About 2

Accounting, Bookeeping and Financial Reporting

2010-11-19T19:21:00.001-08:00

Three important terms are easily confused. They are: Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Financial Reporting. What are they, how do they interrelate, and how do they interface with accounting policies and procedures? First, let’s define the terms.

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping and accounting share two basic goals:

· To keep track of income and expenses, thereby improving The Company’s ability to achieve profitability
· To collect the necessary financial information about The Company’s business to file required reports and tax returns

Bookkeeping refers to the actual transactional entering and recording of data. Examples are writing checks, processing payroll, making deposits, recording disbursements, and recording receipts.

Accounting

Accounting encompasses the broader responsibilities of developing and maintaining the accounting system under which bookkeeping functions are performed and generally falls within the top ten job responsibilities of a CFO.

Accounting is concerned with the timely and accurate recording of transactions, providing useful management information, and properly reporting such information for various user needs. Developing and maintaining an accounting system involves setting up and maintaining an appropriate chart of accounts for the particular business.

Accounting policies and procedures

are then established to provide guidance and internal control for all possible financial transactions, from source documents (checks, sales orders, etc.), to journals (payroll journal, cash disbursement journal, invoice register, etc.), to the general ledger, (based on the chart of accounts), and ultimately to a variety of reports for all internal and external needs.

Bookkeeping and reporting can be thought of as the input and output of a complete accounting system. Accounting policies and procedures ensure:

· Integrity of the input data; and

· Accuracy and validity of the output report.

Reporting

Reporting, (the output of the data generated through various bookkeeping functions), is used for both internal and external purposes. Internal Reports are reports used within the company, by both management and other designated personnel. Internal reporting can be further divided into non-financial and financial data.

Non-financial data

Non-financial data includes a variety of measurement and productivity data, applicable to the specific business. These can be daily customer count, web page “hits”, production activity per employee hour, units and the total weight of product shipped, or even daily weather conditions.

Financial data

Examples of financial data reports include:

· Financial statements – Profit and loss reports (income statement), balance sheets and cash flow statements
· Daily reports with critical balances, such as sales, cash level, inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable
· Segmented profit and loss reports (or P/L) on specific jobs, profit centers or departments
· Register reports, listing all transactions for specific areas such as, payroll, checks, receipts, invoices, etc.
· Listings of source data files such as customer, employee, vendor and inventory lists.
· Aging reports for both Customers (accounts receivable or A/R) and Vendors (accounts payables or A/P)
· Inventory reports for costing and valuation
· Exception reports – open purchase orders, back orders, inventory stock outs.

External reports are generated for the use of people or organizations outside of the business. Generally, one of the more important users is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and various state and local taxing authorities. Required income tax returns can be prepared more easily from financial reports that are classified in a comparable manner. A tax practitioner is usually retained to prepare and file these returns. The report most commonly requested of the company is the general ledger and related financial statements.

Report data and format will vary depending on the user:

· Banks, lending institutions. To observe the financial viability of a business and to determine its ability to support additional amounts and types of debt financing

· Employees. To determine the stability of the business of their employer – this may be useful in wage negotiations

· Suppliers. To assess the suitability of granting credit terms to a business

· Existing and Potential Investors. To assess the potential risk of investing in a business and to monitor the status of existing investments in a business

· Public. To gain more insight into any business, which is legally required to make certain financial information available

· Government. To fulfill the requirements of all applicable local, state and federal reporting statutes, including income, sales, insurance, property, and payroll tax returns

· Media / Press. To use available business reports in a specific trade and business publications

Accounting Software Program Structure

To navigate more easily in any accounting software it is important to understand the basic organizational structure that is common to all accounting software. In spite of all the ancillary menu options and all the different terms used by competing accounting software products, there are really only three major components of any accounting software package: Input, Output, and Maintenance.

Input refers to all of the “bookkeeping” tasks discussed above. This includes entering invoices, checks, bills, payments, payroll, accounts payable and adjusting entries. Each accounting software may “disguise” this input function under different names: “tasks” or “activities”, or it may include specific input functions separately under each cycle area, or it may simply provide icon pictures of activities to be clicked on. Regardless of the specialized “look” of the program, the most important and most heavily used routine in any accounting software is data input.

Output refers to all of the reporting functions of the program. Once transactional data has been entered, the only usefulness in having it entered is the ability to retrieve it in a variety of report formats. Generally, these reporting options are found grouped together under one menu, not surprisingly labeled, “reports”! However, some programs, they are scattered throughout the menus as appendages to each major cycle activity.

Maintenance encompasses accounting tasks and can be broken down into two sub-categories: utility maintenance and data file maintenance. Utility maintenance refers to overall utility features like backup, restore, import and export data, fiscal year close, purge, or condense and repair data. These are all usually found on one menu and are generally placed under administrative password control to prevent unauthorized use.

