Mediaboss Marketing

Were thrilled to be named Netflixs technology and sales partner to help power their first ad-supported subscription offering.

At launch, consumers will have more options to access Netflixs award-winning content. Marketers looking to Microsoft for their advertising needs will have access to the Netflix audience and premium connected TV inventory. All ads served on Netflix will be exclusively available through the Microsoft platform. Todays announcement also endorses Microsofts approach to privacy, which is built on protecting customers information.

This is a big day for Netflix and Microsoft. Were excited to offer new premium value to our ecosystem of marketers and partners while helping Netflix deliver more choice to their customers.

Here is what Netflix COO Greg Peters said today:

In April we announced that we will introduce a new lower priced ad-supported subscription plan for consumers, in addition to our existing ads-free basic, standard, and premium plans. Today we are pleased to announce that we have selected Microsoft as our global advertising technology and sales partner.

Microsoft has the proven ability to support all our advertising needs as we together build a new ad-supported offering. More importantly, Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.

Its very early days and we have much to work through. But our long-term goal is clear: More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear TV brand experience for advertisers. Were excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life.

Tags: advertising, netflix

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Netflix names Microsoft as partner for new consumer subscription plan - The Official Microsoft Blog - Microsoft

DETROIT, July 13 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle startups that promised to disrupt the automotive industry by using a software- and technology-heavy approach are now scrambling to cut costs amid the type of industry slowdown that has bedeviled Detroit automakers over the years.

To remain a player in an increasingly competitive business as incumbent automakers introduce their own EVs, startups like Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) and Arrival SA will need to tighten their belts and in some cases reinvent themselves, industry officials and analysts said.

In many cases, they are partnering with larger, deep-pocketed companies to aid their survival and provide access to funds.

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Those who fail to control their spending or find the right partners could wind up like electric delivery van startup Electric Last Mile Solutions , which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last month. Industry officials do not expect that to be the last startup to hit a pothole. read more

"Like every company that is burning money, you need to make the right adjustments so that you can get to the other side of the desert," said Evangelos Simoudis, a Silicon Valley venture capital investor and industry adviser.

Even as overall new-vehicle sales have slumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, EV demand remains strong. Global sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles nearly doubled last year to 6.6 million, according to the International Energy Agency.

On Tuesday, British startup Arrival said it planned to cut spending, reorganize its business and potentially shed 30% of its workforce in response to the challenging economic environment. read more

Arrival, trying to launch production of electric delivery vans, is following the lead of industry stars Tesla Inc and Rivian, which have cut jobs as supply-chain snarls hobbled production, holding revenue below expectations and sending costs soaring.

Arrival said its $500 million in cash on hand would last until late 2023 with the proposed cuts. The question is whether that will be enough.

"One billion dollars doesn't last very long in the auto business. That's a redesign for a Malibu or something," Cox Automotive executive analyst Michelle Krebs said.

Partnerships or long-term contracts with financially strong companies are one lifeline for EV startups.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said on Wednesday that rising inflation is cutting off easy access to "free money."

"This means some startups will have a little bit more difficulty to develop by themselves," he said during an awards presentation to startups with whom the carmaker works.

Rivian not only has a large deal to supply vans to Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), but the online giant also is a major investor.

Rivian Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe told employees on Tuesday that job cuts were coming in order for the company "to stay ahead of the changing economic landscape." read more

Lordstown Motors Corp (RIDE.O), an Ohio startup that briefly had a larger market value than Ford Motor Co (F.N), has restructured, selling assets to and partnering with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn .

The staff cuts and restructuring in the new EV industry reflect challenges common to all automakers, and some that are unique to small companies in a capital-intensive industry where even global economies of scale sometimes are not enough to assure profitability.

