Self-Improvement

A&A

12 Ways to Ease the Fear of Self-Investing

Even though we are accounting professionals and are used to dispensing advice, when it comes to self-investing--with our own money--it's a different story completely!Most anyone who invests on their own faces a society in which we're taught to trust someone else with our money. However, there are ways to combat the fear of investing and come out on top.

Why Not Test Your IQ Online?

Tucked away on the web site of England's Chartered Institute of Taxation is a section on IQ tests.The tax body says there are a number of tests to be found on the web, and has picked out three which provide a score for you on-line.It does point out that the Institute has no control over external sites and it cannot take any responsibility for any aspect of those sites. So don't blame the CIOT if the results are not what you expected!Why not have a go, and don't get depressed!
Practice

Managing Voice Mail For Improved Results

No one likes voice mail, but if you make an effort to use voice mail more efficiently, you will see improved results in a matter of days.Take advantage of the greeting to promote a new offer or new service of some kind. And, be sure to update your email message daily so you send a clear signal that you are on top of your agenda at all times.There are other tips as well.
Technology

Word Tip: Customize Spelling & Grammar Tools

Word’s spelling and grammar checker is a great tool, but it is far from perfect. The system often flags "mistakes" that are actually correct. To prevent Word from flagging an item in the future, you can simply click the Ignore or Ignore All button in the Spelling And Grammar dialog box while you're running the spelling checker.

Improve Business Skills by Being an Active Listener

Thursday’s workshop at AccountingWEB featured Michelle Golden of Golden Marketing Resources who shared ideas about active listening. "Active listening and reflective listening are the most effective techniques to use. Active listening is when you have a genuine interest in what the speaker has to say. Reflective listening takes active listening a step further. It mirrors what the speaker is saying, allowing him or her to gain a fresh perspective on what s/he has just communicated."

Cell Phones: Friend or Foe?

So what’s all this about radiation found in cell phones? The following is a list of the ten lowest-radiation cell phones. It was compiled by the people at DoMode.com; a site featuring cell phone radiation levels. If you don’t find your phone on the following list and you still want to find out its radiation level you need to go to the FCC’s site. Only information about models made after 1997 is available here.
Technology

E-mail Anytime, Anywhere?

Sprint announced it is scheduled to launch a new service next month and it may be just what business people who aren’t chained to their desk have been waiting for. Right now most mobile workers have to find a regular phone line to plug into for the remote access needed to check e-mail or access personal files found in their company’s internal network.
Community News

Business Casual: What exactly IS It?

Most companies like the idea of casual Friday. If you’re an employer you can help boost morale by offering your staff the opportunity to dress down one day of the week. In fact, more and more companies are offering the opportunity to dress casual for the entire week. However, this can leave people confused as to what is appropriate dress and what isn’t. A particularly difficult challenge in discerning what’s appropriate casual wear and what’s not resides among women, especially those making the switch from college to the corporate world.

Telephone Interviews: The Next Best Thing to Being There

As our business days continue to fill and the pace getse more frenetic, you may find that your potential employer only has time for a remote interview.

Writing a Winning Resume for Accounting Positions

Resume writing is an art, no doubt. While today's word processing programs have templates that help you write your resume, there are a few aspects that are standard regardless of what job you're applying for - then there are aras of the resume that are indicative to accounting-related positions.Accountants on Call President Diane O'Meally pares the advice down to common sense.

Writing: A Great Tool for Accountants?

If you are looking for a way to get yourself out there in front of specific audiences, namely those belonging to niches you’d like to grow, consider your article writing abilities. As professionals, we all turn to various trade publications to teach us the latest and greatest in our industries. This is a great place for accountants to stretch some marketing muscle and get smack in front of your target audience.If you’re considering getting articles published, think first of where you want to be.

Real-Life CE as a Benefit: Yoga Classes?

CPAs are going to continue going after CPE, but what about other types of training for themselves and their staffs?One of the newest trends taking place in the business marketplace is to find alternative continuing education opportunities ... getting away from the technical stuff and going after subjects that just feel good!Consider Yoga or exercise classes, for example, to boost employee morale. Community colleges are a prime source for solid continuing education in all interest areas. How about Spanish or other foreign language lessons?Get creative.

Do Your Employees Understand Their Value?

When everyone in a company is running around trying their best to accomplish what’s expected of their individual job at that moment it’s easy for management to forget how important it is for staff to feel valued in what they do. If you didn’t understand exactly why it’s important for you to do what you do, would you care?Employees often shy away from responsibility, be it adding on additional facets to their job or fessing up to mistakes if they feel that what they do doesn’t really matter anyway. How to you help them understand this?

Job Search Netiquette

This article reprinted with permission by the Financial Management Network.E-mail is by far the preferred means of communication for millions of professionals worldwide. For busy executives, it can save valuable time, particularly when seeking a new position.

Are you Feeling Burned Out?

Are your employees feeling overwhelmed, irritable or just plain drained? Maybe it’s happening to you. Rest assured that you can solve the problem, it just takes a few corrections in the way work is approached.Make sure your company stresses the importance of balance. Even your best employees can be prone to burnout. People don’t function well if they are functioning constantly without an occasional break.Help employees understand the inner workings of the company.

Summer Reading for the Business-Minded

Business Week has gathered input from business professionals and business professors, and as a result has compiled a list of recommended business books that, as a group, capture the essence of the business world as we know it today.Recommending the books are 28 business professionals and professors, including Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, Philip Kotler, professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and Bob Pittman, CEO of America Online.

New Jobs for the New Economy

In May, AccountingWEB ran a news story on The 10 Hottest Jobs For The Future as identified by the editors of Time Magazine in which bizarre job titles such as tissue engineer, pharmers and narrowcasters were introduced.

Education Loans Available For Grad School Test Prep

Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of student loans, and Kaplan, the leader in test preparation for graduate and professional schools, have announced the Kaplan Student Loan Program providing low-interest loans to eligible students wishing to take a test-prep course.The program allows any Kaplan student who is a US citizen or a permanent resident with a social security number to be eligible for the program."This program opens doors to students who might not otherwise be able to afford test prep," said John Polstein, president of Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.
Practice

The Learning Game

Does this sound familiar? You’ve tried it all – classroom training, internal training, books, videos – and still your staff are fumbling with their new software. They KNOW there are easier ways to complete their tasks, yet they say they’re so busy there’s no time to learn how to do things more efficiently. Why is this happening? It’s not because you’ve been unwilling to provide training, it’s not because your staff doesn’t want to learn.As a consultant, I have the opportunity to observe computer users at many different organizations.
Technology

Budgeting With Pivot Tables - The Sequel

Over 1,200 AccountingWEB members read David Carter's first tutorial on budgeting with pivot tables. In the eagerly awaited sequel, Carter goes beyond setting up initial budgets to explain how to add the actuals each month and use Excel pivot tables to report on Monthly and Year-to-Date Actuals versus Budget, plus Variances – both at company and departmental level.The Formulas function is used to calculate variances between budget and actual.

Pages

Voice of the Editor

What would you do if one of your clients won the lottery? We asked several accountants to weigh in with their advice for the lucky Powerball winner, and the tips we received are useful for anyone who receives a windfall, whether it's a lottery win, an inheritance, a big bonus on the job, or a killing in the stock market.
ADVERTISEMENT

Weekly video update

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

accountingweb.co.uk

Most read

ADVERTISEMENT