Author: GoingConcern

Job of the Day: Jones Lang LaSalle Needs a Senior Financial Analyst

Jones Lang LaSalle is looking for an experienced professional to fill a Senior Financial Analyst role in its Minneapolis and Atlanta offices.

Responsibilities include developing financial models and materials as part of project due diligence process as well as gather and evaluate economic, demographic and real estate market data for input into project specific deliverables.

Candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate, Finance or Accounting Majors preferred. CPA, MBA in Finance or Master of Tax and 2-4 years related work experience in big four firm or corporate finance or accounting group is highly desirable.


Company: Jones Lang LaSalle

Title: Senior Financial Analyst

Location: Minneapolis, MN and Atlanta, GA

Responsibilities: Consult with clients to develop and execute business incentives strategies to meet business objectives; Implement the various business and incentive programs for clients; Model various financial incentive options in multiple locations and states; Develop occupancy cost savings strategies and evaluating alternative financial structures; Daily interaction with both state and local economic development teams and internal brokerage clients; Research various state statutes and local programs; Gather and understand the various client fact patterns and, developing creative solutions and strategies, and implementing preferred approach to achieve desired results; Participate in firm marketing and business development opportunities; Contribute to the preparation of proposals, presentations and reports and interacting with clients daily.

Qualifications/Skills: Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate, Finance or Accounting Majors preferred; CPA, MBA in Finance or Master of Tax desirable; 2-4 years related work experience in big four firm or corporate finance or accounting group is highly desirable; Strong knowledge of Microsoft Excel; Strong knowledge of GAAP, P&L’s and Balance Sheet Modeling; Property, Income, and Sales Tax expertise; Strong financial/analytical skills with proven capabilities in financial modeling; Self-starter, team player, and strong organizational and communication skills; Excellent verbal and written communication skills; Ability to think independently and bring alternate points of view to the discussion; Travel required.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: Oregon Community Credit Union Needs a CFO

The Oregon Community Credit Union is looking for an experienced professional to fill their CFO role. The credit union holds over $900 million in assets and is located in Eugene.

Primary responsibilities include asset-liability management, budgeting, financial reporting, and compliance.

Qualified candidates need a minimum of ten years senior leadership experience with an advance degree preferred.


Company: Oregon Community Credit Union

Title: CFO

Location: Eugene, OR

Description: Individual is a key leader on the Executive Team in developing innovative strategy that propels our organization to success. Based on an intense understanding of current economic factors and our community at large, this individual is responsible for developing and delivering a strong fiscal vision, and must be enthusiastic about providing communication and education to all levels of our organization to achieve the vision.

Responsibilities: Asset-liability management, budgeting, financial reporting, and compliance. Successful incumbents must have an understanding of credit union operations as a whole and think both critically and strategically, possess strong written and verbal communication skills, be able to conduct complete analysis of data and present thorough recommendations, have a passion for creating a culture of success, and be eager to participate in events that support our community.

Qualifications/Skills: A minimum of ten years of senior leadership experience and Bachelor’s degree is essential; a master’s degree is preferred.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

AICPA: CFOs Want More Input from Auditors on IT Matters

This story is republished from CFOZone, where you’ll find news, analysis and professional networking tools for finance executives.

Certified Public Accountants are increasingly being asked to solve information technology problems for clients and prospective clients, according to a survey by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

But that raises a potential conflict of interest of the sort that led the Securities and Exchange Commission to keep auditing and IT consulting separate. The pressure for auditors to help provide IT solutions will persist nonetheless, says the AICPA.


“The tide has really turned this year with the economy and increasing regulations,” said Joel Lanz, co-chair of the AICPA’s Technology Initiatives task force in a prepared statement.

“As small and medium-sized companies increasingly place IT under their chief financial officers, it’s becoming much more of a broad scope of responsibility,” added Ron Box, Lanz’s co-chair.

With a renewed focus on IT-related issues, the survey makes clear that CPAs need to be literate about information technology in order to collaborate effectively with clients and their IT partners.

Data security clearly is driving the new interest, and CPAs believe the issue will persist in importance for years, the survey suggests.

