Career moves

Sage Software has hired a new head of human resources functions in North America, appointing Lisa Codispoti as chief people officer.The company, a subsidiary of the U.K.-based Sage Group, employs more than 5,000 people.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has appointed Gerald D. Cox as chairman of the board and elected a slate of other board members.Cox heads the internal audit partnership at South West Audit Partnership in Yeovil, U.K. Joining him on the board is Patricia K. Miller, a partner at Deloitte & Touche in Pleasant Hill, Calif., who was elected as senior vice chairwoman.

Smart firms realize it’s better to hire a good guy and teach him the right skills than to hire a skilled psycho. Resumes tell employers something about skill sets, but little about candidates’ personalities. It takes the right interviewing techniques to figure out which people will be the best fit for your firm and to avoid hiring nightmares. Linda Bryan, owner of Dallas-based Tamlin Software Developers, was the poster woman for how not to select staff. “I was a disaster,” she confesses. “I hired some real goofballs, really weird people that didn’t work out.” These poor decisions resulted in a high turnaround, which can financially burden any company, as well as some embarrassing situations. One day a Fortune 100 drug company client came to the computer consulting company’s offices to discuss a large project and was waiting for one of Bryan’s new hires—someone who seemed “very business like and sharp”—for nearly two hours. She never would have expected the excuse he provided when he made his grand entrance. “He was supposed to show up at 9 and at 11:30, here he comes barreling through the conference room door and his hair is all disheveled and his suit is actually torn on the sleeve and we all just look at him and he says, ‘I’m sorry I’m late. There was this exotic bird and I’m an exotic bird lover and I jumped through a wired fence [chasing it] and it ripped my coat.’ He just went off,” Bryan recalls. “I just thought ‘You’re so fired.’ That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I thought I have got to get better at this.” She started asking advice and others told her she needed to hire on attitude, not aptitude. When she thought about it, she realized that she had hired people who had the right skills on paper but not the right personality. She found a book called “The Smart Interviewer,” which taught her how to ask questions that would allow her to get to know candidates to better determine whether they would fit into Tamlin’s culture. Only if they pass that part of the interview do they get tested on their technical know-how. “I started using that interview process and we started calling it the Good Guy Test. The first thing is do you have the right attitude/the right personality to fit in here. Then the second thing is do you have the right skills. It’s the reverse of what I used to do,” Bryan says. “Since then we’ve had some good longevity and some really good people.” It is not uncommon these days to have prospects meet their future colleagues to see how well they jibe. Some companies invite candidates to lunch. Others have subordinates interview their potential bosses. Just because a candidate doesn’t connect with the rest of your staff doesn’t mean he or she is not a talented individual. Every firm has different policies and ways of doing business. It just means that this particular individual is a bad fit for your particular firm’s needs. It behooves both the employer and employee to figure this out before signing on the dotted line and risk having to “mutually agree to part ways” soon thereafter.

-- James A. Smith, managing director at the CPA firm of Smith, Jackson, Boyer and Bovard, was named chairman of the 27,000-member Texas Society of CPAs. Smith will serve a one-year term. Joining Smith as TSCPA officers are Steven R. Goodman, chairman-elect, Houston; Barbara Bass, secretary, Tyler; Jeff Gregg, treasurer-elect, Seymour; and Rance G. Sweeten, treasurer, McAllen. In addition the following will serve on the TSCPA executive board: Rick Baumeister, Fort Worth; John Broaddus, El Paso; Penny Dear, Austin; Dora J. Dyson, Gatesville; Janet B. Johnson, Houston; B. Jean Lein, Austin; Edward L. Lette, Austin; Jerry L. Love, Abilene; Tracy B. Stewart, College Station; and Fred Timmons, San Antonio.

Internal Revenue Service chief counsel Donald L. Korb has named Stephen Kesselman to become deputy chief counsel, operations, succeeding IRS veteran Donald T. Rocen. Kesselman is currently serving as counsel in the IRS' Small Business/Self-Employed Division. Rocen, who has held a number of posts in the Office of the Chief Counsel for 15 years, will leave the service July 27 for the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier. Lon B. Smith, associate chief counsel of financial products and institutions, will now become national counsel to the chief counsel for special projects. He has served in the Office of Chief Counsel for 30 years.

Tax and news publisher BNA has named Robert P. Ambrosini to the post of vice president and chief financial officer. Ambrosini, who officially began with BNA June 18, has held CFO posts at such organizations as Black Entertainment Television and Texfi Industries. He also was senior vice president finance and accounting for the National Geographic Channel. Ambrosini also serves on the board of the Washington Hospital Center Foundation.

