Strategic Finance articles from November 2008

Strategic Finance archives from November 2008

Remember the customer: message from the chair.(Perspectives)(customer relationship management)
November 1, 2008... Once upon a time, many companies--financial ones among them--conducted business under a wise proviso: "The customer is king." It meant that the company's chief priority was to listen to and meet the needs of its customers, who were the means by...

Finding the upside advantage in downside risk.(Strategic Management)(risk management )(Editorial)
November 1, 2008... In today's rapidly changing business world, potentially devastating risk events are becoming more frequent and obvious. Companies that once owned seemingly invulnerable strategic niches have been reeling under assaults from quarters no one...

The cost of baggage.(Best Practices)(Editorial)
November 1, 2008... I've been shedding all summer. Not my dog. Me. Our kids are remodeling their house, so they're moving in with my husband and me for three-plus months--lock, stock, and grandsons. Consequently, Gary and I are migrating to our garage, long ago...

Financial statements unlike any you've seen (part 1).(Financial Reporting)(collaboration between Financial Accounting Standards Board and International Accounting Standards Board for issued discussion paper)(Column)
November 1, 2008... If you haven't yet read the financial statements of ToolCo and Bank Corp, you should--your company's financial statements may soon look like theirs. Financial statements of the fictitious ToolCo and Bank Corp appear as illustrative...

CMA's significance in the Middle East.(Worldview)(certified magement accountant)
November 1, 2008... The number of people enrolling in the Certified Management Accountant (CMA[R]) program in the Middle East (particularly the Gulf region and North Africa) has increased significantly in the past five years. A number of factors have contributed...

IMA to update Management Accounting Glossary.(NEWS)(Institute of Management Accountants)
November 1, 2008... The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA[R]) has issued an exposure draft of a new Statement on Management Accounting (SMA) that is an update of the Management Accounting Glossary published in November 1990 as SMA 2A. As you know, the field...

PCAOB proposes new auditing standards on risk.(streetwise)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is proposing seven new auditing standards related to the auditor's assessment of and responses to risk. The proposed standards would supersede the Board's interim auditing standards related...

SEC guidance on fair value discounted.(GOVERNMENT)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Editorial)
November 1, 2008... The financial crisis has elevated the issue of fair value accounting to a rarified political level, one that accounting issues are unaccustomed to achieving. The joint statement from the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial...

Ethical corporate governance.(BOOKS)
November 1, 2008... The topic of ethics and compliance has become an important issue in companies of all shapes and sizes and in all industries. It is critical for anyone involved in corporate governance, oversight, and even day-to-day to operations. As recent...

Strategically managing risk in today's perilous markets: you need to successfully integrate strategic planning and enterprise risk management.(Cover Story)
November 1, 2008... Companies today face a broad array of risks--strategic, operational, currency, subprime, contract, customer, vendor, financial instrument, and hedging, to name a few. Hardly a day goes by without another business posting write-downs,...

Just the beginning: what's ahead now that the bailout (er, the "rescue") is being implemented?(Opinion)
November 1, 2008... IN the long term, Americans will view the $700 billion bailout package Congress passed during the first week of October as a preview of a much more dramatic reordering of the federal regulatory system that will have more serious implications...

Tone at the top: insights from section 404.(Internal Controls)
November 1, 2008... Senior management's tone, competence, and reliability are essential to reliable financial reporting. The new internal control audit reports required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provide interesting new insights into internal...

The M&A impact of SFAS no.141R: the valuation of intangible assets will become increasingly important under the new accounting rules.(Accounting)(Statement of Financial Accounting Standards)
November 1, 2008... Late in 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 141R, "Business Combinations." Effective December 15, 2008, the revised Standard will affect the accounting for...

Creating running totals in a pivot table.(Excel)
November 1, 2008... You can build a basic pivot table in six clicks, but pivot tables offer far more functionality than simply summing data. This month we'll look at how additional pivot table features can be used to create a year-to-date (YTD) comparison report...

Making the move from Excel to Access.(Access)
November 1, 2008... You asked. We listened. Here, by popular demand, is Strategic Finance's new column that offers tips and techniques on using Microsoft Access 2007. Excel is an excellent software product that's both powerful and easy to learn. While it can...

Tools of the trade.(Verizon Communications Inc.)(TechSmith Corp.)(Samsung Electronics Company Ltd.)
November 1, 2008... Research in Motion has released the latest BlackBerry--the Storm. This smart phone will be available only to Verizon Wireless customers. The Storm features a touch interface with a keyboard that has a unique response and support for...

Enterprise open source adoption.(Tech Forum)
November 1, 2008... * O'REILLY MEDIA, THE PUBLISHER that has been such a force behind the Open Source Movement, has released an O'Reilly Radar Report on the current state of Open Source in the Enterprise--2008. The 50-page report, written by Bernard Golden,...

Small steps, giant leaps.(XBRL)
November 1, 2008... No, this isn't Chapter 1 of Walking on the Moon for Dummies. It's something far more easier: Put simply, the extensive process changes and related efficiencies enabled by the use of XBRL in your company can be achieved today. The know-how and...

Many Eyes--a data kaleidoscope.(End Note)
November 1, 2008... The amazing thing about a kaleidoscope is that the same 30 or 40 bits of glass can produce an infinite variety of geometric images. With a simple rotation, gravity and the mirror rearrange an endless variety of views from the same small number...