The biggest surprise from the survey, Lanz told CFOZone, is the fact that “CPAs are not only providing guidance on financial issues, but there is an expectation by audit committees that CPAs could advise on different IT governance issues. CPAs are now commenting to audit committees about business operations in addition to pure financial issues.”

It’s not that CPAs are expected to be the technology expert, but the expectation is that the CPA is able to provide business insight and IT guidance which then enables their clients to effectively leverage their technology to enhance the businesses value, he added.

Is this simply recreating the problem that led to the separation post-Enron and WorldCom of audit services from consulting, much of which was IT oriented? There’s the potential for a conflict of interest here, and a slippery slope toward bad audits as result. SEC rules specifically say audit firms cannot provide IT consulting services on matters that relate to financial reporting for the same client. And the audit committee must sign off on other types of consulting services.

Lanz concedes that CPAs will have to be careful. “It is a fine line,” said Janis Parthun, senior technical manager – IT, for AICPA, but she added that CPAs can help companies avoid problem here. “Sometimes audit committees do need some education in these areas and this is where they can reach out to CPAs that have some understanding of IT to give the audit committee options to make the right decision.”

Lanz adds says that the AICPA has helped on this front with some recent guidelines. “Recent standards provide CPAs with specific criteria for when they need to communicate with audit committees, as well as the type of communication required,” he said.

A spokesman for the Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment on the trend.

Job of the Day: Morgan Stanley Needs a Tax Associate

Morgan Stanley is looking for a tax associate with a specialty in real estate to join its alternative funds group in its Park Ridge, Illinois location.

The position requires a minimum of three years experience with public accounting experience and a Masters in Tax being a plus. CPA is preferred.


Company: Morgan Stanley

Title: Associate – Tax – Alternative Funds – Real Estate

Location: Park Ridge, IL

Description: Responsibilities include all aspects of tax compliance and coordination with others (including tax attorneys, outside counsel, business unit, etc.) regarding planning.

Responsibilities: Review of federal and state and local compliance from outside service provider including coordination and monitory to ensure accurate and timely; Supervise day-to-day activity of staff and perform efficient review of their work; Work with Operations and Controllers on gathering information; Assist as requested in the independent accountant’s financial statement audit and recurring tax provision processes; Assist with federal and state and local tax return audits and prepare responses to notices issued by taxing authorities; Participate in various personnel actions including, but not limited to performance appraisals; Identify opportunities for process improvements including technology advancements and coordinate with the MS Tax technology team to develop those enhancements; Develop and maintain relationships with various other departments.

Qualifications/Skills: Motivated, team oriented self starter who desires a broad range of tax issues and has the ability to work effectively and efficiently in an environment with all levels of personnel, adept at working in a fast-paced, deadline oriented environment; Willingness to be hands-on as well as a desire to supervise and develop staff; Excellent oral and written communications, analytical and organizational skills are required; Requires a minimum of three years of tax experience, with public accounting experience a plus. Prior experience in supervising positions a plus; Real Estate partnership experience required; Certification as a CPA preferred ; Requires bachelor’s degree, Master in Tax a plus but not required; Strong PC skills required

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: Citi Needs an Audit Manager

Citi is looking for an internal audit manager to join its Audit and Risk Review group in Baltimore, Maryland.

The position requires a minimum of eight years experience with an advanced degree and certifications (e.g. CPA, CISA, CISSP) preferred.


Company: Citi

Title: Audit Manager

Location: Baltimore, MD

Description/Responsibilities: Audit and Risk Review (ARR) is a global organization of 600+ professionals covering Citigroup’s global businesses. Citigroup’s internal audit division provides independent assessments of the company’s risk and control environment. Our findings and recommendations influence business management processes worldwide and senior management decision making around the world.

Work with team to ensure all aspects of reviews and business monitoring activities are executed in accordance with ARR standards and government regulatory statutes and recommending appropriate interventions where needed. Qualified individuals have the ability to effectively communicate and develop relationships with all levels of management and with peers. Demonstrated ability to plan and provide leadership for audits or projects.