Data file maintenance does require data input, but the input is not transactional. This refers to the creation and maintenance of the chart of accounts (in support of the general ledger), the customer list, vendor list, inventory list and employee list. These are generally found in one area usually labeled “maintain” or “lists”. In other programs they may be separated and found within each module (i.e.: customer list in the accounts receivable module or revenue cycle).

Understanding how your own accounting software works, (where its input, output and maintenance functions are), is as important as understanding the actual double entry accounting that is occurring “behind the scenes”. As you will discover throughout the Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual, you need to know how the numbers have developed and where they came from, in order to establish effective accounting policies and procedures to insure their integrity, accuracy and completeness for financial internal control.

Quotes

2010-11-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

" Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall"

"A mother only does her children harm if she makes them the only concern of her life."

"For all their strength, men were sometimes like little children."

"All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem."

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…"

"You can make those promises with just as much passion the second time around. Such is the regenerative power of the human heart."

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."- George Washington

" Enjoy Life, this is not a rehearsal....."

" Learn to accept the reality of yourself as someone with strengths and weakness, who will have some good days and some bad days"...

" If you love life.... life will love you back"......

" Heal the past.....Live in the present........Dream the future.................."

" Don’t count the days.......Make the days count............."

" Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall"

" The Key to happiness is having dreams, The Key to success is making dreams come true".....

" Good times, become good memories, Bad times, become good lessons"....

" Success is to get what you want but Luck is to keep what you get"......

"Networking linking the like-minded wherever you may be, linking the very hearts, minds, souls to help to realize goals, making the world a smaller place to live, meet greet, work and be a success..."

Marriage in Syria

2010-10-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

The cost of 'forever after' in Syria

Marriage in Syria can be very expensive, bearably expensive, or just about affordable.

Even 'affordable' is becoming difficult

Depending on where one stands, marriage in Syria can be either very expensive, bearably expensive, or affordable. In many cases, the word "affordable" is becoming difficult, to say the least.

To be peacefully married, with a decent life is the ultimate Syrian dream, yet pursuing this dream is a daily struggle for the majority of Syrians, especially young people with few savings to help afford the increasing expenses of getting married and having a nice wedding. Yet what is fascinating about this subject is the variety of options created. There are many ways to cover those expenses, old ways, new creative ways, though not all pleasant.

“I didn’t have a wedding.” Smiling Suha speaks about her marriage expenses; a 27-year-old lady, Suha revealed that “after three years of engagement waiting for my fiancé’s financial situation to improve, there was no other solution but to compromise; I had to give up the beautiful white dress and the dream night, well, actually I had a dress ... but just a simple 5,000 SP rented dress, a small dinner party with close family members in our house, and that was it.” And that wasn’t the only compromise. According to Suha, she didn’t have a honeymoon or any other 'Just Married' luxuries and that helped in reducing the total cost; the dinner cost 25,000 SP and with the dress and a few new clothes the total amounted to only 50,000 SP. “But I am married now! And that’s all that matters to me! We've now been married for three years, I guess the absence of a great ceremony didn’t doom us, but we saved a great deal of money; I wouldn’t be married now otherwise.”

Such compromises do not exist in most bride-to-be situations as Hani, the 34-year-old governmental employee, relays. He had to get a bank loan just to cover the wedding expenses. “She wanted it all! The fancy party, the expensive menu, and of course, the prestigious car, our wedding was perfect, everyone was pleased, but I had to live with the loan payments for the next five years!” In accordance with Syrian traditions the groom is obligated with most—if not all—the wedding expenses and is basically burdened with figuring out a way of gathering the money needed. “I was dancing with friends in my wedding party but all I was thinking about was a way out of my debts. I consider myself to be lucky because I own a small suburban house but between the furniture, the invitation cards, the dinner party, the live band, the rented car, and the jewelry I was in debt!” According to Hani the wedding had cost him approximately 600,000 SP ($12,000); the hotel reservation was $2,000 including dinner, the Limo for two days was $1,000, the band took $1,500, videotaping and photography set him back another $1,000, the gold and jewelry (bride’s gift) a further $3,500 and the rest was for the bride’s clothes, dress and make up. Hani continues, “Looking back now ... it was all a big waste of money, just to get married in style.”

These financial problems facing men are not exclusively related to the ceremony, everything is combined; from finding a house within which to establish a family to arranging every detail concerning getting started with that life. “No one can afford marriage in this country counting on his salary alone, that’s just a myth...” Ahmed says nervously. “You have to rent a house, you can’t actually own one now! Unless you were born with the golden spoon, then came the bride’s price, the Mohr … I don’t know why we still do that, but my father-in-law insisted on being paid the Mohr which was 500,000 SP made up of cash, jewelry, and my fiancé’s clothes.”

