A Counting School - Hardcore Chartered Accountancy

What kind of raise can you expect in 2012 at Big 4 firms?

The Big 4 accounting firms often march in lockstep. If Deloitte or Ernst & Young offer more than KPMG or less than PwC, you can expect people to start jumping ship, or otherwise being grumpy.

So it's quite handy that Going Concern has released the Pricewaterhousecoopers 2012 salary increases. This link will enlighten you. Obviously there'll never be a perfect 1:1 match between what you'll be earning and what the kids in the tower across the street will be awarded, but it's usually not too far off the mark.

And this amusingly condescending article on expenses going up and revenue going down will prepare you for the inevitable, "this is why you did an amazing job but won't be getting a bonus" conversation that Big 4 veterans in AuditLand know and love.

Good luck, your options may be limited, especially if you haven't finished getting your CA certification.

ICAO Election 2012: the old guard just barely survived

The Ontario Chartered Accountants have voted, and the results are - mixed! Here's the list of members elected to the Council:

• Arnie Bose, CA
• Marrianne Bridge, FCA
• Anita Ferrari, FCA
• Christie E. Henderson, CA
• Delna Madon, CA
• Alan T. Mak, CA
• Robert C. Scullion, FCA
• John Wright, CA

You see the three people with "FCA" after their name? Those are Fellows. It's kind of a Big Deal, as they've been around a long time and are very respected in the profession. They represent the part of the old guard that made it through.

In this election there were, however, 18 candidates, half of whom were on the record as against the merger. Three anti-merger candidates on the above list are Arnie Bose, Delna Madon and Alan Mak. They represent fresh blood and a clear sign that the members are getting annoyed with the direction the Institute has been moving in.

Of the people who didn't win, I'd say I was most amazed to see Allan Foerster not get elected - he's a respected professor and a source of much accounting knowledge, but he chose to tow the pro-merger line in his candidate biography. His cheeky comments almost made me gasp when I read them. I wonder if others reacted the same way!

Early reports indicate that voting was extremely close - the winners had to really hustle to get out the vote from what I've seen, which is incredible given that the opposition was comprised of many very young CAs, with relatively limited resumes compared to the 'natural ruling party' of the old guard.

With these young Turks joining the ranks, are there interesting times ahead at the Institute? For certain!

First time I recall reloading an archived image - this time to echo the burning turmoil in store

Who designed this election site's security?

In a fascinating way to mess with you, the designers of the proxy voting site for the 2012 Council Election added the "back" button on the final page. Just in case you left the voting booth and had a change of heart. Wow, that's just weird. At least you can request an e-mail confirmation that the results were registered according to your wishes.

I do find the level of security kind of "Mickey Mouse," though, to use a technical term - especially how you can go back and reload the page with your control ID in the URL to change your vote.

I do hope no one in the back office has access to the Control numbers that are used to unlock the individual ballots! And that voters aren't using a shared computer that would offer other users a chance to go back to that site by simply using the browser history.

Last day to vote in 2012 ICAO election online

Canada's accounting magazine The Bottom Line had an article on the ICAO elections five years ago - with a focus on those dissatisfied with the outcomes of the process. Let's see if people have more luck playing the underdog card this time.

If you miss the 5 p.m. deadline, you could go attend the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday June 20, 2012 in person. It's at 4:30 pm. I'll be busy teaching financial literacy that day so I'll go vote online now.

As I mentioned previously, this election is a Big Deal, as there's an actual competition in place: 18 candidates vying for 8 positions.

You can retrieve your voting number by going to the election page, in case you have your member number and password memorized. Alternatively, use the number on the 2012 Ballot and Proxy that came in the mail a month ago and type that in directly on the voting site.

If you're interested in hearing from a united group of 8 candidates led by the anti-merger petition organizer Ricky Tsui, who happens to be a candidate in that group, check out their site.Interestingly, more than these 8 are opposed to the merger. Candidate 8, Ryan Greaves, for example, also states in his bio that a merger is not the answer. I recommend reading through all the bios before making your decision.

I tried to give equal representation to the "pro-merger"/greybeard side of this election but I can't find a site for them other than a defunct slideshow that's been taken offline, so you can simply read the official member bios when making your decision.