Qualifications/Skills: Must have a strong knowledge in the following areas: data retrieval and general information systems controls, financial analysis and regulatory compliance. Strong analytical skills. Require experience with Word, Excel, Access, ACL, Cognos, SAS, Oracle, Unix and HTML. Generally has 8+ years of relevant experience. Advanced degree or appropriate certification (e.g. CPA, CISA, CISSP) is preferred.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

The Technology Productivity Bureau Accounts for All Stakeholders

We all know about getting a credit rating. Whether it’s for a personal credit card, a supply chain vendor authorization, or the much maligned oligarchy who rate public companies and entire nations. Based on alion, a score is developed that (attempts) to capture the inherent risk of a credit failure.

How much could firms benefit from getting a Technology Productivity Rating?

What is the risk of a technology failure?

If an objective ratings agency existed that scored a company’s use of technology, how well would other people score your company? Who is the ‘Greece’ of technology?


To rate technology productivity, the rating has to encompass the entire organization and the way in which technology extends to external stakeholders (customers, suppliers, staff, etc). Optimal productivity from technology doesn’t simply mean newest technology. It’s not just about what technology a company uses that matters. It’s about how the technology is used. I met with a colleague in the technology industry recently who went so far as to say there’s still times when a FAX is the optimal technology for a task. It depends on the potential outcomes and workflows.

To date, I think the focus of technology productivity has been too inwardly focused in companies. Companies say, ‘How can this technology benefit us?’ instead of looking at the workflow effects for external stakeholders too. Granted, most organizations are completely overwhelmed simply by this one-sided approach. But if you look closely at some productivity software, part of the “technology” benefit is actually a workflow transfer to external parties. If I had to rate the technology, the score would decline in the event of workflow transfer being masqueraded as technology.

For example, look at productivity tools around supply chain management and recruitment:

Supply Chain Management
As a means to increase productivity, big companies implement supply chain management systems that effectively transfer the burden for account administration to the vendor companies (sometimes they even charge a fee!). For the implementing company, it is great. All the vendor information is keypunched and filed away into the database for free.

The system integrates with the ERP for invoice approvals all the way to point of payment. The internal technology productivity score is high. For the vendor, every new customer could conceivably mean a similar routine resulting is a productivity loss and therefore would rate the technology lower. A vendor with a lot of customers practically needs a Mechanical Turk just for the data entry!

Seeing these scores could be really beneficial when vendors are choosing what customers to prioritize.

Recruitment
Recruitment technology can be burdensome to external stakeholders while being helpful to internal stakeholders in a similar way. The key to recruitment technology is capturing candidate data to enable filtering and search. Some technology in this field is simply transferring the data entry task to the candidate. Each candidate types out their life story field by field, row by row. From the company standpoint, they see the output of the technology. It is good. From the candidate standpoint, they see a time sink.

Taken in isolation, this candidate time commitment is not a big deal. One candidate typing their qualifications one time in response to one job posting is fine. But what happens when the candidate is applying at a dozen jobs? Two dozen? At what point does the opportunity cost of doing a whole bunch of data entry deter the brightest candidates from these particular employers?

The brightest candidates will apply to the companies that DON’T require a massive typing drill first, selecting away from this less productive technology until it’s unavoidable. The overall technology productivity score would take this into account.

For a company purchasing new technology, understanding the opportunity costs both from your perspective and that of external stakeholders and developing a Technology Productivity Rating may not become a formal process. There is no Technology Productivity Bureau, or least, there isn’t anymore. There was… for a short time… an idea before its time… may it rest in peace.

Perhaps it’s enough to look at it from a more macro-level. Ask yourself, is my business technology liberating for stakeholders or, or are they being repressed? Then, act accordingly.

Geoff Devereux as been active in Vancouver’s technology start-up community for the past 5 years. Prior to getting lured into tech start-ups, Geoff worked in various fields including a 5 year stint in a tax accounting firm. You can see more of his posts for GC here.

Job of the Day: Alps Mutual Funds Needs an Assistant Controller

Alps Mutual Funds Services is looking for an experienced professional that has direct mutual fund experience.

Selected responsibilities include assisting with semi-annual and annual reports, audits and preparing SEC filings. Candidates should have a minimum of four years mutual fund experience.