Mohr—the money that must be paid by the groom to the bride at the beginning of the marriage has mainly disappeared or become rare in Syrian society. “People are becoming rational now,” Sana’a, a lawyer, explains. “Families are realizing that this amount of money can be just symbolic, and most of the grooms now don’t pay it. They use it to get the house, or pay for the wedding and the honey moon instead.”

Another option exists to ease up the burden, an old/new trend; residing at the parents’ house after getting married. For couples who don’t mind living in the parents’ house it’s much easier to get married and start their lives together since they spare the money for renting/buying a house, and they subsequently share daily living expenses with the family. “I’ve been married for six years now with a four-year-old child,” says Saleh who lives with his wife and child in his parents’ house and thinks it’s a good deal in terms of saving money. “The wedding did cost me some money but I was fine with it since am going to be living with my family, the restaurant dinner party cost me 100,000 SP, the brides gold and clothes were about 100,000 SP, the videotaping 10,000 SP and of course the traditional wedding hype band was 25,000 SP and that was it mainly—250,000 SP.” Saleh continues “We have our own room, but we share everything with my parents and I believe this is good for both of us, my wife helps my mother in the house chores and my mother helps her with the kid.”

Eloping (khatefeh) is the new secret trend to cut off expenses. The bride and groom get married in the court without anyone knowing then escape to their house, without the ceremony or any other wedding commitments. However nowadays it’s not such a well-kept secret and usually the two families would have known about it and agreed on it beforehand. Faking the process of eloping spares both families a lot of expenses but of course they face the risk of a tainted reputation.

Those are the main options Syrian people have to get married, but of course not for all of them; Samer doesn’t really know how much it cost his family for him to get married. “My father took care of it! Bought me the house, the car, and paid for the 5-star hotel wedding party, I wasn’t involved much in details but I think it cost us somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000.” These easy yet luxurious weddings are not very common in Syrian society; wealthy families can afford it but it’s an exclusive club. Samer continues, “It never had been an actual problem for me to get married! And I know that I am lucky!”

Between getting loans, counting on family’s wealth or just settling for less; between a simple 50,000 SP and the luxurious 500,000 SP the options of starting a stable married life in Syria vary. Yet the hidden and often unspoken price that accompanies all too many ambitious couples is the piercing emotional pain following a broken-off engagement. Dia, in his mid-twenties and raised in a small town in the north of Syria, revealed that “only a few people get married for love because the parents approval is vital and the groom’s circumstances need to be right,” he calmly admitted that a certain disillusionment exists among “the boys from the countryside coming to the big cities to look for girls and failing because of the feeling of being less civilized.” After a seven-month engagement his dream was ended, leading him to conclude that “after my experience, love is not everything.” It is not difficult to see that money can have a more forceful voice than love. These obstacles and difficulties in affording marriage are increasing the rate of unmarried people from both genders in Syria, but somehow Syrian people are figuring out ways to fulfill their dream of being married even if it means exhausting all available possibilities.

First Published: 2010-09-23, by Hiba Ghanem – DAMASCUS in Middle East Online

Arabic food - names of Arabic meals

2010-07-11T09:02:00.002-07:00

Names of Arabic meals

This is a selection of appetizers that can be eaten alone as in breakfast, as well as important ingredients of Arabic dishes:

