According to the 2007 Volunteer IMPACT survey by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, 62% of Generation Y employees said they would prefer to work for companies that give them opportunities to contribute their talents to nonprofit organizations, but only 26% said their company mentioned volunteering during recruitment.

Moreover, 80% of the survey respondents identified themselves as volunteers, and 97% believed companies should offer employees opportunities to volunteer their work-related skills to nonprofits.

Source: www.deloitte.com.

A majority (58%) of executives said it was uncommon for their company to assign mentors, either formally or informally, to new hires in their accounting and finance departments. Only 13% reported this practice to be very common.

Source: Accountemps, www.accountemps.com .

(Percentages rounded)

Source: The Uniform CPA Examination, www.cpa-exam.org .

Firms use thousands of dollars and work hours to make change initiatives a success—and then the bottom falls out. Or in this case, employee commitment to the change drops off, and all signs point to failure.

Richard Lepsinger, a human resources consultant and co-author of Flexible Leadership: Creating Value by Balancing Multiple Challenges and Choices, provides six tips for keeping employee support high following a change:

Be forthright about the change and its impact. Open and honest communication makes change easier, so keep executives accessible to respond to employee questions and concerns.

Model behaviors that support the change. Lead by example so employees do not see both old and new sets of rules and behaviors, thus diminishing the credibility and importance of the change.

Don’t put your plan on auto pilot. Unanticipated problems and opportunities will undoubtedly arise after the change is in place, so expect to revise objectives and be ready to promptly communicate them to employees.

Set realistic objectives and milestones. Don’t set employees up for failure; as they reach attainable goals, they’re more likely to see the benefits of the change.

Don’t underestimate the resources required. Provide adequate resources for employees to complete both their regular jobs and their new duties associated with the change implementation.

Maintain enthusiasm and excitement. Continuously communicate the benefits to employees for the duration of the initiative (not just at kickoff) and offer a reward system for reaching objectives.

Source: OnPoint Consulting, www.onpointconsultingllc.com .

Among Fortune 500 CFOs promoted to their position, 33% were previously controllers, 19% were treasurers and 14% were senior financial generalists.
But in companies where the CFO was recruited externally, the position went to controllers only 4% of the time. Outside hires were most likely to be corporate or divisional CFOs (58%) or CEOs or general managers (17%).

According to executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, a controller’s key to CFO success lies in developing both financial expertise and participative leadership skills.

Source: Korn/Ferry International’s Navigating the Uncertain Road From Controller to CFO: The Leadership Imperative, www.kornferry.com.

Source: Investment Company Institute’s The Economics of Providing 401(k) Plans: Services, Fees, and Expenses, 2006, www.ici.org .

Participating groups included Disregarded Entity, Industry Audit Guys, Terminal Liability, and the University of Washington’s Beta Alpha Psi band, Facial Depreciation, which wowed the crowd with its songs “House of GAAP” and “We Will Audit You” (sung to the tune of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”).

After almost 200 attendees cast their votes, the Accounting Crows, from the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Bellevue chapter, took top honors. The winning band is composed of Pete Miller, CPA, CFE; Malcolm Edwards, CPA; Doug Cruickshank, CPA, J.D.; and Mike Monroe, CPA, ABV, who were all employees of Bellevue firm Clark Nuber P.S. during the May 19 event (for the evening, the group received permission to use the stage name of West Hartford, Conn.-based CPA band the Accounting Crows, who, according to Edwards, “have been out of the garage for some time”).

The event, sponsored by the South King County Chapter of the WSCPA, raised $2,000 for the accounting departments of the Des Moines, Wash., campuses of Highline Community College and Central Washington University.

—Tom Byrne, CPA

The number of companies using the five-story Ugland House in George Town,
Cayman Islands, as their address. The office building was mentioned in several
Senate committee hearings regarding U.S. tax compliance implications and tax havens.

Source: Senate Finance Committee, http://finance.senate.gov .

Authorities say that Sessing, an assistant day manager at Cooperative Plating, fed his addiction by stealing small amounts of silver from his employer over the past three years. Although the plant noticed the shortages right away, it initially was blamed on faulty equipment. It was not until the thefts got bigger—and the company upgraded security systems—that they connected Sessing to the fraud.

A grand jury has indicted Sessing, who allegedly sold the silver to a precious metal dealer, on seven counts of felony theft.

—Joseph T. Wells, CPA, CFE, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

Note: Competency assessed on a scale of one to five with one being the lowest and five being the highest.

Source: Protiviti’s Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey , 2006, www.protiviti.com .

Ninety-five percent of respondents saw employee and benefit costs as a challenge of some type, with 25% classifying it as a major challenge. Rounding out the top challenges were the availability of management, professional and technical skills, regulatory requirements and staff turnover and retention.

More than 85% expect pricing and cost increases for employee salaries and benefits, with almost 45% predicting healthcare costs to increase by more
than 8%.

Source: AICPA Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey , 2nd quarter 2007, http://fmcenter.aicpa.org .

CPA and consultant Steve Erickson developed 10 tips to help firms in achieving their hiring and retention goals.

Increase focus and efforts. Make recruiting a year-round focus, engaging both partners and employees in the process.

Build an employee referral network. Use it to find employees and offer your expertise to other accountants while spreading the word about the profession through speaking and writing engagements. Focus on reciprocity—make referrals for other firms and don’t burn bridges.

Differentiate your firm. Build firm unity through consistent messages and a clear focus on external and internal service strategies—become an employer of choice in your market.

Work on the “good” clients. Evaluate your clients—employees want to do valuable work and be associated with successful clients.

Create a culture of success. It is not about work/life balance, but about work/life success. Find a way to make your employees feel more successful.

Turn good intentions into performance. Consistent communication that results in mutual benefits for everyone will create a culture of trust within a firm.

Define success for every member of the firm. Ensure that everyone understands where the firm is going and how they fit into the plans.

Set up a reverse mentoring program. Take the initiative as a leader to get feedback from those you supervise.

Reduce internal competition for resources. Create a system of governance to efficiently schedule and manage your people, and ultimately, better serve clients.

Eliminate negative talk. Move past the limiting negative
attitudes by using a positive approach to solve the profession’s staffing issues.

Source: Steve Erickson, CPA, LLC, www.steveericksoncpa.com .