Company: Alps Mutual Funds Services, Inc.

Title: Assistant Fund Controller

Location: Denver, CO

Responsibilities: Assist in review of semi-annual and annual reports; Assist with audits and provide support as necessary; Coordinate with the Financial Reporting Team and research issues as directed; Assist in review of annual operating expense budget; Review of monthly expense payments; Review 12b-1 payments from the Funds; Review expense ratios and make sure they are inline with projected budget; Coordinate with the Expense Team and research issues as directed; Provide review of performance calculations and other calculations as directed; Review monthly compliance tests; Preparation and/or initial review of SEC filings such as N-SAR, N-Q and 24F-2; Assist in filings such as N-1A, N-CSR and supplements; Preparation and/or review of regular Board reports as related to Administration Services; Assist in renewal of insurance policies; Facilitate questions and help provide general assistance to clients; Assist on any other projects as requested by the Fund Controller.

Qualifications/Skills: Bachelors Degree in Finance or Accounting; Knowledge of investment company industry and general understanding of accounting principles; Minimum four years direct mutual fund experience; General computer skills, including Microsoft Office (i.e. Excel, Word, etc).

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

CFOs Return to Pessimism on the Hiring Front

This story is republished from CFOZone, where you’ll find news, analysis and professional networking tools for finance executives.

More bad news on the hiring front, as CFOs say they are less likely to hire people now than they were three months ago.

According to the latest quarterly Robert Half Financial Hiring Index, six percent of chief financial officers said they plan to hire full-time accounting and finance employees during the third quarter of 2010.

In the prior survey conducted three months ago, seven percent of CFOs indicated they planned to add full-time accounting and finance employees during the second quarter. At the time, the folks at Robert Half celebrated the fact this was the highest hiring forecast since the first quarter of 2009.

Well, that party was short-lived.


Meanwhile, in the latest survey, nine percent of CFOs said they anticipate staff reductions. This is up from eight percent in the prior quarterly survey.

Add it up, and CFOs are more pessimistic now than they were three months ago. Not a recipe for bringing down the nation’s stubbornly high unemployment rate.

And accounting was supposed to be the good profession to go into because it is supposedly growing. Oh well.

Of course, the folks at Robert Half-an employment agency–put a positive spin on its results, asserting: “CFOs remain optimistic about the outlook for their businesses.”

The reality is – the job picture in this country is bleak and possibly getting worse. There is not one report out there that suggests companies are ready to unleash their HR departments.

In fact, the government’s recent report – which President Obama inexplicably predicted several days earlier would be strong – found that nearly half the unemployed have been out of work at least six months.

Even the teaching profession – long considered recession resistant and secure – is experiencing massive layoffs nationwide. Only a wage freeze movement is preventing even more teachers from losing their jobs.

Ultimately, companies need to see a connection between hiring more people and growing their business for them to decide to add to staff.

Increasing their taxes and piling more and more regulatory and policy mandates on them is certainly not going to entice companies to hire more people.

Job of the Day: BlackRock Needs a Senior Manager of Financial Reporting

BlackRock is looking an experienced professional to join its iShares Fund Administration group as a Senior Manager of Financial Reporting in its San Francisco office.

Qualifications include 10 years experience in the investment industry with a CPA and management experienced preferred.


Company: BlackRock

Title: Senior Manager, Financial Reporting

Location: San Francisco, CA

Description: This financial reporting role will include project management, contribution to technical accounting interpretation and review responsibility in managing the development, production and distribution of the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders for iShares products. The candidate will be responsible for the review and timely filing of various SEC regulatory filings, including Form N-SAR, Form N-CSR and Form N-Q.

Responsibilities: Manage development, production and timely distribution of fund regulatory/shareholder materials relating to financial reporting under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including annual and semi-annual reports, Form N-SAR, Form N-CSR and Form N-Q; Ensure that content and disclosure for regulatory filings related to financial reporting, are complete and current in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and relevant SEC rules; Manage audits for multiple fiscal year ends, including relationships with auditors, administrators and internal stakeholders; Proofread and serve as quality control for regulatory filings; Manage development and implementation of new SEC requirements as they relate to financial reporting; Seek continuous process improvement and maintain the financial reporting policies and procedures; Contribute to identifying, researching, and communicating recent authoritative pronouncements.

