Professor Elam

Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M

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  • Professor Elam

    New Revenue Recognition Standards

    Thursday May 29, 2014

    The FASB and IASB have issued new revenue recognition standards. Hmm, I feel Spiceland 8e coming as a result. 

    Observations

    Of perhaps greater import than the Ref Rec standard, notice in this release there is no longer any talk abou tconverging the two groups. I have specualted the SEC will not give up rule makinhg authority and this is just more evidence of that. 

    The one constant in financial accounting is CHANGE. The rule making authorities are always changing the rules. I have never seen a memo saying ,

    We looked at the rules and decided that all those befrore us did a great job and therefore we are leaving well enough alone, hoping that eveyrone can learn things as they are before attempting furhter changes. 

    At any rate these FEI updates will be a handy way to update this blog!

    Here is the AICPA link to Revenue Recognition Resources.

    Accounting Today chimes in here.

  • Professor Elam

    Certification in Risk Management Assurance CRMA

    Tuesday May 27 2014

    I am reading Richard Chambers Lessons from the Audit Trail. He mentions that in the first two years the CRMA designation was offered, 13,000 individuals passed the exam. The CRMA link is here.

    In the graduate ethics class this spring, one student remarked in an essay that 'accounting has been drilled into our heads for the last few years. The class then scored an average of 3 out of 13 possible points  on an adjusting entry quiz. Drilled indeed…

    I make this post to bring this nugget of information to your attention. 

    The standard CRMA Core Exam will be a 100-question, multiple-choice exam, with a seat time of two hours. These exams will be instantly scored like all of the other IIA exams, and will be administered at Pearson VUE testing centers around the world. All CRMA eligibility requirements will apply.

    That works out to 120 minutes / 100 questions = 1.2 minutes or 72 seconds per question. 

    My point here is that none of you have any experience with such a timed ordeal. This requires very quick thinking and a high level of alert attention for a stunning two straight hours. 

    There are some 19 books and papers recommended as reading for the exam but I do not see any questions and answers. now that makes it another proposition altogether. I suspect that some questions of this type are on the CPA Audit Exam. 

    Interestingly Chambers is NOT a CPA but has the four designations offered by the IIA, no wonder he is their CEO. 

    The best preparation for any certified exam is answering exam representative questions during a timed test. 

    Period. Anything else is like taking the proverbial shower in a raincoat. 

  • Professor Elam

    I Told Ya So!

    Memorial Weekend 2014

    When we were still at St. Joe, I susggested our future lay not in Spain, Ireland, Romania, Germany or any of the other spots the rst of the faculty were taking students. Rather we should head to West Texas. BEcoming familiar with West Texas oil would likely be the key to a good job in the future. 

    Well, read this.

    Millenials spurn Silicon Valley for Texas Oil

    This time it may be different. At least they are finding more oil. That never happened in the 1974-1982 boom. 

  • Professor Elam

    Cutting Through the Rhetoric

    Memorial Weekend May 25, 2014

    On the one hand, most of our students do not read the SA Express News. Hence they are not subject to uber leftist propaganda like the Page F1 Opinion Section, American Dream Needs a Wake Up Call. This is yet another call for more government intervention in the name of fairness, we have a lack of opportunity don't you see, and American leads the world in Income Inequality. 

    The SA Express News is  Hearst Publication. Hearst bought his NY newspaper with money borrowed from his Mother, and never re paid. He then spent his life extolling the virtues of big government. 

    The article is question is written by one Joseph Stiglitz of the Roosevelt Institute, the one that is named for Franklin not Teddy. It proposes a New Deal for the 21st Century which of course is the Old Deal with even more government added. Do you think our problem is a lack of government.

    I would hope our students have adequate critical thinking skills to see the agenda that Stiglitz lays out. But I am not sure. He claims America is the most unequal income nation on the planet. Really, gee Joe, have you visited Hatii or Zimbabwae or Paraguay lately?  For that matter, stand in El Paso and look across the border to Juarez, what do you see, nirvana?

     

    He fails to note that the FED buying of bonds has injected money right to the Administration's hated One Percent at the big banks which have of course speculated in the markets doubling them since 2009. If you own lots of stock, you made lots of money. Recall that the Administration complained that Bernanke was apparently not doing enough in this department. 

    Other 'points' are the same old things, like an estate tax. Gee Joe, when did the estate tax slow down the Kennedys?  All the estate tax does is line the pockets of lawyers and CPAs and insurance companies specializing in avoiding just that, another example fo people working to produce tax avoidance, gee Joe where is the wealth creation in that. 

    And so it goes. I doubt we will see a counter point  article by Tom Sowell.

