Moving back to corporate life- EDIT - April Fool Thread

Moving back to corporate life- EDIT - April...

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After days of discussions and thinking. I am now moving back to corporate life. I made the decision late this evening after dicussing the matter with my immediate family.

I was headhunted. It all started about three weeks ago. I finally succumbed this evening when the offer became just too irressitable to say no to. In addition, my telemarketer called today saying he just is not managing to get any appointments in my area. This is because the accountants in my area have flooded business with calls in my area.

In addition the open to all UK accountancy market really does not help. Franchiees are such a good example of this. Train them for 5 weeks, release them, back it up by great marketing, PR and systems. Qualifications, practcing certificates do not matter. Use the word Accountant and people will think your have all the necessary skills and qualifications.

I will really miss the world of accountancy practice. I enjoyed the challenges. I did not want to make the move since it means giving up my independence. After looking at the wider picture and the way accountancy market is going. I thought best to make the move since these sort of offers come only once in a life time.

I will carryon with my blog and my contributions on any answers. Some (or many!) will be pleased to hear that I will not raise many questions after I start the job. I already have a buyer in mind for the practice so please do not PM me on this matter.

My start date is 13/6. I have been asked not to give too much information since my appointment needs to go through formal board approval.

Thank you to AW and its contributors for making my practice life a lot easier.

Replies (41)

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 07:38

Shocked!

“After days of discussions and thinking. I am now moving back to corporate life. I made the decision late this evening after dicussing the matter with my immediate family.

I was headhunted. It all started about three weeks ago. I finally succumbed this evening when the offer became just too irressitable to say no to.”

I’ve never found the offers irresistible. When I had to do a part-time, temporary FD role for quite a reasonable size company I was offered the job permanently and I explained I would need to be paid a lot more than the chief executive for it to be worth my while. I wouldn’t have wanted it anyway unless they had offered really silly money.

“In addition, my telemarketer called today saying he just is not managing to get any appointments in my area. This is because the accountants in my area have flooded business with calls in my area.”

It’s certainly not been me making the calls! Are you sure it’s not an excuse?

“In addition the open to all UK accountancy market really does not help. Franchiees are such a good example of this. Train them for 5 weeks, release them, back it up by great marketing, PR and systems. Qualifications, practcing certificates do not matter. Use the word Accountant and people will think your have all the necessary skills and qualifications.”

Or experience.

“I will really miss the world of accountancy practice. I enjoyed the challenges. I did not want to make the move since it means giving up my independence. After looking at the wider picture and the way accountancy market is going. I thought best to make the move since these sort of offers come only once in a life time.”

It doesn’t make sense. Given your experience I don’t see why they would choose you – three years out of the corporate world doesn’t seem like the perfect experience.

“I will carryon with my blog and my contributions on any answers. Some (or many!) will be pleased to hear that I will not raise many questions after I start the job. I already have a buyer in mind for the practice so please do not PM me on this matter.”

Is it me?

Will you be selling both branches of your practice or just the Merton office?

“My start date is 13/6. I have been asked not to give too much information since my appointment needs to go through formal board approval.”

What’s the name of the company?

“Thank you to AW and its contributors for making my practice life a lot easier.”

You are welcome.

Will you still be organising the group you set up?

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FT
By FirstTab
01st Apr 2011 08:24

Peter

It is not you I was thinking about you as the person who would buy the clients. I would not do this.

As I mentioned in my OP at this stage I cannot mention the company name.

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 09:29

Why not? Maybe your clients would like to keep a local accountant?

I could take your smelly intern, too.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
01st Apr 2011 09:49

Good Luck

All the very best FT and please do stay logged in.

Peter, for goodness sake, your postings are so difficult to follow, especially when 90% is a copy.  Also, this is all about FT and not you.

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By Trevor Scott
01st Apr 2011 09:55

Rhetorical questions...

... Can you honestly put your hand on your heart and tell yourself that you are not ducking out of the real world and into a safe job because life it is too tough? Perhaps there are just one or two things you could do to change your perspective! 

