Hi Everyone, and welcome to the latest
NSF newsletter.
My name is Johanna Taylor, and I work as an Assistant Finance Manager
at St Mary’s NHS Trust in London. I studied CIPFA at CETC
London and finished my exams last June, having passed the IPDS interview
in November 2005. This means that while fresh from exams in the
new syllabus, I am no longer studying so I have more time to spend
volunteering.
I have now succeeded Claire Gravil as Chair of the NSF, so I will
be working hard with a fantastic team of fellow NSF volunteers over
the next year to promote your interests and your views at every
level of CIPFA, just as Claire has done so excellently over the
last 12 months.
Well, good luck for the exam results at the end of the month, and
look out for the next edition of the NSF times soon.
Kind regards
Johanna Taylor
CIPFA National Students' Forum Chair
Now that the June exams are over it is time to decide what modules
you are going to study in preparation for the December exams. If
you are attending college courses you may want to check what courses
are being offered for the Autumn/Winter semester before ordering
your OLM.
Financial & Performance Reporting is the only subject
being updated for the December 2006 exams and will not be available
for despatch until early August. All other subjects are available
and in stock now so if you can complete the order form attached
and despatch can be arranged:
www.cipfa.org.uk/students/current/olm_forms.cfm
Students whose employers do not currently subscribe to the highly
rated CIPFA TISonline service can now access the wealth of information
available on www.tisonline.net
at a new CIPFA student personal user rate of £25 plus VAT
per information stream.
TISonline provides 30 information streams covering key public service
areas including accountancy and audit; education; emergency services;
environment; financial management; health and social care; leisure
and culture; local authority funding; social housing; and taxation.
Compiled by practitioners, for practitioners, the website focuses
on best practice, practical guidance, policy background, commentary
and legislative context - a valuable tool for students at all levels.
To browse TISonline simply visit www.tisonline.net
and register; you will be emailed a password allowing access.
To subscribe or find out more, email TIS at tis@ipf.co.uk
or call 020 8667 8157.
Students should note that the material provided
on this website forms no part of CIPFA's formal Open Learning Materials
but may be viewed as supplementary materials which students may
find useful.
I’ve chosen to write this article on the treatment of long-term
contracts in company accounts because whenever I ask students on
Financial Reporting revision courses which area of the syllabus
they find most difficult, they invariably reply long-term contracts.
Long-term contracts are covered in detail in study session 6 of
the Financial Reporting open learning material.
Read the full article at: www.cipfa.org.uk/students/studylounge/technical.cfm
This article takes a look at accounting for overheads. It will
attempt to explore the part that overheads play in the planning
and control cycle. It will investigate the techniques that accountants
use at each stage to understand, analyse and control them.
Read the full article at: www.cipfa.org.uk/students/studylounge/technical.cfm
CIPFA in the Midlands Student society recently held an event which
involved a speed reading course and a course on memory techniques
run by Phil Chambers.
Many students attended and it proved to be very popular. It involved
an interactive presentation/training course on speed reading and
memory maps. (Very useful for getting through those huge study guides!!).
The day involved some unusual training exercises! It was all good
fun though and only added to a very enjoyable day. The techniques
taught were very useful and could help in remembering the vast quantity
of information needed from the study guides in order to pass those
dreaded exams. The course was split into two parts. The basic essence
of the course was to help the attendee develop techniques that help
them read quickly through factual material while at the same time
processing all that information. The other part of the course involved
memory techniques, specifically mind mapping which is useful for
remembering information that is needed in exams.
Other regions may hold events like this in the future and if you
get the opportunity to attend please do as it could make that extra
bit of difference when it comes to passing those exams!!
The CIPFA Careers Conference 2006, aimed at Newly Qualifieds and
with the theme “Moving on Up”, proved a great talking
point at the CIPFA conference this month.
Claire Gravil, outgoing chair of the National Students’ Forum
(NSF) launched the event with a congratulations to the NQs in the
room for whom the day had been organised. This celebration of exam
success was excellently received, as was the complimentary (full
size!!) bottle of wine sponsored by Michael Page for every NQ in
the room.
A fantastic prize of a Pele Brazil shirt was then awarded to the
winner of a game organised by Graham Hambly of NQ magazine; a subtle
reminder that the backdrop of the conference was of course the world
cup and hope for success of a sporting kind.
Speakers were excellent throughout the day, and if you weren’t
there you really did miss out. Nathan Elvery, the youngest FD in
the country, gave his top 10 (pop) hits for success, and reminded
the audience that there is more than one route to the top, even
if hard work is the common link!
The only Briton to have climbed Everest from both sides, Ian Woodall,
pulled a huge crowd to hear his tale of tragedy and romance with
the leadership challenge of achieving such a peak, twice.
Reed accountancy, gave an informative talk on interview techniques,
aimed at all of the NQs who are about to start their career proper.