  • Professor Elam

    Specialized Comfort Bike for Sale

    Posted Friday May 23, 2014

     

     

    P1030576

     

    I bought this bike specifically to ride while for re hab after my artificial hip surgery. Specialized designed it to provide a comfortable ride with very large tubes to absorb shock, a front  50 mm travel fork, 21 speeds with mountain bike 22/32/412 front gear set, and twist grip shifters for the seven speed rear gear set. Toe clips are on both pedals and there is a water bottle holder.  The frame is 20 inchjes from th e middle of the crank to the top of the frame seat post. 

    It features anj upright riding position. It has aluminum rims iwth large 26 x 1.95 kevlar tires, I never had a flat. Tires and bike has about 1,000 miles on it, always stored indoors when not in use. 

    dennis.elam@att.net

    P1030557

    Altus rear seven speed gear set

     

     

     

     

     

    P1030561

     

    Lots of tread left on the tires.

     

    P1030563

    22/32/42 front cogs

     

    P1030565

     

    Seven speed grip shifter

     

    P1030567

    50 MM Front Fork

  • Professor Elam

    Trek 7.3 Aluminum Frame for Sale

    Posted Friday May 23, 2014

    I am posting for sale a 2006 Trek 7.3 aluminum, 22.5 inch frame (from denter of crank to top of frame seat post)

    Purchased June 2006 P1030530

    Ultra light weight wheels

    24 speed – 3 x 8

    Modified with 22/32/42 Mountain Bike main gears discarding road set up  52/38 stock gears

    ergo seat, try this and you will never go back to the traditional seat

    Handlebar computer

    Toe clips, water bottle holder

    Tires hold air, tube replaced during tune up

    Brakes and gear tune up at Pedal Power this March, ready to ride

    $295.

    dennis.elam@att.net

     

     

    XERO Lite Wheels – XSR-3 P1030538

    P1030535

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Deore 8 Speed rear gear cog

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Ergo hand grips at right, thumb shifters for 8 speed

    P1030545

    rear cogs

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Upgrde to ergo seat

    P1030542

     

     

     

     

     

  • Professor Elam

    More Tax Evasion

    Wed May 21, 2014

    Credit Suisse admits to aiding US citizens in evading taxes. CS agrees to pay a $2.5 B fine. 

    Recall hat Toyota is moving from high tax California, to Plano, TX. When will law makers get the message. Taxes are so high that no one wants to pay. The solution is to lower taxes, not increase the penalties. Fat chance of that happening, eh?

  • Professor Elam

    Accounting Scholarship – Apply Now!

    Tuesday May  20 2014

    Last summer COPAS, Council of Petroleum Accountants awarded five scholarships here in San Antonio. I alerted our students to this summer time opportunity. As I thought, less than 25 students in all of San Antonio applied and our school won two of the five. 

    Well here we go again. Teh scholarship has been up for I think a month or so, and only one application had been received as of today. 

    The deadline to apply is July 15, 2014. So here is  a high opportunity to get picked. 

    Apply here

    Click to access 2014-2015%20passa%20scholarship%20program.pdf

    Or go to the main page and click on 2014 passa scholarship program at bottom

    http://www.copas.org/sanantonio

    Accounting majors at TAMUSA are qualified. You will need to write an essay and get the endorsement of two professors. 

    To give you an idea of the lack of competition, on the day of the award, only TAMUSA showed up. The other three winners did not bother to attend!

    So get cracking, be sure to apply if you are an accounting major!!!!!!!

    Please let me know if you apply. 

  • Professor Elam

    Eye Tracking

    Monday may 19, 2014

    Eye Tracking is yet another computer technique that shows what catches the eye of the reader. This article is some help regarding a resume but is more interesting for how it portrays what the eye is looking at. 

    AS always the message here is

     

    Keep It Simple. 

  • Professor Elam

    RAX Should Not Be Left off the Rack

    Monday May 19, 2014

    RAX Should not be left off the Rack.

    What happens to a valuable company with an innovative business plan whose stock falls 60% in over a year?

    Screenshot 2014-05-19 07.20.39

    You become a take over target, that's what. Rackspace has gotten a lot of big companies interested in its cloud computing model. The fastest way to get a leg up in that market is to

    simply buy RAX. With the price depressed and its customer base still in tact, RAX is now, as the saying goes, in play. That was the reason for the big jump in price at the end of the week. 

    THis is a great lesson in just how Wall Street works. And with 5700 employees, what happens will be important for San Antonio.

    RAX has stood pretty much alone in creating  a Silicon Valley easy does it relaxed environment from a former shopping mall. Would a new buyer leave the comnpany here or try to move some or all of it elsewhere?  Certainly the cost of operating in SA is way cheaper than California.

    The founder still owns 13% of the stock so let's put this one on our watch.