeks – much of it misguided, writes Les Howard, the founder of vatadvice.org. New websites, blogs, and Facebook groups have sprung up, trying to cancel MOSS, defer its introduction, and help small businesses to mitigate its impact.
During December, HMRC actually relaxed some aspects of the new regime, apparently in response to the efforts of groups representing small businesses. But the actual content of the available material is decidedly patchy.
At the risk of attracting some criticism, the author offers five misconceptions about MOSS that he has come across.
In AccountancyAGE, written by Richard Crump: US standard-setters are considering whether to delay the date by which companies must shift to new rules around revenue recognition, one of the biggest changes to accounting standards in more than a decade.
Last year, the global accounting standard setter the IASB and US counterpart FASB agreed a converged accounting standard that will overhaul the way businesses record revenue on their books, allowing investors to better compare how much companies from countries around the world earn.
Companies using IFRS will need to apply the new standard for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017, while for US public companies the standard is scheduled to take effect for reporting periods beginning after 15 December 2016.
Posted by Rebecca Cave in AccountingWEB: If you exceed the road’s speed limit in front of a traffic camera, you expect to receive an automatic speeding fine, and possibly points on your driving licence: Many tax penalties work in a similar fashion – if a taxpayer is slow in paying tax or submitting a tax form, the HMRC computer spits out an automatic penalty. In some cases one free pass is allowed, but the principle is straightforward: Act too slow and you get a penalty.
However, when the structure of HMRC powers and penalties was re-drawn in 2009, the circumstances in which tax penalties could arise were expanded considerably. Now there are potential penalty traps in all of these situations:
failure to notify HMRC of a chargeability to tax
error or mistake on a return
failure to keep or retain records
failure to submit a return online
wrongdoing relating to VAT or excise duties
Some of these new penalties are starting to be challenged in the tax tribunals, and the results are quite shocking.
Threat from accountants spurs legal ‘merger mania’
From Pat Sweet in AccountancyLIVE: Law firms are set for a period of ‘merger mania’ over the next two years in the face of growing competition in the sector, with increased pressure coming from accountancy firms who have added a legal services arm after adopting an alternative business structure (ABS).
Research conducted by legal communications specialists Byfield Consultancy and partnership law advisers Fox Williams shows 95% of managing partners at the UK’s leading law firms, some of which have merged recently and others which have not, forecast major consolidation at the top end of the sector in future.
In addition, 45% of firms which have yet to merge said they would consider doing so over the next two years. According to the survey, growth is the key driver for mergers cited by 81% of merged firms and 73% of non-merged firms, well above the need to increase financial stability.
Anthony May, partner at executive search firm Hedley May, says the stampede to merge is caused in part by the need for law firms to face ‘the elephant in the room in the legal market’, which is the advent of alternative business structures. PwC, EY and KPMG all set up legal practices last year.
Small companies’ threshold set at £10.2m for new EU accounting rules
Posted by Sara White and Diane Tan in AccountancyLIVE: Small companies will be able to report under the new EU Accounting Directive from 1 January 2016 with companies up to a turnover threshold of £10.2m able to use the new accounting regime. The directive is set to come into force in the Companies, Partnership and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2015 which will be passed on 6 April 2015 according to the parliament.co.uk site.
As the rules are considered affirmative regulation, as they are part of an EU directive, although they are subject to parliamentary debate, this is procedural and the SI will come into force on 6 April 2015, after parliament has been dissolved prior to the election.
Meantime, the Financial Reporting Council has confirmed that it will release the response to its consultation into the new FRSSE (Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities) 2015 in March. It is not clear at this stage whether the EU Accounting Directive would effectively make the FRSSE 2015 redundant. The legislation will permit companies to access the new financial reporting regime ahead of the mandatory application date. This responds to concerns from stakeholders that companies might have to report under two accounting systems in consecutive years if a company applying FRS 102 for the first time in 2015, which then qualifies as small in 2016 under the new thresholds, had to apply the small company accounting regime in their 2016 accounts.
The new accounting rules see adoption of the EU’s recommended maximum threshold of £10.2m in net turnover for small company accounts, a balance sheet of £5.1m and maximum 50 staff. This means that an additional 11,000 companies will be able to report their annual accounts under the new regime, despite overwhelming opposition to the use of abbreviated accounts, particularly as they would not show a true and fair view.
In the event that you have missed all reference to the ‘we’re all in’ advertising campaign from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) then the latest advertising campaign, recently launched, by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) will be just what you need to catch up.
Alongside the DWP’s message with the friendly faces of employees and business giants, which has proved so successful for the large and medium sized business, is a very clear and stark message from the TPR for SME’s and their advisers, which is ‘ Act now, it’s the law’.
Designed for SMEs, this article focuses on how your business can ensure a smooth transition to auto enrolment by communicating effectively with your clients and adapting existing software.
Topics covered:
The staging date.
So what needs to be done now?
What will your payroll service look like with automatic enrolment?
How does your software need to adapt and how much will it cost?
Accountants need to up their game: Don’t say you weren’t warned
Posted by Julia Irvine in ICAEW Economia: Accountants are likely to miss out on a “fantastic” opportunity to become preferred adviser to small businesses over the coming year if they don’t up their game on auto enrolment.
A major survey from the National Employment Savings Trust, the trust-based pension scheme set up by the government as part of the automatic enrolment reforms, shows that accountants are more popular as a choice of intermediary than payroll professionals or IFAs – 59% of employers overall and 70% of those employing one to four workers said they were likely to ask an accountant for help and guidance.
Yet accountants are the least prepared. The survey found that 90% of IFAs and 92% of payroll bureaus claimed to know a lot or a fair amount compared to 67% of accountants.
Accountants were the least aware (40%) that employers will need to complete a declaration of compliance with the appropriate government body (v 87% of IFAs). They were also the least likely to know their clients’ staging dates (23%).
It’s not as if the accountants haven’t had enough warning: the same survey last year found that, as far as building an auto enrolment proposition (a key indicator of readiness) was concerned, accountants (22%) were far behind payroll bureaus (56%) and IFAs (46%).
This year the new rules will apply to around 45,000 small and micro employers and to more than 1m in 2016 and 2017.
We’re all different but what motivated you to choose your line of work?
A recent survey by the University of Law found that nearly half (49%) of prospective solicitors said that they wanted to become lawyers so that they could help people. And some 61% of aspiring barristers said the same thing.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, an accountant should be a detailed-oriented, analytical thinker with good communication and organisational skills.
I don’t personally know all of the tens of thousands of you who receive my weekly bulletin. But I’m willing to bet that a desire to help people is a key element of what drives you on. Or it should be.
How badly do you handle your phones?
I was interested to read about how badly accountants handle their phones. Last Friday, Chis Warmoll wrote in AccountancyAGE that although accountants may be good with the numbers and making sense of “Gordian tax knots”, their telephone manner is leaving their clients less than satisfied, a new survey has shown – less than a quarter (22%) of the 1,000 British consumers quizzed in the survey, are happy with the way accountancy firms handle their phone calls. This is much the same as Arthur Daley-esque car dealers (21%) but on a par across all British businesses at 23%.
Now, perhaps this is a bit controversial but I’m willing to bet that lawyers aren’t all that good at handling phone calls either. Strangely, dentists are pretty good at it – whether it’s a phone or a drill, they do it well.
You could handle your telephone better couldn’t you?
To help, why not ask for our free publication: ‘Using your Telephone’s Full Potential‘ – more information here.
Are KPMG after your clients?
A few weeks ago, I blogged about KPMG stealing all your clients. Well, I didn’t mean “stealing” in an unprofessional or illegal way, but offering something which your clients might find more appealing than your current offering. A torrent of defiance and disbelief has been unleashed by accountancy practices across the UK after KPMG’s recent vow to disrupt and dominate the SME market by telling small businesses “you can pay us the same as your current accountant, but we’ll give you more”.
The Big Four firm plans to take on high-street accountants and the mid-tier accountancy firms focusing predominantly on the SME market. It follows KPMG’s £40m investment in its enterprise programme, which includes subscription-based cloud accountancy support for small businesses.
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week:
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Your marketing and PR teams only have so much time to devote to the all-important task of engaging with your customers over social. So what if you had a tool already at your disposal that could significantly improve your ability to reach your customers on a personal level?
Download 5 Steps To Launching An Employee Advocacy Program to discover how your employees—those who interact with your brand every day—can help engage your customers and strengthen your brand via social. This comprehensive guide outlines the key components to launching a successful employee advocacy program that will benefit your business today and over the long term.
Courtesy of Dynamic Signal, download this FREE this guide now to learn:
Why an employee advocacy program is important to your social strategy
Jessica Morris writing in CITY A.M. asked: Is your go-to password a mish-mash of “password” followed by a random sequence of numbers? If so then it could be time for a change.
SplashData has released a list of the world’s worst passwords that expose internet users to being hacked or having their identities stolen. Simple numerical passwords should be avoided, with nine of the top 25 passwords comprising numbers only.
Other passwords to ditch include anything related to a person’s favourite sport, their birthday or year of birth as well as common names like “Michael”, “Jennifer” or “Thomas.” Swear words and phrases, hobbies, famous athletes, car brands and film names are also a no-no.
“Passwords based on simple patterns on your keyboard remain popular despite how weak they are,” said Morgan Slain, chief executive of SplashData. “Any password using numbers alone should be avoided, especially sequences.” Read more: www.cityam.com/207526/here-are-25-worlds-worst-passwords
Windows 10 to be free for Windows 7, 8 users
Via Reuters, Posted 21 January: Microsoft has said the upcoming Windows 10 operating system will be offered as a free upgrade to users of the most recent versions of Windows and Windows Phone software.
The announcement by Terry Myerson, who runs Microsoft’s operating systems group, is a marked change for the company, which has charged for new versions of Windows, one of the main profit drivers.
Microsoft has revealed some more details about what its next operating system will look like. It appeared that its digital assistant Cortana would play a pivotal role. Windows 10 will focus on bringing harmony to the diverse array of mobile gadgets in people’s lives. The US tech company said its new operating system would make it easier to interact with devices.
“The number of devices is exploding around us,” Microsoft’s Terry Myerson said during the presentation. “It should be easy to put one device down and pick up another where you left off; technology needs to get out of the way.” Read more:www.dw.de/microsoft-shows-off-more-of-windows-10/a-18208078
WhatsApp launches desktop messaging option
In BBC News, Messaging platform WhatsApp has announced that users can now send messages from their desktop web browsers.
However, in a blog post announcing the feature, the company says that messages will still live on users’ phones. The desktop messaging option is also not available to users who access the app on Apple devices.
“We will not be able to provide [the] web client… due to Apple platform limitations,” it wrote.
Last February, Facebook paid nearly $19bn (£12.6bn) to buy WhatsApp, which recently reported that it had around 700m mobile users. The acquisition was completed in October.
WhatsApp is one of the world’s largest messaging platforms, but concerns have been raised about how it plans to increase its user base in addition to how it will make money. Read more: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30926333
BBC News app revamp offers personalised coverage
Leo Kelion, BBC Technology desk editor wrote: The BBC’s News app has been given a major overhaul with the goal of offering a more “personalised” service. In addition to pre-existing sections – including Top Stories, UK and Politics – users will be able to add specialised feeds of their choice, for example: Apps, Taylor Swift, Genetics, and Oban.
One expert warned the update was likely to upset some users. But the executive responsible said the switchover would provide a better service. “We know we have got a very large number of people who used the existing app and they really like it,” said Robin Pembrooke, general manager of news products at BBC Future Media.
Users can choose to follow topic-specific indexes, including ones about specific companies. “But we also know that a number of users express frustration at things they can’t do – there’s no local news, it’s not the full range of stories, and there’s little ability to personalise. It will be a big change for a number of people, so we are trying to provide a warning up front. We’ve got easy guides on how to use the new app, and there’s in-app tips to help people use it.”
The app is being rolled out to Android and iOS devices in the UK this week. An app for Amazon devices is set for release within three weeks, and global editions will follow. Read more: www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30894674
When Alex Kipman, a technical fellow on Microsoft’s OS team, first said the word holography, the author of this article thought he had misheard him. His mind flashed back to when holograms made their way onto charge cards as a security measure.
Microsoft’s plans are much more ambitious. Redmond showed a video that demonstrated how holograms will be incorporated into our everyday lives, which looked a lot like the augmented-reality demos we have seen for years.
KPMG’s SME move is part of a worrying change to small practice landscape
Kevin Reed (editor Accountancy AGE) asks: Is your practice scared that KPMG is looking to widen its nest and provide a cheap (for them) service to smaller businesses? Probably not. And you’re probably right to think that way. It’s unlikely that vast swathes of your clients are going to up sticks for a Big Four firm fluttering its eyelashes at them. And the range of commentary from the small practice community has veered between indignation and incredulity.
KPMG’s move, however, is indicative of a number of interesting issues. For the firm itself, it is suggestive that its core markets are becoming increasingly tough in which to grow. Audit and related services are being strangled, while driving value in tax is a tricky area – and that’s putting it lightly.
So the firm is spreading its wings. But will it succeed? It’s hard to imagine it not, despite the clear hurdles it faces: building a brand i.e. convincing clients that they will ‘care’ in the same way a ‘local’ practice would; and achieving a margin.
Put simply, he was a man with prodigious knowledge yet was able to express his ideas to those he spoke to in such a way as to bring about profound change.
Deming was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. He knew a lot about numbers but he wasn’t an accountant. In fact, he specialised in something which is called mathematical physics (if you want to understand what that is, click here).
Deming was a very, very clever chap. He is credited with the rise of Japan as a world-leading manufacturing nation, and with the idea of Total Quality Management (TQM).
One thing always leads to another
Deming went to Japan just after WWII to help set up a census of the Japanese population. While he was there, he taught ‘statistical process control’ to Japanese engineers – a set of techniques which allowed them to manufacture high-quality goods without expensive machinery. In 1960 he was awarded a medal by the Japanese Emperor for his services to that country’s industry.
The ideas Deming taught were:
1. The problems facing manufacturers can be solved through cooperation, despite differences.
2. Marketing is not sales. It is the science of knowing what repeat customers think of a product, as well as whether, and why, they will buy it again.
3. Initial stages of design must include market research, applying statistical techniques for planning and inspecting samples.
4. The manufacturing process must be perfected.
Deming said one disease was: Running a company on visible figures alone because many important factors are “unknown and unknowable.”