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk last month told top executives in his company in an email that he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy, and said the world's most valuable automaker needed to cut its salaried staff by 10%, he was amplifying concern about the global economy other CEOs shared. read more

"This is an incredibly tough business," said Barry Engle, a former auto executive who started a special-purpose acquisition company that merged with air taxi startup Lilium . "With the success of Tesla, it's easy to forget that was a story that was 20 years in the making and along the way there were many points where they stared death in the face."

In Tesla's case, economic turbulence struck as the company was launching large assembly plants in Texas and Germany. Supply- chain bottlenecks had turned those operations into "money furnaces," Musk told members of a Tesla fan club last month. read more

Detroit automakers are at risk too from rising money costs and persistent supply-chain problems.

At General Motors Co(GM.N), executives look at a dashboard of market indicators "every day, every week, every month," Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson told investors at Deutsche Bank conference in June. "I don't want to end up in a situation where we walk off a cliff."

So far, established automakers have been able to raise prices on their popular, high-volume combustion trucks and SUVs to keep cash flowing. GM, Ford and Stellantis have so far stuck to their full-year profit forecasts.

EV startups do not have established model lines churning out cash the way the Ford F-series truck lineup does. The slumping stock market and rising interest rates have made it tougher for new companies to raise fresh capital from investors. That intensifies pressure to start building and selling vehicles, and to slash expenses to conserve cash on hand.

Canoo Inc (GOEV.O) shares got recharged on Tuesday when the company said it had landed the deal to deliver 4,500 delivery vans to retailer Walmart(WMT.N). read more

Canoo shares rose more than 50%, although from a low base. The company told investors in May its management had "substantial doubt" about the company's ability to remain a going concern. read more

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Reporting by Joseph White and Ben Klayman in DetroitAdditional reporting by Nick Carey in LondonEditing by Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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EV disruptors hit industry speed bumps that have plagued legacy automakers for years - Reuters.com

The modern recruitment process is linear, often starting with a search for potential candidates who match available job positions and ending with the onboarding process. However, HR professionals and recruiters such as yourself can refine this recruitment procedure to fit your companys unique needs.

A refined recruitment process makes everything more efficient and cost-effective for your recruitment team and potential candidates. The big question is: How do you streamline your HR process so it fits like a glove along with your companys unique hiring needs?

Tailor the recruitment process to your companys unique needs by improving each step of the process flow so it works smoothly for your company.

In order to hire candidates that will be the best fit for your company, you need to make sure you know what your company needs. Think in terms of what the role requires, but also the type of candidate thatll be the best fit for your company. For example, an SMB welding company might have a strong focus on the technical skills of potential welders, while a media company looking for a social media manager might want a strong focus on both technical and personality skills. To help you streamline this process, itll help to ask yourself the following questions:

A job description is often a candidates first interaction with your company. Well-crafted job descriptions attract suitable candidates, while poorly written ones are often ignored. How do you perfect your job description? You can start with the following:

Make job descriptions clear and concise

When writing your job description for a role, be specific and concise about what you want. Be clear in the roles responsibilities, be non-comparative when describing the basic qualifications needed (education, work experience, etc.), and include behavioral capabilities for the job. An excellent guide for you to look at is Harvards hiring tool kit[1].

Create simple but clear job titles

Creating industry-standard and concise job titles will make sure your job description appears in search engine results. This is important because potential candidates cant apply if they cant find you. Avoid using terms such as rockstar, ninja, or clickbait titles such as Great opportunity for Millenials! Instead, use industry-standard titles such as TIG welder, fullstack engineer, social media manager, etc.

Use inclusive language

Make sure your job description is free of biased or discriminatory language[2] that may deter qualified candidates from applying. For best results, run your job description with an AI-based software that detects and ideally suggests alternatives for you to use. Also, let potential candidates know about your companys dedication to DEI[3] by posting an inclusive statement on all your job descriptions.

Recruitment is a lot like going fishingyou need to know where the fish are. There are many channels in which you can post your job ads, but the key to success is knowing where to post them.

