Business Improvement

Archive for September, 2011

Locksmith Freedom

Too Much Freedom?

MA has no restrictions on the Locksmithing Industry.

Our country was founded on the idea of freedom. But allowing anyone to be in charge of the security of your business or family is just going too far. In Massachusetts there are absolutely no restrictions when it comes to certification of a locksmith. They do not need to be licensed bonded or even have the slightest clue as to how a lock works! Just put a number in the phone book and off they go… putting your business and family’s well being in jeopardy.

It is absolutely outrageous that something so important in this day and age is not being taking seriously by anyone in or around Boston. Steps need to be made by lawmakers and legislators alike to help filter out the fake locksmiths who will not only charge ridiculous prices but who will also not even do the job correctly!

A very nice woman came into our shop today here in Randolph with a bill she received from a sub contracted phony locksmith. He charged her for a service call 30 to rekey a deadbolt and 25 in labor. She was confused and upset and so was I. In my book rekeying the deadbolt IS the labor! Why was she charged twice? She wanted to have it rekeyed one more time because she did not trust the man who went to her home. When we took the cylinder out to rekey it it was grinded down and ruined. The man had over charged her and ruined her lock! What a crook.

One organization that is working to correct this problem is the Associated Locksmiths of America ALOA. You can visit them online at www.aloa.com to learn more about what they do and how they are working to rectify such a large national problem. Here at the Flying Locksmiths we rely on more than just our 63 years of creditable service. Every technician is certified through ALOA and obtained a rating of Certified Registered Locksmith. We are urging everyone to find a local Boston MA locksmith they trust before they need one. It can’t hurt to program that number into your phone for emergency use and it might save you a lot of trouble.

The Flying Locksmiths A Local Boston MA Emergency Locksmith

About the writer:  The Flying Locksmiths is a GENUINE local family owned and operated full service locksmith provider. We have been servicing the Boston MA area for over 63 years!

International Financial Reporting Standards To Replace Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP has for many decades now been the reporting standard imposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board FASB for the United States. Though GAAP has been the standard for American Accounting it will soon be replaced by an international set of accounting standards. These standards are appropriately called International Financial Reporting Standards IFRS and are currently the accounting standards used by the rest of the world. These IFRS were adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board IASB who continue to develop and interpret the international accounting standards used today. Some notable countries that have already made the switch to IFRS include Australia Canada the European Union Russia Turkey and Singapore. The United States is one of the last major countries to make the transition to IFRS and soon U.S. GAAP will no longer be the standards for American Accountants to follow. As being apart of one of the last countries to convert we are faced with a small advantage over the rest of the world. European companies made the switch in 2005 and were given less than two years to do so. The United States was provided the ideal position of having a much longer time frame in which the conversion must take place. U.S. companies registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have been required to file their financial statements according to U.S. GAAP and in August 2008 the SEC released a timetable which allows some companies to file according to IFRS as early as 2010 and all companies will be required to file according to IFRS by 2014.

This transition to International Standards will not take place seamlessly as the United States has grown very accustomed to reporting their financial statements according to U.S. GAAP. Many U.S. Colleges and Universities are not as prepared for this switch to IFRS as they would like to be and many of the Accounting textbooks that current students are following do not include enough if any of the International Standards that they will soon be required to adhere to. As a result the slim amount of students actually being taught this information at college are being lectured by their professors who may not have the amount knowledge necessary to support the teaching of these standards. Soon the CPA Certified Public Accountant exam will be formatted around IFRS which means new accounting majors will be forced to fully understand these concepts. If these accountants are fresh out of school and want to become a CPA which is a title most accounting majors would want pursue they will have to teach these new concepts to themselves.

Why does the United States need to follow these international standards instead of following U.S. GAAP which they are so comfortable using? Why must we change to accommodate the rest of the world? This is a difficult concept for most Americans to grasp; as the United States has for a long time had the strongest economy and currency and therefore has set the rules for the world to follow. The United States cannot be the ruler of the world any longer as many other countries are emerging with their own strong economies. Highly advanced communication techniques between countries and continents have transformed the world into a global market. This newly globalized world is attempting to function as one unit and in order for that to happen there can be no exceptions to participating countries. The United States must accept that it can no longer be the superior country and must begin to act as an equal with the rest of the world. In order for the United States to be considered an equal in the accounting world they must begin to use the same set of standards as the rest of the world; therefore IFRS must eventually replace U.S. GAAP.