Perhaps there’s a lesson here for all professionals: in the words of Aldous Huxley – “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”
Put it another way if you like, as: “It’s not what you know that matters, it’s what you do with what you know that’s important.”
What are you going to do with what you know, or what you learn from this email?
The very best publication on the Budget
Chancellor George Osborne has chosen 18 March date for his 2015 Budget. This will be the last Budget of the Parliament and is less than two months before the date of the general election.
His update on the economy, including any tax announcements, will come just weeks before Parliament breaks up ahead of campaigning for the 7 May 2015 poll.
Place your order now…
The Bizezia 2015 Budget Summary is not free but it’s offered at an amazing price. It will be published on 18 March 2015, just a few hours after the Chancellor presents his proposals to Parliament. You can now start placing your order for it here.
The earlier you order, the cheaper it is. You’ve already missed the chance to buy it for only £20 + VAT. The lucky subscribers got it for that price by ordering before 9 January. Remaining options are:
Order by 5pm on
Price
06/02/2015
£80 + VAT
06/03/2015
£140 + VAT
13/03/2015
£155 + VAT
The ICPA said glowingly: “This is simply the very best publication on the Budget available anywhere”.
See what you missed from the 2014 Budget publication, click here.
From Australia, in Business Spectator, in an article by Richard Brooks: To take a look at the cars on your street, it might not be apparent that the automotive industry is going through one of its most dramatic periods of change. Yet, rising purchasing power in emerging markets, tightening emission regulations and advances in electronics are driving a major shift in how vehicles are powered, constructed and driven.
Nothing will supersede the internal combustion engine but vehicles will increasingly resemble computers integrated with home applications, their surrounding infrastructure and each other.
The line between car-maker and tech company will become increasingly blurred. By 2020, what a car looks like will depend very much on where you live.
Emerging markets and new brands
The biggest story in the next five years however is not an issue of technology but economics: hundreds of millions of people in emerging markets will buy cars, often for the first time.
In 2009 China overtook the US as the world’s largest car market, and by 2016 India and Brazil will displace Japan in fourth and fifth place respectively. This is an enormous opportunity for manufacturers in emerging markets to acquire economies of scale and launch themselves on the world stage.
Within a few years we are likely to see these new brands spread into developed economies. The signs are already there. Companies such as the Indian manufacturer Tata, which bought Jaguar-Land Rover, or China’s Geely, which now owns Volvo, are well placed to use these high-status brands and dealership networks to move into mature markets.
This won’t just mean different brands on the same old cars either. Car makers in emerging markets have to deal with price-sensitive first-time consumers, urban congestion, poor air quality and (in some cases) concerns over fuels costs. This creates a fertile space for innovation in smaller vehicles, where China is already dominant, and alternative fuels where emerging economies stand to gain a technological lead. Recent launches of models such as the long-range, low-cost electric Denza model in China and the super-low cost e2o in India highlight this trend. Read more: www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/1/14/technology/2020-your-car-will-look-computer
Instagram Social Marketing Strategy Kit
From Simply Measured: Make your brand a powerhouse on Instagram and take your strategy to the next level with this four-part kit. This collection of resources is designed to help you master the channel and develop an Instagram strategy that works for your brand.
From Gulf Business: Highly-rated Manfred Kets de Vries, professor of Leadership Development & Organisational Change, INSEAD, writes that top performers can be made.
High fliers are often a study in paradox. But what makes them so special?
Oganisational high flyers display many contradictory behaviour patterns, and it’s this paradoxical nature, which makes them so successful. Spotting nascent stars can be a challenge, not least because we can’t always be sure what we’re looking for. Some may first impress us as “golden larvae”, but never complete metamorphosis, while others grow into true butterflies. Read this interesting article at: gulfbusiness.com/2015/01/makes-people-top-performers/
Facebook at Work app aims for role in the office
Leo Kelion wrote on BBC News: Facebook is launching a new app that aims to expand the US firm’s presence within companies and other places of work.
The software is designed to provide a way for users to communicate as an alternative to email and other intranet systems.
The firm says information posted within the service is kept “secure, confidential and completely separate” from personal Facebook profiles.
Auditor regulation: effects of the EU and wider reforms
On 12 January, a discussion document on the implications of the EU and wider reforms of statutory auditor regulation was published on Gov.uk.
Executive Summary
Effective financial reporting underpins the development of the best businesses – those that others are willing to invest in and to do business with. It informs decisions that are made, for example, by shareholders, directors, investors and suppliers. Audit is an essential safeguard to provide independent assurance that the financial reporting of businesses properly reflects their circumstances. This discussion document asks for views on a range of reforms to enhance confidence and strengthen the audit regime. It looks at the structure for regulation, oversight and standards taking into account new European requirements, recent Competition and Markets Authority measures and recommendations, and wider work underway to refine technical and ethical standards.
It is therefore about how the UK can put in place the best possible regime, one that will most effectively respond to the modern fast moving, highly developed business economy. At the same time, the Government does not want to make unwarranted changes. The Government will consider the issues that arise in responses, ahead of a formal consultation, next year, on detailed proposals to change the regulatory regime.
Alongside this document, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is consulting on some of these issues, particularly related to ethical standards for auditors. This shows how a non-legislative approach could be taken to improve standards in line with the new European provisions.
Views of all interested groups are essential to inform the approach to the implementation of the: new European Directive on Audit; and to make legal provision for the application of the new EU Regulation that is now applied directly under EU law.
The Regulation will apply from 16 June 2016, by which time the new Directive must also have been transposed into national law.
Both the Directive and the Regulation provide Member State options. This discussion document gives you the opportunity to contribute to the Government’s thinking about how to implement the Directive; how to provide for the application of the Regulation; and how the wider framework for audit regulation could be improved in the light of these changes, those identified by the Competition and Markets Authority, and others from the FRC.
Guidance for Charities that need to submit accounts
The Charity Commission has launched a new digital tool to allow a third party, such as a charity’s accountant, to submit its accounts on the charity’s behalf. Previously only the charity itself was able to submit its accounts. The new service has the option for an “accountant or other nominated agent” to submit its accounts.
All charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) regardless of income, and all other charities with income over £25,000 must submit their accounts and a trustees’ annual report to the commission.
Charity trustees are responsible for ensuring that the accounts are prepared and submitted. You can:
How charity advisers can submit accounts
An accountant or other nominated agent can log in or sign up to submit accounts on behalf of a client charity.
The charity must first tell the commission that the adviser is authorised to act on the charity’s behalf.
How to authorise an adviser
Log in to change your charity’s details. In the ‘trusted third party’ field, enter the email address that the adviser will use to sign up to submit accounts.
Please allow a day between the charity updating the third party field and the third party being able to apply or login themselves, due to the database updating overnight. Source: www.gov.uk/authorise-a-charity-adviser-to-submit-accounts
The Government has published a draft statutory instrument to prohibit a company from using a ‘cancellation’ scheme of arrangement to facilitate its takeover or merger. The government plans to amend the Companies Act 2006 to restrict the use of share capital reductions in company takeovers. This change will prohibit a company from using a ‘cancellation’ scheme of arrangement to facilitate its takeover or merger.
The draft regulations will not prohibit intra-group restructures, de-mergers, or debt restructuring. It will also not affect takeovers already in progress before these regulations take effect.
An information and impact note is provided which sets out the analysis behind the proposed legislative changes.
Who is likely to be affected?
Likely to be affected are companies that are parties to a future takeover to be implemented by means of a ‘cancellation’ scheme of arrangement, advisers to such companies, and their shareholders and creditors.
General description of the measure
The measure will protect the stamp taxes base by preventing the use of share cancellations by target companies in takeovers conducted using schemes of arrangement. Companies effecting a takeover or merger would in future be required to use a ‘transfer’ scheme of arrangement or a contractual offer, on which stamp tax on shares1 is payable.
New measures to help UK businesses face the cyber security challenge and help the UK’s cyber security companies tap into the US market were announced on16 January 2015, as the Prime Minister visited the United States with UK cyber security firms. He was in the US for talks with President Obama and cyber security is high on the agenda as the government steps up its efforts to combat cyber threats against the industry. In a bid to win more British business for the growing sector, a group of 12 UK cyber security firms are also travelling to Washington to meet a host of US businesses.
New government support to keep UK businesses stay safe in cyberspace includes:
a new cyber security envoy has been appointed to help British small businesses and first-time exporters promote their business interests across the US. Andy Williams will be based in the British Embassy in Washington and help boost UK-US cyber security deals
new research published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which shows top UK companies are improving their responses to cyber threats. The results of the annual ‘Cyber Governance Health Check’ for FTSE350 companies shows increased awareness and action, along with areas for improvement
Five trends that will shape the workplace of the future
From Australia, in Business Spectator, Steve Coad wrote: The modern working environment is unrecognisable from offices of the past. Fax machines, individual offices and nine-to-five working hours are now confined to the annals of history. And, although it’s hard to imagine, it won’t be long before cubicle farms, individual desks and even the concept of a traditional office will be superseded.
To take a closer look at what work will look like in coming decades, the author and others collaborated with insight consultancy The Future Laboratory to produce a white paper that explores what the business environment of the future is likely to be.
You’ve heard it thousands of times before. You know, the statement by Henry Ford: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
If you are absolutely happy with what you’ve got, well done.
What does the statement mean? It probably means: “If you continue to do what you’ve done before but it failed, the chances are that if you keep doing it in the future, you’ll continue to fail.”
What’s the lesson? “If you aren’t sure what to do, and what you’ve tried before has failed, then try something different.”
It worked for Apple. If it worked for Steve Jobs, it could work for you. View their “Think Different” Ad.
The marketing guru Drayton Bird emailed me today with a helpful hint. He said it is so brief and simple, that he was tempted to apologise for giving it.
It is: Start with the truth, not what you wish it to be.
However, far too many people seem unaware of the importance of this, which is prompted by something Drayton read in a New York Times obituary in 1984: “Honesty is not only the best policy. It is rare enough nowadays to make you pleasantly conspicuous.”
Unless you are a most remarkable organisation around, you aren’t perfect, and admitting this, wins you big brownie points with your prospects. When you admit to your shortcomings, people are far more inclined to believe other things you say.
My message to you today is: Read the last few articles I’ve sent to you. Doing something different doesn’t happen by magic. But when it works, it’s just like magic.
Most of what’s offered here is free. It costs nothing. Except if you think it’s a catch and don’t bother to read it at all – which would be a real shame.
The very best publication on the Budget
Chancellor George Osborne has chosen 18 March date for his 2015 Budget. This will be the last Budget of the Parliament and is less than two months before the date of the general election.
His update on the economy, including any tax announcements, will come just weeks before Parliament breaks up ahead of campaigning for the 7 May 2015 poll.
Place your order now…
The Bizezia 2015 Budget Summary is not free but it’s offered at an amazing price. It will be published on 18 March 2015, just a few hours after the Chancellor presents his proposals to Parliament. You can now start placing your order for it here.
The earlier you order, the cheaper it is. You’ve already missed the chance to buy it for only £20 + VAT. The lucky subscribers got it for that price by ordering before 9 January. Remaining options are:
Order by 5pm on
Price
06/02/2015
£80 + VAT
06/03/2015
£140 + VAT
13/03/2015
£155 + VAT
The ICPA said glowingly: “This is simply the very best publication on the Budget available anywhere”.
See what you missed from the 2014 Budget publication, click here.
The Accountant’s Checklist to Prepare for Client Meetings
From Sageworks: You can now download this FREE checklist, “An Accountant’s Checklist to Prepare for Client Meetings,” to learn questions to ask to facilitate information exchange and build relationships with clients.
Questions include:
Do you annually budget for your expected cash requirements?
Do you know your Gross Margin, and is it comparable to your peers?
Can you describe your ideal customer?
Building relationships with our accounting clients requires trust, rapport and an atmosphere for open dialogue. Many accounting firms use a checklist to prepare for client meetings and to facilitate information exchange. This FREE checklist has some questions that many accountants who are clients of Sageworks have found helpful when interacting with their business clients. Details here.
Download ‘An Agenda For Growth’, the KPMG Exclusive YouGov Report.
Accountants everywhere take note. Learn what the big boys are doing…
How much time do you spend growing your business? KPMG’s new report ‘An Agenda for Growth’ finds that administration and accounting take up almost 60% of the working day for entrepreneurs running growing businesses. How much is this impacting your ability to grow and run your business? The report brings together views from over 1,000 SMEs in the UK and uncovers the hurdles and challenges they face.
There is also expert analysis and comment which reveals:
Where to best apply technology to lighten the administrative load
How spending more time on what’s important can future-proof your business
Why you could be missing out on initiatives and tax incentives aimed at SMEs
What SMEs want government to do to support growth
KPMG Small Business Accounting is our new affordable online accounting service. They take away lots of admin, like invoices, receipts, expenses, and bank reconciliation, leaving clients free to focus on your business while they take care of the books. To find out more, click here
Can you learn anything? Definitely, yes.
2015 Social Marketing Planning Guide
From Simply Measured: 2015 is already here, but there’s still time to fine-tune your social strategy. Start the New Year off right with ten fresh tactics based on the 2014 trends we expect to shape this year, and learn how you can refine your brand’s social strategy for success.
Get ready for 2015 with a FREE 32-page Accountancy FRS 102 guide
From accountancyLIVE: As the countdown to the new UK GAAP starts, download a FREE 32-page guide to FRS 102, effective 1 January 2015 to help you manage the transition. The Accountancy FRS 102 Guide provides the ideal starter pack for anyone preparing for the move to the new UK GAAP or as a refresher for those of you already well down the road to adoption.
Read the step-by-step guide to the new accounting rules written by technical experts, Helen Lloyd FCA, accounting specialist at Wolters Kluwer and Andrew Davies ACA, technical accounting lead at EY. Click here to download your copy of the Accountancy FRS 102 guide: www.accountancylive.com/exclusive-accountancy-frs-102-guide-0
Tools to help you prepare for new UK GAAP
From ICAEW: The ICAEW have described new UK GAAP as “the biggest change to financial reporting rules in a generation”. And it becomes effective this month (on 1 January 2015). So how prepared are YOU for the change?
To help to ensure that you are prepared and make a smoother transition, Wolters Kluwer have compiled comprehensive coverage of the Standards, expert commentary, and practical tools onto three different platforms. Choose the ones that suit the way that YOU work. More at: www.newukgaap.co.uk/advice-and-help/tools-to-help-you-prepare
Accountants note: Overhaul of Class 2 NICs planned for self-employed
From accountancyLIVE: By Diane Tan: The new tax year 2015/16 will see a major overhaul of Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs) for self-employed taxpayers, marking a significant change in the way self-assessment tax liabilities are collected.
