June 2005
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2004 Salary Survey
By David L. Schroeder and Karl E. Reichardt, CMA
Certifications do matter, according to the 2004 IMA salary survey, because, as in past years, members holding such designations earn more than those without them. Members reported significant salary increases in 2004 even though women still lag behind men at almost every salary level, but that gap may be narrowing. Other data indicate the fallout from auditing/accounting scandals may have helped boost the salaries of internal auditors and increase the proportion of those (90%) reporting familiarity with the IMA Standards of Ethical Conduct for Management Accountants. Asked when their companies established a code of ethics, of those who responded, 33% said such guides had been implemented since 2002.
Less is More
By Robert Allen
M&A activities, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and stretched accounting staffs have put added pressures on financial closing processes. By simplifying and reengineering the process, however, Innovene, the newly formed subsidiary of oil giant BP PLC, achieved a 25% reduction in total resource time required for closing and a 35% reduction in the number of errors.
Don't Misconstrue Communication Cues
By Stephen E. Catt, Donald S. Miller, and Nitham M. Hindi, CMA
When you say you need a report soon, are you really communicating your message or initiating a costly snafu? M-I-S-C-U-E-S - meaning, inferences, stereotyping, clarity, understanding, experience, and selective perception - cause misunderstandings and millions in corporate remedial costs every year.
Relevance Added: Combining ABC with German Cost Accounting
By Gunther Friedl, Prof. Dr.; Hans-Ulrich Kupper, Prof. Dr.; and Burkhard Pedell, PD Dr.
Corporations that already have installed activity-based costing systems may want to supplement ABC with the German-developed flexible margin costing, or GPK. ABC aids in long-term decision making while the German cost accounting method supports short-term decisions more effectively. Implementation costs are high, but your ERP system may already have some of the needed elements.
PERSPECTIVES
Moving management accounting forward.
BEST PRACTICES
Forget slides, project confidence.
CAREERS
A reality check on hiring.
TAXES
Taxability of mutual fund distributions.
ETHICS
Is repealing the estate tax unethical?
XBRL
XBRL gets easier.
FINANCIAL TRENDS
First-year verdict of SOX 404: burdensome, costly, and confusing.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Building value from the inside: navigating our role.
STREETWISE
Evaluating internal controls and SOX compliance
PCAOB wants nominations
PCAOB considers new management report
Books: Organizational improvement
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Visual design.
TECH FORUM
Getting down to the code.
END NOTE
Three faces of at-home AI.
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