Strategic Finance articles from August 2004

Strategic Finance archives from August 2004

The Independent 529 plan.(Taxes)
August 1, 2004... EFFECTIVE SINCE SEPTEMBER 1, 2003, THE Independent Plan is a prepaid college-tuition arrangement applicable to 238 private undergraduate colleges. Launched in accordance with Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, this plan represents a...

Summer companies.(End Note)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... ACROSS 1. Archer's need 7. Epidemic outbreak last year 11. Add back to inventory 14. Prefix meaning multiple or more 15. --you can't 16. Enemy 17. Not good 18. Makes rods and reels 20. Trucks and buses...

Accountancy students develop a unique code of ethics.(Ethics)
August 1, 2004... AS THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION WRESTLES with how to restore its creditability, accounting students at some universities are taking the ethical issues into their own hands. Students at one university developed their own academic honor pledge and a...

Does power corrupt?(Best Practices)
August 1, 2004... AN AGE-OLD QUESTION. EVENTS DURING THE aftermath of the high-flying 1990s--the conviction of Martha Stewart, the WorldCom and Enron indictments--fuel the belief that top managers are greedy, selfish, prone to lie, shade the truth, seek...

Larry R. White: let's reinvigorate management accounting: IMA's new Chair wants his profession to have the recognition and respect it deserves.(Change Agent)
August 1, 2004... As Chair for 2004-05, Larry White, CMA, CFM, CPA, CGFM, wants IMA to reclaim the domain of management accounting and promote the relevance of the profession. "We have a crisis in management accounting--but nobody has noticed it yet," he says....

When strategy and valuation meet: five lessons from return driven strategy.(Cover Story)
August 1, 2004... Picture a business strategy expert. What characteristics come to mind? How does the person behave? What schooling, certifications, and work experience would this person have? Now imagine a valuation expert in terms of characteristics,...

Can we rebalance the profession?(Perspective: message from the Chair)
August 1, 2004... The "Accounting Profession" desperately needs to be rebalanced and reclaimed by the broader range of accounting professionals--management accountants. The vital role of the management accountant--providing decision support, planning, and...

Strategic Finance self-study quiz.
August 1, 2004... How to Participate 1. Complete the quiz form located below. 2. To obtain maximum benefit from the quiz, we recommend that you work on the review questions first and study the feedback to your response. You will not earn CPE from...

Nurturing innovation: the CFO can be instrumental in creating a corporate culture where innovation is valued and failure isn't fatal.(Strategic Management)
August 1, 2004... Does the following scenario sound familiar? After a couple of very challenging years, your business appears to have finally turned the corner, but it is facing constant pressure. Customer expectations continue to mount. Competition is fierce....

Using disruptive innovation theory to guide investment decisions.(Strategic Management)
August 1, 2004... One of the most pressing challenges many CFOs face is allocating scarce investment dollars among innovation opportunities. It's a tough challenge. Opportunities that seem to have a high probability of creating growth often flop. Acquisitions...

How do you handle invoice reconciliation and payment?(News)
August 1, 2004... CONTINUED ECONOMIC PRESSURES AND REGULATORY CHANGES SUCH AS THE Sarbanes-Oxley Act have placed a renewed emphasis on invoice reconciliation and payment as a way for companies to save money and ensure proper procedures and processes are in...

GAO changes name.(General Accounting Office changes name to Government Accountability Office)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Last month, the General Accounting Office (GA0) became the Government Accountability Office as part of the GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004. The organization said "the change better reflects the modern professional services organization GAO...

Dueling over corporate tax shelters.(Government)
August 1, 2004... ONE OF THE BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HOUSE FSC/ETI replacement bill (H.R. 4520, American Jobs Creation Act of 2004) introduced in June by Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Bill Thomas (R.-Calif.) and the FSC/ETI replacement bill passed by the Senate...

The next evolutionary step in business.(declining costs of communication)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... * THE EVER INCREASING SPEED OF IT DEVELOPments, along with the declining costs of communication, is leading to a coming trend that will change how businesses are run, according to Thomas Malone. In his book, The Future of Work, published by the...

Top 10 questions to ask during job interviews.(Careers)
August 1, 2004... Knowing which questions to ask during interviews can often mean the difference between selecting the right or wrong person for a position. Today's accounting candidates are usually well prepared for these meetings, having taken advantage of...

Finding your way.(tools of the trade)(Garmin StreetPilot, a portable automotive Global Positioning System navigator)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The Garmin StreetPilot is a portable automotive GPS navigator that has a preloaded MapSource City Navigator. The hard drive on the unit can be preprogrammed with maps from North America or Europe and a database that will guide you to specific...

Summer reading list.(Tools of the trade)
August 1, 2004... Instead of just picking up the latest action novel featured at the airport bookstand, you might consider one or several of these alternatives. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham--published by O'Reilly &...

Is the cat still your password?(Tech Forum)(visKey PPC 2.0 the graphical login for computers)
August 1, 2004... * WELL, FORGET THE DERISION YOU'VE SUFFERED from your co-workers and the annoying requests from IT. You can now use Mr. Jingles, and no one is going to crack your password--not even that kid down the street with the Star Trek medallion with...

When ties to banks cut too close.(Trends In Financial Management)
August 1, 2004... * FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS SAY that since laws separating commercial and investment banks were lifted nearly five years ago, commercial banks increasingly have been forcing corporate customers to buy investment banking services in exchange for...

Delivering strategic business value: business intelligence can help management accounting reclaim its relevance and rightful role.(Strategic Processes)
August 1, 2004... The term "business intelligence" was spawned in the 1990s to convey the concept that businesses can harness the blizzard of transactional information generated by their IT systems to gain substantial insights into emerging profit opportunities....

Why is XBRL so hard?(Extensible Business Reporting Language)
August 1, 2004... I'D LIKE TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS ON WHAT makes XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) difficult to understand when people approach it for the first time. This is my perspective, which is based on my participation in the design of XBRL from...