The final speaker was Saira Khan, runner up on the first series
of the Apprentice. She gave a (very loud) talk on how to get ahead
in all aspects of your life, basically by knowing what you want
and absolutely going for it, not accepting “no” as an
answer. Saira came across as very nice, despite her on screen harshness,
and was more than happy to sign (free) copies of her book before
and after her presentation, taking time to speak to everyone and
personalise the messages for all.
In all, the speakers at the Careers Conference were a resounding
success and hugely entertaining. Some were so attractive to main
conference delegates that, once capacity was filled, would-be audience
members had to be turned away! However, the timing of the conference
(clashing with exams for students) remains an issue that means the
long term viability of the conference itself will need to be reviewed
imminently.
Thanks again to all of our speakers and all of the NQs that came
along. If you would like to give any feedback, or ideas for good
topics / speakers, please do so on the following email: nsf@cipfa.org.
Johanna Taylor
Chair, CIPFA National Students’ Forum
The historic city of York hosted this year’s National Students’
Forum conference. Literally yards from the station platform, the
venue simply couldn’t have been easier to get to – as
the 100 students attending found out.
The day kicked off with outgoing NSF chair, Claire Gravil, welcoming
students and describing the benefits of getting involved with CIPFA
by volunteering.
Speakers throughout the day were brilliant, and met with agreement
from all students. The fact that students tended to rate different
speakers as their favourite makes me content that we provided something
for everyone.
Kevin Orford was opening speaker, outshining the expected Richard
Douglas with a “behind the headlines” look at the NHS,
breaking down NHS jargon to understandable elements that gave a
round up of where the NHS is now and where it is going. A number
of students voiced their opinion that it was so refreshing to see
and hear such a senior finance professional being so direct and
approachable, indeed there were so many questions that we ran out
of time, but I will be contacting Kevin to ask for answers to the
questions I have been given, and the answers will be published in
the next edition of the NSF times, as well as on our website at
www.cipfa.org.uk/students/nsf.
George Foster, lecturer at Liverpool John Moore’s University,
and winner of the 2005 Excellence in Education award, gave his presentation
on what makes a good / bad boss, combined with personal anecdotes
to illustrate his points. Again, the personable side of this speaker
cam across excellently and student feedback on him was very positive.
Caroline Gardner, president of CIPFA, demonstrated her support
for the students in attending the conference and summarising the
newly distributed development plan for 2006 – 2011. She then
presented the Tom Sowerby award for outstanding service CIPFA students
to Dave Gardner, who works at Liverpool John Moore’s University.
Various interaction opportunities existed to network, which was
a conscious change from the previous NSF conferences after feedback
from 2005 identified this is what students want. One such opportunity
was the work / life balance workshop in the afternoon, involving
discussion between delegates, as well as the wine reception after
the conference, sponsored by Reed Accounting. Given the “family”
feel of CIPFA, the long term advantages of getting to know students
from other professions and areas within CIPFA is an excellent way
to widen your network and gavanise yourself into new opportunities.
Let’s not forget the freebies!! Students were able to fill
their CIPFA bags with freebies from the NSF, as well as from the
great sponsors, Hays, Rockpools, Nottingham Business School and
PQ Magazine who had come to display their services and give some
invaluable advice on how to make your career successful.
The wine reception, sponsored by Michael Page, was great, and
a chance certainly for everyone to unwind and relax with new colleagues,
while feeding back any comments or concerns to the NSF members who
helped the day to run so smoothly.
Without exception, every student I met said they would be back
next year. We want it to be even bigger and even better, and we
will be working with your feedback and will keep you informed as
to our programme as soon as we have it provisionally laid out.
Thanks again to everyone who came, it was great to meet so many
enthusiastic students and hear that you had enjoyed the conference.
I was also so impressed with the number of people who said they
were considering getting involved with volunteering at some level.
If you would like any further information on the NSF or its work,
or would like to get involved on a regional level, please contact
any of the regional volunteers highlighted in this newsletter, or
on the main NSF email: nsf@cipfa.org.
Kind regards
Johanna Taylor
Chair, CIPFA National Students’ Forum
An accountant is having a hard time sleeping and goes to see his
doctor. "Doctor, I just can't get to sleep at night."
"Have you tried counting sheep?"
"That's the problem - I make a mistake and then spend three
hours trying to find it."
................................................................................
If an accountant's wife cannot sleep, what does she say?
"Darling, could you tell me about your work."
...............................................................................
A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, "Want
to hear an accountant joke?"
The guy next to him replies, "Well, before you tell that joke,
you should know that I'm 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, and I'm an accountant.
And the guy sitting next to me is 6'2" tall, 225 pounds, and
he's an accountant. Now, do you still want to tell that joke?"
The first guy says, "No, I don't want to have to explain it
two times."
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