The Hindu Business Line : When super cops join, there's nowhere to escape

IN A secret meeting, top officials of the UK, the US, Canada and Australia have agreed to jointly crack down on tax avoidance. A new task force has been set up for the purpose, reports AccountingWeb citing an article in The Guardian. It seems the talks were held "under the cloak of meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington". While such a move would make it tough for evaders to hide, these countries would also save on their expenses. It is anticipated that in due course all thirty rich western countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development would be together in the exercise. Escape routes will become fewer, take note.

Ditch the bad clients

TO GROW your practice, dump the deadweight. Simple prescription, but that's the result of a recent survey by Begbies Traynor of 200 accountants in larger practices. AccountingWeb reports that "over two-thirds have voluntarily ditched a client account during their career" and that "88 per cent of those interviewed agree that for a firm to grow it is sometimes necessary to resign client accounts voluntarily, especially those which are no longer profitable or represent an actual or potential conflict of interest." On the other side, clients may also be looking at how to dump the non-cooperative auditors.

Continuity is crucial

TO ENCOURAGE companies adopt best practice in business continuity and disaster recovery planning, the UK Government has supported the release of a standard called PAS 56. It provides a checklist to alert businesses about potential risks. Alignment with the new standard would need clearly defined backup procedures and retrieval processes to be in place for business critical data. The standard is expected to become important because businesses would find it tough to win clients if they cannot guarantee continuity of service.

Internet auctions

OFFICE of Fair Trading, UK, has posted on its site tips for safe trading when participating in Internet auctions. "Some of the most common problems are: goods not delivered to buyer; payment not delivered to seller; goods of lesser value or very different from the description are sent to the buyer; late delivery of goods; and failure to give relevant information about a product or terms of sale." The site goes on to provide advice on: what to do before bidding; avoiding fraud; and legal rights. Check it out.

Criminal debt rising

THE US Department of Justice is lagging behind in collecting fines and other payments from criminals. This is the remark of the General Accounting Office auditors. Citing a report in the Washington Post, there is a posting on the AccountingWeb that criminal debt had been around $6 billion in 1995 and had climbed to $13 billion by 1998. "This year's report found the number has jumped to $25 billion." Collections as a percentage of outstanding criminal debt averaged about 7 per cent for fiscal years 1995 through 1999.

Money is the top issue

WHAT is top on the minds of employees? A recent survey in the US by OfficeTeam has found that bonus and raise come first on the wish list of nearly half. "More time off ranked second, with 24 per cent of the response, followed by additional support at the office, with 17 per cent." A mere 4 per cent wanted more of the boss's time. OfficeTeam concludes that employees today are feeling "undervalued, overworked and spread too thin." Are you sceptical that one in two employees could have lied?

AS they like it

HERE is an interesting comment from the chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Sir David Tweedie, while on a tour of New Zealand: "15 countries in the European Union have 16 possible ways of accounting. When 10 new countries join next month, the total will be 26." According to AccountingWeb, Tweedie is of the view that foreigners will be more likely to invest if a predictable set of rules were in place. "We're actually talking not about accounting, but about world trade and growth." There is, therefore, a need for our seminars on accounting standards to highlight the sync with international standards.

Shell in the SEC

AS AUDITORS of Royal Dutch/Shell, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG will have questions to answer when the Securities and Exchange Commission gets busy with the Shell business. In focus will the alleged internal control problems. "This also brings the auditors into play because it is their job to verify that these controls are adequate," notes a report in Accountancy. For the firms, it would be proper documentation and evidence of due care that can save the day.

Real alignment with business

YOUR company's real estate strategy must be aligned with business strategies advises E&Y. Owners, developers, builders, lenders and users of real estate can achieve superior results with strategies that: Minimise operational costs; accelerate development initiatives; address financing needs by tapping capital locked in owned real estate or related collateral for re-deployment. Realty consultancy to check out.

On what eats half your earnings

IN ITS recent "Procurement Outsourcing Benchmark Report," Aberdeen argues that enterprises spend nearly half of their earnings on external goods and services.

"However, many enterprises lack the skills, expertise, and infrastructure to effectively manage procurement across all spending categories. Developing these competencies in-house can often be too costly or too time-consuming — or both." Procure the report.

DELOITTE and TeleCities have identified four cornerstones of e-government for European cities: eLearning, eDemocracy, eSecurity and reengineering. Their publication, "eCitizenship for All," notes that Information Communications Technology, or ICT, has entered the classrooms but is not yet a fully integrated component of the educational process. eDemocracy and community building is still in its infancy.

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