CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from December 2008

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from December 2008

Consumers concede.(from the editor)
December 1, 2008... WHAT NUMBER COMES NEXT: 40, 43, 44, 52...? Can't guess? Actually, no one can, but odds are good it won't make CFOs happy. Those figures represent the percentage of Americans who say they plan to spend less money in the next 90 days than...

Doesn't seem fair.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I understand that top executives deserve high salaries when their companies are doing well.... But when the very same companies are losing [money]... I guess I just don't get it." As the economy continues to...

Earlier, not bigger.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... According to the chairperson of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, if an alternative method of inventory valuations becomes mandatory under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) there will be "much bigger tax...

Back to bottom-up.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... "Local Knowledge" (November) is a well-written article on a common issue faced by most executives tasked with growing the Asia-Pacific region. The comment by Korn/Ferry International's David Hui regarding "expectations management" is...

Save, borrow, repay, repeat.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I am most concerned about some of the recent discussions and suggestions to curtail access to monies using 401(k) loans, while encouraging withdrawals by waiving the 10 percent early-distribution tax penalty ("Swiping Nest Eggs?" Topline,...

Walking, er, running the talk.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... Congratulations to Michael C. Fina CFO Mark Ellis ("Happy Feat," Grapevine, November)! I love to see people actually putting the walk (or in his case, run) to their talk. What a tribute and what a commitment to obviously a great business and...

In praise of the contactless card.(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... In "Cash, Credit, or Cell Phone?" (InTech, October) the author writes: "While contactless cards have faltered in the United States, mobile-phone banking has taken off...." I read nothing in the article that would support such a claim. The...

Europe, you (may) have a problem.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... CFO has offered some interesting articles on the switch to international financial reporting standards (IFRS), among them your interview with Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (On the Record,...

The psychology of the deal.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... Your article "Worlds Apart" (July/August) offers unusual insight into an often underappreciated aspect of dealmaking. Many M&A pros are well versed in the numbers, but the extraordinary practitioners understand personalities, businessowner...

Which changes will business believe in?(WASHINGTON Barack Obama)
December 1, 2008... AS PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama prepares to take office next month, many are wondering what a Democratic Administration and Congress will mean for the business climate in the United States. "Everyone knows the pendulum is swinging, but many...

Beyond the bailout.(COMPENSATION)
December 1, 2008... THE JUGGERNAUT THAT IS EXECUTIVE PAY seemingly hit a roadblock when Congress wrote compensation limits into the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. As regulators wrangle over how to enforce these boundaries at banks, a bigger question looms:...

Subprime suspects.(AUDITING)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN PAST FINANCIAL BLOWUPS, auditors have paid a heavy price. After the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s, for example, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. collected more than $1 billion in settlements from...

With a (very) little help from the feds.(SMALL BUSINESS)
December 1, 2008... "DO WE, AS, SMALL COMPANIES IGNORED? I WOULD SAY SO." * JAMIE PENNINGTON, FLEXIBLE EXECUTIVES WHEN THE NATION'S LARGEST financial companies were deemed too big to fail, the Treasury Department swooped in with a $700 billion--plus...

Unhappy holidays.(CONSUMER SPENDING)
December 1, 2008... FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 10 YEARS, experts expect holiday sates to decline versus the previous year. "I don't see how we're going to have growth even if we wanted to--there's just not enough inventory to go around," says Marshal Cohen,...

Crisis demands new CFO skills.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Accountants were in high demand for the CFO spot when companies were first tackling Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Now, rather suddenly, the future for CPAs is dimming. Instead, what companies want in a CFO depends on...

CFOs react: HSBC's Iain Mackay.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
December 1, 2008... As compelling--and gut-wrenching--as the dairy ups and downs of the stock market during the financial crisis have been, focusing too much on them might keep a CFO from addressing the more critical nuts and bolts of the job. That's at least the...

Ten top earnings-call questions.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
December 1, 2008... Don't have a due about demand for your product next year? It may be better to less up--and you won't be alone. Many companies are offering less guidance--shifting from quarterly to annual forecasts, or withdrawing forecasts altogether. Be...

Accounting guidance smiles on banks.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
December 1, 2008... Score yet another one for the banks in their effort to stave off the nastier effects of fair-value accounting. In early November, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board clarified their positions on...

Former FDIC chief: fair value caused the crisis.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief William Isaac M.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Is it fair to blame fair value for the meltdown in the banking sector? The answer is an unqualified yes for at least one former banking official. "The accounting system is destroying too much capital," said William...

Cold cuts: CFOs plan to pare payrolls by any and all means available to them.(by the numbers)
December 1, 2008... PITY ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT CONSUMER SPENDING is going to rev up the economy anytime soon. Americans will feel the impact of pink slips far more than stimulus checks in the coming year, according to finance executives. Even employees who are...

