Balanced scorecards – an airport example
Photo from thisislondon.co.uk
I have written before on balanced scorecards at London’s Heathrow Airport. London Gatwick too has a balance scorecard which has similar performance measures (e.g. security wait time, seat availability, flights on time etc.).
I noticed the monthly performance report at Gatwick was displayed publicly again, on the walk-way to the departure gates – better than a corridor to the gents for sure as at Heathrow. Both the Heathrow and Gatwick scorecards are linked to a scheme operated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the main objective of these scheme is to reward for meeting targets that improve customer service. If targets are achieved then, extra public funding can be paid to the airport, whereas failure to meet targets results in payments by the airport.
The performance measures in both these scorecards are no doubt related to a strategic objective something like “to improve and maintain customer service” – which I imagine would be quite an important objective to any airport. It seems the targets too are reviewed on a regular basis by the CAA, which means customer performance improvement is at least possible. Have a look at the scorecard web page to see more.
Cleaner transport (and cost savings?)
Back in February this year I wrote a short post about how Tesco were increasing their use of rail travel to reduce CO2 emissions. It was a good example of how to change your business to both deliver cost savings and be more environmentally friendly. In the February 2012 edition of CIMA’s Financial Management (pp 26.30), there is a great article written by Ben Schiller which provides a number of examples of firms which are seeking ways to reduce transport costs and CO2 emissions. One quote from the article sums up the problems around transport costs “many ships operating today were built to run on $150 a tonne bunker fuel, not a price four times that”. Of course, it is not only ships but all forms of transport which are facing these price increases, such as road haulage and even company cars (for example, when I bought my first diesel car just over 3 years ago, diesel was 99 cent per litre at my local station, now it’s over €1.50). As a result of these increasing costs, we can see more sleek looking fuel-efficient trucks for example on our motorways.
I found Ben Schiller’s article really great less for some examples we might know about – chip fat being converted to biodiesel, electric vehicles – but more for some real examples from firms we all probably know well. The first way firms can save on transport costs (and green up) is to bring production closer to the market – L’Oreal for example have brought some of their supply chain in-house, by producing thinks like packaging on-site. A second way, is to change the modes of transport. For example, both Philips and Tesco use canals to transport bulky product. Phillips use barges to transport goods to Rotterdam port, while Tesco ship wine between Liverpool and Manchester. In Spain, SEAT rebuilt a short rail line to Barcelona port, carrying 80,000 cars annually using 2 trains a day. Even large shipping companies like Maersk are doing things like “slow-steaming ” (or sailing slower) to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel costs.
There are more examples in the article itself. You can read an online summary here.
Is double entry accounting here forever?
Some time ago, I read a blog post on the Zoho website about double entry accounting. Zoho provide a number of business related applications. The essence of the Zoho blog post is conveyed in the title of this post. Double entry accounting has been around for the last six centuries and has been embedded in the most simple and most complex accounting software. And there are no signs of it disappearing. The have been some proposed alternatives, such as the Resources, Events, Agents model (which is sometimes used in teaching). But like the DVORAK keyboard, even if some alternatives may be an improvement on the double entry system, they are likely never to catch on. Why you might ask? Well, in my institutional theory thinking the answer is probably because the practices around double-entry accounting have been repeated so many times by so many people, that they have become the accepted way of doing things in business. In other words, the double entry system of accounting is a routine. And, not only that, there are also rules about double entry. I regard rules as written, and there are plenty of written rules of the double entry system – in text books, in software for example. If a practice has both been repeatedly performed for 600 years or so, and it has been written as a rule, the as the Zoho blog post says ” the traditional double-entry model was deeply ingrained in the business person’s and accountant’s psyches, and it was never going to be easily changed”. And it will probably remain so.
Thinking about labour costs
Paul Downs is a US business owner who writes on the NY Times Small Business blog. Here is a nice post in a series he wrote on “the numbers I track”. In this post, he focuses on the importance of tracking labour costs. This quote from the post gives a good summary of Paul’s thinking:
“I’m not sure what to think about my labor costs. I have two conflicting theories running through my head. The first: pay people what they deserve. The second: pay people just enough so that they don’t leave. In reality I’m somewhere in between the two. Payroll is our biggest single expense, and it’s easy to let it get out of control and suck up all of the profit in the company”
I’m sure many small businesses experience this same sentiment. Read the full post for more.
Facebook price earnings
I have written before about key financial ratios which can be used to analyse a business. Here is a great current example – the price earnings ratio for Facebook. The post is from a New York Times blog.
What is iXRBL
At end of last year (December 2011), Ireland’s tax collection authority (Revenue Commissioners) issued a consultation document on iXBRL. I have written a post of two on XRBL previously. XBRL is mark-up language (like XML or HTML) which has been specifically designed to assist in the electronic filing of financial reporting documents. If agreed as a global standard, XBRL would present great advantages for state agencies like tax authorities, company registries and statistical bodies. This is simply due to the fact that XBRL presents a common a relatively easy to use electronic way for businesses to file financial statements, without the need for any form of manual interference and without the need to send files more than once.