The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) are urging the government to reconsider plans to bring the collection of Class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs) into the self-assessment system, as announced in the Budget.
From April 2015, Class 2 NICs will be collected along with other self-assessment tax liabilities, on 31 January following the year of assessment for all self-employed tax payers, warns the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG).
Under the new arrangement, Class 2 NICs for 2015-16 will be collected on 31 January 2017.
This is a significant change for those who pay their Class 2 NICs by either direct debit (on a monthly or quarterly basis) or by direct billing by HMRC (six-monthly) as these will both cease automatically during 2015, with the last monthly/ quarterly direct debit payment collected by 10 July 2015 and the last six-monthly bill due by 10 July 2015.
The change will impact those who rely on their Class 2 NICs for payment of certain state benefits, for example Employment and Support Allowance or Maternity Allowance, as they may need to pay contributions earlier than would be required for annual self-assessment liabilities. Read more: www.accountancylive.com/overhaul-class-2-nics-planned-self-employed
This weekly communication is designed to tickle your marketing glands.
But, maybe you’re like some of the people who, when approached a few years ago with the invitation to take a free £5 note out of an envelope, thought it was a catch so they didn’t take the money.
There’s no catch. So why make things harder for yourself?
Most of what’s offered here is free. It costs nothing. Except if you think it’s a catch and don’t bother to read it.
The very best publication on the Budget
The Bizezia 2015 Budget Summary is not free but it’s offered at an amazing price. It will be published on 18 March 2015. You can now start placing your order for it here. The earlier you order, the cheaper it is:
Order by 5pm on
Price
09/01/2015
£20 + VAT
06/02/2015
£80 + VAT
06/03/2015
£140 + VAT
13/03/2015
£155 + VAT
The ICPA said glowingly: “This is simply the very best publication on the Budget available anywhere”.
See what you missed from the 2014 Budget publication, click here. Please don’t miss it this year.
Differentiation
I read something interesting from the marvellous marketing guru Drayton Bird the other day. It was a list of 21 things to start you thinking about why you, or your firm are different to your competitors:
Are you unique? Cheaper? Quicker? Better value? Safer? The most trusted? The friendliest? The first? The top seller? The most tested? Give quicker service? The most advanced? The latest? The oldest? The most loved? The one experts prefer? The most reliable? More fun? You sell in a special way? Easier to deal with? More helpful?
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Content marketers know how important blogs are to a solid marketing strategy. But creating beautiful works of literature for the marketing-inclined is only half of the puzzle.
How do you get people to read the darn thing?
HubSpot has stepped in at just the right moment to show you how. They’re giving Unbounce subscribers their ebook “How to Get 100,000 People to Read Your Blog” for free!
You’ll learn how to:
Determine who your audience actually is.
Determine what it is your readers are searching for on Google.
3 Ways You Can Boost Client Loyalty to Your CPA (Accounting) Firm
From Kevin Stockton who says: With CPA firms constantly investing their resources in service expansion and the attraction of new clients, oftentimes existing clients and their needs trickle down to lower priority levels. This is important to note because neglecting existing customers is one of the most common errors in the business world that also can have one of the biggest impacts on your CPA firm’s bottom line.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 68 percent of clients break relationships with their CPA firms because of how they are treated by the firm, whereas only 15 percent leave due to poor technical quality.
IT advisory part one: A guide to providing an IT advisory service
Seen in AccountingWEB: Is your firm working with clients to solve their technology problems? As more and more firms are generating profits by advising clients on the best use of technology AccountingWEB and Microsoft have teamed up to help.
This FREE guide examines the issues that four of AccountingWEB’s members have experienced in integrating IT advisory with their core practice. It also looks at some of the options you might explore to do the same. You can download part one fromhere.
From Down Under: Top tech toys for high-flying executives
Read in Business Spectator Australia: Krishan Sharma has written an interesting article, from down under, about the top tech toys for executives who have it all.
Asus S1 Mobile LED Projector: Ditch that projector and notebook for those business presentations on the road. Travel light by beaming your presentation from your smartphone to a pocket-sized projector instead. The Asus S1 is a pocket-sized portable projector with a relatively long battery life (3 hours) that can beam a 100-inch WXGA (854-by-480) resolution image from 2.4 metres (or a 41-inch image from just one metre away) and also has the ability to charge other mobile devices attached to it.
Bose QuietComfort 25 noise cancelling headphones: Regular jet setters swear by Bose’s QuietComfort headphones and for good reason – it has hands down the best noise cancelling performance of any pair of headphones on the market. The new QuietComfort 25 is the first update in five years, making improvements in both noise cancellation and headphone design while also upping the audio quality in the process.
LG G Watch R or Motorola’s Moto 360 smartwatch: Smartwatches have been slowly gaining momentum in the market, with almost every smartphone maker and notable luxury brands getting in on the act. After a rather bland debut of the first round of Android Wear smartwatches in the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, tech companies are now taking a more sophisticated approach to design and nowhere is this more evident than in Motorola’s Moto 360 and LG’s follow up – G Watch R.
Livescribe 3 smartpen: Writing with a stylus on the glass of a smartphone screen will never feel as natural as the pen on paper experience, but with the Livescribe 3 Smartpen, you can have the traditional writing experience all with the digital perks of easily archiving and sharing your handwritten notes on your iDevice.
Luggage tracker – Trackdot or Lug Loc: There’s nothing worse than having your luggage go missing after a long flight and this is where a luggage tracker can come in handy. Over 30 million bags go missing via transit every year worldwide, meaning that airlines are losing over 3,000 bags every hour. While using a luggage tracker doesn’t completely eliminate the nuisance of lost luggage, it does give you a greater chance of actually recovering your belongings by making them traceable.
Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector LSPX-W1: If you have some serious cash burning a hole in your pocket, then look no further than Sony’s jaw-dropping 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector also referred to as ‘LifeSpace UX’. At a cool US$50,000 however, only those with extravagant tastes and deep pockets need apply.
A Model to Deliver Personalized and Orchestrated Customer Experiences
From the US, Marketing Profs say that there’s one challenge all marketing organizations face today: how do you integrate your efforts over time and across different touchpoints? It starts by getting your marketing team in sync and fixing your fragmented approach.
Thanks to the proliferation of new media and channels, making an impression with consumers is harder than ever. It’s even worse when you’re stuck in an old campaign mindset, with messaging split between various touchpoints. Based on Forrester research of 200 advertising and marketing professionals, The Rise of Marketing Orchestration offers valuable insights into how you can deliver consistent customer experiences and build long-term relationships through marketing orchestration.
Download this FREE compelling report to learn:
The challenges of marketing to the ultra-connected customer
Six components that define marketing orchestration
Gadget guide: six new technologies to watch in 2015
[18 December 2014, Smart Company] Posted 17 December: By Andrew Sadauskas: It’s sink or swim for many new gadgets in 2015. A year ago, SmartCompany listed the top new technologies set to race into 2014.
Another year has come and gone, and a new group of technologies are emerging over the horizon. So what new technologies should you look out for in 2015? It’s time to gaze again into the crystal ball and take a look at six technologies you should keep an eye on in 2015:
Make-or-break time for smartwatches
Mobile payments and tickets
Multi-device app development
Health tech
Plastic OLED displays
In conclusion
From health tech to mobile payments, there is a range of technologies that will potentially have a big impact on Australian small businesses over the next year. But perhaps the most important thing for businesses will be to make sure your consumers have a seamless digital experience across all of them. Read more on the above in the full article at: www.smartcompany.com.au/technology/45110-gadget-guide-six-new-technologies-to-watch-in-2015.html
Limit all unlawful deductions claims to two years before the date the ET1 is lodged (with the exception of certain categories of unlawful deductions claims such as claims for SMP, SSP and guarantee payments, which remain unaffected); and,
Explicitly state that the right to paid holiday is not incorporated as a term in employment contracts.
The effect? To remove any chance employees have of bringing long-term claims for back holiday pay, either in the tribunal or civil courts. But the new Regulations don’t apply to ET1s presented before 1st July 2015 – so anyone with a potential long-term backpay claim who wants to gamble on somebody else appealing the Bear Scotland decision should get their claim in now.
Anyone remember Preston v Wolverhampton? The ECJ held that the UK’s backstop of two years on equal pay claims was unlawful, and the two year limit had to be removed. But that argument is unlikely to succeed here, partly because of the lesser nature of the right to holiday pay (Directive, as opposed to Article in the Treaty of Rome), and also because the six month delay in implementation gives workers a real chance to put in their claims (which is relevant to proportionality). Source: www.danielbarnett.co.uk
Islamic Finance: A Trend Too Significant to Ignore
From the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC): By Jaseem Ahmed, Secretary General, Islamic Financial Services Board: The year 2014 has seen a flurry of international activity in Islamic finance with important issuances of Islamic securities—in the form of sovereign Sukūks —by the United Kingdom and Luxembourg in Europe, as well as by South Africa and Senegal in Africa, among others.
These issuances come in the wake of sustained growth of the industry in recent years. Although the origins of Islamic finance go back many centuries, its re-emergence is relatively recent.
The modern revival of Islamic finance dates from the 1960s and is closely linked to the emergence of newly independent countries that found the means and incentives to respond to the unmet need of their citizens for a form of finance that they could trust, and which was in accordance with their ethical and moral principles. Banking the unbanked—before that memorable phrase was invented—has been a part of the Islamic finance success story among Muslims. But many non-Muslims have also been drawn to Islamic finance, attracted by the value it places on high ethical standards and its resilience and stability during the global financial crisis.
The Principles and Conventions of Islamic Finance
A distinctive aspect of Islamic finance is that it is a form of financial innovation in which legal contracts for real sector productive activities serve as the basis for financial intermediation—intermediation that must serve a socially useful purpose.
Dynamic Firm Benchmarking: the New MAP Survey Platform in Action
Learn something from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA Blog) Have you ever performed an in-depth comparison of your firm’s standing against other firms of the same size? The 2014 PCPS/TSCPA National Management of an Accounting Practice Survey provides some new and valuable ways to assess where your firm stands and plot your future course. If you participated in the survey this year but haven’t really delved into the results, which became available in November, you definitely want to check them out. Thanks to a new online platform, it’s much easier to take a peek at how firms like yours operate. And even if you didn’t participate, the survey offers some valuable information that will help your firm plan.
Take the case of a single owner firm like mine. We have a boutique corporate tax practice. In addition to myself, our permanent staff includes one CPA and one CPA candidate, but we add an administrative person and per diem help in busy season. When I’m planning for the future, I often wonder what a top performance single-owner firm looks like, but it’s tough to find more than anecdotal information.
[NOTE: The author is Stephen L. Nelson, CPA, a sole practitioner in Redmond, Washington, and the author of QuickBooks for Dummies and Quicken for Dummies, among other books]
Read the full blog at: blog.aicpa.org/2014/12/dynamic-firm-benchmarking-the-new-map-survey-platform-in-action.html
Chancellor George Osborne sets 18 March date for 2015 Budget
Chancellor George Osborne is to deliver his last Budget of the Parliament on 18 March 2015, less than two months before the date of the general election.
He announced the date while appearing before the Commons Treasury Committee in Parliament.
His update on the economy, including any tax announcements, will come just weeks before Parliament breaks up ahead of campaigning for the 7 May 2015 poll.
Mr Osborne has already announced his spending plans for 2015-6.
He has also set out his intention to secure a surplus in current government spending by 2017-8, which will entail £30bn in either spending cuts or tax rises in the first years of the next Parliament. Read morehere
Please, let nothing, absolutely nothing, interfere with your immediate action.
A change for the better fully justifies no delay. Don’t watch others achieve success and make money which you should make too. Get on with it and do it now. Some other time may be too late.
Read this message in full from start to finish and please do it this very minute. If you take this advice now it will mean that your future will be much better for you.
What is it that you must do? Click here to go to One Smart Place and choose any product and try it out, now. Trust me, it’ll make a big difference.
Credit where credit’s due, Drayton Bird, the marketing genius, wrote to me this week with a similar message which I have adapted entirely for your benefit.
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FREE calculator for your website
From Bizezia and One Smart Place: on 3 December 2014, The Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Autumn Statement announced new stamp duty rates from 4 December 2014 payable by the purchaser of residential property.
The new rates, based on tranches of the property purchase price, are:
Up to £125,000: 0%
Next £125,001 to £250,000: 2%
Next £250,001 to £925,000: 5%
Next £925,001 to £1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%
Don’t confuse this calculator with the one that you can see and use on the HMRC website. The above calculator enables you to insert your firm’s name and web address so that when it sits on your website, it’s a handy tool from your firm. Needless to say, the HMRC calculator is not available to sit on your website at all.
Now for the round-up…
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Spotted in Times of India: Steve Jobs didn’t launch two of the most valuable companies in modern times by following the rules all the time. He had a unique way of crafting his own reality, a “distortion field” that could persuade people that his personal beliefs were actually facts, which is how he pushed his companies forward. And he also used a blend of manipulative tactics to ensure his victories.
Many consider Jobs to have been a genius, but there’s no reason why we can’t all learn a thing or two from his tactics. The full article expands on all these points:
1. Earn everyone’s respect
2. Pitch with passion
3. Disarm people with seduction and flattery
4. Claim all the good ideas are yours
5. Make decisions quickly and definitively
6. Build a strong following by using brutal honesty
7. Don’t wait to fix problems
8. Either address problems head on…
9. …Or ignore the problems entirely
10. Strike when the iron’s hot, and strike hard
11. Use leverage when you have it
12. Demand perfection Read more in the full article: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/The-Steve-Jobs-guide-to-getting-what-you-want/itslideshowviewall/45395392.cms
Midmarket Collaboration for Dummies guide
From Avaya who invite your midsize company to have the reach of a much larger enterprise.
Big reach leads to big ideas and there’s no reason why a midsize company can’t operate in the same way as a large enterprise. Avaya provides industry-leading solutions to connect the people you work with and getting the best out of your network so you can work smarter, and larger, every time.
Read the FREE Avaya Midmarket Collaboration for Dummies guide and discover how to bring your connections together to boost productivity in a remote working world. Download from here
The Google Analytics dashboard of your dreams is only 3 minutes away.
Klipfolio say: Just think: in the time it takes for your favourite barista to make you a cup of coffee, you could build the Google Analytics dashboard of your dreams. Not only will it save you countless hours of reporting each month, it will provide your team with instant answers to your most frequently asked web analytics questions.
