Thursday June 12 2014
HEre is one of many links on the new revenue recognition standards
Professor Elam
Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M
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Professor Elam
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 12, 2014
I ran across this gizmo on the net, and it looks like this guy has a neat idea. There are lots of portable multi
tools around but they are bulky, not this one.Check it out at pocket monkey on You Tube.
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Professor Elam
Wed June 10 2014
Socionoimics holds that social mood posits social action. Eric Cantor got a does of this in his failed re election bid. He had $5.4 M in funds, his opponent spent a mere $122,000.
In times of social mood change, throw the bums out is a popular mood, which we are seeing now. No one knows what mainstream Republicans stand for other than their own re election. Mark this as an important sociomonic moment in this eleciton year.
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Professor Elam
Wednesday June 11, 2014
The fortunes of RAdio Shack RSH continue to sag.
The stock may go to $1 which would cause it to be de listed from the NYSE. RSH lacks a coherent strategy to take it forward in a day and age of dlwonloaded songs and personal iPods and Phones. I never thought hte make it a phone store was a good iodea. I stopped at ATT on SE Military and there was a four person wait to even speak to a salesperson, and that was at 2 30 PM on a Monday. RSH used to be in the hobby business of thing a ma jigs and made some pretty decent stereo equipment. Now they are pressed to compete wtih Amazon much less Best Buy. They gave up computer sales decades ago.
Meanwhile HR Block HRB is back from the dead. A column in the WSJ today recommends its purchase.
I have recently visited with two of our studnets interning with small CPA firms. I asked if this was really a CPA practice or a glorified HR Block franchise with the necessity of becoming a CPA. My point, as we say in managerial accounting, where is the sweet spot for tax returns. If you can do a return in less than an hour, and charge $200, that may be far more profitable than doing a complex return in three hours, then re doing it becuse the client wants a smaller tax bill, and then charging say $595. Liberty, Block, and others all offer franchise opportunities ifyou see tax returns as a business model, I don't by the way but, HRB is now angling to get a slice of the Health Care Business as well.
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 5, 2014s
The ACCT 3314 class has an assignment involving financial analysis of a public company. Here are a few thoughts on the assignment, and assgnments and college in general.
1. CPAs or anyone else become experts by amassing knowledge in specific areas. It is not too soon to begin doing that with an industry or company. Pick one you are interested in and continue to write on it while you are in college.
2. Learn about that company and its competitors in the process.
3. Most of the students are only beginning to learn about the world of finance, globalization, and such. This is another reason I recommend reading the Wall Street Journal daily, it is only a buck a week. You should also scan some of the links I have like finance.yahoo and marketwatch every morning.
4. Another factor to consider in evaluating your company, where are we in the overall picture or cycle? The market has been on a tear for five years.
The ribbons of color are moving averages. Notice how far the Dow is above the red 200 month Moving Average. The time to buy was when it was the furthest below not above the MA.
Harry Markowitz won the Nobel Price in Economics for his concept of the Efficient Frontier. HIs Efficient FRontier attempted to maximize return for risk. Where would you say we are on his Risk Frontier now?
5. Warren Buffet likes to invest in companies with substantial cash flow and those that have a 'moat around them.' By that he means it would be difficult to replicate their business model. Dairy Queen, one of his companies, has extensive locations in places MCD is not likely to go, such as small Texas Towns. Does your firm have such a feature?
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 5 2014
Apply for the general TAMUSA scholarhsip by 6/30/14
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 5 2014
Creating an ethical culture begins with the message sent from the top of the organization. Read here how a culture of cover up developed at the VA. If you know anyone using the VA you are aware of their complaints. How did the top brass miss all those complaints?
While they have vastly different management styles, Eisenhower, McArthur, and Patton all agreed on one thing, you need to be at the front to know what is going on. Clearly this was not the case for the VA. Finally a whistleblower Dr. in Arizona has brought this front and center.
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Professor Elam
thursday June 5, 2014
COSO has released its first update since the early 1990s regarding Internal Controls. Compliance is just now coming along. I have listened to two of five parts on a webinar about impelemting the new rules.
The demand for certified accounting graduates continues to soar as regulations continue to be re written and new regulations emerge. Read this article to understand the growing role of accountants in our society.
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 5, 2014
Students in my ACCT 3312 class, I am not teaching 3311 at the moment, are aware I emphasize the importance of depositing required payroll taxes. I have been meaning to construct a class project on this and really should do that.
This article emphasizes the legal liability involved and what can happen, including prison, if one fails to deposit.
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Professor Elam
Thursday June 5, 2014
I was unable to link the article in today's SA Express News in the business section, For Some Job in Hand Long Before Diploma. In a nutshell, the article describes the internship program at Trinity and UTSA. These schools have chosen to be in the hunt with UT Austin and College Station as a recruiting ground for
The Big Four Accounting Firms, PWC, EY, KPMG, DeLoitte
The business model of those firms is the same as it has always been. They recruit young singles from large college campuses. They hire at what sounds like an attractive salary. But they work the person 60 hours a week or more. Burnout comes after a couple of years, the recruit looks elsewher for some real work life quality, and the firm returns to campus to recruit again. Turnover can run over80% in five years.
That is not the path I see our graduates following. The typical TAMUSA student, if there is such a thing, is likely to be over 30 with a family. Most often a she, she is liely working in an accounting or finance related job now. This makes swithcing to an internship difficult if not unlikely.
As a result I have forged relationships with
San Antonio Institute of Internal Auditors IIA
San Antonio Institute of Management Accountants IMA
and numerous resional CPA firms
Since passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, membership in the IIA has doubled. This is a huge growth field. In May I became a Board Member of SA IIA. It averages 100 at each monthly meeting. All the name firms in town are there, USAA, Valero, Tesoro, HEB, Nustar, City of SA, you name it.
In addition as a faculty we have visited numerous corporations in town in cluding
Valero
HOLT CAT
HEB
Standard Aero
Lockheed
with others to follow. Just yesterday I was at Calumet arraninging for a fall visit.
SA IIA allows me to bring one or two student visitors to their meetings each month.Already three students have become members just to take advantage of the networking. Check out our presence at the annual CPE Continuing Professional Education Day at SA IIa.
In addition we have had numerous speakers from both industry and the CPA CIA CMA world on our campus.
TAMUSA has a different student body. I have adopted a different approach and vision as a result.
Welcome aboard. Let me know of your interest in attending an SA IIA meeting. Space is limited.
Professor Elam 