Strategic Finance articles from September 2003

Strategic Finance archives from September 2003

Is what-you-see really what-you-got? In order to match all the "stuff" to all the "money," you need a comprehensive internal control methodology that works with Sarbanes-Oxley.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2003... EVER SINCE the Arthur Andersen/Enron scandal broke in 2001, the headlines have been dominated by alleged financial frauds at companies such as WorldCom, Xerox, Adelphia, Merrill Lynch, and Tyco. Congress reacted by passing the Sarbanes-Oxley...

Five things to look for in job candidates.(Careers)
September 1, 2003... A bachelor's degress in accounting, proficiency in Microsoft Excel, five or more years of experience, strong quantitative and analytical skills, and a tax background. All of these are common requirements for a senior accountant position. But...

Web-based reporting: a vision for the future.(Internet)
September 1, 2003... Over the past five years, the Internet has crept into almost every facet of our lives. From airline schedules to zoo operating hours, anything you want to know is just a click away--or so it seems. Today, more and more people are looking to...

The neural net and twenty questions.(End Note)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Despite the slowdown in national coverage, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop in a number of areas from logistical planning to image systems that can recognize faces or automatically steer a vehicle on America's highways. Expert...

ThoLOSTught.(Best Practices)
September 1, 2003... WHAT DID THAT TITLE SAY? WERE YOU ABLE TO read it? If we follow the rules of written English, the title doesn't make sense. We are lost--lost in the thought that there is only one way to read. Figuring out the headline is a game. But the...

Fair value accounting: its time has come and gone.(Opinion)
September 1, 2003... It's easy to find fault with the present historical cost model used in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Prices change, and the original cost of an asset can be way below (or way above) its value on the open market today....

Information on demand: how new turbo-charged tools are changing the face of business performance management.(Information Systems)
September 1, 2003... Just as spreadsheets changed the nature of numbers crunching, powerful business performance management (BPM) tools are now changing the way we gather information and use it. Good thing, especially since executives want more information faster...

IMA: back in the research business.(Perspectives: message from the chair)(Institute of Management Accountants)
September 1, 2003... As I mentioned in a previous issue of Strategic Finance, one of our goals this year is to put IMA back into the research business. If we aspire to be the premier organization in accounting, then we must not only stay on the cutting edge, we...

Strategic Finance: quiz 3 CPE credits.
September 1, 2003... Earn Continuing Professional Education Credit IMA is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of...

Part 1: are you a business partner? Many management accountants and financial managers have made the leap and are enjoying their valuable new role.(Careers)
September 1, 2003... Business partners help run businesses. They are consulted on all major decisions. They are proactive with information, are focused on improving business processes, and are team leaders. Their work is exciting, and they are enthusiastic about...

Performance measures that drive the first tenet of business strategy.(Strategic Management)
September 1, 2003... Businesses are driven in the direction they are steered. Performance measures provide the steering, guiding an organization into activities that are monitored in measurable results. But what's the long-term direction in which a company must be...

Donald Nicolaisen is new SEC chief accountant.(News)
September 1, 2003... DONALD T. NICOLAISEN, CPA, A SENIOR PARTNER AT PRICEWATERHOUSE-Coopers LLP, has been named chief accountant at the Securities & Exchange Commission. He will join the SEC late this month. Nicolaisen, 59, succeeds Robert Herdman, who resigned...

Answering your questions.(street wise)
September 1, 2003... When you and your staff are working on a project or doing your regular job, do you suddenly get the urge to ask someone else a question to make sure what you're doing is correct or to corroborate your answer? Or maybe you want to check an...

Well-rounded publication.(Readers' Input)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... I have been in manufacturing accounting with Fortune 500 companies for almost 15 years and an IMA member for most of those years. I am currently controller at a small manufacturer. I find Strategic Finance to be a very well-rounded...

Eight ethical traits of a healthy organization.(Ethics)
September 1, 2003... MOST PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY KNOW THAT A CODE OF ETHICS and corporate conduct is a legal requirement and thus give at least lip service to principles of good ethics in their business dealings. Yet sometimes they may have...

Bush administration chimes in on pension reform.(Government)
September 1, 2003... THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT added a little spice to the congressional debate on pension reform when it threw a controversial proposal into the legislative mix. I had previously mentioned in this space a bill (H.R. 1776) introduced in April by Reps....

Planning for retirement.(Books)(Book Review)
September 1, 2003... * ESTABLISHED IN 1981, THE 401(K) PLAN IS NOW the most popular method companies offer to employees to establish a retirement nest egg. More than 30 million people now participate in 401(k) plans. With the growing trend in retirement plans to...

Straightening up.(tools of the trade)
September 1, 2003... Straightening Up If you've ever had to unplug your keyboard, mouse, speakers, or any USB connection, you know the challenge of cable bingo. Unplug more than one line at a time, and the game's begun. Clark Cable[TM] has a set of reusable...

Quality prints.(tools of the trade)(Hi-Touch Imaging introduced direct digital printer)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Quality Prints Hi-Touch Imaging Technologies has introduced the HiTi 640PS direct digital printer. Direct means you don't need a computer--there are two slots for digital camera memory cards, and the printer reads Compact-Flash,...

Quality sound.(tools of the trade)(Audiotrak's OPTOPlay)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Quality Sound If the sound on your laptop or PC is lagging behind your DVD or Satellite radio technologies, Audiotrak[R] USA has a solution. The OPTOPlay is a USB plug-in that will upgrade your system by producing high-definition digital...

Infinite patience.(Tech Forum)
September 1, 2003... One federal agency's stodgy definition of a password is "a protected character string used to authenticate the identity of a computer system user or to authenticate access to system resources." (Federal Information Processing Standards PUB...

Legal liability for your financial reporting?(Trends In Financial Management)
September 1, 2003... IT ISN'T ONLY CEOS AND CFOS who are legally exposed to Sarbanes-Oxley rules for certification of financial statements' accuracy and completeness. So are treasurers, financial managers, controllers, and any other financial professionals within a...

The cash factor.(Finance)
September 1, 2003... If you used your credit card to buy gas on your trip to the office this morning, then you understand the essential elements of factoring receivables. The credit card, one of the most common modern personal receivable finance vehicles, is...

Challenge to accountants: go digital.(XBRL)(era of digital reporting )
September 1, 2003... A NEW ERA OF DIGITAL REPORTING, LED BY the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), is beginning to take hold across the globe. Here are a few samples of recent press releases that illustrate the point: NEW YORK, N.Y., AUGUST 5,...