CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from April 2006

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from April 2006

This time it's war.(from the editor)
April 1, 2006... ODDS ARE GOOD you followed at least a portion of last month's March Madness college basketball tournament--but did you watch the games on new large-screen TVs supplied by your employer? Accountants at one midsize firm did just that, when they...

Not so easily replaced.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... Your article "The Retirement Age" (in CFO's Human Capital Special Issue, February), which focused on the fact that "baby boomers will soon be leaving the workforce in droves" made some excellent points that business and government must address...

States to employers: pay up.(HEALTH CARE)
April 1, 2006... COMPANIES THAT DON'T PROVIDE HEALTH-CARE INSURANCE could soon get a wake-up call. That's because an increasing number of states--23 at recent count, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures--are considering so-called...

Taking stock of SARs.(stock appreciation rights)
April 1, 2006... SOME COMPANIES ARE SPREADING SARS, and their executives couldn't be happier. With FAS 123R making stock options increasingly unpopular, a growing number of companies are resurrecting an old form of incentives known as stock appreciation...

Double the fun.(GOVERNANCE)(University of Pennsylvania to restructure its board)
April 1, 2006... ARE TWO BOARDS BETTER THAN ONE? In light of the heightened demands on directors today due to new regulatory requirements, Yoram Wind, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, proposes a new way to think about board...

Total U.S. tort costs continue to climb.(LEGAL TROUBLE)
April 1, 2006... TORT COSTS IN THE UNITED STATES reached a record $260 billion in 2004, or approximately $886 per person, according to a March report by Towers Perrin. The record figure is up 5-9 percent from total tort costs in 2003, but that's smaller than...

Pricier premiums.(PENSIONS)(pension regulations)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... IF PLAN SPONSORS thought the pension landscape couldn't get any more difficult to navigate, they were wrong. New pension regulations expected to take effect in the coming months could push more companies closer to freezing their plans. As...

Insuring the books.(AUDIT REFORM)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... WOULD AUDITORS DO a better job if they weren't paid by the companies they audit? Joshua Ronen, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, thinks so. He proposes that companies buy insurance to cover shareholders for losses...

Need more time to fire taxes?(EXTENSIONS)
April 1, 2006... AS PART OF ITS EFFORTS to streamline business taxation, the Internal Revenue Service announced in February that it was simplifying the process by consolidating all requests for an extension to one form. Businesses that formerly needed to file...

Congress, your best ROI?(POLITICS AND TAXES)
April 1, 2006... LOOKING FOR A GOOD INVESTMENT? Try your member of Congress. A study of political donations found that when companies or their executives gave money to the tax-writing members of Congress, the returns were impressive: $1,616 for every dollar...

CPA or CFE?(FRAUD DETECTIVES: certified fraud examiner)(certified public accountant)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... GREEN EYESHADE, or magnifying glass and fingerprint dust? That question faces an increasing number of accountants as they consider bypassing the certified public accountant route in favor of becoming a certified fraud examiner, or CFE. ...

Shareholders push majority rule.(PROXY SEASON)
April 1, 2006... AS PROXY SEASON HEATS UP, board configuration is the number-one issue for shareholders. Some 141 proposals calling for majority-voting policies have been submitted so far, up from 80 last year. "This is the flavor of the moment in terms of...

The Katrina effect.(INSURANCE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... MANY RISK MANAGERS who are dealing with the insurance impact of Last year's three devastating hurricanes whisper a phrase that few people would utter about the storms themselves: "It could have been worse." The three ugly sisters--as...

Business outlook survey: finance executives are encouraged, if not ecstatic, about the future of the economy. (by the numbers).
April 1, 2006... AFTER SEVERAL QUARTERS OF GLOOM, finance executives are starting to see some bright spots. According to the latest Duke University/ CFO Business Outlook Survey, 42 percent of CFOs are becoming more optimistic about the direction of the U.S....

View from asia: India won't fully benefit from the amazing productivity of its companies unless it builds a better infrastructure for business.(top line)
April 1, 2006... GENERAL ELECTRIC CORP. HAS DONE well in India: in 2004 it sold a majority stake in its pioneering business-process-outsourcing subsidiary for almost half a billion dollars. Yet GE'S CFO, Keith Sherin, told CFO Asia late last year that he finds...

As the cycle turns: it may be time to start paying more attention to the business cycle.(insight)
April 1, 2006... ANXIETY RIPPLED THROUGH CORPOrate America last February when the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its latest report card on the economy--a mere 1.6 percent GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2005. That was the slowest growth in three years....

I got it on appexchange: can new services and programs help propel the "on demand" software model?(in tech)
April 1, 2006... WHEN SCHOOLDUDE.COM INC. needed a new accounting program to replace its existing QuickBooks system, it didn't shop the usual channels. Instead, the Cary, N.C.-based maker of educational software turned to AppExchange, a new service that...

Thinking inside the Sarbox.(SOFTWARE PURCHASING)
April 1, 2006... There's little doubt that software vendors see plenty of opportunity in offering products that ease the pain of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements--or that claim to, anyway. A recent Internet search on "Sarbanes-Oxley software" garnered almost 80,000...

