(cross-post from my other blog, Attestation Update)
Extensions available!!!
Just a reminder, California now has mandatory peer review. First deadline is rapidly approaching for firms whose first peer review is due July 1, 2011. This would be CPAs whose licenses end in 01 through 33.
The Cal Society has a memo on their website allowing extensions.
See announcement here.
To get an extension, a firm must: (more…)
Here is a superb illustration of outcomes measurement from audio recording of Nathan Adam’s presentation at the 2011 Christian Leadership Alliance conference in Dallas:
Recidivism rate of faith-based prisons was a small fraction of the state prisons.
When he worked in the Florida state government, there were three faith-based prisons in the state. Their recidivism rate was 1/16th the rate of the state prison.
Two weeks ago I attended an old west re-enactment in a city near my home. Between skits, one of the re-enactors noticed I was wearing a hat that said “USS Midway,” which is a carrier that was in service from the end of WWII to 1991. It is now a museum in San Diego.
He asked if I was a veteran. Didn’t understand his interruption at first. As I asked him to repeat himself, I remembered the hat I was wearing.
“Are you a veteran?”
Here is the full text of my article, Essentials of Internal Control, appearing in Church Management News from Bank of the West. The online article is here.
The article discusses three key ideas:
Essentials of Internal Control
By James L. Ulvog, CPA
The business administrator of a nearby church has been formally charged with embezzling close to $1 million over four years, according to a recent newspaper article. Few details are publicly available. I have friends who worship there, so this hits close to home. I grieve for my friends, the congregation, believers whose faith has been shaken, and even the accused man and his family.
Last year, the bookkeeper of a women’s shelter in my area was sentenced to one year in prison for embezzlement. The executive director of the center was quoted in a newspaper article as saying the shelter had to sell one of their several houses in order to keep operating. The director said eighty women and their children were denied services.
I was going to start this article with a rational appeal to logic as the way to encourage more emphasis on internal controls in our churches. Instead, I would like you to ponder the devastation that follows in the wake of a disaster that can arise from a breakdown in internal controls. The previous reports are only two examples. One of the main goals of developing internal control is to prevent these situations. I could tell you of many more tragedies. A few moments of searching the internet will find dozens of stories.
I have a new cartoon posted at Once Upon Internal Control showing good internal controls in a local church. The dramatization is based on a reporter calling for comment about rumors of a high-flying lifestyle.
Cartoon called: When a reporter calls, good procedures save the day. Visit the other blog for the cartoon. I will be posting cartoons there.
The discussions on the revisions to lease accounting are starting to get technical. I am going to continue discussing the proposed revisions but will do so on my other blog, Attestation Update. If you think that stuff is cool, check out that blog for a May update and future discussions.
The recession officially ended in June 2009. Broad economic stats confirm that.
And yet…
Does it feel that way to you?
Me neither.
The employment data is making it feel like the economy is still in a lot of distress. Here is a graph that, I think, shows why I’m sensing some distress.
I wrote an article for Bank of the West called Essentials of Internal Control. It discusses one superb internal control you should be using for cash, explains that trust is not an internal control, and offers a creative idea to improve control over cash.
A one sentence summary of internal control is at the end of this paragraph:
One place where churches often struggle to have good procedures is the way they count the offering. Those struggles discussed in my cartoon:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuboFGqXAi4]
No Two Alike
Why do they sing choruses/hymns? What’s wrong with hymns/choruses?
Why do they build cathedrals/shacks? What’s wrong with simplicity/honor?
Why do they stand/sit during worship? What’s wrong with sitting/standing?
Why do they ignore/demand time? What’s wrong with punctuality/relationship?
Just launched a new blog, Once Upon Internal Control, at www.onceuponinternalcontrol.com.
That will be the home of cartoons I create to illustrate the ideas from the book of the same name. Will also have extracts from the book and eventually the full text.
The team at Econstories.tv have made the Fear the Boom and Bust and Fight of the Century available on MP3. For free. If you enjoyed the video, you might enjoy the mp3.
The videos of the rap songs are also available for download. For free.
You can get them on the right side of their home page, linked above.
Been thinking about the inflation data I posted earlier today. Also been thinking about data visualization – how do we accountants present data so other people can see what we see. Lets go back to the monthly inflation data for the last 2 1/2 years.
I see a major change at the end of 2010. Inflation moved from a plateau of reasonable amounts (all things considered) to a high level. All at once. How to show that?
April inflation data is out. Adjusted for seasonal factors the increase was 0.4%. Without seasonal adjustment it was up 0.6%. That makes adjusted increases for last five months 0.4, 0.4, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.4. Not good numbers and a worse pattern. That’s a 2.2% increase in consumer prices in five months.
Put the data into a graph like last month. Also added the adjusted amounts. Here’s the graph:
I have not followed the turmoil surrounding Greg Mortenson and his book, Three Cups of Tea. I have no idea whether the information in the report by 60 Minutes is correct or perhaps even understated. Perhaps, just maybe, they left out so much of the other side of the story that there really is not any story. I do not know.
However, there is a lesson to be learned for all of us, regardless of whether story has substance or the reports are totally hollow:
Guard the reputation of your ministry.
Paul Nelson is a member of the World Vision board of directors. He has an article up on the issue that reminds all of us in the non-profit world to be attentive to the integrity and reputation of our ministries. I commend the article to you: Lessons from “Three Cups of Tea” controversy.