When it comes to dashboards, seeing is believing. Which is why Klipfolio is inviting you to try their KlipStart Google Analytics dashboard. All you need to get started is 3 minutes and a Google Analytics account. Read more: www.klipfolio.com/landing/google-analytics-klipstart
Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education – FREE eBook
Free, from TradePub but available for a limited time! (A $9.92 Value), this publication enables readers to learn what schools will never teach you about money.
On the heels of his 2010 New York Times bestseller Conspiracy of the Rich, Robert Kiyosaki takes a new and hard-hitting look at the factors that impact people from all walks of life as they struggle to cope with change and challenges that impact their financial world.
In Unfair Advantage: Power of Financial Education, Robert underscores his messages and challenges readers to change their context and act in a new way. Readers are advised to stop blindly accepting that they are ‘disadvantaged’ people with limited options.
In true Rich Dad style, readers will be challenged to understand two points of view, and experience how financial knowledge is their unfair advantage.
Robert Kiyosaki is the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, the international runaway bestseller that has held a top spot on the New York Times bestsellers list for over six years. He is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives on money and investing fly in the face of conventional wisdom. He has, virtually single-handedly, challenged and changed the way tens of millions, around the world, think about money. Download it from here
Unwrap the power of customer analytics with these 10 real-world examples.
From Needle.com: How can you gain the insights you need to build stronger relationships with customers and improve your business results this holiday season?
Read this FREE ebook and discover how leading companies are gaining deeper insight into their customers, enabling them to provide personalized experiences that engage customers across channels, increase conversions and drive revenue. Find out how they’ve harnessed the power of customer understanding and analytics to drive business results.
Unwrap the power of analytics and learn:
How an increased understanding of the customer lifecycle can reveal new opportunities to better engage contacts
Why insights into customer behavior are critical to delivering relevant, personalized content
How marketing, commerce and service professionals are using customer analytics to create superior customer experiences
What are the most innovative new ways to increase your online revenue?
Gartner researched the latest groundbreaking technologies, and now reveals how these new developments positively impact your bottom line.
In this report you’ll learn how:
Consumers demand personalized experiences
Select brands are gaining first-mover advantage
Real-time interactions increase online revenue.
Download the FREE Gartner Cool Vendors Report now and learn how you can take advantage of these cutting-edge technologies to increase your online revenue. Download it from here
The 5-Star Guide to Responding to Online Reviews
From Go.Connectivity.com: Simply responding to reviews is no longer enough. Knowing how to craft the best response to each review is vital for the success of every business. Almost everyone checks reviews online before making a purchasing decision, so brand response matters more than ever.
The FREE 5-Star Guide to Responding to Online Reviews shows enterprise, franchise and multi-location marketing teams how to:
Get organized and set goals for 2015
Stop negative reviews before they are written
Respond to both negative and positive reviews
Put user-generated content to work for brand goals
Twitter is Where It’s at for Content Marketers in the UK
Stumbled across in Business Matters: Seventy-five percent of content marketers surveyed in the United Kingdom say Twitter is effective for them.
This is the highest effectiveness rating ever for a social media platform in all the research done by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). That’s just one of the eye-opening findings in the new research, Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, from CMI and the DMA UK.
This is the third year for one of the most highly-anticipated content marketing research reports in the UK. This year’s survey, sponsored by Axonn Media, looks at how UK for-profit marketers (both B2B and B2C) approach content marketing as compared with last year. Aside from getting great results from Twitter, another prominent finding from the survey is that UK marketers are much more focused on their goals for content marketing and that those goals have changed. Read more: www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/27630/twitter-content-marketers-uk/
Effective collaboration in your business
From Huddle who say: The days where you worked with only the few people in your immediate location are gone forever.
Modern organizations must work across time zones and with other entities: customers, suppliers, external consultants, partners and more. You could call it a “collaboration economy.”
In this new collaborative workflow, modern knowledge workers are using the technology they know (non-secure applications like email or consumer file sharing tools) to get work done. But these applications fall short of true collaboration.
Emerging cloud technologies are transforming the way we effectively collaborate in business. Read this FREE white paper to learn how. Download it from here
A motivated team is a productive team
From Citrix: Meeting your business targets is hard enough. Doing so with a demotivated team is near impossible.
In this white paper, learn how top managers motivate and energise an ever-evolving workforce. Understand what keeps your team from achieving its full potential and discover how you can set realistic goals that keep you on track for success.
Download this FREE white paper and learn how to:
Understand how to remove the elements that demotivate your employees
Take an honest and personal approach to employee communications
Nurture an entrepreneurial atmosphere that encourages creativity and collaboration
From Daniel Barnett, employment law barrister: The question: Was an employment tribunal entitled to conclude that an employee who suffered from depression and anxiety was not disabled?
Yes, held the EAT in Saad v University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust and another. It was accepted that Mr Saad suffered from a depressive and general anxiety disorder; an impairment for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. However, the employment tribunal concluded that the impairment did not have a substantial adverse, nor a long-term effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Dismissing a subsequent appeal, the EAT held that the employment tribunal was entitled to conclude, on the evidence before it, that the impairment did not have a substantial adverse affect on Mr Saad’s normal day-to-day activities.
Contrary to the argument raised by Mr Saad, on a fair reading of the decision, as a whole, the employment tribunal did assess the effects of the impairment on the work environment including his ability to concentrate, communicate with colleagues and access the work place.
Further, the employment tribunal had not misdirected itself as to the meaning of “long-term”. It did not fail to have regard to the fact that adverse effects could be long-term even if they fluctuated over time. Acknowledgement: Thanks to Jonathan Gibbons of Black White and Grey Limited for preparing this case
Disability Discrimination: Reasonable adjustments and correct comparator
From Daniel Barnett, employment law barrister: The question: Is it a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 to require a bus company to have a policy requiring non-wheelchair using passengers to move if occupying a space required by a wheelchair user?
The answer: No, held the Court of Appeal in FirstGroup PLC v Paulley, in a widely reported judgment. Mr Paulley, a wheelchair user, was unable to take a bus due to a passenger keeping a child’s buggy in the wheelchair space. Mr Paulley argued for a reasonable adjustment changing the bus company’s unenforceable policy requesting passengers to move from the wheelchair space, to one requiring passengers to move when necessary.
The Court noted that an absolute policy would be “unworkable in practical terms”, there was no power in law for bus companies to enforce such a policy, it would not be a ‘reasonable adjustment’. However, Arden LJ noted that bus companies “must take all reasonable steps short of compelling passengers to move from the wheelchair space”.
The Court split on what had put Mr Paulley at a disadvantage, the majority (Underhill and Arden LJJ) held it was the (agreed) provision, criterion or practice ‘PCP’ applied by the bus company of a policy of giving priority to wheelchair users for wheelchair space, but that space was filled on a ‘first come first served’ basis.
Lewison LJ in the minority regarded Mr Paulley as being put at a disadvantage not by the PCP, but by the design of the bus with one wheelchair space, and regulations which prohibited a wheelchair from being carried other than in the designated space.
Arden LJ indicated that asking Parliament to look at the law was the proper remedy. Acknowledgement: Thanks to Ed McFarlane of Deminos HR for preparing this case summary.
Legal Tech Startups Have A Short History And A Bright Future
Found in TechCrunch.com, written by Basha Rubin (co-founder and CEO of Priori Legal) who says: Legal technology is booming, with companies attempting to disrupt the legal space at every level and from every angle. And with good reason.
Some estimates value the market size at as much as $400 billion. While legal still hasn’t caught up with other industries — either in terms of funding or widespread adoption, the future is bright and coming at us fast.
Legal has been a tough nut to crack because there is significant non-uniform regulation and risk-averse, disaggregated stakeholders. These factors have slowed disruption. But change is nigh: consumers are demanding more efficient, transparent and affordable legal services, and lawyers are looking for cutting-edge ways to compete in an oversaturated market.
There are three areas in the legal space on the precipice of major disruption in 2015. This excellent article lists the trends to watch.
Bitcoin isn’t the future, but the blockchain might be…
From ICAEW IT Faculty by Kirstin Gillon: What does the future of money look like? The clear conclusion of the IT Faculty annual lecture, given by Dave Birch, was that the future isn’t Bitcoin, despite all the current hype. But the blockchain technology, which underpins Bitcoin, has the potential to transform all kinds of financial and non-financial services.
Dave gave the IT Faculty’s annual lecture last month to a packed council chamber in Chartered Accountants Hall. And he made two thought provoking points.
Bitcoin is not very good as money or as a payment system.
The real buzz is about the blockchain
So, what about the future for bankers in this decentralised world where peer-to-peer transactions avoid the need for intermediaries? And how about accountants, if financial transactions are all on public ledgers and verified through cryptology? Dave was confident that accountants and bankers would survive the digital revolution in some shape or form. But of course that’s not to say they won’t have to adapt and do things differently. Read the full article at: www.ion.icaew.com/itcounts/post/Bitcoin-isn-t-the-future–but-the-blockchain-might-be-
HMRC targets solicitors with unpaid tax bills
From Accountancy Live: The latest taxpayers to be targeted by the HMRC are solicitors, who have been given the opportunity to disclose unpaid and undeclared tax in a three-month campaign launched today. This is aimed exclusively at individuals who work in the legal profession as solicitors.
The solicitors’ tax campaign is described as ‘an opportunity for individuals who work within the legal profession as a solicitor to bring their affairs up to date in a simple, straightforward way and take advantage of the best possible terms’.
This voluntary disclosure opportunity runs from 8 December 2014 to 9 June 2015, and is available for solicitors working for themselves in their own business, within a partnership of limited liability Company, or within or as a company. Read more: www.accountancylive.com/hmrc-targets-solicitors-unpaid-tax-bills
Sunil Bali tells me that award winning journalist and author Will Self said, “Whenever I produce my best work it’s always because I’ve spent time being idle. Something always emerges after nothing.”
Is that the same for you?
It’s interesting isn’t it?
Research by Professor William Duggan at the Columbia Business School shows that the human mind has an amazing self-correcting mechanism. Read about it in his book: Strategic Intuition: The Creative Spark in Human Achievement. You can order a copy at Amazon from here.
When we relax, de-clutter our mind and let it wander, flashes of insight, sparks of creativity and clarity of thought emerge. That’s why we get our best ideas and inspiration when we’re out for a walk, in the shower or driving and not working flat out at two hundred miles an hour in the office.
There are some sensible lessons here for all of us.
Unfortunately, some people will always be too busy doing it, doing it, doing it, to realise what they’ve missed.
FREE calculator for your website
From Bizezia and One Smart Place: on 3 December 2014, The Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Autumn Statement announced new stamp duty rates from 4 December 2014 payable by the purchaser of residential property.
The new rates, based on tranches of the property purchase price, are:
Up to £125,000: 0%
Next £125,001 to £250,000: 2%
Next £250,001 to £925,000: 5%
Next £925,001 to £1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%
Don’t confuse this calculator with the one that you can see and use on the HMRC website. The above calculator enables you to insert your firm’s name and web address so that when it sits on your website, it’s a handy tool from your firm. Needless to say, the HMRC calculator is not available to sit on your website at all.
Marketing and Business Promotion
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Bitcoin is mentioned day-in-day-out but many people still don’t know what it is or how it can be used. As a relatively new and emerging alternative to credit cards and cash, Bitcoin remains largely unknown to many business owners – even though it’s a freely available, viable option for taking payments and paying suppliers.
Bitcoin is a decentralised virtual currency, meaning it does not exist in the physical world, nor does it have a central bank such as the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England. There is also a finite number of bitcoins in the world, with a limit of 21 million bitcoins set to be reached by 2014, according to Metro Bank, here.
Bitcoin.org, here, say that “Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system”.
Reizel Sales, one of our many Round-up readers, works closely with the Findmyshift content team, and they recently compiled data surrounding the Bitcoin trend, and how it impacts business owners and ecommerce. They put the data in the visual at:www.findmyshift.com/bitcoin-for-business-the-good-the-bad-and-the-future.
Doctor Who helps teach children coding
Gov.uk has announced that the BBC’s new Doctor Who computer game will teach local children more about coding at D5, the London conference for leading digital governments. International D5 delegates will also share experiences and discuss the best way to teach code in primary schools.
Coding is when you give a sequence of instructions to a computer so you can make it do what you want to do. Children as young as 5 are able to grasp coding concepts. Learning to code strengthens their problem solving and logical thinking skills.
More and more jobs now rely on computing and coding, but conversely fewer people have the skills to fill them. D5 delegates will talk about how to avoid a global coding crisis by educating the next generation of coders. At D5, the BBC-led coding session will use a new Doctor Who game called ‘The Doctor and the Dalek’ to help 11-year olds from Netley Primary School, Camden, London, understand more about coding. The game sees the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, take on dangerous quests against his enemies. Anyone can play it for free on the CBBC website.
The BBC has published a range of resources for students and teachers on BBC Bitesize to coincide with the new computing curriculum in England. The resources include computer programming study guides, quizzes, games and videos. These Bitesize resources and The Doctor and the Dalek game support a range of other material, including 3 children’s TV shows, released as part of the BBC’s wider Make it Digital initiative, with more to come in 2015.
In England, there are around 900 volunteer-led after-school coding clubs for 9 to 11-year-olds. Find out moreabout Code Club.
“Cryptography For Dummies – eBook (usually $22.99) FREE for a limited time!”
It’s FREE so you’ve nothing to lose… Learn everything from the terminology used in the field to specific technologies to the pros and cons of different implementations.
Cryptography is the most effective way to achieve data security and is essential to e-commerce activities such as online shopping, stock trading, and banking
Discusses specific technologies that incorporate cryptography in their design, such as authentication methods, wireless encryption, e-commerce, and smart cards
Based entirely on real-world issues and situations, the material provides instructions for already available technologies that readers can put to work immediately
Expert author Chey Cobb is retired from the NRO, where she held a Top Secret security clearance, instructed employees of the CIA and NSA on computer security and helped develop the computer security policies used by all U.S. intelligence agencies
Match Customers with the Products They’re Searching For
This comes from Magento. To realise the convenience benefit of shopping online, customers need to find what they’re looking for, and to find it quickly.
This FREE eBook provides:
EXAMPLES FROM MERCHANTS: A treasure chest of valuable customer insights around site search
OPTIMIZE CONVERSION: Three recommendations for increasing conversion through site search
Many merchants’ site search tools don’t fulfill the promise of delivering meaningful results. Learn how to use your website’s site search data to better understand your customers, their needs and their intent, and how to properly leverage site search to help customers find what they’re searching for. Download from: enterprise.magento.com/content/site-search
Beyond the Basics: Strategic Marketing for CPA Firms
Great stuff here for accountants and also for lawyers.
