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Forty years ago, the Internet was born.  On 2^nd September 1969 (OK, forty years ago yesterday) in a UCLA laboratory a group of computer scientists first passed data from one computer to another over cable. In doing this, they created the first of what we now call the Internet.

 

The project was actually Government backed and was part of U.S. funded research projects of its military agencies to build robust, fault-tolerant and distributed computer networks.  This research and a period of civilian funding of a new U.S. backbone spawned worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies and led to the commercialisation of an international network.  As of 2009, an estimated quarter of Earth's population uses the services of the Internet

There is an argument that says that the real birth was October 29, 1969 - when Leonard Kleinrock (the owner of the laboratory) sent the first message between two nodes, UCLA to Stanford. The message was “LO”.  It was actually supposed to be "LOGIN" but the system crashed after Kleinrock typed "L" and "O."

Useless fact:

Al Gore claimed he invented the Internet.

According to a CNN transcript of an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Al Gore said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Actually Al Gore was not yet in Congress in 1969 when ARPANET (what the Internet was originally called) started or in 1974 when the term Internet first came into use. Gore was elected to Congress in 1976.

The Trace Solutions User Conference this year takes place on 3rd November near Covent Garden, London..  As usual the conference will cover a wide range of subjects and as a large proportion of our users always attend, this is a good chance to meet like-minded users.  If you are a user and have not received an invitation, please contact your Account Manager as you should have received invitations by now.

The Property Forum draws near, starting on 17th September.  This event, which was originally held on a cruise ship but now takes place in a hotel, is an excellent event for meeting large numbers of interested parties.  This is because both the suppliers and the delegates pre-book meetings on the Richmond Events web site and each have the opportunity to accept or decline the meetings.  This means that that the meetings are always with interested parties.  Sadly the very opulent surroundings of the cruise ship are no more, though so is the risk of a rough sea in the English Channel.

As I am sure everyone has noticed the recession has caused all sorts of changes.  Companies are certainly more cost conscious and absolutely everything is coming under scrutiny.  This is having some unexpected side-effects, one of which is the numbers of new agents that are being set up as staff are being made redundant or are choosing to move on because of reductions in pay or bonuses.

A very noticeable new trend is the number of enquiries we are receiving from individuals asking about training on TRAMPS.  Because the system is so widely used, individuals are seeking to enhance their appeal to potential employers by gaining skills in the most widely used managing agent system.

If you want to improve your TRAMPS, BlueBox or o6ix skills, please call us.

As regular readers of the Trace blog will know, we feature property management related jobs as often as we can.

Recently, however, jobs have been taken by potential candidates so quickly that WSS Associates have not had time to publish the advertisments before the vacancy has been filled.

The good news of course is that jobs are out there but if you are looking for something new you will have to be quick and contact WSS direct. 

As part of our plans to become a greener company Trace Solutions will very soon start e-mailing invoices. Invoices will be e-mailed to the person that is listed in the 'For the attention of' field on the hard copies that we currently send out. If you are currently a Trace Solutions customer we ask that you keep an eye out for the invoices and send them on as appropriate as soon as you can to avoid unnecessary delay. If our contact information may be wrong, please contact us. In this day and age it makes sense to take responsibility for our actions and do our bit for the environment. For more information on how your business can reduce their carbon footprint or could indeed benefit from Carbon Management Programme go to www.carbontrust.co.uk

Key focus of job:

To deliver a client focused, accurate and responsive accounting service to management department clients and to deliver these services in a way which develops and maintains good client relationships.

Main tasks & capabilities:

