Pete’s Blog

Breaking News

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

steps-to-making-progress-onlineThe new revenue recognition standard has been issued by FASB.  This model is a principles-based approach which will require more judgment to determine the amount of revenue to recognize and when to recognize.

Earlier this year I wrote an article, How The New 5-Step Revenue Recognition Model Impacts Your Organization, outlining each step businesses will use to determine the correct revenue recognition method.

For publicly held entities, the standard is effective on or after 12/15/16 and privately held one year later.

For more addtional information about the standard, read this article from the Journal of Accountancy.

To help your staff better understand the impact of these new standards I’ve developed a course What It Means to You and Your Company.

 

Get The Most Out of Every Conference

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

Much of my life is spent at conferences and conventions, so I have some pretty good insight into how to get the most out of every conference. They can be a really good experience or a big waste of time – you decide which. With some planning and effort, you can gain insight into your industry, meet great contacts and have fun. Here are some of my tips to maximize each convention.

1. After you register, use the conference planner to plan your itinerary. Review the sessions and then hone down to a day-by-day agenda–including alternatives in case your preferred session is full. If you are going to the conference with colleagues you should attend different sessions to ensure you have it all covered.

2. If pre-registration is not required, have at least two sessions in mind for every time slot. If you get to one and the room is overflowing or the topic isn’t what you thought it would be, head over to your second choice. Conventions and conferences are a great way to learn more about areas outside your expertise, so consider signing up for them.

3. Check out the exhibitor list and create a list of “must-see” booths. You will be able to cover the convention center more efficiently and still have time to wonder around. Spend enough time at each booth to gather the information you need and talk with the exhibitors.

4. Stay with the group for meals, and try to sit with people outside your normal network. Meeting new people and sharing information expands your connections and sphere of influence.
Collect and offer business cards, talk about relevant professional issues and learn a bit about the person.

5. Take notes on sessions you attend.  Suggest to your boss that each person who attends the convention present what they have learned back to the office staff. Sharing what heard and saw helps reinforce the material and is expands the ROI of the trip.

6. Have fun…but not too much fun! Unfortunately I have seen too many attendees miss significant convention time because they partied to much. Pace yourself and get plenty of sleep.

Oh, and one more thing: If I’m presenting at your conference be sure to come see me, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot and have fun, too!

Breaking News!

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

steps-to-making-progress-onlineThe new revenue recognition standard has been issued by FASB.  This model is a principles-based approach which will require more judgment to determine the amount of revenue to recognize and when to recognize.

Earlier this year I wrote an article, How The New 5-Step Revenue Recognition Model Impacts Your Organization, outlining each step businesses will use to determine the correct revenue recognition method.

For publicly held entities, the standard is effective on or after 12/15/16 and privately held one year later. For more addtional information read this article from the Journal of Accountancy.

 

Poor Soft Skills = Poor Executive Advancement

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

exec_communication_picRecently I was reviewing a 2013 survey published by Robert Half that clearly highlighted the disconnect between the investment in soft skill training and the demand for those skills in management.  CFOs reported that poor interpersonal skills, those are soft skills, were the top reason for lack of advancement from within their firm.  Here are some outstanding results from this survey:

“In your opinion, which one of the following is the most common reason for an employee’s failure to advance at your company?”

30% – Poor interpersonal skills

25% – Poor work ethic

23% – Not developing new skills

15% – Failure to enhance his/her visibility within the organization

5% – Failure to proactively see promotions and career advancement

2% – Other

Yet of these same CFOs only 19% say they would invest in soft skills training. The very reasons their staff is not ready for executive promotion, the communication and interpersonal skills that hold an employee back, are not being trained in a vast majority of firms.

To be fair, soft skills training has increased in the last 5 or so years, but that isn’t enough. Firms that want to promote from within must look at helping their staff develop both accounting/finance skills and interpersonal skills. Churning through employees and hiring top executives from the outside are demoralizing and expensive. Invest in training now or invest in recruiting new staff later. It’s that simple.