To know where to post your job ads, you need to know who your potential candidates are and their preferred channels. You can even be unconventional and post jobs on Tinder[4] (a dating website) like Amazon did when looking for engineers. Or you can skip the written job posts altogether, create video job ads instead[5], and post them on Youtube and other social media channels.

After posting your job ads, youll want to monitor which channel you receive most of your job applications from. Knowing from where you get most of your job applications is a form of recruitment KPI[6]. This data helps you track which channel brings in the most qualified candidates that are a good fit for your company. Whichever source brings the most conversion is where you should channel your resources.

Instead of having just one person interview a candidate, create a team. A team will be able to get different types of information from the candidates and eliminate any personal bias that may creep in during interviews. When creating your interview team, consider people with diverse backgrounds and characteristics who will be respectful of different cultures and situations. The FAS in Harvard[1] suggests limiting your interview team to no more than four members. When youve assembled your team, be clear about each team members role, and assign one person to be the decision-maker in the group.

Solid onboarding can make a big difference to a team members success. The sooner your new team member is working, the sooner they will feel integrated and valued. Research by Glassdoor says companies with good onboarding improve the retention of new hires by 82%.[7] Below are some ways you can ensure an excellent experience for your new team members:

Fine-tuning your recruitment process with the right strategies to fit your companys needs ensures youll be getting a diverse set of applicants so you can find the perfect team memberall while being cost-effective. Remember there is no perfect recruitment process, only the process thats a great fit for your company. Are you looking for tools that can help refine your recruitment process? Take a look at some of the top recruiting solutions that can help you.

Sources

1. Staff hiring at the faculty of arts and sciences, Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences

2. Do your job ads use discriminatory language? You may not realize they do., Recruiter.com

3. DEI definitions, The University of Iowa

4. Amazon advertise new job openings on tinder, Global Dating Insights

5. 21 of the best video ads of all time, Wyzowl

6. 9 recruitment kpis to measure success in your organization, AIHR

7. The true cost of a bad hire [PDF], Brandon Hall Group

Visit link:
How To Perfect the Recruitment Process - Software Advice

Andrew Hunzicker is a CPA and CEO of DOPE CFO, which provides accounting and bookkeeping training programs for financial professionals in the cannabis industry. Views are the author's own.

Professionals, finance executives and accountants who are new to the cannabis sector and have never worked with large sums of cash are often finding themselves in a bind by relying on accounting controls from the past that likely wont work in this industry.

The fact of the matter is that if you want to successfully keep your cannabis company or clients in compliance, you have to implement solid internal controls over paying bills in a timely manner and maintaining pristine records of each payment, daily cash counts and segregation of duties.

Accounting professionals and financial report preparers often misinterpret tax codes in an effort to increase deductions that dispensaries may not be allowed to take. This means that the CEOs and CFOs who are heavily relying on their accounting teams are unknowingly putting their company at risk of large fees, or worse, being shut down for not following the correct procedures.

One area of confusion for many is section 280e of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which is what stops cannabis operations like dispensaries from getting tax deductions. Because it remains classified as a Schedule 1 substance, any business that distributes or owns cannabis products is technically trafficking it, regardless of the intent.There are no cutting corners or loopholes to get around 280E and find deductions; the IRS is more than aware of the games being played and is putting its foot down.

Since cannabis companies cant take deductions or credits like traditional companies, they dont have many options when it comes to reducing tax liability; in fact, the only way to do so is by relying on section 471 of the IRC to determine which costs can be allocated via cost accounting to inventory and eventually to Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). This process is highly complex, even more so for dispensaries.

So, how exactly do you get deductions for dispensaries?

The answer lies within COGS and the IRCs 471 section. However, the application of the tax rules vary from vertical to vertical within the cannabis industry, making it even more difficult for dispensaries than for a farm or manufacturing type of business in this space.

One general rule that applies for all cannabis companies is the use of inventories and the method used has to unquestionably reflect the companys income and align with the way a company accounts for inventory in the financials.

