Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is South Africa’s sole provider of railway freight services. The company moves about 180 million tonnes of goods over its 17,000km of track every year and has an annual turnover of R16.5bn (£1bn). It has successfully developed what I have termed a network activity-based costing system (NABC) from scratch over the…
DetailsWho was it that said “the first step to wisdom is admitting what you don’t know”? I really have no idea – and of course I feel wiser for saying so – but I do wish that this old chestnut could be more commonly observed in business. I am often amazed at how a few…
DetailsAccountants appear to regard the use of spreadsheets to consolidate the financial statements of listed companies as unusual and somewhat unsophisticated. It is also generally considered that companies, whether listed or unlisted, that use spreadsheets to perform the consolidation, are behind the times. This article will explore some of these sentiments and examine empirical evidence…
DetailsLeadership 101: knowing, accepting and being Having the ability to lead yourself independently and authentically (self leadership) regardless of your career or position in the company is an essential quality that each New Gen should develop in order to become an effective team leader. To lead yourself you need to know yourself, accept yourself and…
DetailsFROM THE PEN Exodus revisited… The new year has started with quite a resurgence of obligations, especially amongst our world leaders. US President Obama is committed to overhauling the management of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (representing the European Union [EU] presidency) has been hard at work negotiating and managing…
DetailsI recently had the privilege of attending an International Federation of Accountants Council (IFAC) meeting where we discussed the credit crisis, its impact on different countries’ economies and the profession’s reaction to the crisis including professionals in practice and professional accountants in business. IFAC’s main purpose is the development of auditing, ethics and education standards…
DetailsTEACHERS AND PERCEPTIONS “In your report here it says that you are an extremely dull person. Our experts describe you as an appalling dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated… Whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in Accountancy they are a positive boon” (Bougen, 1994, quoting a Monty Python…
DetailsURGENT AMENDMENTS ISSUED ON THE RECLASSIFICATION OF FINANCIAL ASSETS APB APPROVAL The Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), recently agreed that the IASB accelerate its response to the credit crisis. Under this approach, the IASB sought to reduce the difference between International Financial…
DetailsLook at the history of any business and you will see organisations beset by challenges, which at particular points in time, demand extraordinary focus and attention. In the early 1990’s, ‘diversity’ was the one such focus area that took centre stage. At the turn of the century we were busy with ‘innovation’ and, as we…
DetailsA Chief Financial Officer’s response Gobble-lisation is defined as “when billions of dollars of retirement savings are gobbled-up and destroyed due to the combined effect of globalisation and a couple of turkeys at some banks that decided to sell cheap credit mortgages”. OK, I may have made up this word, but I thought that the…
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