Study shows how hard it is to cancel accounts

Tom Spring of PC World conducted an unscientific study into how difficult it is to cancel subscription services purchased over the internet, and the results are in. It’s not easily done. To evaluate how difficult canceling an online service can be, I signed up for and then canceled 32 accounts, each at a different site.Continue reading “Study shows how hard it is to cancel accounts”

MADD situation shows charities have many stakeholders

Recently, the findings from an investigation by the Toronto Star into charities have been released in the paper and they are not good for many charities, primarily MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Canada. The Star found that the charity spends only about 19 cents for every donor dollar on programs designed to help victims ofContinue reading “MADD situation shows charities have many stakeholders”

Shell and reporting sustainability

This piece in the Globe and Mail was interesting: Shell was early with “sustainability reporting” (their first annual sustainability report was published in 1998). They currently have a goal to have their (self-reported) greenhouse gas emissions 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010, similar to the Kyoto Protocols. The story was about Shell’s CEOContinue reading “Shell and reporting sustainability”

‘Tis the season for giving links

Dan Meyers of Tick Marks is caught up in the spirit of giving in his own way – he’s revisiting his special 12 Blogs of Christmas from last year around this time and giving us all a refresher on the more memorable posts from the accounting blogosphere from the year nearly ended. Since my blogContinue reading “‘Tis the season for giving links”

Global ethics and international accounting standards

The Publish What You Pay campaign is where international politics, financial reporting, and the developing world intersect. The campaign seeks to force companies in extractive industries (such as oil and gas) to make public their payments to governments in the developing world. It began in 1999 with an “exposé of the apparent complicity of theContinue reading “Global ethics and international accounting standards”