Ackawi - white cheese originating from the Palestinian town of Akka now called Acre or Akko
Baba ghanouj - char-grilled aubergine (eggplant), tahina, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic puree—served as a dip.
Baklava - a dessert of layered pastry filled with nuts and steeped in Attar Syrup (orange [or] rose water and sugar), usually cut in a triangular or diamond shape.
Balila - known as Cumin Chickpeas.
Batata harra - literally "spicy potatoes".
Fattoush - 'peasant' salad of toasted pita bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, chickweed, and mint.
Falafel - small deep-fried patties made of highly-spiced ground chick-peas.
Fried cauliflower
Fried eggplant
Fuul (Vicia faba) slow cooked mash of brown beans and red lentils dressed with lemon olive oil and cumin.
Halva - sesame paste sweet, usually made in a slab and studded with fruit and nuts.
Hummus - dip or spread made of blended chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic, and typically eaten with pita bread
Kunafi - shoelace pastry dessert stuffed with sweet white cheese, nuts and syrup.
Kibbeh - the national dish, mainly stuffed, can be made in different form like (fried,uncooked,cooked with yogurt)
Kibbeh nayye - raw kibbeh eaten like steak tartar.
Kofta or Kafta - fingers, stars or a flat cake of minced meat and spices that can be baked or charcoal-grilled on skewers.
Kousa Mahshi- stuffed squash, many varieties are used
Kubideh - served with pivaz (a mix of minced parsley, onions, ground cumin and sumac).
Labneh- strained yogurt, spreadable and garnished with good olive oil and sea salt.
Znood Es-sett - filo pastry cigars with various fillings
Lahm bil ajĩn a pastry filled with minced meat, onions, and nuts.
Ma'amoul - date cookies shaped in a wooden mould called a tabi made specially for Ramadan or other Muslim holidays.
Manaeesh - mini pizzas that are made in any number of local bakeries or Furns (Furn Assalam, Ain El Hilwe, Saida), traditionally garnished with cheese, Zaatar, or minced meat and onions. some bakeries allow you to bring your own toppings and build your own or buy the ones they sell there. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Mujaddara (Imjaddarra) - cooked lentils together with wheat or rice, garnished with onions that have been sauteed in vegetable oil.
Mutabbel - made from eggplant
Pastirma or Bastirma
Samkeh harra- literally translated to "hot fish", grilled fish that has been marinated with chilis, citrus,and cilantro
Shanklish-string cheese
Shawarma- marinated meat (either chicken or lamb) that is skewered on big rods and cooked slowly, then shaved and placed in a 10 inch pita roll with pickles, tomatoes, and other tangy condiments.
Shish taouk- grilled chicken skewers that utilize only white meat, marinated in olive oil, lemon, parsley, and sumac
Siyyadiyeh - delicately spiced fish served on a bed of rice. fish cooked in saffron and served on rice with onions, sumac, and a tahini sauce (the most important part of the dish) originated in Saida (saidon).
Tabbouleh - diced parsley salad with burghul, tomato and mint.
Tahini- sesame paste
Wara' Enab - stuffed grape leaves
Za'atar - dried thyme and sumac that can differ from region to region and from family to family. Most are made in house, but can be bought at Lebanese larders.
Mezze - aptitretare
Hummus bi Tahina - Chickpea and Sesame Dip Hummus bi Tahina - KIKÄRT och Sesame Dip
Tahinat el Beid Tahinat el Beid
Chickpea and Olive Appetizer KIKÄRT och Olive förrätt
Baba Ghannouj - Eggplant Dip Baba Ghannouj - ÄGGPLANTA Dip
Muhammara - Hot Pepper Dip Muhammara - Hot Pepper Dip
Salatat Bathinjan - Eggplant Appetizer Salatat Bathinjan - ÄGGPLANTA förrätt
Al-Motubug - Stuffed Pastry Squares Al-Motubug - Fyllda piroger fyllda
Saudi Samboosak Saudi Samboosak
Shakshouka Shakshouka
Adas Bil Hamod - Lentils with Lemon Juice Adas Bil Hamod - Linser med citronsaft
Mekhalel - Pickles Mekhalel - Pickles
Arabic Pickled Turnips Arabiska Inlagd Rovor
Lamoun Makbouss - Pickled Lemons Lamoun Makbouss - Inlagd Citroner
Shorbat - Soups Shorbat - Soppor
Jalik - Cucumber Soup Jalik - Gurka Soppa
Looz Shorba - Almond Soup Looz Shorba - Almond Soup
Chickpea Soup KIKÄRT Soppa
Beid Bi Lamoun - Egg and Lemon Soup Beid Bi Lamoun - Ägg och Lemon Soup
Hamud - Chicken Soup with Lemon Hamud - Kyckling soppa med Lemon
