Strategic Finance articles from May 2004

Strategic Finance archives from May 2004

Reverse merger or IPO? Consider the former when you take your family business public.(Financial Planning)(initial public offering)
May 1, 2004... What happens when a family business decides the benefits of being public outweigh the drawbacks and opts to take the plunge? As a public company, the family's wealth and liquidity will almost always be increased. The company will have greater...

Are you burning out your best employees?(Careers)
May 1, 2004... As businesses strive to achieve greater productivity, employees are being asked to work harder than ever. "Giving 110%" isn't just encouraged during special projects--it has become a daily requirement. While having staff increase their...

Preserving performance pay: maintaining the power of stock-based compensation while minimizing the abuse of it.(Stock Options)
May 1, 2004... The abuse of stock options played a part in many of the recent accounting scandals. Only now, with these scandals behind us (let's hope), can we clearly see how and why stock options were abused. From these difficult lessons, we have learned...

Out-of-pocket relief.(End Note)(Chameleon Networks introduces Chameleon Card)
May 1, 2004... It doesn't have a clinical name, so let's just call it plastigrandizing. The symptoms in males include wallets so stuffed there are mysterious episodes of sciatic pain. In females, there are carpal tunnel-like twinges caused by repeated efforts...

It's all about the money.(Ethics)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 compliance)
May 1, 2004... "U.S. college freshmen saying 'being very well off financially' is very important or essential has increased from 33% in 1970 to 70% today."--UCLA Study Am I the only person (other than Yogi Berra) who's getting that deja vu feeling all...

The normalization of deviance.(Best Practices)
May 1, 2004... OVER THE YEARS, THE NATIONAL TRANSPORtation Safety Board has examined hundreds of aviation and other kinds of accidents. As technology has improved, design standards have become more rigorous, and mechanical devices have become more reliable....

Carl S. Smith named IMA chair-elect.(Institute of Manamement Accountants)
May 1, 2004... CARL S. SMITH, PH.D., CPA, CMA, CFM, has been named IMA Chair-Elect, which means he will become IMA Chair in 2005-06. Larry R. White, CMA, CFM, CPA, CGFM, is IMA Chair for 2004-05. The IMA Board of Directors announced Carl's nomination on...

The sensibility of principles-based accounting standards: financial accounting would be more accurate if there were fewer rules--including fewer rules for valuing stock options.(Opinion)
May 1, 2004... The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) had been trying to resolve the issues about measuring the expense of stock options long before it published its Proposed Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, "Share-Based Payment," in...

Save $1 million with better fleet management: here are some tips on how to do it.(Financing/Leasing)
May 1, 2004... Many companies have large groups of employees, such as sales reps and field service technicians, who regularly need vehicle transportation to do their work. These employees make critical contributions to revenue generation and customer...

Improving as professionals.(Perspectives: message from the chair)
May 1, 2004... In last month's column, we took a look at how the member discounts for goods and services more than offset the cost of membership in IMA. We hope you make full use of them, and we will seek to add even more for you to use, but discounts and...

10 truths you need to know about fraud.(corporate accounting scandals)
May 1, 2004... You've undoubtedly heard about the recent corporate accounting scandals, but how much do you really know about fraud? Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to fraud because, like high blood pressure, it can be a silent killer of your company's...

Strategic Finance Self-Study Quiz.
May 1, 2004... EARN CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION CREDIT--3 CPE Credits ANNOUNCEMENT: The Strategic Finance Self-Study Quiz is a program in which financial professionals can earn CPE credits for passing a test based on what they have learned about...

Reducing your workforce: what you don't know can hurt you.(HR Management)
May 1, 2004... While cost cutting may be at the heart of "reduction-in-force" decisions, legal issues come into play as well. One way to make sure former employees don't become plaintiffs is for managers to fully understand federal statutes that create...

Interviewing for integrity.(News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... GIVEN THE RECENT CORPORATE SCANDALS AND NEW REGULATIONS DESIGNED to prevent further misdeeds, companies want to make sure they hire honest, trustworthy employees they can rely on to adhere to the highest ethical standards. Is there a way you...

FASB wants your opinion.(streetwise)
May 1, 2004... Don't forget that the deadline for commenting on "Share-Based Payment" is June 30, 2004. In late March, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued this Exposure Draft that covers a wide range of equity-based compensation...

One of the best.(Readers' Input)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... The March issue was one of the best in years. I was not only happy to see the Norton/Kaplan article plus the one by my SAS colleague Phil Strand on SOX, but I really liked Michael Kennedy's CRM article on page 36. Gary Cokins, CPIM...

Move beyond picks and shovels.(Readers' Input)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I read the January 2004 article "There's Gold in Your Data" in disbelief. Indeed, the core business processes of many organizations are becoming more dynamic, but it is not because the evolving technology allows us to store data in digital...

IMA funds four new research projects.(Research)(Institute of Management Accountants)
May 1, 2004... IMA'S FOUNDATION FOR APPLIED RESEARCH/MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING Committee (FAR/MAC) approved funding for four research proposals at its biannual meeting in March. The projects have an international flavor: 1. German Cost Accounting...

Small business groups complain about FASB.(Government)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act (S. 1637))
May 1, 2004... THERE IS SOME SUBSTANTIAL political support behind legislation to trim the Financial Accounting Standards Board's sails on the issue of accounting for stock options. Small business groups frantically besieged members of the House Financial...

The new internal auditing rules.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... THE PUBLIC OUTCRY ARISING FROM THE collapse of Enron, WorldCom, HealthSouth, and other firms resulted in the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In Sarbanes-Oxley and the New Internal Auditing Rules, Robert R. Moeller outlines...

JGTRRA and the family business.(Taxes)(Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act)
May 1, 2004... THE JOBS AND GROWTH TAX RELIEF RECONciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) has been discussed and examined in both the business and popular press, including this column. Generally missing from that coverage, however, has been a focus on a major segment...

Reading, writing, and computing.(tools of the trade)(software products)
May 1, 2004... The HP Compaq tc1100 combines a full-function PC with the pen-and-paper convenience of a tablet PC. Running on Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, the tc1100 is compatible with industry-standard software and hardware as well as legacy applications....

Writing on the screen.(Tech Forum)(importance of computer knowledge)
May 1, 2004... * A FEW YEARS AGO, the "Computers Everywhere for Everything" march ran into a wall, and it's been pretty much stalled since then. The obstruction is constructed of two kinds of stone--complexity and the interface--and very little progress has...

Economic expansion is expected to widen.(Trends In Financial Management)
May 1, 2004... * AT THE END OF THIS YEAR'S FIRST quarter in March, the U.S. economic outlook for nine and 12 months forward was solidly optimistic. CEOs' confidence in the U.S. economy rose to the highest level in 20 years; CFOs expect robust growth in annual...