So what is iXBRL and how is it different from XBRL? iXRBL stands for “inline” XBRL. It is more or less the same as XBRL in that it uses tags to identify data within a file. For example, a tag would identify the figure for same in the statement of financial position. Using tags means that data can be intelligibly read using software, which makes data manipulation a whole lot easier. The only problem with tagged data is that is typically not human readable. Where iXBRL differs is that all the tagged data is “hidden” within a human readable document. For example, a PDF file of a company’s financial statements might include all the necessary tagged data. The major advantage of this is there no need to produce a separate special XBRL file. You can read lots more about XBRL and iXBRL here.
Fair value accounting – a brief summary
I read an article from the Guardian website last January, where a Bank of England official was suggesting that banks need to have separate accounting standards from other types of business. Some of the concerns mentioned were around the notion of fair value. This an extremely complex area, but I’ll try to summarise it here.
The basic idea of fair value is that certain types of assets and liabilities should be measured in the financial statements at a value which reflects what they could be sold for or settled for. In the main, the types of assets/liabilities concerned are referred to as financial instruments – e.g. debt, equities. There are two complex accounting standards which deal with how such instruments are measured according to fair value. IFRS 9 defines the what happens to the difference arising on fair value adjustment. Without going into too much detail, the fair value adjustment goes through the income statement/profit & loss account. As mentioned in the Guardian article, this is normally fine when markets are causing the value of the assets to increase, but it perhaps less popular when markets are falling. And, of course there is the problem of ascertaining what exactly is “fair value”. IFRS13 defines fair value as “the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date”. It also describes a hierarchy of how to measure fair value and outlines detailed disclosures which must be made in the financial statements. Of course, all this presupposes there is a reasonable way to ascertain fair value based on a market price or equivalent market price. And, as we know from recent years, there have been plenty of media reports about the complex nature of some financial instruments. I’m sure the debate on whether or not fair value is right for the banking sector will continue.
Driverless cars?
Not my normal topic, but have a read of this news piece on the BBC
Now driverless cars have been around for a while, but what will Google do, pop up ads to make money as you drive by somewhere ??
Can social data change markets?
In recent years, we have heard so much about the (financial) markets, their reactions, lack of confidence and so on. I often feel like asking who or what exactly is “the markets” and will they ever just leave us alone. The economist Adam Smith used the analogy of the invisible hand, a self correction mechanism the markets may have. More recently Chandler alone of the visible hand – the firm – which could be influenced and changes perhaps easier than something like an invisible market hand.
I’m no economist, but I do find this stuff interesting. Especially nowadays when you think if the amount of information a firm could have – social data for example. I read an article in a Forbes blog last year some time, which suggested the prevalence and increasing availability of social data might be the invisible hand that could change markets, or at least help us to understand the markets. Seems like an interesting thought – click here to read the post.
Peer-to-peer lending – a source of finance for small business?
I read an interesting article in the November 2011 issue of Financial Management, CIMA’s monthly journal. The topic was peer-to-peer finance, which was something I had only heard a little about. Given the combination currently of low deposit interest rates and high lending rates for small business, peer networks have formed and are seemingly growing fast. The basic idea is relatively simple: some business have cash surpluses and others need finance – but not at 19% (which was a rate quoted to one business mentioned in the article). Those with spare cash can group together and lend to those that need it. The risk may be lower for the provider of finance as only a small amount can be contributed, and for the borrower the rate is lower (8.9% in the case of the business the bank wanted 19% from). Two peer-to-peer lending networks are mentioned in the article – Thincats and Funding Circle. In effect such networks are like mini-money markets. They do, of course, undetake some credit checks and crediting rating, but for small business this seems to be a very sensible way to bring borrowers and lenders together.
What is a parntership? How does it change financial statements prepared?
In business, a partnership refers to the coming together of two or more persons to conduct a business. Normally, there is a maximum number of partners with exceptions made in cases like accounting practices and legal practices. A partnership is usually formed to take advantage of the combining of skills and resources. The objective is normally to make a profit, and this profit is shared out in some agreed way among partners. Losses too are borne by the partners.
As essential element in the formation of a partnership is the Partnership Agreement. This is a legal agreement (which ideally should be written) which contains items such as the following:
- the capital to be contributed by each partner
- how profits are to be divided
- any interest to be paid on capital contributions
- any interest to be paid by the partners on monies withdrawn
- salaries to be paid to partners
- arrangements for admission of new partners
- arrangements to dissolve the partnership, and procedures on the retirement/death of a partner.
In the absence of a partnership agreement, in the UK and Ireland, the Partnership Act 1890 applies (see here).