For dispensaries specifically, regulations essentially allow a dispensary taxable income to be lowered via COGS if the accountant is making sure to do it correctly. Because the IRS is so strict, its essential that cannabis accounting professionals are keeping track of their clients inventory accounting if the company hopes to be able to successfully pass an IRS audit.

Poor bookkeeping is no joke, and the legal fines a company may have to pay can be over $70,000, or more. Just take a look at the Alterman v. Commissioner case if you need a cautionary accounting tale. The 2018 Tax Court decision upheld a 20% tax penalty on the taxpayer for underpayment of the tax liability related to deductions taken, according to a June 15, 2018 report from the law firm Lowndes.

Still, success is more than possible when you follow the correct procedures and understand how to adhere to IRC 280E and 471.

One of the other unfortunate aspects of accounting for dispensaries is that there arent very many tools out there that can make an accounting professionals life easier in the cannabis sector. With state-mandated seed to sale, coupled with POS systems that are poorly integrated and hard to reconcile, there are a number of added headaches around dealing with cannabis.

Cash controls are a whole other issue since banking is pretty much non-existent in many states. Local licensing authorities are holding owners responsible for having adequate security measures in place, so companies cant use theft as an excuse for missing cash.

To add insult to injury, accounting software often isnt cannabis friendly, so youll need a dispensary-specific chart of accounts and work papers so that you can do proper GAAP accounting if you plan to take any allowable deductions.

In short, the best way for a company in the cannabis sector to succeed is to implement annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily procedures for dispensary accounting and to strictly adhere to both GAAP and IRC 280E so that the business can correctly minimize taxes.

Go here to read the rest:
The ABCs and IRCs of cannabis accounting - CFO Dive

In his fortnightly I.T Crowd column, Philip Brooks, of Diamond Byte Solutions, Wisbech, guides us through free software...

There is a wealth of free software available for PCs and its a real mix of must-have programs and programs that are just fun to play around with.

Lets have a look at just a few:

Ninite is a secure and easy-to-use online service that allows users to install multiple software programs onto a computer (Windows only) all at once.

To do this, go to the Ninite website, select which free software youd like to install, then click Get Installer to receive an .exe file which contains the installers for all these programs. Because applications are installed from their official websites, the latest official versions are always downloaded.

Moreover, it automatically declines any adware and bloatware using the option to deselect the adware or suspicious extensions during the installation process.

Photo Editing: Paint.net is a quick, easy to operate photo editor, ideal for simple editing. It isnt a rubbish copy of Microsofts basic Paint its a proper photo editor with advanced editing tools such as layers, an undo history, a choice of filters, many community-created plugins, and a brilliant 3D rotate/zoom function

Office suite: Libre Office

Available completely free of charge, Libre Office includes tools for word processing, presentations and spreadsheets and is fully compatible with Microsoft document formats.

It includes hundreds of free fonts and templates and has a clear, easy to use interface.

All of the most common tools and options are intuitively placed so you wont spend ages searching for the setting or tool that you need. It even allows you to convert PDF files into Word format.

Media player: VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player has a simple interface and is compatible with almost all video and audio formats. It supports DVDs and Blu Rays, plus MPEG and DivX streaming and can play videos as theyre downloading.

Security : Dashlane and LastPass are brilliant password managers, which let you generate and securely store unlimited unique and strong passwords quickly and easily.

Almost all of us have to keep track of a load of different passwords, due to the increasing number of web-based services we use, which is not easy (as we have mentioned many times before, NEVER pick one password, then re-use it over and over).

But with a password manager, all you need to remember is one master password just make sure its both secure and memorable.

Do note that the free versions are limited to a single device if you wish to use them across multiple devices (recommended for security), you will need to upgrade to the paid versions.

Originally posted here:
Taking a look at the best free software out there for you - Fenland Citizen