Shourabit' Ads - Red Lentil Soup with Lamb Shourabit "Annonser - Röda linser Soppa med lamm
Salatat - Salads Salatat - Sallader
Fattoush - Toasted Bread and Salad Fattoush - rostat bröd och sallad
Jajik - Cucumber Salad Jajik - Gurka Sallad
Babini - Tomato Salad Babini - Tomat Sallad
Salatit Khodar Meshakel - Mixed Fresh Vegetable Salad Salatit Khodar Meshakel - Blandade färsk grönsak Sallad
Spinach Salad with Yogurt Spenat Sallad med Yogurt
Salatat Bazinjan Eswed Bel-Filfil - Eggplant and Chili Pepper Salad Salatat Bazinjan Eswed Bel-Filfil - aubergine och Chili Pepper Sallad
Fasooleyah Khodra bi Zeit - Oriental Green Bean Salad Fasooleyah Khodra bi Zeit - Oriental Green Bean Salad
Tabouleh - Parsley and Cracked Wheat Salad Tabouleh - Persilja och Cracked veteavtal Sallad
Salata Ducos - Green Coriander Salad Salata Ducos - Green Koriander Sallad
Lentil Salad Linser Sallad
Ful Madammas - Arabian Bean Salad Ful Madammas - Arabian Bean Salad
Laban - Yogurt Laban - Yogurt
Labni - Fresh Cheese made from Yogurt Labni - färskost gjord av yoghurt
Mahammara Labni - Fresh Cheese with Dill and Pimento Mahammara Labni - färskost med dill och pimento
Yogurt with Roasted Eggplant Yoghurt med Rostad aubergine
Cucumber with Yogurt Gurka med yoghurt
Yogurt with Garlic Yoghurt med vitlök
Khubz - Bread Khubz - Bröd
Pita Bread Pita Bröd
Aish Bel-Lahm - Bread with Meat Aish Bel-Lahm - Bröd med Kött
Sweet Bread Rings - Ka'kat Sweet Bröd Rings - Ka'kat
Beid - Eggs Beid - Ägg
Aijet Beythat - Egg Kabab Aijet Beythat - Egg Kabab
Stuffed Eggs Beyth Mahshi Fyllda ägg Beyth Mahshi
Beid Hamine - Hamine Eggs Beid Hamine - Hamine Ägg
Stuffed Omelet Fylld omelett
Scrambled Eggs with Vinegar Äggröra med Vinäger
Khodar - Vegetables Khodar - Grönsaker
Okra in Oil OCKRA i olja
Okra with Tomatoes OCKRA med Tomater
Helawat al Jazr - Sweet Cardamomed Carrots Helawat al Jazr - Söta Cardamomed Morötter
Ardy Shouki - Artichoke Casserole Ardy Shouki - kronärtskocka GRYTA
Lentils with Spinach Linser med spenat
Patlican - Fried Eggplant with a Yogurt Sauce Patlican - Stekt aubergine med en Yoghurt Sås
Hashwe - Arabian Stuffed Vegetables Hashwe - Arabian Fyllda grönsaker
Yalanchi - Stuffed Tomatoes Yalanchi - Fyllda Tomater
Ablama - Stuffed Eggplant Ablama - Fyllda aubergine
Kousa Bil Bandora - Zuccini with Tomatoes Kousa Bil Bandora - Zuccini med Tomater
Imam Bayildi - Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant Imam Bayildi - Vegetarisk Fyllda aubergine
Filfil Rumi Mahshi - Stuffed Green Peppers Filfil Rumi Mahshi - Fyllda Gröna Paprikor
Mahshi Bassal - Stuffed Onion Rolls Mahshi Bassal - Fyllda Lök Rolls
Falafel Falafel
Yakhnit Lobia - Yakhnit Green Beans Yakhnit Lobia - Yakhnit Gröna Bönor
Macarona - Pasta Macarona - Pasta
Koazy Al-Macarona - Macaroni Koazy Koazy Al-Macarona - Makaroner Koazy
Kosheree - Egyptian Lentils Kosheree - egyptiska Linser
Roz - Rice Roz - Rice
Aroz Mofalfal - Arabian Rice Aroz Mofalfal - Arabian Rice
Aroz Saudi - Saudi Rice Aroz Saudiarabien - Saudi Rice
Mujadarra - Lentils and Rice Mujadarra - Linser och Ris
Bulghur Pilaff Bulghur Pilaff
Saffron Rice Saffransris
Riz bi Sh'areh - Rice with Vermicelli Riz bi Sh'areh - Ris med spån
Ruz bil-loz wa bil-tamar - Rice with Almonds and Dates Ruz bil-loz wa bil-Tamar - Ris med Mandel och Datum
Kibit Rus - Rice Patties Kibit Rus - Risprodukter pastejer
Gereesh - Cracked Wheat Gereesh - Cracked Vete
Gereesh Bel Laban - Cracked Wheat with Yogurt Gereesh Bel Laban - Cracked veteavtal med Yogurt
Samak - Fish Samarbetskommitté SAMAK - Fisk
Samak Bil Tahini - Fish with Tahini Samarbetskommitté SAMAK Bil tahini - Fisk med tahini
Sayyadieh - Fisherman's Fish with Rice Sayyadieh - Fisherman's Fisk med ris
Fish Baked in Sesame Sauce Fisk Vita i Sesame Sauce
Murabyan - Shrimp Abu Dhabi Murabyan - Shrimp Abu Dhabi
Awaal Arrubyaan bil Lebaneh - Yoghurt Marinated Shrimp Awaal Arrubyaan bil Lebaneh - Yoghurt Marinerade Shrimp
Kilich Shish - Istanbul Swordfish on Spits Kilich shish - Istanbul Svärdfisk på Spits
Swordfish Shish Kebab Svärdfisk shish Kebab
Dajaj - Chicken Dajaj - Kyckling
Sidreyat Al Dajaj - Chicken Breast Sidreyat Al Dajaj - Kycklingbröst
Kabsa - Chicken & Rice Skillet Kabsa - Chicken & Rice STEKPANNA
Farareej Mashwi - Broiled Chicken with Oil, Lemon, and Garlic Sauce Farareej Mashwi - Broiled Kyckling med olja, citron, och vitlökssås
