INSIDER Files

Who'd want to impersonate the AICPA? Headhunters, apparently. Someone posing as an AICPA employee has been contacting accounting firms over the last few months claiming to need a list of the firm's employees under varying pretenses. For example, this person may say that packages are going to internal

auditors on staff, so their names are needed. In a sign of how brutal the staffing battle has become, the AICPA suspects this person is a headhunter attempting to obtain firm names, titles and phone numbers for use in recruitment efforts. The caller has no affiliation with the AICPA. If you receive such a call, please contact Jay Rothberg atjrothberg@aicpa.org.

Did you hear the one about EBITDA? Atlanta is searching for its funniest accountant. Auditions are Aug. 30, and 10 funny money guys and gals will be selected as finalists. The finalists receive a complimentary trip to a "comedy boot camp," where they'll hone their routines. The event culminates in a night of stand-up comedy by local financial professionals at the city's Punch Line comedy club on Oct. 18. The winner receives a trip to Las Vegas. Anybody employed in the metro Atlanta area as an accountant or financial professional is eligible to participate. The event is sponsored by Atlanta-based recruiting firm Accountants One. All proceeds go to Tech Corps Georgia, which helps bring technology and related skills to families in the state's low-income communities. For more information and some good jokes, visit www.acountantsone.com or www.accountantsarefunnytoo.com.

Why your marketer may jump to a law firm ... Law firm marketers make more than their counterparts in accounting marketing, a new survey by the Legal Marketing Association shows. Law firm marketers with the word "director" in their titles (as in "director of marketing") average $111,696 in salary. Average salary for directors of marketing at non-national accounting firms is $74,787, according to IPA's 2004 Benchmarking Report. The highest-paid accounting firm marketers work for firms with revenues of $20 million to $32 million and average $96,919, IPA's report shows. Law firm marketers with the word "chief in their titles (as in "chief marketing officer") bring in average salaries of $225,208 annually, according to the LMA survey. The average salary for all law firm marketers, including those with such titles as marketing coordinators, is less than $75,000, but 26% earn $100,000 or more. All but 17% receive an annual bonus, but of those that do, 51% receive only $5,000 or less, LMA reports. Updated figures for accounting firm marketers will be released in IPA's 2005 Benchmarking Report, available in October. To reserve a copy, e-mail orders@hudsonsawyer.com or visit www.hudsonsawyer.com. (Source: www.lawmarketing.com)

Is management-speak preventing you from communicating? Australian author Don Watson thinks so. We live in a world where babies are "obstetrical products," death is a "bad patient outcome," and goals are "performance targets." When businesses adopt such language, they obscure the messages they're trying to communicate. "In this language, you 'implement' rather than speak or do," he tells Newsweek. "This reflects technology and accounting ideas. It all has to do with input and outcomes" rather than effective communication. Watson's book, "Death Sentences: How Clichs, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language," is a best-seller in his native Australia and will be released stateside in May. For help on how to de-weasel your language, visit www.weaselwords.com.au.