You've spent time exercising your initiative and creativity, how are you going to feel taking orders (often daft ones considering most untrained managers/egos of directors/partners) from another person?

Do you honestly feel that you will be challenged in your new role? 

Are you sick of life, or just some parts of it?

Do you feel like retiring early?

Don't you think you're going to miss "the high" from the pressure and stress?

These rhetorical questions are not stated to be demeaning, they are intended to make you think very hard about why you are really doing this. 

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By lisimano
01st Apr 2011 09:59

Good luck

Dear FT,

from a selfish perspective I am sad to hear that you will be leaving your practice. I set up on my own a couple of years ago and I have followed your postings with great interest. You have asked a lot of questions that have inadvertently helped many others.

I hope you enjoy your new role. Good luck with everything, including the weight loss!

Best wishes

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By cathygrimmer
01st Apr 2011 10:17

Good luck

I'm sure you won't have made the decision without much soul searching - hope it works out well.

Cathy

[email protected]

 

 

 

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FT
By FirstTab
01st Apr 2011 10:18

Before I feel even more guilty - This was meant to be an April F

I cannot do this! I feel terribly guilty. I made too realistic I think.

This is meant to be an April fool thread. The well wishes and helpful comments make me feel really guilty. I am so sorry.

Thanks you for your kind words.

Though I think some of my points about Accountancy practice market are valid.

I am very sorry to have taken up your time. Thank you once again.

I wish I had a call from a headhunter. Whether I would take it- I would discuss it here first.

Please accept my apologies once again.

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
01st Apr 2011 10:26

So why did you post it on 31st March?

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By cathygrimmer
01st Apr 2011 10:28

Excellent!

Excellent, First Tab! You certainly got me. It did seem unlikely but I guessed you must have had a fabulous offer. Mind you, no offer would be good enough to make me go and work for someone else!

That's the first time I've been caught by an April Fool for many, many years. I don't have my kids today so I thought I was safe from any April Fooling attempts. Never thought they would come from AWeb!

Given me a good laugh - now back to work. You know what it's like for us self-employed people - no work = no pay!

Cathy

[email protected]

 

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 10:46

Training course needed

"Peter, for goodness sake, your postings are so difficult to follow"

I'm sure you could go on a training course to show you the difference between quotes and non-quotes.

 

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
01st Apr 2011 10:49

Haha

Read this at about 8am and guessed it was a Fool, but stupid Safari won't allow me to answer AWeb on my iPad (does anyone know why?!).

Good April Fool FirstTab - you had me going for a (very) short while!! Don't feel guilty, you got plenty of people good!!

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 10:50

Well done

First Tab

Well done. You fooled everybody. Just the timing needs to be improved and you are supposed to put a hint at the end.

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David Winch
By David Winch
01st Apr 2011 10:54

GMT and BST

If I am not mistaken the timings of postings on AWEB are GMT rather that BST.

So I think FT posted this originally at 00:15 on 1 April.

David

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By Trevor Scott
01st Apr 2011 11:01

Where is the joke?
 It just seems like another daft post about a fictional scenario that goes around in circles and generally wastes everyone’s time, which is usual for FirstTab’s posts, so just what is special about this to warrant a fool’s day posting?The only fools are those of us who have broken the habit of ignoring FirstTab’s posts to help him; the lesson learnt is to ignore him completely.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
01st Apr 2011 11:03

Good Luck

We all need it, 1 April or not!

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By cathygrimmer
01st Apr 2011 11:17

Oh dear, Trevor!

April Fool's Day isn't the day to misplace your sense of humour!

Cathy

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
01st Apr 2011 11:22

Hear, hear Cathy!

Lighten up Trevor :)

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By User deleted
01st Apr 2011 11:34

Good one!

I worked it out a couple of mins ago, purely by chance having seen an April Fool's thing on the web. Totally got me earlier though, absolute classic! Your best post ever FirstTab :)

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 11:36

All of them

The only problem I see is that all First Tab's posts look like April Fools!