Dajaj Bil Fitr - Mushroom Chicken Dajaj Bil Fitir - Mushroom Kyckling
Bukhari Chicken Bukhari Kyckling
Chicken Mohallabiyya Kyckling Mohallabiyya
Musakhan Musakhan
A Circassian's "Circassian-Style" Chicken En Circassian: s "Circassian-Style" Kyckling
Chicken with Olives Kyckling med Oliver
Dajaj Bel Laban - Chicken with Yogurt Dajaj Bel Laban - Kyckling med yoghurt
Djedjad - Chicken Roasted with Apricots Djedjad - Kyckling Rostad med Aprikoser
LaHem Baqir - Beef LaHem Baqir - Nötkött
Kofta Mlebissa - Batter Kofta Kofta Mlebissa - smet Kofta
Tafta Kofta - Beef Balls in the Pan Tafta Kofta - Nötkött bollar i Pan
Dawood Basha Dawood Basha
Kibbeh - Stuffed Cracked Wheat Shells Kibbeh - Fyllda Cracked veteavtal Tankskal
Kefta Kabab - Ground-Meat Kebabs Kefta Kabab - Mark-Kött grillspett
Kebab Bel Laban - Kebab with Yogurt Kebab Bel Laban - Kebab med Yogurt
Qady Qooda - Meatballs in Batter Qady Qooda - Köttbullar i smeten
Potato Kebba Potatis Kebba
Moroccan Meat Marockanska Kött
LaHem Kharouf - Lamb LaHem Kharouf - Lamb
Fakhitha Bel Laban - Leg of Lamb with Yogurt Fakhitha Bel Laban - Etapp av lamm med Yogurt
Cracked Wheat with Lamb and Chick-Peas Cracked veteavtal med lamm och kikärter
Tajen Al Lahm Tajen Al Lahm
Roz Tajin - Rice with Lamb Casserole Roz Tajin - Ris med Lamb GRYTA
Seleq - Lamb with Rice Cooked in Milk Seleq - lamm med ris Kokta i mjölk
Eggplant and Lamb Stew Aubergine och LAMMGRYTA
Eggplant and Lamb with Yogurt Aubergine och lamm med Yogurt
Blehat Lahma - Lamb Loaves with Apricots and Egg Blehat Lahma - Lamb bröd med Aprikoser och Egg
Moarraq Moarraq
Shish Kabab Shish Kabab
Lamb Kebabs Lamb kebab
Markat - Sauces Markat - Såser
Falafel Hot Sauce Falafel Hot Sauce
Herb Dressing Herb Dressing
Salsa or Dukoos - Saudi Herbed Salsa Salsa eller Dukoos - Saudi Herbed Salsa
Cucumber Sauce Gurka Sås
Taratoor - Sesame Sauce Taratoor - Sesame Sauce
Homemade Tahini - Sesame Seed Paste Homemade tahini - Sesamfrö Klistra
Leban Sauce Leban Sås
Halawiyat - Desserts Halawiyat - Efterrätter
Banana Loaf Banana limpa
Carob Date Loaf Johannesbrödmassa Datum limpa
Tatly - Custard Tatly - tjock vaniljsås
Figs in Syrup Fikon i sockerlag
Halva - Almond Dessert Halva - Almond Dessert
Umm Ali - "Mother of Ali" Umm Ali - "Mother of Ali"
Egyptian Sweet Couscous Dessert Egyptiska Sweet Couscous Dessert
Baklava Baklava
Boughasha - "Cigar" Pastries with Walnut Filling Boughasha - "Cigar" Bageri med Walnut Ifyllning
Lahooh Bel Loaz - Almond Pancakes Lahooh Bel Loaz - Almond Pannkakor
Basbousa - Semolina Cake Basbousa - Mannagryn Cake
"Caliph's Delight" "Kalifen's Delight"
Dhaw'k Allawz - Almond Paste Dhaw'k Allawz - mandelmassa
Date Rolls Datum Rolls
Date and Nut Sweets Datum och Nut Sötsaker
Tumr Bel Simsim - Dates with Sesame Seeds Tumr Bel Simsim - Dadlar med Sesamfrön
Tumr Bel Nargine - Coconut Dates Tumr Bel Nargine - Coconut Datum
Haysa Al-Tumreya - Dip for Dates Haysa Al-Tumreya - Dip för datum
Barazeh - Sesame Seed Cookies Barazeh - Sesamfrö Cookies
Mamool Cookies Mamool Cookies
Pistachio Date Crescents Pistasch Datum Crescents
Ghorayebah - Almond Cookies Ghorayebah - Almond Cookies
Lemon Granita - a Sorbet Lemon Granita - en Sorbet
Khoshaf - Dried Fruit Salad Khoshaf - Torkad frukt Sallad
Sesame Candy Sesame Candy
Haselnut Sweet Haselnut Sweet
Sheerah - Sweet Syrup for Middle Eastern Pastries Sheerah - Söta Sirap för Mellanöstern Bageri
Looqemat - Sweet Dumplings Looqemat - Söta dumplings
Aml Al Sheera - Syrup for Dumplings AML Al Sheera - Syrup för dumplings
Murabbiyat - Preserves Murabbiyat - Bibehåller
Wishna - Sour Black Cherry Jam Wishna - Sour Black Cherry Jam
Maraba Tamer - Date Jam Maraba Tamer - Datum Jam
Khushaf Bel Qamareddin - Apricot Preserve Compote Khushaf Bel Qamareddin - Aprikos Bevara kompott
Sharbat - Beverages Sharbat - Drycker
Qahwa Arabeya - Arabic Coffee Qahwa Arabeya - Arabiska Kaffe
Hot Tea with Cardamom and Cinnamon Hot Te med Kardemumma och kanel
Anise Tea Anis Te
Cinnamon Tea Kanel Te
Anis-Cinnamon Tea Anis-Kanel Te
Anis-Ginger Tea Anis-Ingefära Te
Mint Tea Mint Te
Moroccan Tea Marockanska Tea
Rose Petal Tea Rose blomblad Tea
Finjan Erfeh - Spicy Hot Drink Finjan Erfeh - Spicy Hot Drink
Middle Eastern Lemonade Mellanöstern Lemonad
Orange Sharbat Orange Sharbat
Pomegranate Drink Granatäpplen Drink
www.sudairy.com

Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

2010-07-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

Palm Jumeirah - View from the balcony

Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

The Shoreline Apartment buildings that line the east side of The Trunk feature some of the Middle East's most desirable apartments.

Five exclusive beachfront clubhouses cater to residents, providing world class fitness centres, retail outlets, al fresco dining, swimming pools and direct access to the island's white sand beaches.

The Shoreline Apartments provide luxury living on the east side of the trunk of The Palm, Jumeirah.

Each apartment contains spacious balconies with breathtaking views of the Jumeirah coastline and Burj Al Arab.

A 400 slip marina provides berthing space, whilst residents will have exclusive access to both a Master Marina clubhouse and a private beach club.

The canal on the west side of the shoreline apartments will provide further leisure and relaxation opportunities.

For further information please visit www.allsoppandallsopp.com

Performance management and BSC

2010-04-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

Balanced Scorecards

What is the basic idea of balanced scorecards?

The term Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was first used by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in 1992[1]. BSC is a strategic measuring system that was invented to fill the need of a complementing non-financial measure to the existing financial measures. BSC makes it possible to measure the performances within a company, and by doing so, increasing the value of the company. BSC contains financial measures that show the results of decisions made in previous years, to which operational measures are now added to make it possible to see the results of the future [2]. BSC focuses on four different perspectives:

The financial perspective - Contains the traditional financial measures, such as company strategy, implementing of that strategy, and how to reach a better result.

The customer perspective – Focuses on what is of real importance for the customer. Quality and company performance are areas that are of importance.

The internal process perspective – In this perspective the internal measures with greatest affect on customer satisfaction is emphasized. It enables the management to focus on the critical internal processes that help meet the customers demands.

The Innovation perspective – In markets of heavy competition it is important for a company to have the possibility to make changes at any time. With a mix of these four perspectives the company receives information regarding both external and internal measures. The difference between BSC and traditional financial measures is that it focuses on the current and future results of a company, instead of results in the past.

In what type of organizations is it suitable to use BSCs?

The Balanced scorecard has since its introduction in the early 1990s been implemented in every organizational aspect concerning performance management, everywhere from government agencies, military units, business units and corporations as a whole, non-profit organizations, and schools. However the Balanced scorecard is not suitable in all businesses and public administrations. It requires that there is a perceived need and a desire to steer an organization from a point of discussion of its strategy and with a relatively long term focus[3]. The introduction of the BSC depends very much on the organization's culture, for example in areas such as decentralization and internationalization. An organization must be ready to implement it and host such an environment for it to be able to implement it.[4] In order to implement the BSC you have to be able to reach out across the whole organization. It is important to have management support and commitment for the work that’s about to be started. Management should also be explanatory in the early stages on why the organization is working with the balanced scorecard. The whole idea is built upon the interactions between the vision / strategy and the daily work, which is the interaction between management and employees[5].

What is new with BSC?

About two decades ago, Kaplan and Norton rejected the financial measures as the right way to control performance in companies, and instead introduced a set of financial and nonfinancial measures which nowadays are called “Balanced scorecard”. What was new at the time with this concept was, for one thing, simplicity. Management could focus on a set of chosen key factors instead of trying to manage endless numbers of statistics. Another new thing about balanced scorecards was that they meant a new language for the managers to communicate in, instead of trying to understand financial numbers. [6] A more recent new concept of the balanced scorecard is the strategy map that Kaplan and Norton developed. This strategy map links up indicators to create a causal chain by which people can visualize and explain their mental models and then share them with others.

