The FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) and the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) recently announced a joint project to rewrite the lease accounting standard. The FASB and IASB have tentatively concluded that virtually all leases should be reported on the balance sheet. But most leases are currently considered off balance sheet financing. In an recent interview conducted by Chain Store Age, they explain how these new rules could impact retailers in a big way.

For example, a majority of store leases set by retailers can be 15 or more years, especially if you are including renewal options. But they are often structured as operating leases. By treating these now as capital leases, the impact on the balance sheet could be substantial.

Georgia Tech recently conducted a study showing the potential impact on retail companies. They estimated a median 5.3% decline in reported earnings for fiscal year 2006. The impact on the balance sheet was considerably greater: 14.6% increase in assets, 26.4% increase in liabilities. This would be a significant hit to financial ratios. These changes may mean that growth requires more capital to meet loan covenants and investor expectations. For some companies, the effect could be several times the median, depending on how they do their leasing.

FASB plans are expected to release an exposure draft later this year with a final standard in 2009. Projections when this would take effect could occur at the start of 2011. For retailers in strong financial positions, the consideration of whether they should lease-vs.-buy could tilt more to buying real estate. According to reports, there is a large discrepancy between reporting; some retailers report a large number of capital leases or owned stores, while others have none. As a result, these changes could be viewed as good or bad depending on your organizational structure.

Throughout the past couple of months, the AMTdirect team has been working hard to offer a new hands-on format to this year’s user conference. As a result, we are excited to be able to give our users an in-depth insight into our product and the industry. This year’s conference will offer a variety of new classes ranging from advanced hands-on SQL classes to the latest in Emerging Data Standards. Take a look at all the sessions being offered this year. Don’t forget! Early bird registration ends February 8.

Nearby Attractions

The location of the User Conference will be at the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte. The hotel is about a ten to fifteen minute cab ride from the Charlotte Douglas Airport. For those coming in early or staying late, there are a variety of nearby attractions.

Charlotte has seen a massive revamp in its downtown area over the past two years. Within walking distance of the hotel, we have the Blumenthal Arts Center where you can get all the best of the performing arts without buying a plane ticket to the Big Apple! The Broadway show Wicked will be playing during the month of April at the Blumenthal Arts Center.

The Charlotte Bobcats will also be having a game during the week of our User Conference and is a 5 minute walk from the Omni Hotel. Across the street from the Omni Hotel, is the new Epicenter which is a large mixed retail and entertainment center. Still craving more, then take a short stroll down the street to see the numerous bars and restaurants offering a variety of food and entertainment choices.

This year’s user conference will be focused on in-depth hands-on-training, but for those who will have some extra time, I encourage you to check out the Charlotte area. Don’t forget, if you have already registered, you still need to book your hotel room.

Corporate-sponsored volunteerism certainly isn’t a new concept. For years now, American Employees have volunteered coordinating food drives, mentoring students, serving on advisory boards and providing support to many community-based projects, often with (or without) the support of their employers. 

Increasingly American companies have begun structured volunteer programs which are integrated into core business strategies.  These programs are designed to help the communities they serve.  Additionally, they’re now also being used to help employees develop greater understanding, sensitivity and involvement in their communities.  

Here at AMTdirect our Employees with Management’s support have been involved in several community-based projects.

• A family of four who recently lost all their belongings received $350.00 in cash, a number of store gift cards and several large boxes filled with food items, household goods, etc.
• An Employee indicated a need for items to supply two children who she was fostering with clothes, diapers, toys, etc.  It was a departmental request, which was met with over-whelming Employee/AMTdirect response!  Cash, store gift-cards, food items, toys…and the list went on and on….
• Involvement Big Brothers/Big Sisters school based mentoring program is also underway.  Employees are permitted to get paid for time away from their normal work schedule to mentor a student from a local elementary school.

Besides being the “right” thing to do, this community involvement also support’s AMTdirect’s corporate values of collaboration, interdependence, accountability and stewardship.

Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history.  ~Joan Wallach Scott 

After months, maybe years, of justification, project buy-in and approvals, budgetary authorization, vendor review and selection, reference checking and protracted contract negotiation, you have finally arrived!  It’s time to begin your software implementation.  Your project will involve some or all of the following steps:  data mapping and conversion, document organization, imaging and indexing, software training, abstraction, gap analysis, first-time integration with your financial systems, testing, running parallel, creating new processes and procedures - - - it can be a lot and the project must be managed.  But this is what you’ve worked so hard for and you’re eager to begin, eager to improve your department’s and organization’s efficiencies, productivity and save bottom-line dollars, as well, with your new technology.  You’re excited - - isn’t everybody? 
Read the rest of this entry »

I recently substituted for one of AMTdirect’s Technical Support Personnel while one of our full time “Techies” was on vacation.  This wasn’t that much of a stretch for me because I used to work in that position, but it always amazes me how shocked people are when you’re nice to them.   