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By vince8
01st Apr 2011 11:36

I agree with Trevor Scott

and thought I would miss FirstTab like a hole in the head.

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
01st Apr 2011 11:38

If you can't say anything nice

Then don't say anything at all.

Personal attacks really aren't necessary. Let's not go back to the AWeb 'bad old days,' eh?

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By User deleted
01st Apr 2011 11:50

Too right Monsoon!

I'm a great believer in not saying anything if its not nice. The world (and A-Web) would be a better place if people refrained from being rude just for the sake of it. FirstTab made me laugh this morning and that's a positive thing. And I'm glad he's not departing because, as odd as his posts can sometimes be (note sometimes, not always) they do seem to be the ones I read most!! And its by asking off the wall questions that gets everyone else sharing their habits which can often reveal the odd nugget of priceless wisdom (or fairly useful idea). 

 

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By petersaxton
01st Apr 2011 12:01

Hole in the head?

"and thought I would miss FirstTab like a hole in the head."

I've got a few holes in my head - mouth, ears, nostrils - and I would certainly miss them.

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By Moonbeam
01st Apr 2011 13:23

Thank Goodness You're Staying Put!

First Tab - it was such a good April Fool that it fooled me. On second thoughts maybe that wouldn't be too difficult!

I agree with several others that going back to being an employee once you've been self employed would be very difficult.

I am going through a very quiet phase indeed, and going mad at the same time because I cannot stand the uncertainty, but this is the downside of running your own show. Over 25 years I've had lots of quiet times and amazingly things do pick up. So if you are worried about getting new clients, just start going to a few FSB events (see their website).

And keep on with the very interesting and thought provoking postings!

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By blok
01st Apr 2011 13:35

.

Following on from Monsoon.

Why cant we post any answers on ipad.  Sometimes it works, but nearly all of the time it doesnt?

 

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
01st Apr 2011 13:42

iPad

Thanks Blok, glad it's not just me! 

I'm sure I managed to do it when I first got it, but I can't at all now. Can type a title but not anything in the main text box. Very annoying! I haven't done any software updates or anything - is it AWeb or is it Apple's fault?! I note Apple or Adobe (forget which) won't allow Flash player (I think) to be installed on its mobile platforms. Might be along those lines?

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By blok
01st Apr 2011 13:54

.

I can type in the title box, but cursor wont move onto the main text box.  Same problem as you.

I doubt it has anything to do with flash media.  That is wholly apples fault.  They dont want you to view free media on their devices.  It is one major drawback of apple products.

 

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By Becky Midgley
01st Apr 2011 15:27

iPad stuff

I've only just picked through this thread, so I've now passed your iPad query onto the tech team. I will report back as soon as I head anything.

If you do have a question that relates to your service, can you please contact me directly in case I miss it? This was hidden in a thread which was not titled as a query, so I may have missed it. Or, create an Any Answers with a clear title so I can see it is intended for us.

Cheers

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Image is of a pin up style woman in a red dress with some of her skirt caught in the filing cabinet. She looks surprised.
By Monsoon
01st Apr 2011 15:43

Thanks Becky

Didn't occur to me til I discovered I wasn't the only one with the problem!

Thanks for looking into it and indeed, duly noted about flagging it up! :)

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By Trevor Scott
01st Apr 2011 17:37

Dear Cathy and Monsoon

 

Oh dear, Trevor!April Fool's Day isn't the day to misplace your sense of humour!CathyPosted by cathygrimmer on Fri, 01/04/2011 - 10:17   I do have a sense of humour, but first there has to be something funny!Next year I’ll go to Switzerland, back in January the Zurich canton voted through a ban on April Fools jokes for health and safety grounds.

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FT
By FirstTab
01st Apr 2011 18:01

Tevor Scott and anyone else who I have annoyed on this post

Trevor thank you for your great rhetorical questions you posted.

