Strategic Finance articles from March 2009

Strategic Finance archives from March 2009

Becoming visionary survivors.(PERSPECTIVES)(Column)
March 1, 2009... Management accountants are in an excellent position to advise their companies on how to improve financially and successfully prepare for the future and its challenges. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I've written a lot recently about what to do...

IMA pledges timely, effective customer service.(TOP LINE)(Institute of Management Accountants)(Column)
March 1, 2009... One of the best intangible benefits of IMA membership is excellent customer service, and we are working hard to meet and exceed expectations in this area. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dear IMA Members: At the beginning of the year, I...

A fresh look at revenue recognition.(FINANCIAL REPORTING)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(International Accounting Standards Board)
March 1, 2009... The FASB and the IASB are making progress toward a better, more consistent way for companies to recognize and measure their revenue. For centuries, revenue has been regarded as a key measure of a company's financial performance. Given the...

What makes a business "small"?(ADVOCACY)(Small Business Financial and Regulatory Affairs Committee)
March 1, 2009... In trying to come up with one definition of small business, IMA's Small Business Financial and Regulatory Affairs Committee decided it needed to include all companies "small enough" to warrant its advocacy. The newly established Small...

IMA issues Business Valuation SMA.(IMA NEWS)(Institute of Management Accountants)(Statement on Management Accounting)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]) has published a new Statement on Management Accounting (SMA) titled Business Valuation. Based on the work of Nicholas J. Mastracchio, Jr., it provides a detailed description of how a valuation of...

COSO releases new guidance.(NEWS)(Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) recently released its Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems. Developed by COSO and led by a diverse Grant Thornton LLP team, the guidance is designed to help...

Regulation of credit default swaps.(GOVERNMENT)
March 1, 2009... Will new federal regulation of credit default swaps (CDS) affect corporate finance? Considering the important role CDS have come to play in protecting the risks that banks feel they take on when they buy corporate bonds, the answer is "Heck,...

Designing effective controls.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... I read with great interest Curt Verschoor's ethics article in the January issue of Strategic Finance. As we see a new administration take office there will be a significant need for re-regulation of practically every federal agency. The...

Leadership model for professionals.(BOOKS)
March 1, 2009... Although most leaders enter their professions to be technical experts and problem solvers, many spend a great deal of time dealing with human resources issues. Balancing the roles of producer and manager can be a challenge and source of...

Slowdown on IFRS.(GOVERNMENT)(International Financial Reporting Standards)
March 1, 2009... No sooner did Chris Cox depart the SEC than his successor as Chair, Mary Schapiro, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were putting Cox's drive for U.S. GAAP convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in reverse. In...

Moving ahead: the evolving role of the finance & accounting function in China.(Cover story)
March 1, 2009... This is the first of three articles based on the recently completed study by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]) of the state of management accounting in China. The study included field studies as well as an extensive survey of 209...

Is finance a business partner yet? Progress has been made, but there's still a way to go for some companies.(FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT)(Report)
March 1, 2009... The finance function of publicly traded firms has two major roles: partner with line management to improve performance and report financial results while maintaining the necessary independence. Recent instances of corporate fraud and the...

Turning budgeting pain into budgeting gain.
March 1, 2009... It's budget time again. Being a financial executive, you approach the annual process with excitement and a sincere belief that the process will be efficient, positive, and better than last year. Yet when members of your staff ask managers for...

Two-condition formulas: SUMIFS vs. SUMPRODUCT.(Microsoft Excel 7.0)
March 1, 2009... Excel has supported the SUMIF and COUNTIF functions for many years. These functions are fine for calculations where you have a single condition, but they fail when you need to test for multiple conditions. In this month's article, we'll look at...

Entering and editing data using customized forms.(ACCESS)
March 1, 2009... While it's possible to enter data directly into a table from the Datasheet View, it may be more convenient to use a form. Creating a form for a table is pretty easy. In fact, if you blink... you may miss it. Creating a Form In Access...

How to make your Data Interactive.(XBRL)
March 1, 2009... In January, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) published the final ruling that introduces the mandatory use of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)--also referred to as "Interactive Data"--for U.S. public company reporting....

Tools of the trade.(TECHNOLOGY)
March 1, 2009... Amazon Kindle 2 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the most anticipated debuts of the year has been the Kindle 2, the e-book reader from Amazon.com. Pirated photos of the device had been appearing for weeks on the tech blogs, but the big...

The good, the bad, and the ugly--Scribd.(TECH FORUM)(Website overview)
March 1, 2009... THE INTERNET IS ABOUT 26 YEARS OLD, and, by now, the established addresses have securely nailed down their design and content to keep anything from flapping in the wind. Broken links get fixed regularly, and every entrance is metered so owners...

Achieving certification.(IMAlife)(Babu I Razack)(Personal account)
March 1, 2009... Feb. 23, 2008, was a memorable day for me because that's when I finished Part 4 of the Certified Management Accountant (CMA[R]) exam. I had taken the exam part by part as I had tight schedules in my office as well as obligations as head of my...