08/ 01/ 2004
Is there a GAAP? When your small business prepares financial statements, do you follow GAAP – generally accepted accounting procedures? A task force of the American Institute of CPAs has launched an initiative to study the effectiveness of financial reporting for constituents of privately held businesses. NFIB is participating in the process and encourages members to voice their opinion on the subject.
Whiners welcome. Instead of frowning on complaints from employees, a new survey finds you should embrace their gripes. In a recent Harvard Business Review, author John Weeks says that complaining about a job or company is good, even when nothing is done about it. “People complain about their companies for the same reasons they complain about the weather – not because they hope to change anything, but because these small rituals of negativity draw people together,” says Weeks, who studied the “ritual of complaint” at a British bank. “These complaints can help strengthen social bonds and build a sense of community.”
Time Out. Americans are workaholics, logging more hours at the office, on average, than employees in any other industrialized country. And while Europeans average five to six weeks of vacation a year, Americans are lucky if they squeeze in two. But John de Graaf is starting a movement to free Americans from the chains on their desks. He has declared Oct. 24 “Take Back Your Time Day,” a chance for the country to slow down and realize the negative impact of our overstressed, overworked lives. Why a date that falls on a Sunday? Oct. 24 marks exactly nine weeks before the end of the year, highlighting the additional nine weeks Americans spend at work each year compared to Europeans.