Where has Customer Service gone? Why should we be shocked when we get a “live” person on the line on the first try without pressing 20 buttons and wasting 45 minutes of our precious time, and why should we be shocked further by the person who answers the phone being nice to us and doing what he/she says she’ll do?  It’s such an easy thing to do – treat others the way you want to be treated, but still it’s seldom done.  Simple Solution – Be nice. 

I remember when I first started my journey at AMTdirect over 2 years ago – I was LOST!  It helps to remember where you’ve come from – not just where you are now.  That’s what I do when I work Tech Support.  I remember that a lot of the people on the other end of the line are just like I was:  wanting answers from a real person who is patient, and takes the time to work through their problem like it was my own!  They want someone who will listen to their issue, find a way to solve it, or if that can’t be done, create a case for it, and follow up!  They just want to know that their problem is not only real to them, but it is also real to someone else.  Simple Solution – Listen. 

Sometimes, the real problems also have a simple solution.  When someone works with Tech Support to solve their issue, and we take you through the steps to solve the issue, remember, that many times, you have to restart your computer before the “solution” will work. This is the computer saying, “I learned something new – now I have to add it to my brain.”  It may also be as simple as adding the url as a trusted site, or allowing pop-ups from the web site.  These little things can keep the User from getting into the system; which is a Real Problem.  Simple Solution – Restart the computer, allow pop-ups, and add the site as a trusted site.   

Sometimes, Tech Support professionals are not so lucky, and the issue is something we cannot solve on the phone, so we pass it along to the “Real Computer Gurus” to get the ball rolling.  Either way, communication is the key.  Our Clients are the most important part of AMTdirect, and without you, we wouldn’t be here.  So if you need us, give us a call or shoot us an email – we will be here for you, as always, to create Simple Solutions to your Real Problems. 

Scenario 1:  Sue is a tenant of Bob’s pursuant to a Lease with a 10-year Initial Term.  It is 6 months prior to the expiration date of the Lease, and Sue’s renewal option provides for at least 3 months written notice to Bob before the expiration of the Initial Term if Sue would like to continue her tenancy for another 5 years.  Sue’s business is prosperous, and she would like to exercise her 5-year renewal option.  Therefore, she types a letter notifying Bob of her intent to continue her tenancy, signs the bottom of the letter, and places the letter in a UPS box for overnight delivery to Bob. 

Scenario 2:  John is the LL of a 40-story building in Charlotte, NC.  The building is at 95% capacity when he is approached by Jane.  Jane would like to rent the entire 23^rd Floor of the Building to accommodate her mortgage lending business.  John is thrilled because he has been trying to rent out the 23^rd Floor for quite some time.  He currently has 2 tenants on the Floor; however, in each of their leases, John negotiated for a relocation clause, which allows John to relocate the 2 tenants upon 90 days written notice.  John may relocate these 2 tenants currently occupying part of the 23^rd Floor to other suitable space within the Building.  John decides it is more profitable to have Jane occupy the entire 23^rd Floor, so he types letters to the 2 tenants on 23^rd Floor explaining where they will be relocated within the Building.  Then, John decides, as a personal touch, to hand-deliver the letters to each of the tenants. Read the rest of this entry »

Don't Judge a PDF by its cover.

What is a PDF document? Is a PDF document only an image that you can email and print? There is much more to PDF documents than most people realize. The PDF format is a widely used standard for secure, dependable electronic information exchange that is recognized by industries and governments around the world. According to Adobe, there are more than 200 million PDF documents on the web today. The website www.wikipedia.com describes a PDF standard as follows: “the Portable Document Format (PDF) is the file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a device-independent and display resolution-independent fixed-layout document format.” Read the rest of this entry »

Amy Cisrow-Peterson of Rack Room Shoes has won the iPhone.  AMTdirect would like to thank everyone who has either read or contributed to the blog.  We have had 15 posts and 37 comments since going live.  The AMTdirect staff will continue to post once or twice weekly, so please keep reading and keep commenting.  Don't forget to read the blog the week of September 17-19 as AMTdirect will be blogging live from the NRTA 2007 Trade Show and Conference.