When it comes to marketing for businesses, most people can agree upon the following five steps:
Set your budget
Prioritise initiatives
Set expectations and goals
Periodically assess marketing performance against goals
Revise budget, initiatives and goals as necessary
While this covers the basics, this lather-rinse-repeat marketing routine completely misses the mark when it comes to strategic marketing. Budgets and goals are how you implement a marketing strategy; they are not the strategy itself. Developing an effective marketing strategy means clearly understanding and then communicating what makes your practice different from others.
For example, a marketing strategy must address how to get past the label of being “just another CPA” – known for price-based commodities like tax returns and audit services – by focusing on branding and how your firm stands out from competitors. A marketing budget or an outline of performance expectations for your marketing program might be helpful to you, but it won’t tell your target audience what makes your firm stand out from all of the others out there.
Spotted in Times of India: Steve Jobs didn’t launch two of the most valuable companies in modern times by following the rules all the time. He had a unique way of crafting his own reality, a “distortion field” that could persuade people that his personal beliefs were actually facts, which is how he pushed his companies forward. And he also used a blend of manipulative tactics to ensure his victories.
Many consider Jobs to have been a genius, but there’s no reason why we can’t all learn a thing or two from his tactics. The full article expands on all these points:
1. Earn everyone’s respect
2. Pitch with passion
3. Disarm people with seduction and flattery
4. Claim all the good ideas are yours
5. Make decisions quickly and definitively
6. Build a strong following by using brutal honesty
7. Don’t wait to fix problems
8. Either address problems head on…
9. …Or ignore the problems entirely
10. Strike when the iron’s hot, and strike hard
11. Use leverage when you have it
12. Demand perfection Read more in the full article: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/The-Steve-Jobs-guide-to-getting-what-you-want/itslideshowviewall/45395392.cms
2015 Social Marketing Planning Guide
In Simply Measured, they say that 2015 is going to be a great year for social marketers, but to make the most of it you’ll need a fine-tuned social strategy.
This FREE guide is your countdown to the New Year with ten fresh tactics based on the 2014 trends we expect to shape the coming year, and ways you can refine your brand’s social strategy for success.
LinkedIn leads the pack for social SMEs: How your firm can get on board
From Australia, in SmartCompany.au, By Eloise Keating: Public relations specialist and social media expert Catriona Pollard receives at least one email a week about a new business opportunity as a direct result of her LinkedIn profile. It may be from someone Pollard has never met but who has found out about her PR agency through LinkedIn, or in some cases, from someone who Pollard has been connected with for some time but now needs her expertise for a particular project. Whatever the purpose, it’s clear Pollard would not be receiving the emails without LinkedIn.
Pollard is one of a growing number of entrepreneurs and small business owners recognising the value of LinkedIn, a professional networking platform used by 350 million people worldwide.
In the fifth SmartCompany and Crowe Horwath SME Directions Survey, LinkedIn was voted the most effective social channel by more than 430 business owners and managers.
While word-of-mouth still dominates when it comes to marketing for the SMEs who participated in the survey, 41% nominated LinkedIn as the most effective of the social networks by far.
UK: Leave and Pay for Mothers – Know Your Rights booklet
FREE booklet from TUC: Pregnant women are protected from harm in the workplace and have the right not to be dismissed or unfavourably treated because of their pregnancy. Most employed mothers are entitled to 52 weeks’ maternity leave and 39 weeks’ Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. Mothers with children born on or after 5 April 2015 may also be able to convert some of their maternity leave and pay into Shared Parental Leave and Pay which they or their partner can take on a more flexible basis in the first year of their child’s life. Details at: www.tuc.org.uk/node/121636
Leave and Pay for Fathers and Partners – Know Your Rights booklet
Another FREE booklet from TUC: If you are an expectant father or the partner of someone due to give birth or adopt a child, you could be entitled to time off to attend ante-natal appointments plus up to two weeks’ paid paternity leave. You may also be able to take more time off in the first year as Shared Parental Leave and be entitled to some Shared Parental Pay.
Other rights that may help you combine paid work with looking after your child include unpaid parental leave, the right to request flexible working and emergency time off for dependents. Details at: www.tuc.org.uk/node/121639
Crisis of SME Lending and how to circumvent it
In Business Matters, despite a growing economy, SMEs can still find it difficult to fund their expansion plans. Freddie Bellhouse, director of call handing agency MessageBase, looks at the different options available for business owners.
Many small businesses are struggling to raise much-needed funds to expand. This is nothing new. Since credit tightening at the onset of the recession businesses of all sizes have struggled to raise debt to varying degrees. However in a period of low interest rates and a growing economy, why is this still the case?
Whilst the vast majority of lending comes from traditional sources such as high street banks who have traditionally required assets as security (something most small businesses simply don’t have) or otherwise require substantial turnovers for cash flow lending, new lenders do offer some considerable hope to small businesses. In short, they can be separated out as follows:
Steve Jobs, when aged 33, looked in the mirror and thought to himself: For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
It may be me, of course, but I cannot understand why some firms just don’t bother to treat their clients like customers.
Governments rule much of our lives. The interest we pay on our mortgages, the interest that we don’t get on our hard earned savings and how we draw our pensions. On 3 December, Chancellor Osborne will, once again, explain what he is doing with our money and the huge National Debt we have built up over the years.
What Mr Osborne says on 3 December will affect you and all your clients.
Don’t you owe it to your clients to send them a handsomely designed summary from your firm about the Chancellor’s proposals?
Send out a million copies, if you like, of the summary to clients and prospects for £100 + VAT. For details, visit our shop or email me at: mpollins@bizezia.com.
KPMG Enterprise, who believe that online accounting is the way forward for start-ups and growing businesses, have launched their marketing initiative. They work with their strategic technology providers to help clients ensure that their business benefits from the flexibility and freedom that this form of accounting can offer.
Delivered as part of the KPMG Small Business Accounting solution, they now offer a suite of services designed to meet the needs of growing businesses, including bookkeeping, VAT and Corporate Taxes, annual accounting and payroll.
Built around an award-winning cloud accounting platform (Xero), to prepare and maintain accounting records, providing instant access to the figures for a business, such as cash flow, payables, receivables and commentary. No more email attachments with hard-to-download spread sheets. Just accounting on the go for your growing business.
That’s what they say.
What do you say? Or rather, what are you going to do about it?
Marketing round-up:
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
From VTSL Business Phone Systems, written by Audra Oliver: New technology is often misunderstood. Even those that have a decent understanding of the basics are rarely aware of the nuances or differences between providers. Take something like digital radio. Digital radio (DAB) became available in the UK in 1999 and has become increasingly popular over the years. A tech-savvy person will likely be able to tell you that digital radio is a compressed analogue audio signal transmitted using a digital modulation scheme. But that same tech-savvy person will likely be unable to tell you which DAB radios you should buy, or what to look out for when shopping for one.
The same is true for VoIP. Most people know it stands for voice over internet protocol—a form of telephony in which your voice travels over a network (such as the internet)—but few know much about the differences in systems, or whether the general assumptions are true or not.
White Paper: Top 3 Reasons to Use Multiple Email Service Providers
There are more than 400 email service providers out there, using just one limits your scope and success within your day-to-day email marketing operation. Boost performance and engagement with the multiple email service provider approach. Find out how this can be done and why you should have been doing this yesterday.
Download this FREE white paper, Top 3 Reasons to Use Multiple Email Service Providers, to find out:
• How to get into more inboxes and maximize ROI
• How to reduce your email marketing costs
• How to easily setup backup systems for redundancy
How to Master the Balancing Act Between Web Design and Functionality
From Marketing Prefs, written by Roy Chomko: The technical and aesthetic components of “good” Web design are often presented as two competing forces, or separate entities that must be corralled into grudging cooperation for the sake of producing a functional product.
However, by implementing a few best-practice development process strategies, Web designers and developers can work as a unified team to achieve a common set of project goals.
From a website’s conception to official go-live date, the design and development teams need to have shifted out of their silos and onto the same workbench:
1. Know your audience
2. Bring developers on board sooner rather than later
3. Resist the development veto
4. Try before you buy
5. Don’t be a lemming Read the full article at: www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26560/how-to-master-the-balancing-act-between-web-design-and-functionality
Don’t get left behind in the enterprise mobile app dev (r)evolution
Found in Business Matters: In seven years we have gone from Blackberry and Nokia to iPhones, smartphones, tablets and wearable devices. Today mobility is king. Employees like – and expect – the same experience they have at work as the one they have at home.
The latest Forrester report on mobile app development published this month predicts that consumer and employee demand for innovative mobile experiences will increase in 2015. According to the report, the requirement for innovative mobile experiences will continue to grow as mobile platforms, development tools and programming techniques evolve at a similar pace in an attempt to keep up with demand for best-in-class apps that create customers’ mobile moments.
The percentage of enterprise-focused developers has also significantly risen in the last few years, increasing from 29.3 per cent in 2010 to 42.7 per cent in 2013. In the same period, developers primarily interested in consumer-facing apps have shrunk from 70.7 per cent to 57.2 per cent. Where mobile app dev is concerned, the enterprise is where the activity is happening now. Developers are increasingly focusing on building apps for internal purposes to improve processes for the finance teams, HR, sales and marketing, instead of solely focusing on building new mobile B2C apps.
In fact, when we talk about mobile app dev we should really make the distinction between enterprise and B2C because business to consumer apps are quite different in terms of the approach and the development environment than that used for business to enterprise or business to employee apps. Read the full article at: www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/27512/dont-get-left-behind-enterprise-mobile-app-dev-revolution/
Latest SME Finance Survey, Continued move away from traditional bank funding
Business Matters report that while the appetite to seek finance may be on the rise for UK micro and small businesses, the latest information from the BDRC Continental SME Finance Monitor, released on 27th November, highlights that many continue to shun traditional banking products and are looking towards alternative financial providers, their supply chain or dipping into their own personal funds to finance future growth.
However, the report also highlights that small firms still perceive ongoing difficulties in securing funding, reporting a confidence gap of 10 per cent in terms of those who were fairly or very confident that they would receive bank finance and the proportion that actually did.
UK: Business birth rate soars to near 10-year high
Angela Monaghan reported in the Guardian some interesting figures on new businesses. UK businesses were created at the fastest rate in almost a decade last year as confidence increased against a backdrop of economic recovery. The business “birth rate”, which measures new companies as a proportion of all enterprises, was 14.1% in 2013, the highest since records began in 2004, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The proportion of business “deaths” fell to 9.7%, the lowest level since the financial crisis took hold in 2008.
The number of new businesses jumped 28.5% last year to 346,000, as Britain’s economic recovery looked more secure with growth in every quarter. Administration and support services were the areas with the highest rate of business births.
Businesses which stopped trading fell 6% to 238,000 over the year, with those operating in the finance and insurance sectors experiencing the highest death rate, followed by accommodation and food services.
[26 November 2014, ICAEW Tax Faculty Team] Posted on 24 November: People who reach state pension age before 6 April 2016 will be able to top up their state pension by paying a new class of voluntary National Insurance contributions (NICs) – Class 3A – from October 2015.
The new class of NICs was announced at the 2013 Autumn Statement. The government has recently published:
Class 3A voluntary contributions will give existing pensioners and individuals who are entitled to a state pension, and who reach state pension age before 6 April 2016, the opportunity to increase their pension.
The measure is aimed particularly at women and other groups who have done less favourably under the existing rules for the state pension and have not previously been able to top it up.
Paying Class 3A NICs
Those eligible will be able to pay Class 3A contributions from 12 October 2015 in Great Britain, and from a date to be appointed in Northern Ireland.
From William Robins in New Model Advifser: HM Revenue & Customs (HRMC) has clarified rules relating to the annual allowance in retirement, brought in under Rightthe pension freedoms, amid fears people will recycle pension cash back into their scheme.
Under new rules outlined earlier this year, which come into force in April 2015, an annual allowance of £10,000, known as the money purchase annual allowance, will be triggered whenever someone goes into flexi-drawdown or takes an uncrystallised fund pension lump sum (UPFLS).
However it is often possible for people with old money purchase occupational schemes to take what is called a ‘standalone’ lump sum, which can be of substantial size. It would mean they would be using neither flexi-drawdown nor UPFLS.
At an HMRC pensions’ industry forum, HMRC clarified that a ‘standalone’ lump sum would not trigger the money purchase annual allowance except where the member has primary protection as well.
It said a stand-alone lump sum will not trigger the money purchase annual allowance rules unless the member had primary protection, but not enhanced protection as it is possible to have both, and protected ‘standalone lump sum’ rights exceeding £375,000.
Nick Huber in AccountingWEB] reported that fewer solicitor firms will be required to have an annual audit under a proposal from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The proposal is to exempt firms from the requirement of getting an annual accountant’s report if there is a low risk of a solicitor taking customers’ money.
This is part of a wider plan to cut unnecessary regulation in the law profession.
The SRA consultation, published on 18 November, also suggests another reform of accounting rules; changing the criteria for when an accountant has to qualify the report. The intention is to reduce the amount of fairly “trivial” qualified accounts it gets.
Proposed changes could cut income for accounting firms, although the new rules may have some benefits. The SRA suggests that accountants be given more freedom to use their professional judgement when checking solicitors’ accounts. “The primary purpose of the current Accounts Rules is simple – to keep client money safe,” the SRA says in its consultation. Read more: www.accountingweb.co.uk/article/law-regulator-wants-relax-requirement-firms-get-annual-audit/568614
It may be me, of course, but I cannot understand why some firms just don’t bother to treat their clients like customers.
Governments rule much of our lives. The interest we pay on our mortgages, the interest that we don’t get on our hard earned savings and how we draw our pensions. On 3 December, Chancellor Osborne will, once again, explain what he is doing with our money and the huge National Debt we have built up over the years.
What Mr Osborne says on 3 December will affect you and all your clients.
Don’t you owe it to your clients to send them a handsomely designed summary from your firm about the Chancellor’s proposals?
Send out a million copies, if you like, of the summary to clients and prospects for £100 + VAT. For details, visit our shop or email me at: mpollins@bizezia.com.
Round-up
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week. It provides access to tools you can use right now to promote your firm plus software that will help those endeavours.
