Strategic Finance articles from July 2008

Strategic Finance archives from July 2008

A shared vision.(Perspectives)(Column)
July 1, 2008... As the new Chair of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]), I'm honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to this organization that has given so much to me throughout my 30 years of membership. I've given considerable...

Horror Vacui.(Best Practices)(Column)
July 1, 2008... Jane's job took her on the road more than half the time, so her husband was really looking forward to their vacation trip to Florida. Inevitably, the designated dates fell smack in the middle of a major change project. "I can't go now," Jane...

Who needs "young" professionals?(Young Professionals)(Survey)
July 1, 2008... Have you ever attended a local chapter meeting or a national Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]) event, surveyed the crowd, and wondered: "Where are all the 'young' accounting and finance professionals?" Chances are you have, as a...

New Guidance for Accountants in Business.(NEWS)(Professional Accountants in Business)(Crucial Roles booklet )
July 1, 2008... The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued three new publications designed to help management accounting and finance professionals in their quest to drive business...

COSO wants your comments.(streetwise)
July 1, 2008... The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has released an exposure draft titled Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems. It's designed to help organizations of any size or structure develop efficient...

Tone from the top.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... In his June ethics article, Curt Verschoor requests suggestions to raise ethical standards. Human nature does not change, but we need to continue to emphasize the critical nature of ethics. This is best done by example following example...

SEC moves forward on XBRL.(GOVERNMENT)(eXtensible Business Reporting Language)(Securities and Exchange Commission)
July 1, 2008... Several prominent business groups, including Financial Executives International (FEI), may be of the opinion that the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) essentially stuck it to the corporate reporting community when it published its...

Insights for effective Scorecard use.(BOOKS)
July 1, 2008... Scorecard systems have become a popular management tool to communicate changes in strategy, align business units with the changes, and ultimately help align employee behavior with the corporate strategy. In Scorecard Best Practices: Design,...

Return driven: lessons from high-performance companies.(Cover Story)
July 1, 2008... What can we learn from companies that have been able to achieve sustainable return on investment and grow their businesses at the same time? How can management teams adapt the strategies and practices of these "high-performance companies" as...

The Ziegler Companies: charting a new course.(Cover Story)(Company overview)
July 1, 2008... The Ziegler Companies, Inc., is an investment banking and investment services boutique with primary focus in the healthcare, senior living, religious, and education marketplaces. It has been in operation for more than 100 years. Our core...

Fair value Accounting from theory to practice: implementation of SFAS No. 157 will be tumultuous, painful, and require significant adjustment for U.S. Accounting professionals.(Accounting)(Column)
July 1, 2008... "I'm a mark-to-market valuation guy....The strength of fair value is that it is a more objective basis, it impounds current information, and it must be forward looking. However, I like to be able to check value calculations. I want something...

The conflicting roles of controllership and compliance.
July 1, 2008... Controllers are becoming accustomed to feeling overwhelmed by their jobs. Contradictory job specialties, increasing organizational and competitive complexity, excessive regulation, and often the existence of dual reporting responsibilities...

The impact of certifications on accounting education.(Certification)
July 1, 2008... The employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow through the year 2016, according to the 2008-2009 Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Department of Labor. Corporate governance reforms, an increasingly global business...

Manipulating the balanced scorecard.(Carl Menconi Case Writing Competition)
July 1, 2008... The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]) Committee on Ethics and IMA Professor-in-Residence Raef Lawson, CMA, CPA, are proud to announce that Natalia Mintchik and Jennifer Blaskovich, CPA, have won the Best Case Award in the second...

Performing two-way lookups using MATCH and INDEX.(Excel)
July 1, 2008... * Most accountants are comfortable using Excel's VLOOKUP function to look up a value in a table, but performing a two-way lookup (the value where a row and column intersect) is more complex. The solution involves a quirky, flexible, but...

Tools of the trade.
July 1, 2008... Playaway offers a different way to take your summer reading on vacation--hanging from a lanyard around your neck. Smaller than a PDA and lighter than a cell phone, each Playaway book is actually a very lightweight MP3 player loaded with the...

Looking elsewhere.(Tech Forum)
July 1, 2008... * IN THE MONTH OF MAY, GOOGLE led the search market with a 68.3% share. Yahoo trailed with a 20% share, and Microsoft, still trying to cannibalize its nearest competitor, was out near the horizon with 5.9% (numbers from Hitwise.com). There...

A new column for changing times.(Financial Reporting)(Column)
July 1, 2008... Welcome to Strategic Finance's new "Financial Reporting" column. I'm Bruce Pounder, and each month I'll be writing about major developments in corporate financial reporting that are occurring in the United States and around the world. If you...

TED--TV for lateral thinkers.(End Note)(Technology Entertainment Design)
July 1, 2008... Burned out on unscripted reality television that pits the anonymous against the mean-spirited? Had enough of talk radio that bills itself as "informative" as it tries to hammer flat one side of your open mind? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...