To listen to the podcast, click play. Play   Although the terms “succession planning” and “estate planning” are sometimes interchanged, in fact they are two complementary yet distinct aspects of managing what happens... read more

Wiley, 306 pages (print version) When employees start going through the motions, according to the authors of this interesting book, a slide into business failure has begun. They offer tools for engagement, looking beyond remuneration to an... read more

Greg Williams has a simple message for anyone using a tax haven to avoid paying tax, or for anyone helping them do so: “It’s not worth the risk. If you think you’re smarter than we are, then you’re not.” Williams,... read more

    Excel has a number of shortcuts that don’t handle blank cells very well. The AutoSum is one of them. When estimating ranges it will stop at a blank cell. Luckily, Excel has a quick way to select all the blank cells in a range.... read more

By Stuart CunninghamUniversity of Queensland Press, A$35 Cunningham is a senior academic specialising in the media, but he has also acted as an adviser on government policies to encourage innovation in Australia. He suggests companies should be... read more

“This [review] has its origins in the 2011 tax forum held in Canberra,” explains Greg Nielsen, senior tax partner at the Melbourne office of accounting firm Pitcher Partners. “This forum and the raising of Division 7a prompted... read more

Web: www.google.com/glass/start/ Price: Not yet available Google Glass – the spectacles‑mounted computing device – is a reality. Google has started shipping Glass to the lucky few thousand in its testing program. The rest of us will... read more

As the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’ (ASIC) prepares to reveal its annual top 10 areas of focus for 30 June 2013 financial reports, we highlight some important points about the Operating and Financial Review (OFR), which... read more

Philanthropy comes naturally to Australians. According to the World Giving Index compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation, Australia ranks as the most generous country in the world for 2012. As philanthropic activity continues to grow across... read more

    Values can frequently be imported into Excel with negative numbers. If you need to convert all the negative numbers to positives there is a technique that doesn’t involve a formula. The numbers are converted where they are as... read more

The Spring (volume 54, issue 3) edition’s special feature focuses on strategies for innovation. In the lead article, “How Innovative is your Company’s Culture?”, Jay Rao and Joseph Weintraub suggest the ability of a culture... read more

Superannuation remains central to end-of-year tax planning for many Australian taxpayers, providing major potential tax savings over the short and long term.  Much of the intense pre-Budget speculation about superannuation has proved... read more

    When you import data from other systems into Excel, the data can often contain duplicated entries. If you need to remove those duplicates Excel has a built-in feature to handle the process. You will need to ensure there are no blank... read more

“TRAVELLING ON business is one of the hardest things to manage when I’m trying to stay fit. As well as the disruption to an exercise routine, you also eat in different places entertaining clients – which then has negative effects... read more

Excel 2010 has a setting that forces all the columns to be printed one page wide. In the File Ribbon Tab, under the Print Option, there is a Scaling Option "Fit All Columns on One Page". See image on the left. This is useful for landscape reports... read more

“Sometimes swimming in the ocean is like a 10-round fight with the elements – that’s part of the attraction for us crazy people,” says Brian Cook, CEO of the Geelong Cats AFL football club. Australians have gone mad for... read more

In volume 21, issue 1, Ngoc Phi Anh Doan and Duc-Tho Nguyen’s article “Accounting in a Developing Transitional Economy: The Case of Vietnam” provides a comprehensive review of changes in Vietnamese accounting regulations and... read more

By Ron Zemke, Claire Raines and Bib FilipczakAmacom, A$24.95 This book, an update of a well-regarded 1999 edition, looks at the difficulties of managing a workforce of different generations, ranging from ageing boomers to up-and-coming Gen Y... read more

New flagship Android phones Samsung isn’t the only phone maker that’s been busy, with other new high-end Android models being released. High-end these days means a big, full HD screen (at least 4.7 inches with 1920 x 1080-pixel... read more

Jossey-Bass, 277 pages (print version) Thinking about the future can quickly become an exercise in fruitless second-guessing, but Sommers provides a good framework for exploring trends and linking them to corporate strategy. The book shows how to... read more

Dress to fit in and you’ll never stand out – but dressing with flair doesn’t mean taking big risks. Instead of a classic white shirt, try a small coloured check or leave the tie at home and wear a cutaway collar buttoned all the... read more

Popular music harbours all sorts of durable fantasies for everyone from participants to hopefuls. There’s the dream of having a No 1 single, or that fantasy about carousing at a Grammy after-party with the Album of the Year award in hand.... read more

Kogan Page, 384 pages (print version) In the past two decades logistics has taken a central place in the operations of many companies. This book advances the process a step further by arguing managing supply chains should move beyond monetary... read more

iPhone, iPad or BlackBerry? iPhone. Best travel destination in the past year? Luang Prabang, Laos. Most memorable meal overseas? Dar Yacout, Marrakech, Morocco. Top travel tip? Visit flea markets. Best airport? Sydney – excited to be... read more

The days of companies getting tricky or being just plain ignorant of international profit-shifting rules may be numbered as taxation authorities tighten the net on tax abuses. Cash-strapped governments seeking to increase revenue pools are... read more