Strategic Finance articles from December 2005

Strategic Finance archives from December 2005

A new game plan for career success.(Careers)
December 1, 2005... New regulations, business practices, and regulatory entities continue to reshape the way accountants perform their jobs. The dramatic shifts that have affected the accounting world in recent years present significant challenges for financial...

Lost at sea.(finding information)
December 1, 2005... The estimated accumulation is accelerating. Clocked at about five exabytes of information per year, we are now adding "a half a million new libraries the size of the Library of Congress" every 365 days. This is partly due to the effect of...

Ethical culture: most important barrier to ethical misconduct.(Ethics)
December 1, 2005... The Ethics Resource Center (ERC), a nonprofit U.S. organization devoted to the advancement of organizational ethics, has released the results of its 2005 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) of more than 3,000 American workers. The findings...

Financial executive of the year: Jacqualyn Fouse: fostering a standard of trust and open communication.(2005 National Winner)
December 1, 2005... As one of her acquaintances keenly observed, Jacqualyn Fouse has a knack for balancing the "hard" with the "soft." She is able to achieve significant results by skillfully managing the numbers while at the same time earning the respect and...

2005 regional winners.
December 1, 2005... The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and Robert Half International Inc. are proud to present the regional winners of the 2005 Financial Executive of the Year Award. Winners were selected in each participating IMA council based on...

And now a word from our sponsors.(Best Practices)
December 1, 2005... "The way we identify executives and leaders is critical to our survival," the VP of Learning at a manufacturer of business equipment observed recently. "Leadership development is the cornerstone in the way we move forward." Sounds like an...

Managing your multigenerational workforce: it takes time, talent, tact, and perseverance--but the end product can be a great place to work with a wonderful talent pool.(Career Skills)
December 1, 2005... What happens when multiple generations work together in a department or on a team but they don't know or understand the generational values of their colleagues? BAM!!!!! Sparks fly, and production may implode. For the first time in American...

Independence--perception or reality?
December 1, 2005... A number of years ago, we had the privilege of working with an outstanding accounting professional who was fond of stating, "Perception is reality." Whether you agree or not, what people perceive is often their view of reality. With the passage...

'Tis the season.(Perspectives: Message from the Chair)
December 1, 2005... As we approach the end of the year, let's take time to reflect on what has happened since the beginning of 2005. Within IMA we have begun to turn the corner on getting more active in advancing the profession of management accounting. We have...

Making cents out of the hiring process.(HR Management)
December 1, 2005... When major companies replace executives at the highest levels, whole communities pay attention and watch for the golden parachute that everyone has come to expect. We're all amazed and often shocked by the costs associated with severance...

Who's minding the gate? How pension consultants' hidden financial incentives may be hindering your plan's performance.(Benefits Management)
December 1, 2005... The problem with the Harbor City Chemical Company's pension plan came to light quite suddenly, and no one was prepared. The managers and directors found themselves listening to their accountant in disbelief. They had all been working for a year...

Scott Taub named SEC acting chief accountant.(NEWS)
December 1, 2005... Scott Taub, a deputy chief accountant at the Securities & Exchange Commission since September 2002, has been named acting chief accountant. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox made the announcement last month. Before joining the SEC staff, Taub...

Make CMA the gold standard.(International City Management Association launches a new job analysis)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... * Help us validate the value of the CMA! The ICMA has launched a new job analysis to confirm the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by professionals practicing management accounting and financial management inside organizations. The...

IMA: back to the future.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... NAA had approximately 100,000 members the year I served as president of the Nashville Chapter (1978-79). IMA now has approximately 70,000 members (Strategic Finance, June 2005). After participating in IMA/NAA activities for more than 40 years,...

SEC extends 404 reporting for accelerated filers.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
December 1, 2005... It didn't come as a big surprise when the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) extended the deadline for the first Section 404 reports for smaller companies ("accelerated filers") to the first fiscal year ending on or after July 15, 2007, a...

Outsourcing successfully.(Business process outsourcing )
December 1, 2005... Business process outsourcing (BPO) is similar to the purchase of physical goods from domestic or foreign sources, but instead of goods being obtained from other sources, part of the administrative function of the firm is done by a company...

Tax issues for individual victims of natural disasters.(disaster insurance )
December 1, 2005... Hurricanes Katrina and Rita proved disastrous for individuals, businesses, and communities. Similarly, other disastrous events occur across the country that may be equally devastating to individuals or businesses and that often result in...

Bytes and Books.(new innovations through nanotechnology)
December 1, 2005... The iPod nano is one of the recent variations of Apple's spectacularly successful pocket multimedia. Essentially, it's an extremely small MP3 player that will hold gigabytes (1 or 2) of music, photos, podcasts, and audiobooks. The 1.5-inch...

Googlebooks.(Google Inc. to create ebooks for Library of Alexandria )
December 1, 2005... IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE GOOGLE decided to recreate the legendary Library of Alexandria online with scans of large university and public library collections. Google began scanning all the books in the New York Public Library and the libraries...

Keeping pension promises.(accounting for pension plans)
December 1, 2005... The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved a project to overhaul accounting for pension plans and other employee-retirement benefits. The accounting and reporting issues involved touch on the measurement of assets and...

The cost accountant is dead; long live the business process analyst.(XBRL)
December 1, 2005... The cost accountant was born in a business world that is far different from today. Beginning with the industrial revolution at the turn of the 20th century, the demand for people to account for manufacturing costs created a ground swell of jobs...