Resources Global Professionals, a global consultancy and professional services provider, has appointed Colleen Cunningham as regional managing director overseeing its New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region. Cunningham, who prior to coming aboard RGP headed the 15,000-member Financial Executives International for four years, will be responsible for managing the six offices while overseeing operations, financials and recruiting. A CPA, she began her career in public accounting with both Touche Ross and Coopers & Lybrand and spent 13 years with AT&T as assistant controller of AT&T Capital.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board named insider C. Gregory Scates as deputy chief auditor. In that role, Scates, 53, will provide technical direction in the development of the board's standards. He will report to Tom Ray, the PCAOB's chief auditor and director of professional standards. Scates, who came aboard the PCAOB in 2003, helped develop Auditing Standards Nos. 1 and 3, which deal with reporting on audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB and audit documentation. He also has developed staff guidance on technical auditing matters, and led various current standards-setting projects. Prior to joining the PCAOB, Mr. Scates was associate chief accountant in the division of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CALIFORNIA

Thomas R. Smith, one of the country's leading attorneys in the area of mutual funds, has joined the Investment Management Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission as a senior advisor to Andrew Donohue, the division's director. Prior to joining the SEC, Smith was a partner with the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP, and also served as managing partner at Brown & Wood LLP from 1996 until the firm's merger with Sidley Austin five years later.

After resurrecting its Professor in Residence program earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service has selected Gregg D. Polsky as its 2007-2008 PIR. Polsky recently joined the faculty at Florida State University's College of Law as the Sheila M. McDevitt Professor of Law. He also spent six years on the faculty at the University of Minnesota Law School. Polsky was also in private practice with the firm of White & Case LLP. He succeeds Calvin Johnson, whose term ended May 31. Polsky's term begins in September. Dormant since the late 1980s, the Professor in Residence program provides a forum for legal academicians to contribute and develop legal tax policy and administration. The professor in residence reports to IRS chief counsel Donald Korb.

Richard Caturano, chief executive at Boston-based regional CPA and business advisory firm Vitale Caturano & Co., has been elected CEO of accounting and consulting network Baker Tilly USA, effective immediately. Caturano will continue in his role as CEO of VC&C. Caturano's appointment was announced at the Baker Tilly International North American Regional Conference, here. Formed in 2006, Baker Tilly USA is a network of 23 independent accounting and consulting firms. It is the U.S. affiliate of Baker Tilly International, which represents 126 member firms in 93 countries.

The American Institute of CPAs named Karin Wiberg to the position of director of the Office of Strategy Management. In that role, she will manage the Institute's strategic planning processes and evaluate the organization's performance. Prior to coming aboard the AICPA, Wiberg most recently served as strategic planning director at Principal Financial Group.

The oversight body for the International Accounting Standards Board said that Olivier Servais will serve as team leader for the organization's Extensible Business Reporting Language initiative.The IAS Committee Foundation said that Servais will coordinate all XBRL-related activities by the foundation, working closely with private and public organizations involved in the advancement of online financial reporting, as well as advising users and preparers of internal standards in considering the appropriateness and timing of XBRL adoption.

Taking over the helm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu today, chief executive James Quigley and a new leadership team announced their plans to become the largest professional services network within the next two years.Quigley plans to bring a new focus on the Deloitte brand, as well as to build a stronger commitment to the firm’s people. He also wants to strengthen the connection between Deloitte member firms across regions, increase the number of professionals in key markets in Europe and Asia, and showcase the firms’ consulting capabilities as a market differentiator.

Timothy P. Flynn has been elected chairman of KPMG International for a four-year term, effective Oct. 1. He succeeds Sir Michael Rake who is retiring from KPMG and become the next chairman of BT Group Plc.

Glass, Lewis & Co., a major player in the world of investment research and global proxy advisory and voting services, announced that Lynn Turner will leave his post as managing director of research on June 8.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that Martin F. Baumann will succeed Phil D. Wedemeyer as director of its Office of Research and Analysis.

The New York State Society of CPAs has installed David A. Lifson as its new president, while the Virginia Society of CPAs has selected Monique T. Valentine as chair of its board of directors for the upcoming year.

Mark Everson, who forged a reputation for bolstering enforcement policies during his four-year tenure as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, will need to import that tough posture as the new president and chief executive of the American Red Cross.Everson, 52, was named to helm the disaster relief agency last month. When he officially assumes his new post on May 29, he will be at the helm of an organization that over the past several years has been beset by a series of high-level resignations, messy internal politics and a hail of criticism for its glacial response to Hurricane Katrina.