The phone rings. It is your boss in the accounting department and he wants you to make a presentation to your co-workers on revenue recognition.
The co-workers in question all happen to be salespeople who work for a software company. Their definition of "revenue recognition" is the day their commission check is deposited in their bank account. It seems they have been bundling software and maintenance fees which is playing havoc with your accounting. They are pulling a few other stunts in an effort to hit their monthly targets. It is your job to get them to understand the impact of their behavior on the business.
Here's how I would tackle this project. Keep in mind that I am not an expert on this particular topic but the people at Softtrax probably are.
Step 1: Determine how your audience likes to receive information.
You can turn to behavioral tools like the DISC profile or the Meyers Briggs research for help understanding different audiences. But for this exercise, we will assume that salespeople are visual. They have relatively short attention spans and don't like details. That makes them polar opposites to the accountant who will be making this presentation.
Step 2: Decide what you want your audience to take away from your presentation. If you are the accountant making this presentation, you want the salespeople to stop entering orders incorrectly.
Step 3: Write down all of the pertinent facts and sources.
Here’s what a typical accountant is going to write down in his Excel spreadsheet for this step:
¨ Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 101
¨ AICPA SOP 97-2 – licensing, selling, leasing or marketing computer software
¨ Separate components based on VSOE– “Vendor Specific Objective Evidence of Fair Value” - yes, this is straight out of the accounting literature.
¨ SOP 91-1 – Recognize revenue only after delivery of the software
Step 4: Ignore most of what you wrote in Step 3 and decide what part of this topic impacts your audience.
In this case, if orders are entered wrong, it means the salespeople will not get paid their commission. Ahah! This is why they care!
Step 5: Determine what your audience will expect you to deliver and do the opposite.
Salespeople expect accountants to be boring. So make the session fun.
TO BE CONTINUED -- To see a sample presentation on this topic, tune in to my next post.
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Geni Whitehouse CPA, CITP, CSPM Author, speaker, trainer > 50% Countess of Communication, Brotemarkle,Davis Co. > 50% Writin', speakin', consultin' Co-founder of SolveServices.com a remote bookkeeping service for wineries. How to hire me. Author How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting : 52 ways even a nerd can be heard I have a ton of other websites including my newest for Twitter newbies www.evenatwit.com Originally from Greenville, SC, I now live in Napa, California. Contact Geni
I am an accountant on a mission. I want to permanently remove the blight of BORING that has attached itself to members of my profession.
But the boring blight doesn't stop there. It's everywhere. I've found it in wineries (although it's a tad more palatable when served with alcohol), in science labs, even in Art museums. And technology people carry the "B" gene too. But the condition need not be fatal. I lecture around the country to accountants and technology audiences and I have a ball. I was a partner in an Atlanta CPA firm when I realized technology was my true passion and I have been fighting the nerd versus geek battle ever since. Through some stroke of absolutely amazing luck, I now find myself in Napa -- the most gorgeous, hospitable place imaginable. Are you on Twitter? You can follow my nerdy life there : evenanerd Contact me [email protected] I am a graduate of the Jeff Justice Comedy Workshoppe and the Persuasive Speaker course taught by Speechworks. I highly recommend both of these organizations. I have also taken training from the amazing Lynda Spillane. I am not unbiased, nor do I wish to be. I have done work for anyone and everyone in the software industry or the accounting profession. If I am not impressed by what you do or can't find an angle that is interesting or unique, I won't work for or with you. And if you are stodgy or boring, there are not enough dollars or even euros to make me help you. See samples of my writing here: www.salestaxradar.com www.mybizcounts.com Archives
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