 

CFOs were asked, “In your opinion, which one of the following is the most common reason for an employee’s failure to advance at your company?” Their responses:

Poor interpersonal skills

30%

Poor work ethic

25%

Not developing new skills

23%

Failure to enhance his or her visibility within the organization

15%

Failure to proactively seek promotions and career advancement

5%

None of these

1%

Don’t know/no answer

2%

– See more at: http://accountemps.rhi.mediaroom.com/2013-06-19-Survey-Few-CFOs-Plan-to-Invest-in-Interpersonal-Skills-Development-for-Their-Teams#sthash.Fe1ROGx0.dpuf

CFOs were asked, “In your opinion, which one of the following is the most common reason for an employee’s failure to advance at your company?” Their responses:

Poor interpersonal skills

30%

Poor work ethic

25%

Not developing new skills

23%

Failure to enhance his or her visibility within the organization

15%

Failure to proactively seek promotions and career advancement

5%

None of these

1%

Don’t know/no answer

2%

– See more at: http://accountemps.rhi.mediaroom.com/2013-06-19-Survey-Few-CFOs-Plan-to-Invest-in-Interpersonal-Skills-Development-for-Their-Teams#sthash.Fe1ROGx0.dpuf

Customer Service Extraordinaire: Ciao Bella

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

ciaobella_logoHow many of you are tired of poor customer service?  Ever feel the phrase “good customer service” is an oxymoron? My pet peeve (to be fair, one of my pet peeves) is when I am seated in a restaurant and somehow become invisible to the wait staff. So frustrating. But then I came across an Italian restaurant named Ciao Bella in Bloomington, MN, a town outside of Minneapolis, and my faith in customer service was renewed.

I was in Minnesota presenting two full-day courses at the Minnesota Society of CPAs and Ciao Bella’s was very close to the hotel I was staying.  So, despite the late-March snowfall, I decided to walk over to Ciao Bella for dinner.  I walk in at 6 PM on a Tuesday evening to find a completely packed bar. I make my way through the crowd and find an empty bar stool at the corner of the bar which is directly behind the beer taps, virtually invisible to the bartender.

Within seconds the bartender, Brittany, came over and asked how my day was and would I like a cocktail.  I was in shock! I didn’t have to send up a flare, smoke signals, or fake a heart attack to get her attention.  Get this, I ordered my cocktail and within two minutes (not three, not four, not five) Brittany delivered my cocktail and with a great big smile asked me if I was going to stay for dinner. Crazy, right?  I must be in the Seinfeld episode, Bizarro World.

As I was reviewing the menu, Damien came over and asked if everything was okay and would I like to place an order (remember I am sitting behind the beer taps). As I was enjoying my dinner, both Damien and Brittany checked to see if everything was okay. During my meal, I noticed the bartenders interacting with other patrons, and it became very obvious that there were many, many regulars that night.

After dinner I ordered another drink and asked for the check. When I examined the check I noticed that my second drink order was missing. When I told Britney that she forgot to charge me for the second drink, she replied ”we take care of our newbies.” I was speechless. I had a look on my face of ultimate confusion, and felt like I was in the Twilight Zone!  Wow, this was incredible: they made me feel like I had been coming to this restaurant for years.  As I left, I was thinking that they couldn’t do this again tomorrow. Could they?

Next day I arrive Ciao Bella at 5:15 PM and again the bar was packed plus the dining room was about 90% full. Again I found a barstool at the other end of the bar behind those bar taps, and was immediately greeted by Brittany who remembered me AND my flavor of an adult beverage. This was really intriguing, and I wanted to learn more. I started a conversation with the man sitting next to me only to find out that this guy is the “Mayor of Ciao Bella’s.” (Norm from Cheers is a better analogy but I threw everyone a curve with the Twilight Zone reference). The “mayor” frequently travels to this part of Minnesota, and every time he’s in town he has dinner here. Guess what, he’s been doing this for over five years and he knows all the employees by name because, as he states, “nobody leaves.”  He even knows their spouses. I asked him why he thought nobody leaves, to which he replied, “they take care of their people very well.”

About that time the manager of the bar, Sue, comes over to me and says, “you here last night, right?” Sooo (Minnesota accent) I engaged her into a long conversation about why Ciao Bella’s treats their people so well while many others in the business do not.  Sue reiterated that the restaurant’s mission statement is all about treating people with the utmost respect, their own Golden Rule, that applies to both the internal customer and the external customer. This is amazing – very low turnover in the restaurant business is extremely rare. I should know because I am Greek and was raised in the restaurant business.

I was so amazed by this conversation that Sue introduced me to the general manager, Scott Schoeing, The story that Scott told me mirrored the conversation that I had with Sue. Treat people well and you’ll be amazed what they will do for you. A simple concept that can be applied to all businesses, divisions, departments, customers, and clients.  Sometimes we make things way too complicated when simple is powerful.

Bottom line, if you ever find yourself anywhere near Bloomington, MN, take the time to stop in to Ciao Bella’s for dinner and experience for yourself their customer service extraordinaire.  Be sure to say hello to Britney, Damien, Thea, Scott, Sue, Naomi and Michael, and please tell them I said hello and I will be back again.