All's fair in M&A?: judges and regulators are taking aim at conflicted "fairness" opinions.(deals)
April 1, 2006... WHEN TCI CORP. AGREED TO BE acquired by AT&T in 1998, TCI's board got a fairness opinion on the proposed transaction from the same investment bank that recommended the $54 billion deal, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. Once the deal was...

Peabody energy's Rick Navarre.(ON THE RECORD)(Peabody energy's sales and earnings)
April 1, 2006... FOR DECADES, PUNDITS HAVE BEEN PREDICTING the end of King Coal's reign. The pundits have come and gone, but coal is still on its throne. In the past three years, coal usage worldwide has increased some 25 percent, with the economies of...

Coming distractions: if these eight risks are not on your radar screen, they will be soon.(computer and chip waste, hazardous materials forecast and trends)
April 1, 2006... Like most CFOs, Paul Reilly is not prone to exaggeration. The finance chief at Melville, New York-based Arrow Electronics Inc., Reilly is by nature a pragmatist--a level-headed, by-the-numbers pragmatist. So when he tells you flat out that,...

The people who count: with too few accountants to go around, companies are grabbing people wherever they can find them.
April 1, 2006... It was a classic career path, but with a twist: after spending six years at a midsize CPA firm, John Doherty left to become the controller of a regional bank. From there, he moved on to a division of John Hancock, where he was director of...

Money for nothing: bank credit is easy, maybe too easy don't pass it up.
April 1, 2006... BARNES GROUP INC. ISN'T USED TO BEING FAWNED OVER BY BANKS. The $1 billion manufacturer of jet-engine components and engineered springs doesn't even have a credit rating, though CFO William Denninger guesses it would rank at just about the...

Sprucing up the 401(k): with other retirement vehicles in dire shape, plan sponsors are rethinking their defined offerings.(in practice: SPOTLIGHT ON 401(k) PROVIDERS)
April 1, 2006... PITY THE PROSPECTIVE RETIREE. Social Security is projected to become insolvent in 2041, according to its trustees. Traditional pension plans are terminated, frozen, or underfunded with increasing regularity. That leaves the 401(k) plan to carry...

The 2006 401(k) providers guide.(spotlight)(Directory)
April 1, 2006... The 2006 401 (k) Providers Guide EDITOR'S NOTE: This chart of 401(k) providers and recordkeepers comprises companies whose names begin with the letters ...

Overexposed: it's increasingly difficult for CFOs to reduce their financial exposure to their own companies--even if they should.(your money)
April 1, 2006... LATE LAST YEAR, JIM Woodward, CFO of construction-equipment maker JLG Industries Inc., wanted to diversify his company stock holdings--without triggering income tax. So he bought what's known as a prepaid variable forward sale. The contract...

Calming the waters: what happens when the CEO and CFO just don't get along?(your money)
April 1, 2006... IN THE AUTUMN OF 2004, Theo Epstein was the toast of Boston. The Boston Red Sox had just won the World Series for the first time in 86 years, and it was Epstein, the team's 30-year-old general manager--handsome, humble, and homegrown--who had...

Raytheon.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Raytheon has tapped its fourth CFO in four years, naming David Wajsgras to the post at the aerospace and defense contractor....

Brightpoint Americas.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... John Ludwig is the new finance chief at Brightpoint Americas, a division of wireless-device distributor Brightpoint....

Radiation Therapy Services.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Patricia Gondolfo has left the CFO job at Mount Kisco Medical Group to become COO at Radiation Therapy Services....

Spansion.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Flash-memory device maker Spansion has named Dario Sacomani to the top finance post....

PlanetOut.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Daniel Miller takes over the finance department at media and entertainment company PlanetOut....

Fairchild Semiconductor International.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Fairchild Semiconductor International has appointed Mark Frey finance chief....

Pixelworks.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Michel Yonker is the new CFO, treasurer, and secretary at computer-chip maker Pixelworks....

Weyerhaeuser.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Forest-products giant Weyerhaeuser has promoted Jeanne Hillman from corporate controller to chief accounting officer....

Harris.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Gary McArthur advances from his role as treasurer at Harris to become CFO at the communications firm....

Symbol Technologies.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Symbol Technologies has selected Timothy Yates to be its finance head and a director. Yates joins from Saguenay Capital....

Aviall.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Jacqueline Collier has added chief accounting officer duties to his role as controller at aviation-parts maker Aviall....

Lucent Technologies.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... John Kritzmacher is the new CFO at Lucent Technologies. He succeeds Frank D'Amelio, who is now COO....

Ashworth.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Sports-apparel company Ashworth has named Winston Hickman to the top finance post....

Pacific Capital Bancorp.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
April 1, 2006... Joyce Clinton joins Pacific Capital Bancorp as CFO after leaving the post at Wells Fargo Services.

When talk is not cheap: Google CFO George Reyes received a lesson in how important the phrasing of responses can be.(UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES)
April 1, 2006... IN FEBRUARY, CFO George Reyes sent Google investors into a frenzy when he announced that the Internet giant would "have to find other ways to monetize the business? The stock declined 7 percent in one day, erasing approximately $8 billion in...

The bean counter.(grapevine)(Fedco Seeds inc revenue)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... CR LAWN IS A DO-IT-YOURSELF CFO. Although Fedco Seeds Inc., a seed and gardening supply cooperative he founded in Maine in 1978, has flourished into a $2 million business, he still prepares the financial statements and tax returns himself. ...