Qualifications/Skills: BS/BA degree in business administration or accounting, CPA preferred; 10+ years of investment industry and management experience preferred; In-depth knowledge of funds reporting under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

New Healthcare Tax Credit Should Help Small Businesses, Nonprofits

This story is republished from CFOZone, where you’ll find news, analysis and professional networking tools for finance executives.

The Internal Revenue Service recently released some information to help companies take advantage of a tax credit provided by the health reform law.

The IRS estimates that about 4 million businesses qualify, and is sending out notices to as many as possible advising them of the tax break. If you haven’t received anything but believe your company may qualify, here’s what you should know:


The credit is available to companies with fewer than 25 employees with average wages of $50,000 or less. The full credit goes to companies with 10 or fewer employees and average annual wages of $25,000 or less. It is not available to self-employed individuals.

The credit covers 35 percent of an employer’s contribution to employee health premiums, so long as that doesn’t exceed 35 percent of the average cost of a health plan in the small group market. For a tax-exempt organization, the credit is 25 percent. Once the health exchanges are set up, the credit increases to 50 percent for businesses and 35 percent for nonprofits. At that time, the credit will only be available to companies purchasing insurance through the exchange.

A company can use the credit to reduce income tax owed and can carry the credit forward 20 years or back one year after 2010. Nonprofits can use the credit against withholding and Medicare taxes owed on behalf of their employees.

A key caveat is that employers must pay for half of the premium. For most workers, especially low-wage employees, a company that does not pay for at least half the premium is offering insurance that is essentially unaffordable. Even 50 percent is most likely not enough to do low-wage workers much good, especially at small companies where health care premiums are more expensive.

The amount of the credit is based on the premiums an employer pays for, so the more generous the coverage, the greater the credit. While premiums paid for owners and their families cannot be counted, those paid for seasonal workers can be. And the IRS has defined “premiums” broadly: not only does it cover premiums for standard medical insurance but it also applies to dental, long-term care and vision insurance-though again, an employer must pay 50 percent of each premium to count it toward the credit.

Calculating the credit probably requires any small employer to consult an accountant to see if the benefits are worth the cost of providing insurance. The tax credit is in effect, allowing employers who are already thinking about health insurance for their employees to factor in the savings as they plan ahead.

As an observer, I think the key issue is whether the credit is enough to offset the rising cost of health insurance. Those costs have hit small employers the hardest. We’ll see if the tax credit makes a difference in reversing the trend among small employers of dropping health insurance for their employees altogether.

Job of the Day: Citigroup Needs a Tax Analyst

Citigroup is looking for someone to join their CFO group as a Tax Lead Analyst in New York.

Main functions of the position include state and local tax research and planning for the company and its affiliates. It requires at 5 years of state income tax planning and analysis with a JD-LLM or CPA preferred.


Company: Citigroup

Title: Tax Lead Analyst

Location: New York, NY

Responsibilities: Assist in developing income/ franchise tax planning strategies to minimize state and local income taxes, with particular focus on New York City and New York State; Provide technical assistance to trading desks and other Corporate departments in those areas in which their operations are affected by state taxes; Analyze state tax effects for acquisitions, dispositions, capital markets transactions, and restructurings; Provide technical assistance to the state tax compliance and state tax audit groups; Consult with outside advisors as appropriate; Review state and local tax legislation, regulations, rulings, court decisions, to evaluate / quantify their impact on Citigroup, Inc and subsidiaries and help develop related planning strategies; State and Local tax planning related to income/ franchise taxes; Document FIN 48 State and Local income tax positions; Draft protests and other anticipatory litigation documents.

Qualifications/Skills: JD Degree, LLM – or – CPA preferred; 5+ years experience in state income tax planning/ analysis; Self directed, able to multitask, organized, able to meet deadlines and generally provide information in a timely manner; Excellent writing skills; Electronic research skills (Westlaw, RIA Checkpoint); Fully capable in MS Office suite of products.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.