To what extent is BSC consistent/ inconsistent with other PM methods? Organizations need to develop control systems of planning and reporting by choosing one or more methods to measure their performance. Small and medium size companies usually implement control systems based on pure financial models such as: ROI (Return on Investment), RI, EVA (economic Value Added) or CFROI (Cash Flow Return on Investment). These methods are easy to implement because they are integrated in all financial reporting & planning software available on the market today. The biggest advantage of these methods is that the reports can be generated automatically, at any time, and show the actual outcome and performance data in real time. These reports are more or less standardised and therefore easy to extract, learn and analyse. The disadvantage of using them is that only the finance & accounting professionals are capable to work with them and to understand the company’s performance behind the reported figures. Financial based and value based models can be used for short term reporting & planning and by companies, which have defined their vision, mission, goals, and strategy and want to control, if their targets have been achieved on a short term basis. The financial planning information helps them to change their strategy, if necessary, and to make better business decisions. During the last 10- 15 years big and multi business companies have been using the BSC as a performance control and management system, which coordinates financial and non- financial measures. By using BSC methodology each member of the organization works off a personal scorecard, striving to achieve personal objectives based on measurements directly linked to the corporate strategy. According to Dr. Robert Davies, the key to the success of the BSC is its simplicity, essentially seeing an organisation from four key perspectives, one driving another. Financial results are driven first by people. People with the right skills, motivation and information create effective and efficient processes, which in turn deliver products, relationships and services that create value for the customer. Customer value in turn delivers profit to meet the organisation’s financial objectives.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of BSC’ s compared to other PM methods? Advantages of BSC comparing to traditional financial reporting & planning method, ROI , RI, EVA or CFROI are following: - The entire organization can be involved in the discussion wrt to the results of measures, which is inspiring and empowering the employees BSC aligns employees with strategic objectives - Very useful in long term target setting and strategic goals - Understandable for every level and segment in the organization - Does not ignore intangible assets - Does not focus on the past only, but measures future gains (f ex if customers are satisfied and are loyal to the company and its products) - Allows to set desired target for the cost of equity capital - BSC is an excellent educational tool (helps staff see how financial results and shareholder value are really created) - Helps managers and teams see and define the actions needed to achieve their objectives

Disadvantages of BSC comparing to traditional financial reporting & planning method, ROI , RI, EVA or CFROI are the following: - Centrally driven targets can ”destroy innovation and experimentation” - It takes a very long time to build and implement this model the organization implement this model the organization - It is a very expensive exercise as it is necessary to get help from experienced consultants, definitely not cost effective - the implementation of BCS within company’s or organization’s IT is usually a challenge. A good system must be developed to produce the scorecards - easy to forget about the strategic purpose when using too many metrics - BSC is an exercise in getting to much information which can not be used - It takes too much time to report measures rather than making a change - Can not be applied to measure performance on short term basis - Difficult to overview and analyse measures and link to desired outcomes - Only internal scanning and assessment tool, not looking for the outside world - Only the top management or outside consultants design the BSC Sources: H. A. Akkermans and K. E. van Oorschot (2005).- Relevance Assumed: A Case Study of Balanced Scorecard Development Using System Dynamics, The Journal of the Operational Research Society. Hallgårde, U. & Johansson, A. (2000) Att införa Balanced scorecard – en praktisk vägledning. Lund: Studentlitteratur Kaplan & Norton,(1992)The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that drive performance Neely, A (2007) The search for meaningful measures. Management Services 51, 2: 14-17 Pandey, I M (2005) Balanced Scorecard Myth and Reality. Interfaces. 30, 1: 51-64 Radnor Z and Lovell B (2003) Defining, justifying and implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the National Health Service. International Journal of Medical Marketing 3,3: 174-188 Samuelson. L (2004) Controllerhandboken, Industrilitteratur Davies, W.Robert (2007) Balanced Scorecard success, advantages and disadvantages www.benchmarkingplus.com.au/perfmeas.htm www.grm.co.za/about.html www.masterforum.com/archives/kaplan/Kaplan_Precis.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Kaplan & Norton,(1992)The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that drive performance [2] Kaplan & Norton,(1992)The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that drive performance [3] Samuelson. L (2004) Controllerhandboken, Industrilitteratur [4] Hallgårde, U. & Johansson, A. (2000) Att införa Balanced scorecard – en praktisk vägledning. Lund: Studentlitteratur [5] Hallgårde, U. & Johansson, A. (2000) Att införa Balanced scorecard – en praktisk vägledning. Lund: Studentlitteratur [6] H. A. Akkermans and K. E. van Oorschot (2005)