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• Hacked off by hackers

  Author: Melina Schamroth February 20th, 2012 at 11:49 am

  

  Ever had your car, house or store broken into?

  I’ve recently had the online equivalent. I’ve had someone break into my website causing my email to be disabled and disrupting things for a couple of days and I’m finding myself hacked off by hackers.

  And for what end? A cheap thrill? A test run of hacking prowess? Something more sinister? Read more

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  Topics: Businesses, Featured, The Web

  The business of Valentine’s Day

  Author: Melina Schamroth February 6th, 2012 at 12:30 pm

  

  What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? A chance to show someone how much you love them? A tacky event that benefits the retails sector? Or something else?

  This year I am choosing to make it my business to use Valentine’s Day to bring people together to contribute to their community.

  No matter how they might feel about Valentine’s Day, many singles feel awkward or left out at the sight of canoodling couples everywhere they look. Read more

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  Topics: Businesses, Featured, Lifestyle

  How to buy back time

  Author: Melina Schamroth January 30th, 2012 at 10:16 am

  

  What are you working on right now? Is it in line with the plan you wrote at the start of the day or the week? Or are you following a trail of distracting emails and phone calls as the day slips out of your control?

  Time management is something we all strive to improve and as much as we would like to control time, there are still many things that occur unexpectedly and tasks that take longer or are more involved than we first thought. Read more

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  Topics: Businesses, Featured, Lifestyle

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• If you don’t know what Gen Y wants … ask!

  Author: James Evangelidis February 15th, 2012 at 1:39 pm

  

  I’ve worked in and around the Accounting profession for more years than I care to remember.  With my headhunting hat on I usually work at the Partner and Director level, across both big and small accounting firms.  Amongst other topics of conversation, the subject of “those darn Gen Y staff” comes up on a regular basis.  To remove any confusion – Gen Y refers (at least in my mind) to those people born between 1980 to 2000.

  I’m sure you’ve heard the usual traits attached to Gen Y: self-absorbed, sense of entitlement, lack of loyalty, poor worth ethic and more.  You get the idea. Read more

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  Topics: Accountants, Featured, Your Team

  The most important thing

  Author: James Evangelidis February 7th, 2012 at 5:09 pm

  

  I’m assuming, if you’re reading this article, that you’re an accountant or at least working in the industry in some capacity.  Let me ask you a question … “As an accountant what is the most important thing you do for your clients?”  Over the years I’ve been given any number of responses to this question.

  Some say, “Keep my clients safe & compliant”.

  Others say,  “Make their lives easier”.

  While many say, “Get them a big tax refund”.

  However, the most common response I receive to this fundamental question is, “to add value”. Read more

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  Topics: Accountants, Featured, Your Clients

  Being incompetent has its advantages

  Author: David Smith January 25th, 2012 at 2:47 pm

  

  One of the great challenges for firm leaders is to be able to delegate effectively. It is critical that they do so. Most often capacity shortages are highest for the senior people in the practice. Delegation is enabled by good processes and training. Well documented processes enable less experienced team members to follow the documented steps which are supplemented by checklists and other tools to assist them in completing the work. Great training programs equip team members to take on more challenging work. These things should enable delegation and often they do, but it is also the case that delegation still doesn’t occur. Read more

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  Topics: Accountants, Featured, Your Team

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• Quiet heroism of Canterbury Year of Earthquakes

  Author: Julian Smith February 22nd, 2012 at 12:15 am

  Sunset over Canterbury plains

  With this week’s anniversary of Christchurch’s devastating earthquakes, the focus of the country will rightly be on the many individual tragedies that make up the story of the city’s terrible year, and the tales of extreme courage that made us all proud.

  But the story of this year too is the quiet heroism of a whole community, and the proud Cantabrians who have strived through 10,000 earthquakes to keep a city alive.

  Being a frequent visitor to Christchurch, where more than half the local MYOB team is based, has given me some insight into what it has taken to get up each day, get the kids to school, go to work – all the ordinary actions the rest of us take for granted – against the background of a damaged city, with its constant reminders of what has been lost and a continuing undercurrent of what still might come. Read more

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  Topics: Featured, From MYOB

  Little Changes. Big Impacts.

  Author: Darcy Nicolson February 15th, 2012 at 8:16 pm

  

  Five seemingly small things that will make a big difference to the way you use AccountRight

  Recently I have had the opportunity to spend time with our Seminar Presenters on the upcoming AccountRight Masterclass seminars, and had got an in depth look at the newest version of our much loved AccountRight software.

  It took me back to the day we released Premier version 12, the whole interface had moved away from a grey background to the current white look. Most of the clients I spoke to thought it looked great, and while a handful thought it was too ‘bright’, they generally appreciated the cleaner, sleeker look. Read more

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  Topics: Featured, From MYOB, Technology

  One really good reason why your business should ‘pin’

  Author: Emma Mulquiney February 15th, 2012 at 9:08 am

  

  Between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube, there’s so many social media pies that small business owners feel the pressure to get involved in.  Daily commentary tells us constantly why it’s the best way to reach out to new customers and build relationships with current ones,  and I don’t blame business owners for feeling slightly overwhelmed – after all, you’ve got a business to run in between all those tweets and likes!

  And just to add more to your social media to-do list, the newest kid on the social media block is having a moment in the sun, posting some incredible growth figures.  Pinterest, once a niche network loved by brides-to-be has just blown Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined out of the water for referral traffic in January. Read more

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  Topics: Featured, From MYOB, The Web

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