Becaue the Extremely Esteemed and Reputable Institue of Edinburgh is so very, very extremely esteemed and etc, it is governed by a series of Boards and Committees.
Oh indeedy.
All of them made up of extremely distinguished and learned academics.
And the most distinguished, prominent and critical of these is the Audit Committee. The very name of which strikes fear into the finance department.
No missing comma, misaligned table, or erroneous page reference escapes these boys' notice. No typo is too insignificant to escape their withering scorn and demands for Immediate Action.
Every quarterly committee meeting means the production of a thick 150 page review document in which the accounts, objectives and strategies of the Institute can be scrutinised in eye pinging detail.
Production of said review document consumes all of the Finance departments waking hours, and nightmares in the weeks preceding.
So you can imagine how the balloon went up when the committee discovered there had been an error between the reviewing and binding of said review document.
And an e-mail someone had left on the printer got bound along with the document.
Between table 6 "FTE equivalents" and 7 "IFRS Restatement of Income" we had
I believe the Finance Director may have been summoned to explain this one.
Oh indeedy.
All of them made up of extremely distinguished and learned academics.
And the most distinguished, prominent and critical of these is the Audit Committee. The very name of which strikes fear into the finance department.
No missing comma, misaligned table, or erroneous page reference escapes these boys' notice. No typo is too insignificant to escape their withering scorn and demands for Immediate Action.
Every quarterly committee meeting means the production of a thick 150 page review document in which the accounts, objectives and strategies of the Institute can be scrutinised in eye pinging detail.
Production of said review document consumes all of the Finance departments waking hours, and nightmares in the weeks preceding.
So you can imagine how the balloon went up when the committee discovered there had been an error between the reviewing and binding of said review document.
And an e-mail someone had left on the printer got bound along with the document.
Between table 6 "FTE equivalents" and 7 "IFRS Restatement of Income" we had
Snorkeling in Canada
I believe the Finance Director may have been summoned to explain this one.
25 March 2010 at 20:38
Oh dear. And that's "Nude snorkelling in Canada in Milk" as far as I can see.
but Canada???!!!!
25 March 2010 at 21:34
That's 1 FTE in anybody's money!
25 March 2010 at 21:43
Ha, my partner is not only an academic but a member of a housing association audit committee (all female!). Hopefully she doesn't strike abject fear into the finance department over petty typos but she does have an eagle eye for financial irregularities or sloppiness. I don't think their reports have ever featured naked snorkellers. They would certainly liven up the rather leaden prose!
25 March 2010 at 22:14
HAHAHAHA!
And the word veri here is PORIN which almost got it right! :)
26 March 2010 at 16:22
I'm sure it brightened their day!
Sx
26 March 2010 at 20:46
Uh oh. You caught us. Screwing up your review documents is tep one on our plan for world domination, eh?
26 March 2010 at 21:55
At least he's wearing suitable safety equiment. Otherwise, he may meet with a mischief.
27 March 2010 at 11:28
And the biggest problem being that auditors take themselves so seriously that they cant see the joke.
Always liked to take charge when the Audit team turned up---tell them when I would be available and for how long----ask their advice on changes that I would never make--it made them feel important
28 March 2010 at 21:24
A sad old man writes: I like it when the auditors come round, they're the only people who take any interest in my work.
29 March 2010 at 20:59
Rog - Yup Canada - you think they do strange things like this in Cheesetown???
Mr Musgrove - Strictly speaking that looks like approx half an FTE..
Nick - Let us know when your partner is due to audit the E.E.R.I.E won't you?
Ms Veg - Probably old news to you as a Canadian, non?
Scarlet - Hmm. As auditors they may have worried over the frozen assets... or maybe the remediation issues.
Tattytiara - Even the auditors didn't catch YOU. See how successful you've been?
MmE DeF - Spoken like a true member of the Health and Safety Executive!
Clyde - Yep... A Remind me again why noone of my best friends are auditors..
Mr Musgrove - Have you phoned Price Waterhouse lately to see if they do an out of hours service??