CPA Firm Technology Blog

Gliffy - More than a Family Nickname Gone Horribly Wrong

So there I was - reviewing some websites for a proposal, and out pops a gem of an application that you might want to consider.  It's got a funny name (like most web 2.0 / AJAX sites), but it seems pretty neat.

The site is Gliffy, which was written using OpenLazlo, an AJAX development tool.  Gliffy doesn't aspire to take over your Office (they'll leave that challenge to better funded competitors like Google - and even with the best brains and lots of cash, that's going to be pretty tough to pull off).  Gliffy just wants your flowcharts.  Lots of them.  And you can do it in a browser.

If you're one of those who has used my Excel flowchart template in the past, you might want to sneak a look at Gliffy - in the immortal words of Bluto, "Don't cost nothin'"

The View from 30,000 Feet

As I write this, I am en route to Charlotte for three days of classes, and I am receiving about three requests a day from course participants for my Excel flowchart template. Since responding to requests takes time away from other pursuits (e.g. blogging, gadget 'research'), I'm reposting the file to the blog for mass consumption.
The flowchart template can be obtained from http://blog.bftcpa.com/flowchart.xls.

I hope you find this file useful when you are creating your overview (or 30,000 foot view) flowcharts.

Ken Lay: In Memoriam

In the event you haven't heard, Ken Lay passed away today.  While Mr. Lay's charitable contributions were widely noted, and he was a pillar of Houston area arts organizations, he was also the central figure in the Enron and Arthur Andersen collapses.

It's a shame that he didn't get a chance to pay his debt to society or appeal his conviction (which I personally believe would have been as useful as OJ's search for the 'real killers').  Seeing him in an orange jumpsuit would do much to provide closure to those retirees whose pensions and 401k accounts are gone due to the AA and Enron collapses.

There are no winners here - Mr. Lay's family loses its patriarch, children lose a grandfather, and the media loses its poster child for the corporate excesses of the 1990's.  Please join me in praying for all of the victims of this modern day Greek tragedy - I think we all wanted to close up the Enron scandal with folks going to jail, etc., and I'm sure Mr. Lay's family wanted a chance to appeal the convictions in both federal court as well as the court of public opinion.  It's a shame that this couldn't play itself out before his demise - many battles won't be fought now, and I don't know that anyone is going to get closure on this.

COSO releases Guidance on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (ICFR) for Smaller Public Companies

COSO released an exposure draft of their new document on ICFR in smaller public companies today.  For more information, please visit their website at http://www.ic.coso.org