I did not mean to insult your intelligence or annoy you. You have commented on many of my posts that I have found very helpful. Thanks for doing this.

I am sorry for causing any offence and having wasted your time.

When I saw  well wishes and helpful  comments like yours I felt terrible. Thankfully some saw through my sense of humour. Those who did not, it is perfectly understandable since, as you know, sense of humour is so subjective.

I hope you post comments on questions I raise. Otherwise, I will lose out.

Have a great weekend all.

 

 

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By cymraeg_draig
01st Apr 2011 18:33

Swiss drones

Next year I’ll go to Switzerland, back in January the Zurich canton voted through a ban on April Fools jokes for health and safety grounds.

 

Posted by Trevor Scott on Fri, 01/04/2011 - 16:37

 

Actually the funniest thing is the thought of a country being so pathetically overtaken by politically correct muppets that they deem it neccesary to ban April fools jokes. This really demonstrates just how terribly sad politically correct people are.

Why do these people want to turn everyone into boring grey little drones and stifle individuality and freedom of thought and expression ?    

Thank God they wouldnt last 5 minutes in my practice - now, I'll just light up an illicit cigarette (stuff the smoking ban) and wander down to the chip shop and put plenty of salt (banned by Stockport Council) on my chips. And to all the politically correct out there ............... get a life. 

 

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the sea otter
By memyself-eye
01st Apr 2011 20:24

Get a wife?

I have one.

Ohhh - I see, get a 'life'....

After spending two hours at the side of the M42 last night after my Rover 25 gave up its head gasket...maybe I need to.!

Still, Fours years use at £2,800 (auction price) X 40p mile X XXX thousand miles- I'm still in profit....just.

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By Trevor Scott
01st Apr 2011 20:54

It is a strange world....

The Swiss thought of banning it before...1st April 1944...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Schaffhausen_in_World_War_II#Schaffhausen

After the American Airforce bombed them instead of the Germans. Only 200km out.

 

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By cymraeg_draig
01st Apr 2011 23:08

You were lucky -

After spending two hours at the side of the M42 last night after my Rover 25 gave up its head gasket...maybe I need to.!

Still, Fours years use at £2,800 (auction price) X 40p mile X XXX thousand miles- I'm still in profit....just.

 

Posted by memyself-eye on Fri, 01/04/2011 - 19:24

 

I had a Rover - once - never again. It was a 2 litre GSi sports I bought as a stop-gap while waiting for a new car to be delivered.

It decided to die on me by leaving a trail of oil behind it, quickly followed by bits of piston, as 3 pistons disintigrated after the 4th one had punched a hole in the cylinder head. By the time I stopped the engine had completely disassembled itself and was neatly laid out in a row of parts stretching 1/2 mile down the road.

I knew it wasnt the finest car in the world, but just because I pushed it past the 100mph mark there really was no need for the engine to decide to eat itself.

Needless to say it was my first and last Rover :)

 

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By chatman
05th Apr 2011 16:03

I like FirstTab's posts

but I must admit to being of that school of thought that believes that, to be funny, April Fools tricks need an element of humour; otherwise they are just lies. 

I see that FirstTab felt guilty when he saw how many people felt genuine concern for him so he has obviously learnt his lesson.

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By cathygrimmer
05th Apr 2011 16:29

Talking of not funny.....
One of the teachers at my son's school sent home 'April Fool' homework on Friday which said the children had to write a few pages on why teachers deserve long holidays and should be paid more than footballers etc. It wasn't an obvious April Fool and some children did it - they are only 9!

On Monday there was a queue of parents waiting to complain. Oops!

Cathy

[email protected]

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By chatman
05th Apr 2011 16:29

"Why cant we post any answers on ipad. Sometimes it works, but

Apple products: they just don't work.

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By cathygrimmer
05th Apr 2011 17:16

Works for me!
My last post was from my iPad - as is this!

Cathy

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By Becky Midgley
05th Apr 2011 17:28
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