How to Perform Under Pressure

Read How to Perform under Pressure (The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most) by Hendrie Weisinger and J P Pawliw-Fry.  The authors are business coaches and Olympic athletic coaches and the book is well referenced with research as well as their experience.

Key points:

1. Visualisation works not by 'I can see myself winning' but by 'I can see myself winning, so what I do I need to do to ensure I make that happen' ie plan ahead and anticipate what will be required.
2. Key factors to succeed in a pressure situation (these can be practised): Confidence, Optimism, Tenacity and Enthusiasm.  Look around - it's surprising how accurately this describes the high performers that I know.

A risk-based approach to enterprise resource planning implementations

Read an article titled A risk-based approach to enterprise resource planning implementations in Financial Management June 2015.  Drew attention to fact that many risks are not IT related but soft skill related - managing expectations, buy in and acceptance.  This link works for me only due to copyright of the article.

8 Ways to manage forex risk

Read an article from Financial Management June 2015, titled 8 Ways to manage forex risk.  Good revision for the treasury and forex work that I did at PLB.  The link here works just for me as the article is copyright.

Solvency II introduction (rules for Insurance Industry)

Several layers of hurdles, seem to be aimed at encouraging organisations to become increasingly self-monitoring (recording how they are testing themselves rather than just results):

Standard formula
Easiest to calculate but probably sets the highest bar

Undertaking Specific Parameters (USPs)
Organisation works out their own version of some of the numbers to replace assumptions in the standard formula.  Requires more work and significant justification to back up the changed numbers.  Likely to reduce the threshold.

Partial Internal Model
The organisation replaces parts of the model and records the justification of having done so.

Full Internal Model
The organisation replaces the whole model and records justification for having done so.

Split into 3 (or 4) 'pillars':

Pillar 1
Solvency requirement

Pillar 2
Risk Documentation

Pillar 3
Reporting

Pillar 4  (in some organisations, or may be included among the other three pillars)
Data Maintenance and Control

Abbreviations

ETL: Extract Transform Load
QRT: Quantitative Reporting Template

Internal Finance Control Framework

Took part in a session to revise Financial Control Framework as taking part in a large implementation.  (Restricted access notes are here).

Main points:

• Important to build in to culture of organisation
• Principles rather than rules
• Good practice: Introduction to the COSO - public domain information here.

Excel Tip: Enter the same data in multiple cells at once

Excel Tip: Enter the same data in multiple cells at once using ctl enter.  This is so simple yet so useful and will give a relative copy if used in formulae.

Notes from CIMA/BPP IFRS update, Russell Hotel, London

Changes for periods after 1 Jan 13

IAS 19 employee benefits including holiday pay
IFRS13 Increased disclosure where fair value accounting used

Changes for periods after 1 Jan 14
IAS 27 separate financial statements
IAS 28 investments in assocs and jvs
IFRS 10 consol fin statements. Vodafone is good example of explaining valuation methods
IFRS 11 joint arrangements - looks at control to define ownership

New standards affecting this year
IAS 8 para 28 about new standards adopted this period and effect
Para 30 where has not applied yet but adoption in future will affect accounts
Highlight areas requiring significant estimate or judgement

3i good example for financial instruments

Lease accounting Exposure draft could be effective in 2015
Capitalise if have right to control use of the asset.
Capitalise fair value at acquisition then depreciate
Note that leased asset are to be shown separately from owned assets
Options to renew only taken account of if there is significant financial incentive to extend (but this could be just the moving costs?)

Ifrs4 insurance

IAS 18 revenue published at 2014. Waiting for EU approval.
IFRS 15 Revenue from contacts with customers. Examples Vodafone and Arm Holdings

FRC corporate reporting review key messages - worth looking at.

Project summaries available from IAS website

Efrag website to show what standards have been adopted by EU.

To do:

Read up on FRS 102  uk gaap revised in Aug 14 effective for SMEs from 2016; info on FRC website. Staff eduction notes SEN prefix.
New std on lease accounting

Where it says early adoption permitted - remember needs to be ratified by EU first.