In terms of preparing financial statements, there are some differences. First, any adjustments to profit are made in a profit and loss appropriation account – which is in effect an addendum to the income statement/profit and loss a/c. For example, any interest due to or to be paid by partners, salaries etc are made here. The resulting adjusted profit is then shared among the partners as agreed. In the statement of financial position (balance sheet), each partner will have their own separate capital account. Some partnerships used a combination of capital and current accounts. The former shows only the fixed capital contributions, the latter shows profits, drawings, interest, salaries etc. This approach is probably better as the any negative balances on the current account will signify that perhaps a partner is taking out more from the business than they should.
John Teeling, founder of Cooley Distillery talks about his business
John Teeling founded Cooley Distillery in 1987. In January this year, he signed off on a deal to sell the business to global spirits firm Beam (see here) US firm to buy Cooley Distillery – The Irish Times – Fri, Dec 16, 2011. On January 14th 2012, Dr Teeling gave a very useful radio interview on his life is business. Have a listen to the podcast here (January 14th, 2012). There are a few things of interest. For example he tells the story of why Irish whiskey sales declined from 60% to 2% of the world market in the past. And how in 1960, he was one a few people in Ireland you could do Discounted Cash Flows – something we take for granted nowadays.
Pricing tips for small business
I’m a bit lazy today, sorry, so I’m directing you to a nice post on setting prices in small online business: Top 5 pricing tips for small business
Prices, costs and business failure – a few examples from Ireland
In recent years hard economic times have hit Ireland and other developed economies. According to an article in the Guardian over a year ago now, the number of businesses failing in Ireland was 5 times that in 2010 – a huge chunk of these being construction firms. I hope have some sympathy for many of the hard-working business people who perhaps have seen a lot of their money lost. But, there is a part of me (probably the accountant) who is not at all surprised at so many Irish businesses failing. Why? Am I getting more cranky (Yes, of course I am)? Well, let me give me a few of many examples I have encountered over the last few years which seem to show poor decision making. But before I do, I should say that many Irish businesses who started during the “boom” years were already doomed to failure due to a pretty high cost structure e.g. rent.
The first example dates back about 2-3 years now. In the area where I live, we collect an amount of money each year to help maintain the common greens in the area. The landscaping business doing the work was charging about €7000 per annum and a new landscaper offered to do the work for €4500. Both were sole traders with similar costs (as best I could guess at least). The original landscaper said he could not do the work for that price and would not even reduce his current price, so the business was lost. Now I don’t know what either landscaper was thinking, but it fairly obvious that the original landscaper was living in the boom years in my opinion. He could have reduced his price by some amount, say €1500. This would mean his net contribution would fall by €1500, but instead he lost €7500 – a bad decision.
The second example relates to a really nice bakery I visited recently in a more affluent part of Dublin. Yes, the price is of course going to be affected by the area, but having paid €4.60 (ok my wife bought it) for a loaf of sour-dough bread I thought this is not a sustainable business. Even people in affluent areas cut back on spending in lean times. The point here is that I thought the price was more reflective of a time four or five years ago.
The third example relates to an employee within a business. The employee left as €900 per week income was not “enough” for him. The job involved manual labour and some skills, but nothing that could not be replaced readily. The right decision was made by the business owner, which was adiós amigo. The employees decision was rather silly though, as the immediate income from social benefits would be way lower.
These three examples to some extent portray how high prices may have become engrained in the minds of business people following many years of the Celtic Tiger. I like to study how practices have become accepted/taken-for-granted, or institutionalised. When practices become institutionalised, there are hard to change. So I wonder are businesses in Ireland failing because some business owners cannot make the change in their minds to reduce costs or prices? In other words, they are finding it hard to break the institutionalised practices associated with past more affluent times. I know there are many other factors, but based on my experience, at least some business failures in Ireland result from a failure to change mindset.
The effect of volume on viability – a CVP and investment example
In January 2011, a long-planned €350 million plan to build a 600,000 tonne incinerator near Dublin port finally seen work commence on the build. As you might imagine there have been many protests against the project, which would be privately operated. At the same time, the four Dublin local authorities were also planning a land-fill site north of the city. However, in January 2012, the Irish Times reported that the land-fill site plan has been scrapped. It seems that the volume of waste now being generated in Dublin does not merit a new land-fill site. And, indeed the need for the incinerator too is being questioned. It seems that due to a combination of increased recycling and lower economic activity that the volume of waste has decreased dramatically. As a management accountant, I think of this from two angles. First, from a capital investment view, someone had to decided the ultimate size of an incinerator. This would be based on a combination of commercial viability and waste volume I assume. Second, from a cost-volume-profit (CVP) view, I wonder has anyone considered the effects of volume on the “profit” (i.e. viability) of the incinerator. According the to the Irish Times article, the volume of the incinerator should be halved – which I think should mean a full re-examination of the costs and investment involved. Of course, the counter argument is it is better to have spare capacity for cover for future increases in waste generated (e.g. improved economic activity, increasing population)
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