What will be the differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS that American accountants will need to learn? As a result of the FASB and IASB currently being involved in the process of converging U.S. GAAP and IFRS the differences between the two are shrinking. However one overall difference between IFRS and U.S. GAAP still remains; IFRS uses a set of principles to follow while GAAP uses a set of specific rules to follow. For American accountants this will mean that the specific situations and rules which they are so comfortable following will no longer be used to solve U.S. accounting dilemmas. The international principles will serve as a set of guidelines rather than rules for accountants to follow. A couple other differences between the two standards include: the exclusion of the last in first out LIFO method a single step process for weakening writedowns as opposed to the regular two step process contingencies will have a different probability interval and measurement objective disallows fixing debt covenant infringements after the current yearend. The differences between the reporting standards can provide significantly different figures for a companys financial statements so the international standards are being implemented to ensure that the financial statements are reported to the same standards as the companies in other countries around the world.

As the financial crisis continues to weaken the US economy preparation for the IFRS is being placed on the back burner by many corporations and businesses in the US. Many places of business have even stated that they have ceased to make any attempts of preparation for this change. Although this major change seems distant it is recommended that the learning process not be delayed by procrastination. By pushing off the learning process a place of business may be making a huge mistake concerning its financial statements.

How will companies know where to begin and what to do? Who is going to take the initial steps in order to provide this essential material? The big four firms have taken hold of this situation and have provided their employees clients and even the general public with important information and helpful tips in order for them to readily adapt to the IFRS. PricewaterhouseCoopers has an entire portion of their webpage dedicated to this change. Some information provided on PwC webpage accessible to anyone includes: checklists practice aids advice articles written by their IFRS specialists surveys interviews and much more. Deloitte provides elearning tools on their webpage with downloadable modules which contain a massive amount education instruments for corporations to educate their employees and clients. Countless users from one hundred and thirty different countries are registered and currently taking advantage of this available information. Deloitte is also becoming involved with advising college students in the classroom. In a few select universities Deloitte professionals are acting as lecturers; providing college students with case studies and course materials in attempt to educate accounting majors. Ernst and Young also provides elearning documents and publications available to corporations and the online community. Ernst and Youngs webpage also provides a drop down list for internet users to choose their country of residence and read a short paragraph of information which provides the reader with specific concerns based on the country they chose. In addition KPMG provides IFRS training to their clients. The KPMG training offers presentations training sessions conferences and online documents. The big four firms are doing their best to provide as much information as possible to keep the business world wellinformed and prepared for the indubitable future changes.

Although these standards may seem distant and may require an immense amount of time for adequate adaptation they will be extremely beneficial in the future. With a uniform set of standards for the entire business world this change will provide a massive amount of comparability and therefore have the potential to be exceptionally effective. Provided that corporations can successfully complete this learning process and adapt to the IFRS it is the goal that the world will be on the same page or at least financial reporting wise.

About the writer:  The author has spent over 20 years helping industrial organizations and small business owners get and keep their ideal customers.

Increase Sales Today: You Can Increase Sales Today When You Focus On The Right Things

The quickest way to increase sales today is to focus on the right things. The right things to focus on for immediate sales are: your marketing your selling process and your customer loyalty system. These 3 key areas will lead to more sales today and in the future.

The right marketing sets you up for increased sales today. Traditional marketing is ineffective for the small business owner/service professional. Your marketing needs to be very focused in who you are communicating to the message you are communicating and the low risk call to action that gets your ideal prospects reaching out to you. The better you understand your market the easier it is for you to develop a marketing plan that results in qualified leads entering your sales funnel.

Hard sell tactics do little to help you increase sales today. You will increase sales today when you change the focus of your appointments to helping the buyer to discover the best solution for them. When you take that approach the buyer is actively engaged in the sales process and working with you to identify the best option for them.

Loyal customers increase sales today and every day in the future. Loyal customers provide repeat business qualified referrals and help you to develop strategic alliances that open the door to even more customers. When you have loyal customers you are looking at the lifetime value of a customer who does repeat business with you over and over again rather than a one time sale.

Focusing on the right things helps you to increase sales quickly and easily. Focusing on the right things increases sales today because you set appointments with the right people when you hold the appointment you are starting a longterm relationship and that longterm relationship results in more appointments with other right people.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Would you like to learn more about your sales skills? Try this Sales Skills Analysis and find out where your opportunities for improvement are.

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