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Why You Need To Install Windows Updates Automatically
An article at HowToGeek.com said that once again there are urgent security patches released for Windows, and this time the problems they fix are “potentially catastrophic” issues with the encryption stack. This is why you should have Windows install updates automatically.
It’s possible you leap into action every time you see the security notification, but many people don’t. And, if you do, what’s the point of installing critical security updates manually? Just have them install themselves.
Patches Should Be Installed as Soon As Possible
You often need to patch security problems as soon as possible to fix whatever the problem is.
After a patch is released, the security hole becomes public knowledge if it wasn’t already. Attackers now know the problem and can rush to start exploiting it as soon as possible before people update. Attackers know business and home users are often slow to update, and they can wreak some havoc in the time before people patch. Read more: www.howtogeek.com/202038/why-you-need-to-install-windows-updates-automatically
Technology solutions for increased productivity: a free SmartCompany eBook
From SmartCompany.com.au in Australia: One of the biggest challenges for SMEs is finding ways to get more productive and grow without being bogged down in time consuming and costly approaches. Increasingly technology is providing solutions – allowing both businesses and individuals to become more productive and efficient. But the challenge lies in equipping your SME with the right tools.
SmartCompany and SAP recently looked into the technology habits of SMEs, along with their productivity and growth ideals. We found that while SMEs appear tech savvy and understand the impact of technology on business, 50% say they don’t have the resources required to improve their productivity. Clearly there is an imbalance.
This free SmartCompany eBook, Five ways to get productive and grow with technology solutions, brought to you by SAP, is designed to showcase these findings and demonstrate how SMEs can increase their productivity without enormous costs.
You’ll also learn:
What SMEs find challenging about adopting new technology;
How SMEs can overcome a lack of resources;
How technology can help with the issue of staff disengagement;
Why better productivity doesn’t have to be expensive;
How to navigate regulatory burdens with technology, and more.
From Quarry.com: The Savvy Marketer’s Guide® to Leading with Personas shares three real-life success stories — and one decided failure — of how change leaders leveraged personas to drive innovation and inspire change in four complex and very different business situations.
What will you learn? The Savvy Marketer’s Guide to Leading with Personas shares:
How personas can be used to create alignment, shake off misconceptions and inspire innovation.
The insightful stories of three leaders who used personas to achieve their goals (and the cautionary tale of one that didn’t!).
Seven ways that personas can be used as powerful change-leadership tools.
If you want to learn more about Twitter, read this: From Simply Measured: Twitter is a key channel for social brands to connect with their mobile audiences, but the network continues to change fast.
In their latest study, Simply Measured analyzed the top brands in the world and the new ways they’re using Twitter, the results they’re seeing, and which tactics have contributed to bigger audiences and increased brand engagement.
How To Successfully Scale Your Social Efforts Across Your Entire Organization
From Hootsuite This FREE white paper is designed to take your organisation through the essential steps involved in implementing a successful and scalable social media strategy. Scale to meet customer needs and reap the rewards of effective social media engagement across the enterprise.
Gain insight on how to mandate social media use to positively impact all departments:
Integrate social into existing organizational and departmental goals.
Listen to conversations about your brand and learn from your competitors.
Engage to Build Community: Empower your Social Team to contribute to the conversation.
Encourage your Social Teams to distribute new learning both within the Team and your organization as a whole.
Secure your online profiles to avoid publishing errant messages.
Measure your Social ROI: Build the capacity for measurement into every social action
Amplify your outreach and invest in a social future.
From Go To Meeting: In this FREE white paper, well-known time management expert and best-selling author Cordula Nussbaum demonstrates methods for creative and individual self-management. Cordula also provides an introduction to modern, effective time management practices.
Download the white paper and find out how to:
Identify and switch off personal stress causes and time thieves
Re-organise your daily work according to your personality
Efficiently prioritise tasks and delegate if needed
Get back into top form with successful self-management
So you are hiring people again. This FREE eBook from Foundation Resourcing details the latest, cutting-edge Financial Services hiring techniques.
When you get this FREE eBook, which you can read at your leisure, you will discover…
The little known concept of “deep referencing” and the 7 key questions you can ask which will highlight a poor hire before its too late.
10 crucial interview questions you should be asking and a breakthrough questioning technique which is guaranteed to reveal a candidates genuine strengths and weaknesses to you.
The 4 rules to effective assessment days including the radical new concept of subterfuge assessment stooges to glean attitudinal behaviour
A full brief on the latest psychological profiling techniques, which have proven to be the most effective in the financial services industry.
From Simply Measured: Written by Bridget Quigg: At the biggest brands, the dollars being spent on social media require careful planning, regular analysis, and optimization on a large scale. These high-revenue companies are pushing hard to make social media support their business.
Ron Schott, Director of Professional Services at Simply Measured, provides insight on how he sees the major brands he has worked with – leaders like MasterCard, IHOP, HTC, and KIA – approach their social strategy planning process.
Did you know that 94% of Crowdfunding Funded Companies are Successful and Still Trading
From Business Matters: Angels Den, a leading equity crowdfunding platform, has this week revealed that 94% of the businesses that raised funds through the site are still trading, despite the leading research stating 56% of all angel investments will fail.
Technology start-ups and those operating in the food and drink sector emerged as the top performing industries in terms of successful start-ups, with London and the South-East the most likely locations for them.
A newly-released infographic designed and compiled by a leading crowdfunding platform and angel network has revealed that as many as 94% of the businesses that have raised funding through the site have gone on to achieve financial success and are still trading. This statistic has come to light despite a recent finding from NESTA that suggests around 56% of angel investments will fail to make any return on capital. Read more: www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/27461/94-companies-funded-crowdfunding-platform-successful-still-trading
How the Most Successful People Keep Innovating
From American Express: Written by Vivian Giang: If you feel you or your business are stuck in a rut or, worse yet, failing, use the strategies from 6 innovation experts to spark creativity and change in your company
No matter what activity you’re pursuing, you have to continually evolve or you won’t make any progress. This is especially true when it comes to business—you have to keep transforming and innovating, staying fresh and up to date. You often have to zag while everyone else zigs.
In BNN.ca: Written by Jeff Gray: Walk into one of four Toronto-area Wal-Marts and in addition to the advertised “pre-Black Friday deals” that include discounted toys and flat-screen TVs, shoppers can also pick up a last will and testament drafted by a real, live lawyer. Recently launched Axess Law has put itself among the most aggressive of a new breed of low-cost law firms by installing a bright-orange branded retail presence inside Toronto Wal-Marts over the past year, offering wills for just $99 and real-estate deals for $1,288, tax and other expenses included. The service is the first of its kind in Canada.
The law firm says the move has been so successful it is expanding the service to seven more Toronto-area Wal-Marts over the next six months, with a plan to move into Wal-Mart Canada Corp. outlets across the country. The next location, at Toronto’s west-end Dufferin Mall, is due to open in weeks.
“It’s only a matter of time before you see our bright orange in Alberta and B.C.,” Axess Law co-founder Mark Morris, 38, said in an interview.
UK: How to get a guaranteed pension that lives on after you’ve died
From the DailyTelegraph: Written by Katie Morley: One of the downsides of buying guaranteed pension income from an insurer is that the pension dies when you do. But a little-known clause that allows you to pass it to loved ones could be about to hit the mainstream
A little-known pension option, which allows people to pass a guaranteed pension onto loved ones as an inheritance is expected to boom in popularity next year.
In April 2015, the Government will ban the “pension death tax” which currently means people have to pay 55pc tax on pension money they pass on as inheritance. The ban is primarily for drawdown pensions, where people will be able to take control their own investments and take as much or as little income as they like. However, the ban will also apply to a rare form of annuity that comes with an inheritance option called “value protection”.
Annuities provide a guaranteed income for the rest of someone’s life in retirement, but when they die, the pension dies with them, and the insurer pockets whatever’s left. But when people with these so-called “value protected” annuities die, the insurer pays out up to 100pc of the sum for which they bought the policy, minus the combined value of the annual income they’ve been paid. Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/11241516/How-to-get-a-guaranteed-pension-that-lives-on-after-youve-died.html
UK: Finally, you can hold buy-to-let in your pension. Here’s how
[24 November 2014, Telegraph] Posted 22 November: By Richard Evans and Nicole Blackmore: Buy-to-let landlords may be about to have their biggest dream come true: being able to hold their properties in a personal pension.
This would make any future capital gains tax-free. Holding residential property in a pension has previously been impossible.
The change, which comes about as a result of a new fund that invests in rental properties, could even see investors receive a windfall from the taxman if the value of their buy-to-let portfolios is boosted by tax relief when it is put into the pension.
This manoeuvre, which would see investors swap their existing, directly owned properties for shares in the property fund, could suit small buy-to-let investors with a handful of properties. A different tax perk could benefit larger landlords who own their properties via a limited company, who may be able to defer some of their capital gains tax liability.
You already know this: accountants and lawyers, who fail to advise properly, leave themselves open to a claim for professional negligence. In the “old days”, negligence claims against accountants or lawyers were rare. Not any more – nowadays, clients and banks or others who claim to have suffered a financial loss, have become much more willing to find someone to blame for their loss.
This article looks at something you may not have thought about before…
Social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations are diverse. You’ve probably got several of these organisations on your client list. And if you think about it for a moment, you would put them well down the pecking order of risks to your firm. You don’t conduct an audit, so where’s the risk?
But you could be wrong.
A couple of questions:
First, do you have an engagement letter in place?
Next, when the people running the organisation approached you, what did you advise them about their exposure to liability? Did you tell them it was an unlimited exposure?
Chances are you didn’t.
Most firms don’t. But that no excuse.
It’s a dangerous thing to do. If someone asks for your advice, you should explain everything or you could be blamed if things go wrong.
What could go wrong?
Something that is generally not realised is that Management Committees of unincorporated organisations (e.g. associations) and also members, are completely at risk of personal liability compared to an incorporated organisations. If the Management Committee enters into any contractual or other arrangements on behalf of the organisation (either alone or collectively) they are “jointly and severally responsible” for the affairs of the organisation.
To protect trustees from liabilities, some charities have registered as a limited company or a company limited by guarantee.
Did your engagement letter explain why you advised the clients to form an unincorporated organisation? Did it explain their possible exposure to unlimited financial claims that could bankrupt them?
If the answer to the last two questions is NO, then you could be in trouble.
In particular, did you explain that Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) are a new legal form for charities that stops a charity’s trustees being responsible for its debts? CIOs became available to charities in England and Wales on 4 March 2013.
Some committees might argue that the risk of exposure is small. However, as we live in a litigious society, anything can happen: for example a claim for injury by a member of the public when the risk hasn’t been insured under a liability policy. Another example could be a celebratory function organised by the committee (such as a Ladies Night or Centenary Dinner) that is a financial disaster through overbooking or costs not taken into account in the budget. In the front line for claims are the Treasurer and Secretary of unincorporated organisations.
If they have acted honestly and reasonably, claims can usually be met out of funds that the organisation has but if the claims exceed available funds, then personal insolvency for the members can ensue.
It might be possible for the committee to obtain Directors & Officers Insurance for risks such as those mentioned above. Professional advice should be taken.
If you were asked for advice and didn’t raise these issues with the client, you could have a problem.
It’s not worth taking the risk.
Oh, and by the way, Bizezia has just published a booklet about CIOs. I wrote it and it is available now as part of the Online Business Library.
Bizezia’s Contract Engine system has a specific engagement letter schedule that deals with this matter: (62- Engagement for Accountancy Services to an Unregistered or Unincorporated Club or Society (Non-Audit Assignment))
Please contact me at mpollins@bizezia.com if you are interested in these products.
Here is my regular round-up of marketing and business promotion issues plus other interesting things over the past week. It provides access to tools you can use right now to promote your firm plus software that will help those endeavours. The really good thing is that most of them are FREE – yes, that’s right, they won’t cost you or your firm a penny (or a dime, if you are reading this in Canada or the USA).
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Emma Jacobs blogged on FT.com: The next Machine Age will not just augur job losses and the transformation of some professions. The future could be a lot worse. It may also let loose an army of needy robots.
The MIT Technology Review described a new generation of Cobots – collaborative robots – made by a team under Manuela Veloso, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. These are autonomous intelligent mobile robots capable of performing service tasks and interacting with humans.
The robot is as polite as Star Wars’ C-3PO but there the similarities end. It has no arms and no legs. In fact, the article describes it as “a laptop and a cluster of sensors sitting atop a wheeled bar-stool”. Read more here.
Big Data: the mega-trend that will impact all our lives
Found in Soft Expert: There are some things big enough to cause implications for everyone’s life, whether we want it or not. And Big Data is one of those mega trends that will impact everyone in one way or another.
Basically, Big Data refers to our ability to collect and analyze the vast amounts of data we are generating in the world. So what is new? Haven’t companies and organizations captured and analyzed data for a long time? The answer is yes, but there are two factors that are changing at the moment and are making the phenomenon of ‘Big Data’ real: the rate at which we are generating new data is frightening; and our ability to analyze large and complex forms of data has been transformed in recent years.
With this article, “The Big Data Guru” Bernard Marr wants to explain what is behind this mega buzzword and outlines why it will impact everyone.
Bernard Marr is a best-selling business author, keynote speaker and consultant in strategy management, performance management, analytics, KPIs and big data Download from: www.softexpert.com/whitepaper.php?wp=706&pg=83#706
Top Five Questions Marketers Should Always Be Asking Themselves
On Marketing Profs, Preeti Upadhyaya posted: Marketers are juggling more projects and deadlines than ever. There’s never been more pressure to create and maintain a brand that “sticks” with increasingly distracted audiences.
With so many different channels and metrics to consider, it can be easy to forget about the basics of marketing.
For marketers to keep their eye on the prize—their audience—marketers should always be asking themselves the five questions covered in the article. Briefly, they are
1. What are our target audiences’ personas?
2. What is our audience doing all day?
3. What is keeping them up at night?
4. What will make your message stand out from the noise?
5. What action do you want your audience to take?
[Preeti Upadhyaya is the content specialist at WebDAM, a leading cloud-based digital asset management platform]
Nine TED talks every entrepreneur should watch
Adam Anticaglia wrote in Smart Company to ask: Who needs to pay big bucks to attend expensive business seminars when there’s so much free inspiration on the internet? TED talks have become a global phenomenon and Smart Company has rounded up the nine best TED talks for entrepreneurs. Set aside some time to watch these and really turbo charge your business.
It’s a list that includes an Australian author, a former United States federal prisoner, a CEO of a multinational consumer goods company, a Harvard business school professor, a millionaire entrepreneur and more.