• Experience in the use of Microsoft applications including Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint
• Excellent communication skills enabling the candidate to relate well with people at all levels, provide a high level of client service.
• Strong communication skills including the ability to explain matters in a clear and concise manner both face to face and over the telephone
• An ability to conduct investigations and present their findings in the form of a report or in a letter
• An ability to work effectively both alone and in a team environment and to organise and prioritise their workload to meet agreed deadlines and targets
• Experience in the administration of leases, licences and contracts
• Be able to attend meetings with clients to understand their needs, interpret their demands and to respond as appropriate
• Experience in the use of TBS Tramps Customer Focus
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of client requirements
• Enjoys the clear confidence and respect of clients
• Collects, reviews and acts upon client feedback
• Researches into current and future client requirements Communication Skills
• Experienced and capable presenter, both of technical and business matters
• Shows highly developed persuasive skills (oral) Personal Qualities
• Presents a professional image when dealing with clients and demonstrates self confidence
• Demonstrates ambition and commitment to self development
• Highly organised
• Manages own time and exercises good commercial judgement
• Team Player Organisational Focus
• Seeks to improve personal and team service delivery Analytical Reasoning
• Demonstrates good attention to detail by regularly producing carefully prepared, accurate work
• Uses thorough and effective data gathering techniques in all aspects of the work Interpersonal Skills
• Understands and listens to others’ requirements
• Demonstrates co-operation and willingness to work with others

For more information contact WSS Associates on 0203 170 7837 or follow this link: www.wss-associates.com

POSITION: Portfolio Management Accountant

DEPARTMENT: 

Property Management

REPORTING TO:

Head of Property Management Accounts

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

Competitive Salary, plus benefits

THE DEPARTMENT: 

This is an expanding department, currently with 11 portfolio management accountants and 2 clerks.

THE ROLE: To provide a full accounting function – responsible for the delivery of the complete accounting service to a selection of important clients.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Raising rents and issuing demands to tenants 
• Calculating interest due on late payment 
• Banking and processing of income 
• Maintaining computerized cash book 
• Consolidating month end bank balances 
• Maintenance of all records on TRAMPS accounting package 
• Processing supplier invoices 
• Calculation of increased rent and interest following review 
• Preparation of client statements 
• VAT reporting 
• Preparation of services charge reconciliation 
• Cash reconciliation 
• Preparation of completion statements for solicitors 
• CIS reporting

For more information contact WSS Associates on 0203 170 7837 or follow this link: www.wss-associates.com

Position: Senior Client Accountant

The position involves supervising and managing one/two staff. This is a high profile position within the Management Dept as the position involves maintaining a relationship with one of the practices most important clients. It involves a certain amount of entertaining with the client on a quarterly basis.

System used: TBS Tramps

Day to day responsibilities:-

• Supervising another client accountant and monitoring a bought ledger clerk 
• Demand and collect rent and service charge on behalf of clients 
• Monthly and quarterly reporting to clients. Adhering to client requirements and deadlines. 
• Payover of receipts to client 
• Weekly bespoke arrears reports 
• Calculation of VAT returns and payments to HMCE 
• Calculation and raising of fees 
• Dealing with day to day tenant enquiries and working closely with surveyors to ensure smooth running of portfolio  
• Annual reconciliation of service charges in accordance with the RICS service charge code 
• Maintaining and reconciling client bank accounts 
• Maintaining and reconciling deposit accounts 
• Compliance with RICS regulations on client monies and instructions  
• Acting on surveyors instructions with regards to leases 
• Liaising with solicitors with regards to leases and completion statements  
• Compiling bespoke excel reports on a weekly and monthly basis using downloads from TBS TRAMPS. 
• Attending on-site management meetings with the client

For more information contact WSS Associates on 0203 170 7837 or follow this link: www.wss-associates.com

Job Description:

• Dealing with client accounting including: timely transfer of client’s funds, VAT reporting, bank reconciliation, and rent deposit administration.
• Administrating of the direct debit system for collection of rental income.
• Preparation of year end service charge accounts
• Operations of purchase ledger
• Dealing with RPI and Turnover rent computations

Skills and qualifications

• At least 4 years’ relevant hands-on property management accounting experience
• Experience of using computer-based property management accounting systems, e.g. TRAMPS
• A total commitment to client service
• Part-qualification, e.g. AAT would be helpful
• Numerate and literate
• Good spreadsheet skills (MS Excel v.2000)

Key attributes

• Well organised, methodical and conscientious; capable of using initiative and common sense.
• Strong attention to detail
• Able to deal with people at all levels, with tact and diplomacy
• Well-presented. Capable of working in a team

Location: Kent
Salary: £30,000

Contact:  Nick Lambrou/Samantha Huckstepp at WSS Associates quoting reference 666 or follow this link.