These nine TED talks are sure to inspire, stimulate and generate thought about how to successfully run a business. They’re a must watch for SMEs and entrepreneurs.
By the way, in case you didn’t know: TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan: “Ideas Worth Spreading”.
Top 10 Online Marketing Trends for 2015
From ActiveDEMAND: It’s that time again to budget for the coming marketing year. Have you made all the right choices? Download the new eBook “Top 10 Online Marketing Trends for 2015” and compare your plan against what the rest of the industry is doing.
From Simply Measured, By Lucy Hitz: As your social media audience grows, a microscope is placed on the value you’re driving with your efforts. You can’t afford to be careless with the content you publish.
To get a better understanding of the specific aspects that make a Facebook post successful, the author culled the most pertinent data from the Simply Measured Facebook study and other industry research.
The article has seven traits of successful Facebook posts from The Interbrand top 100 global brands, and other industry leading Facebook pages. Discover more, here.
Download “The Essentials of IT Security – Free Kit”
The Essentials of IT Security brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your IT Security related decisions.
The following kit contents will help you get the most out of your IT Security research:
Citrix NetScaler: A Powerful Defense against Denial of Service Attacks
The Future of Backup as a Data Protection Strategy
10 Network Security Tools and Tests Everyone Should Use
Think about how much information you have access to at any given moment, thanks to email, websites, instant messages, blogs, and social networks. Now imagine using these types of social technologies to drive meaningful change within your enterprise.
Download this comprehensive ebook to learn the value of social networking tools in business, whether you are looking to implement social tools or an enterprise business solution.
From Bizezia.com: Every employer must have a comprehensive Health & Safety Policy by law where you employ five or more people.
Your Health and Safety Policy must:
Be signed by the Principal or Managing Director of the company
Be updated annually
In addition, amongst other requirements, you must:
Have formal risk assessments for all routine tasks and operations with effective safe systems of work;
Ensure that all employees and sub-contractors have been trained in safety procedures which apply to their jobs and the equipment they operate (including due consideration to ensure that such training has been understood by individuals whose first language is not English).
With the Bizezia Work Manual, you can create your own office policies and procedures manual on a fully-editable online system. Additionally, you can use Work Manual to create office policies and procedures manuals as an additional fee-generating service to your clients.
Work Manual now comes with templates for Contracts of Employment, Written Employment Particulars and a comprehensive editable Job Description Library (with over 500 templated job description) as well as optional additional work policies. Read more here
100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
From best-selling author, Steve Chandler: 100 proven methods to positively change the way you think and act—methods based on feedback from the hundreds of thousands of corporate and public seminar attendees Chandler speaks to each year. Create an action plan for living your vision, in business and in life.
This eBook is usually $15.99 but is FREE for a limited time!
The third refreshed edition of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself features 100 proven methods to positively change the way you think and act—methods based on feedback from the hundreds of thousands of corporate and public seminar attendees Chandler speaks to each year. The book now also includes techniques and breakthroughs he has created for individual coaching clients.
100 Ways to Motivate Yourself will help you break through the negative barriers and banish the pessimistic thoughts that are preventing you from fulfilling your lifelong goals and dreams. This edition also contains new mental and spiritual techniques that give readers more immediate access to action and results in their lives. If you’re ready to finally make a change and reach your goals, Steve Chandler challenges you to turn your defeatist attitude into energetic, optimistic, enthusiastic accomplishments.
Steve Chandler is one of America’s best-selling authors whose dozens of books—including the best-sellers 100 Ways to Motivate Others, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, The Hands-Off Manager, and Reinventing Yourself—have been translated into more than 25 languages, with best-sellers in China and Japan.
Offered Free by: Career Press. Other Resources from: Career Press Download from here
7 Key Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
From socialmediopolis.com, written by Sofie De Beule: Used the wrong way, social media can have a negative impact on your business. One little error can set your brand’s reputation back for a long time. Making mistakes is human. But how can you stay alert and make sure your brand avoids the most common slip-ups?
Not Using Social Media Management Tools or Multiple Tools at Once.
Forgetting About the Purpose of Each Network.
To wrap it all up, it’s important to question whether you’re hitting the right marks. Your social media efforts should be continuously updated. Remain attentive to certain pitfalls and be cautious to avoid them. [This article originally appeared on the Engagor blog]
EU VAT: Excerpt from training manual – Management and advice
Accountancy Age Insights provide a free resource is taken from the Tolley Exam Training EU VAT Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT) training manual.
It covers ‘Management and advice’ and the difficult distinction in the area of financial exemptions between a ‘transaction’ (carrying our instructions) and ‘advice’ (suggesting what instructions to give) where ‘transaction’ is exempt, but the provision of advice is taxable. Relevant cases in this area are also provided. Get it from here.
Free Business Resources: Business Growth Resource Centre
From down under: Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD): In such volatile economic times, mid-size business owners are searching for essential strategies for encouraging sustainability and growth. AICD’s ‘Directing Growth Program’ offers up a framework for long-term success.
As a business owner and director of a mid-sized organisation, there is no doubt you will face a particular set of challenges as you look to move your business forward. With tighter resources than ever before in a competitive environment you need to find smarter ways to initiate growth and refresh your business agenda. The new ‘Directing Growth Program’ from the Australian Institute of Company Directors examines strategies for building a strong governance structure for improved business performance. Find out more about the program here. Download your FREE business resource from here:
UK: FRS – Is it really a big deal?
[17 November 2014, Accountancy AGE Insight] With less than 30 working days to go to new FRS and UK GAAP compliance, Steve Cox – IRIS Product Director, takes a candid look at the implications of change. How many hours will compliance take for a typical set of accounts? What are the benefits of early compliance?
Download this article from Accountancy AGE Insight to find out more.
Topics covered:
It seems, from conversations I’ve had recently, that many professionals – accountants and lawyers included – are not up to speed with the changes last year that affect unincorporated organisations.
Here’s a brief introduction which I hope you’ll find useful. As ever, there’s a caveat: This guide is for general interest – it is always essential to take advice on specific issues.
Diversity
Social enterprises and not-for-profit organisation are diverse. They include local community enterprises, social firms, mutual organisations such as co-operatives, and large-scale organisations operating nationally or internationally. There is no single legal model for a social enterprise. Options include companies limited by guarantee, industrial and provident societies and companies limited by shares: some organisations are unincorporated and others are registered charities.
Most charities currently exist as either trusts or unincorporated associations, but these structures give their volunteer trustees a legal responsibility for any debts the charity creates. To protect trustees from this responsibility, charities previously had to register as a company – a process that can be too expensive or complicated for some small and medium-sized charities.
The new form of incorporated organisation
Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) are a new legal form for charities that stops a charity’s trustees being responsible for its debts. The final legislation was passed at the end of 2012.
CIOs are registered through and regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
The regulations that complete the legal framework for CIOs enable organisations to:
apply to register a completely new organisation as a CIO;
set up a CIO to replace an existing unincorporated association or trust.
The legal framework for the CIO is set out in the Charities Act 2011 and in two sets of regulations and an Order. These are:
the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012 (General Regulations);
the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Insolvency and Dissolution) Regulations 2012 (Dissolution Regulations);
The Charity Tribunal (Amendment) Order 2012.
Benefits of a CIO
The main benefits of a CIO are that it:
has its own legal personality;
can conduct business in its own name;
provides the protection of limited liability so that its members and trustees will not have to contribute in the event of financial loss.
The above benefits are already available to limited companies. However, while charities can be formed as companies, they must then be registered with both Companies House and the Charity Commission. In contrast, the CIO provides limited liability protection but only needs to register with the Charity Commission. This is expected to reduce bureaucracy for the charity.
The CIO status became available to charities in England and Wales on 4 March 2013. In Scotland, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator began registering Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) in April 2011.
Liability of Members in an Unincorporated Organisation
Something that is generally not realised is that Management Committees of unincorporated organisations (e.g. associations) are completely at risk of personal liability compared to an incorporated organisations.
Unincorporated organisations do not have an independent legal identity/personality. If the Management Committee enters into any contractual or other arrangements on behalf of the organisation (either alone or collectively) they are “jointly and severally responsible” for the affairs of the organisation.
It is thus possible for members of a committee (or the organisation’s membership as a whole) to be personally liable, without limit or indemnity, to settle any debts or other liabilities that may occur (e.g. fees for professional services, rent under a lease, or damages for breach of contract).
Some committees might argue that the risk of exposure is small. However, as we live in a litigious society, anything can happen: for example a claim for injury by a member or the public for injury when the risk hasn’t been insured under a liability policy. Another example could be a celebratory function organised by the committer (such as a Ladies Night or Centenary Dinner) that is a financial disaster through overbooking or costs not taken into account in the budget. In the front line for claims are the Treasurer and Secretary of unincorporated organisations.
If they have acted honestly and reasonably, claims can usually be met out of funds that the organisation has but if the claims exceed available funds, then personal insolvency for the members can ensue.
It might be possible for the committee to obtain Directors & Officers Insurance for risks such as those mentioned above. Professional advice should be taken.
Other Matters
CIOs are designed to be a more efficient way to run a charitable venture than standard charitable companies because their regulation is not as complicated or onerous as that for companies (for example, a CIO will only have to submit one annual return and one set of accounts per year.
A CIO is different to a community interest company (CIC). A CIC is a new type of company introduced in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. CICs are intended to be easy to set up, with all the flexibility and certainty of the company form, but with some special features to ensure they are working for the benefit of the community.
This publication is concerned only with CIOs. For information on Community Interest Companies please refer to the publication Community Interest Companies.
Further information including details of the relevant legislation, forms to download and sample articles of association can be found in the Community Interest Companies website, here.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Charity Commissioner has published a list of frequently asked questions about the CIO structure and its benefits. You can access them, here.
The Boot Camp team returns: Paul Dunn to join Ric Payne again!
After 15 years Paul Dunn [pictured] and Ric Payne are again collaborating to continue the work they started more than 25 years ago. The Australian pair are widely recognised as having a trans-formative impact on the public practice arm of the profession around the world through their famous Accountant’s Bootcamp and are set to do it again.
Paul Dunn said “Ric’s been saying for years that the basic model of an accounting firm is broken and he is absolutely correct. Principa’s Practice Innovation Workshop is not tweaking it at the edges. He’s coming right out and giving people an innovative model — one that is relevant right now and will set the stage for a firm’s future. I have a personal commitment to finish the job we started. And that’s why I’m delighted to play a part in this breakthrough and very different programme. It is very, very exciting.”
Payne said “It’s so exciting to be working with Paul again. He has a gift for communicating complex ideas in a manner that not only makes sense but inspires action. That was the key to the success we had with the Bootcamp. The hyper-competitive environment that accounting firms will be facing in the future will be nothing like the past and the strategies that worked then are failing to deliver results.”
“This is industry evolution in action. It’s time to re-think the accounting services model and that calls for a new way of looking at how a firm creates, delivers and captures value which is what the Practice Innovation Workshop is about” he said.
“The four major issues facing firms now and in the foreseeable future are attracting, developing and retaining talent, learning how to innovatively use emerging technology and communication protocols to create value for clients and the firm, helping clients navigate an uncertain economic environment, and dealing with succession issues.” Payne said.
The Practice Innovation Workshop has already been attended by over 200 firms and has received rave reviews by participants. The next programme in the UK will be held in Birmingham, November 17-18. For more information and to register click here
Come on, why aren’t you getting it yet?
Before you get delve into the gems in this article, see if you can find the time to view the latest product from the One Smart Team at Bizezia: Your Daily News. Think about how you can use it as part of your firm’s objective to keep in touch with clients and prospects. It’s a great marketing tool and all for less than the cost of a Big Mac each morning! Go here to discover more…
Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
From Industry Bulletins: Whether your employees are taking some personal vacation time or work-related business keeps them on the road, now is a perfect time to think about your company’s Wi-Fi knowledge. 54 percent of people are connecting mobile devices to free Wi-Fi hotspots, and 35 percent are doing so on a regular basis, but people aren’t taking the proper measures to protect their personal and/or company data along the way.
This article shares some Wi-Fi tips for best ways travellers can stay productive and safe while traveling or in transit. Download from here
UK: Large businesses under HMRC enquiry
From ICAEW Economia: Julia Irvine reported that HMRC is looking into the tax affairs of two thirds of 800 largest companies in the UK. According to Jennie Grainger, director general of enforcement and compliance at HMRC, 528 as yet unnamed companies, including a number of multinationals, are “under enquiry” after HMRC identified instances of possible tax avoidance and non-payment of taxes.
She told the audience at HMRC’s stakeholder conference last Thursday that although the number of large businesses being investigated was high, it did not mean that most of them were “on the make”.
“But it does highlight both the complexity of the international tax system in which they operate and our need to be very actively scrutinising how they negotiate their way through the system.” she said.
Editorial comment by Bizezia: HMRC’s strategy appears to be counter-intuitive to the idea of attracting large foreign businesses to operate in the UK: The last thing they’ll want is to spend time and money on HMRC enquiries.
Boost Your Customer-Centric Approach
Provided by Influitive: There was a time when campaigns were king and sellers were in control. Not anymore. Welcome to the age of the customer, which means big things for customer marketers.
Marketing success was once dependent on short-lived advertising campaigns and email blasts. Now it demands more engaging approaches that build strong, ongoing relationships and put the customer at the center of it all. That also means that the role of customer marketers has changed, and it’s now more important than ever. Chock full of insights, recommendations, and resources, The Rise of the Customer Marketer can help you better understand this fundamental strategy shift and how you can succeed as a marketer in this new age.
Key metrics for measuring the success of your advocacy and engagement programs
Why understanding Google Shopping should be your number one priority
In Business Matters, Luke Smith, Founder and CEO of Croud wrote: Modern retail marketing can be a minefield. Like countless others, when you think you’ve got to grips with the latest trend, software or technique, something new comes along.
Luke Smith “bets” you often read about changes to Google’s search algorithm to see how this will affect your campaign and maybe you spend hours researching RTB platforms to see which is the most effective. If you are a digital retail marketer I’m going to simplify things for you. Understanding Google Shopping should be your number one priority right now.
So what is Google Shopping? Simply put, it is the latest evolution of Google’s Product Search, or even more simply ecommerce ads that contain images alongside product descriptions, formerly known as ‘Product Listing Ads’. It allows people to find products and compare prices between different online merchants. The algorithm that supports this paid for model also factors in feed quality and structure, allowing merchants to influence the listings using SEO techniques, which makes it all the more interesting.
All of a sudden, Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is resembling a marketplace, not dissimilar to Amazon.
If a company understands how to get the most out of Google Shopping, it can provide one of the most impressive ROIs across all product advertising. In 2013, almost 6bn searches were made on Google every day and online sales hit the £100bn mark in the UK. With the SEO and PPC support on Google Shopping, merchants have great opportunity to position their products prominently and drive traffic to their site. Read more here
Why 802.11ac “beamforming” might be the answer to your office wireless woes
From Smart Company: David Hancock, the founder and managing director of Geeks2U, a national on-site computer repair and support company writes: If you’re struggling with Wi-Fi black spots around the office, “beamforming” lets you target your signal where you need it most.
Wireless networking is one of the wonders of the modern age, letting you cut the cable as you roam around the office. While it’s heaven when it’s working at its best, Wi-Fi can quickly turn to a living hell if you’re plagued by reception issues.
There are a few basic things you can do to improve your office Wi-Fi coverage. Read this article to find out more here
10 New Rules of Marketing Professional Services
In Hinge Marketing, Lee Frederiksen: In David Meerman Scott’s classic New Rules of Marketing and PR, he discusses the changes that have redefined the world of marketing.
Hinge Marketing decided to use the New Rules as a springboard to discuss the changing rules of marketing professional services. Read more here
Six quick wins to convert web visitors to clients
In accountingWEB, posted by Robert Lovell who says: In this article, Alex Tucker, who leads the PracticeWEB marketing team, reveals six areas of focus that accountancy firms can increase the volume of leads and sales generated from their websites.
Speaking with Chris Hughes in a live webinar, Tucker outlined the following simple and practical ways to convert web visitors to clients [read the full article for the “how to” actions required]:
1. Optimise your ‘about us’ page
2. Mobile friendly
3. Trust symbols
4. Social proof
5. Think about forms
6. Call to action Read more here
Shift work dulls your brain – report
James Gallagher Health editor, reported on BBC News website: Working antisocial hours can prematurely age the brain and dull intellectual ability, scientists warn. Their study, in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, suggested a decade of shifts aged the brain by more than six years. There was some recovery after people stopped working antisocial shifts, but it took five years to return to normal.
Experts say the findings could be important in dementia, as many patients have disrupted sleep. The body’s internal clock is designed for us to be active in the day and asleep at night. The damaging effects on the body of working against the body clock, from breast cancer to obesity, are well known.
Now a team at the University of Swansea and the University of Toulouse has shown an impact on the mind as well.
Three thousand people in France performed tests of memory, speed of thought and wider cognitive ability.
The brain naturally declines as we age, but the researchers said working antisocial shifts accelerated the process. Read more here
Microsoft: Retail sales of Windows 7 and 8 ended
Microsoft has officially stopped selling retail copies of some versions of Windows 7 and 8.The date to stop selling the software was set some time ago and should help Microsoft move people onto more recent versions of its operating system. Separately, statistics suggest people are finally moving away from some very old versions of Windows.
The next version of Windows, called Windows 10, is due to be released in late 2015.
Old code
From 31 October, consumers could no longer buy copies of the Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Windows 7. Now, Windows 8 is also no longer available. The change affects both copies bought in shops or loaded on PCs and laptops.
UK: VAT Changes – Planning for HMRC’s restriction in VAT recovery
Chantrey Vellacott report that following the case of the British Airport Authority (BAA) HMRC have updated their guidance in relation to the VAT recovery position of holding companies. This highlights HMRC’s increasingly strict and narrow view on when VAT may be recovered.
In determining whether VAT may be recovered HMRC will consider whether a holding company is a taxable person engaged in economic activity and whether there is a direct and immediate link with taxable supplies. The basic functions of a holding company, such as acquiring shares, disposing of shares, receiving dividends and defending its subsidiaries from takeovers do not, of themselves, give rise to the right to recover. A holding company must make actual taxable supplies, such as management services, if VAT is to be recovered. Alternatively VAT may be recoverable where a holding company is a member of a VAT group and it can be shown that the costs it has incurred are a cost component of taxable supplies made outside the group by its subsidiaries. Read the full article to find out what do you need to do here
It’s funny (actually, it’s not funny at all) how some accountants and lawyers throw money down the drain by not charging clients for the work that they do.
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
Author: Daniel J. Levitin
Publisher: Penguin Group
Chancellor George Osborne has chosen 18 March for his 2015 Budget. This will be the last Budget of this Parliament and is less than two months before the date of the general election.
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Learn from the best: Jim Collins on 12 steps to taking your business from good to great
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Two good reasons…
More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:
Your marketing and PR teams only have so much time to devote to the all-important task of engaging with your customers over social. So what if you had a tool already at your disposal that could significantly improve your ability to reach your customers on a personal level?
Jessica Morris writing in CITY A.M. asked: Is your go-to password a mish-mash of “password” followed by a random sequence of numbers? If so then it could be time for a change.
Via Reuters, Posted 21 January: Microsoft has said the upcoming Windows 10 operating system will be offered as a free upgrade to users of the most recent versions of Windows and Windows Phone software.
In BBC News, Messaging platform WhatsApp has announced that users can now send messages from their desktop web browsers.
Leo Kelion, BBC Technology desk editor wrote: The BBC’s News app has been given a major overhaul with the goal of offering a more “personalised” service. In addition to pre-existing sections – including Top Stories, UK and Politics – users will be able to add specialised feeds of their choice, for example: Apps, Taylor Swift, Genetics, and Oban.
Seen in UK.PCMAG.com, written by Dan Costa: It is safe to say that no one in the audience 
Chancellor George Osborne has chosen 18 March date for his 2015 Budget. This will be the last Budget of the Parliament and is less than two months before the date of the general election.
From Australia, in Business Spectator, in an article by Richard Brooks: To take a look at the cars on your street, it might not be apparent that the automotive industry is going through one of its most dramatic periods of change. Yet, rising purchasing power in emerging markets, tightening emission regulations and advances in electronics are driving a major shift in how vehicles are powered, constructed and driven.
From Simply Measured: Make your brand a powerhouse on Instagram and take your strategy to the next level with this four-part kit. This collection of resources is designed to help you master the channel and develop an Instagram strategy that works for your brand.
From Gulf Business: Highly-rated Manfred Kets de Vries, professor of Leadership Development & Organisational Change, INSEAD, writes that top performers can be made.
Leo Kelion wrote on BBC News: Facebook is launching a new app that aims to expand the US firm’s presence within companies and other places of work.
New measures to help UK businesses face the cyber security challenge and help the UK’s cyber security companies tap into the US market were announced on16 January 2015, as the Prime Minister visited the United States with UK cyber security firms. He was in the US for talks with President Obama and cyber security is high on the agenda as the government steps up its efforts to combat cyber threats against the industry. In a bid to win more British business for the growing sector, a group of 12 UK cyber security firms are also travelling to Washington to meet a host of US businesses.
From Australia, in Business Spectator, Steve Coad wrote: The modern working environment is unrecognisable from offices of the past. Fax machines, individual offices and nine-to-five working hours are now confined to the annals of history. And, although it’s hard to imagine, it won’t be long before cubicle farms, individual desks and even the concept of a traditional office will be superseded.
From Sageworks: You can now download this FREE checklist, “An Accountant’s Checklist to Prepare for Client Meetings,” to learn questions to ask to facilitate information exchange and build relationships with clients.
From accountancyLIVE: As the countdown to the new UK GAAP starts, download a FREE 32-page guide to FRS 102, effective 1 January 2015 to help you manage the transition. The 
From Kevin Stockton who says: With CPA firms constantly investing their resources in service expansion and the attraction of new clients, oftentimes existing clients and their needs trickle down to lower priority levels. This is important to note because neglecting existing customers is one of the most common errors in the business world that also can have one of the biggest impacts on your CPA firm’s bottom line.
Seen in AccountingWEB: Is your firm working with clients to solve their technology problems? As more and more firms are generating profits by advising clients on the best use of technology AccountingWEB and Microsoft have teamed up to help.
From the US, Marketing Profs say that there’s one challenge all marketing organizations face today: how do you integrate your efforts over time and across different touchpoints? It starts by getting your marketing team in sync and fixing your fragmented approach.
Chancellor George Osborne is to deliver his last Budget of the Parliament on 18 March 2015, less than two months before the date of the general election.
Spotted in Times of India: Steve Jobs didn’t launch two of the most valuable companies in modern times by following the rules all the time. He had a unique way of crafting his own reality, a “distortion field” that could persuade people that his personal beliefs were actually facts, which is how he pushed his companies forward. And he also used a blend of manipulative tactics to ensure his victories.
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From Needle.com: How can you gain the insights you need to build stronger relationships with customers and improve your business results this holiday season?
Gartner researched the latest groundbreaking technologies, and now reveals how these new developments positively impact your bottom line.
From Go.Connectivity.com: Simply responding to reviews is no longer enough. Knowing how to craft the best response to each review is vital for the success of every business. Almost everyone checks reviews online before making a purchasing decision, so brand response matters more than ever.
From Huddle who say: The days where you worked with only the few people in your immediate location are gone forever.
From Citrix: Meeting your business targets is hard enough. Doing so with a demotivated team is near impossible.
Bitcoin is mentioned day-in-day-out but many people still don’t know what it is or how it can be used. As a relatively new and emerging alternative to credit cards and cash, Bitcoin remains largely unknown to many business owners – even though it’s a freely available, viable option for taking payments and paying suppliers.
Gov.uk has 
It’s FREE so you’ve nothing to lose… Learn everything from the terminology used in the field to specific technologies to the pros and cons of different implementations.
From Australia, in SmartCompany.au, By Eloise Keating: Public relations specialist and social media expert Catriona Pollard receives at least one email a week about a new business opportunity as a direct result of her LinkedIn profile. It may be from someone Pollard has never met but who has found out about her PR agency through LinkedIn, or in some cases, from someone who Pollard has been connected with for some time but now needs her expertise for a particular project. Whatever the purpose, it’s clear Pollard would not be receiving the emails without LinkedIn.
From VTSL Business Phone Systems, written by Audra Oliver: New technology is often misunderstood. Even those that have a decent understanding of the basics are rarely aware of the nuances or differences between providers. Take something like digital radio. Digital radio (DAB) became available in the UK in 1999 and has become increasingly popular over the years. A tech-savvy person will likely be able to tell you that digital radio is a compressed analogue audio signal transmitted using a digital modulation scheme. But that same tech-savvy person will likely be unable to tell you which DAB radios you should buy, or what to look out for when shopping for one.
There are more than 400 email service providers out there, using just one limits your scope and success within your day-to-day email marketing operation. Boost performance and engagement with the multiple email service provider approach. Find out how this can be done and why you should have been doing this yesterday.
An article at HowToGeek.com said that once again there are urgent security patches released for Windows, and this time the problems they fix are “
From SmartCompany.com.au in Australia: One of the biggest challenges for SMEs is finding ways to get more productive and grow without being bogged down in time consuming and costly approaches. Increasingly technology is providing solutions – allowing both businesses and individuals to become more productive and efficient. But the challenge lies in equipping your SME with the right tools.
From Quarry.com: The Savvy Marketer’s Guide® to Leading with Personas shares three real-life success stories — and one decided failure — of how change leaders leveraged personas to drive innovation and inspire change in four complex and very different business situations.
If you want to learn more about Twitter, read this: From Simply Measured: Twitter is a key channel for social brands to connect with their mobile audiences, but the network continues to change fast.
From the Daily Telegraph: Written by Katie Morley: One of the downsides of buying guaranteed pension income from an insurer is that the pension dies when you do. But a little-known clause that allows you to pass it to loved ones could be about to hit the mainstream
[24 November 2014, Telegraph] Posted 22 November: By Richard Evans and Nicole Blackmore: Buy-to-let landlords may be about to have their biggest dream come true: being able to hold their properties in a personal pension.
Something that is generally not realised is that Management Committees of unincorporated organisations (e.g. associations) and also members, are completely at risk of personal liability compared to an incorporated organisations. If the Management Committee enters into any contractual or other arrangements on behalf of the organisation (either alone or collectively) they are “jointly and severally responsible” for the affairs of the organisation.
If you were asked for advice and didn’t raise these issues with the client, you could have a problem.
Found in Soft Expert: There are some things big enough to cause implications for everyone’s life, whether we want it or not. And Big Data is one of those mega trends that will impact everyone in one way or another.
Adam Anticaglia 
From ActiveDEMAND: It’s that time again to budget for the coming marketing year. Have you made all the right choices? Download the new eBook “Top 10 Online Marketing Trends for 2015” and compare your plan against what the rest of the industry is doing.
From Simply Measured, By Lucy Hitz: As your social media audience grows, a microscope is placed on the value you’re driving with your efforts. You can’t afford to be careless with the content you publish.
The Essentials of IT Security brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your IT Security related decisions.
Think about how much information you have access to at any given moment, thanks to email, websites, instant messages, blogs, and social networks. Now imagine using these types of social technologies to drive meaningful change within your enterprise.
From Bizezia.com: Every employer must have a comprehensive Health & Safety Policy by law where you employ five or more people.
From best-selling author, Steve Chandler: 100 proven methods to positively change the way you think and act—methods based on feedback from the hundreds of thousands of corporate and public seminar attendees Chandler speaks to each year. Create an action plan for living your vision, in business and in life.
From socialmediopolis.com, written by Sofie De Beule: Used the wrong way, social media can have a negative impact on your business. One little error can set your brand’s reputation back for a long time. Making mistakes is human. But how can you stay alert and make sure your brand avoids the most common slip-ups?
Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) are a new legal form for charities that stops a charity’s trustees being responsible for its debts. The final legislation was passed at the end of 2012.
Something that is generally not realised is that Management Committees of unincorporated organisations (e.g. associations) are completely at risk of personal liability compared to an incorporated organisations.
Come on, why aren’t you getting it yet?
From ICAEW Economia: 
Provided by Influitive: There was a time when campaigns were king and sellers were in control. Not anymore. Welcome to the age of the customer, which means big things for customer marketers.
In Business Matters, Luke Smith, Founder and CEO of Croud wrote: Modern retail marketing can be a minefield. Like countless others, when you think you’ve got to grips with the latest trend, software or technique, something new comes along.
From Smart Company: David Hancock, the founder and managing director of 
James Gallagher Health editor, reported on BBC News website: Working antisocial hours can prematurely age the brain and dull intellectual ability, scientists warn. Their study,