View from Asia: in this region, many CFOs have learned valuable lessons about how to survive in a crisis.(topline)
December 1, 2008... THERE IS NO LONGER ANY doubt. Just a month ago, many executives in Asia were still arguing that the region could escape the worst of the financial crisis. But now that the U.S. banking disaster has become a global slump, companies from Beijing...

Off the hook: if wireless communications costs are making your ears ring, here's how to fight back.(in tech)(telecom expense management)(leasing of information technology equipment)
December 1, 2008... CELL PHONES AND HAND held devices such as BlackBerrys are among the most insidious of line items--on an individual basis they seem insignificant, but when you add them all up you may find yourself choking on your morning coffee. They "come in...

And in this corner, the price-fighter: while it's tempting to cut prices during tough economic times, a better approach may be to introduce a "fighter brand.".(insight)
December 1, 2008... AT FIRST GLANCE THIS MAY not seem like the ideal time for you to greenlight a new product launch. After all, consumers have neither cash nor credit, they fear for their jobs (if they still have them), and they're waving the financial equivalent...

"Every crisis begins with a shock." Robert F. Bruner, Dean, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
December 1, 2008... PANIC THEN AND NOW--THE ENDURING LEGACY OF 1907 Last year, on the 100th anniversary of their book's subject, Robert F. Brunet and Sean D. Cart published The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned from the Market's Perfect Storm (John Wiley & Sons)....

Future tense: the financial crisis obliterated corporate forecasts. Now, CFOs struggle to assess what lies ahead.(Cover story)(Company overview)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN MADE PLENTY of news in October when he admitted before Congress that he had "found a flaw" in his model of financial reality, but another, less-publicized portion of his...

Table stakes: as the casual-dining industry suffers one of its worst downturns, CFOs are in the kitchen and feeling the heat.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CHUCK SONSTEBY HAS WORKED IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS FOR MOST of his professional life. He began while in college, interning for the company that owned the fast-food chain Long John Silver's. Today, at 55, Sonsteby...

What goes down will come up: fossil-fuel bet as put energy risk in its place.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ONLY LAST APRIL, Michael Graff of Graff Trucking predicted catastrophe if diesel prices climbed higher. "I'm at the point where I'm questioning my ability to continue to operate," he said. While the current respite...

Up and away: companies are feeling a little less trapped by spreadsheets these days.(spotlight)
December 1, 2008... LARRY READER'S PAtience had worn thin. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that too many financial decisions rested on homegrown spreadsheets packed with too much impenetrable data and too few answers. The result was a crippling condition...

Tight makes right: companies still have plenty of opportunity to squeeze more cash out of operations.(cash masters)(Company overview)
December 1, 2008... REGAL BELOIT CORP. CFO DAVID BARTA has taken approximately 30 days out of his company's cash cycle over the past four years. But he and the rest of the leadership team at the $1.8 billion maker of motion-control products want more. "Our...

Trials and tabulations: want to advocate for lower legal fees? A number of new options deserve a hearing.(legal fees)
December 1, 2008... FINANCE EXECUTIVES have struggled against a tide of rising costs in the past year, paying more for everything from the commodities embedded in their products to the milk that swirls in their morning coffee. Service costs have also skyrocketed,...

Bad news bearers: why CFOs should learn the fine art of delivering inconvenient truths.(your move)
December 1, 2008... IT'S NEVER A PLEASANT TASK to deliver bad news. Pity finance chiefs, then, who have to perform that role with increasing frequency these days. "I don't think CEOs realize it, but being open with them can be difficult, and the CFO often gets a...

Retailer Dollar Tree.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)(appoints Kevin Wampler)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Retailer Dollar Tree has named Kevin Wampler as its new CFO. He succeeds Kent Kleeberger, who resigned in October 2007 and is now EVP, CFO, and treasurer for Chico's FAS. Wampler was most recently EVP, CFO, and assistant secretary of Finish...

Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... J. R. Brian Hanna is the new CFO at Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, a provider of building products made from recycled material. Hanna, who was CFO of Brass Eagle, replaces Robert Thayer, who resigned in April.

Oneida Indian Nation.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... The Oneida Indian Nation has appointed David A. Rebich as its CFO. He was previously CFO and VP of finance for the Waterford Hotel Group.

Zix.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... Susan Conner is the new CFO at technology company Zix. She takes the reins from acting-CFO Barry Wilson, who will remain treasurer and was named VP of accounting and finance. Conner had been EVP and CFO of Pegasus Solutions.

Rentech.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... Clean-energy company Rentech has named Dan Cohrs to the CFO post. He steps in for Doug Miller, who was interim CFO and will remain COO. Cohrs is a partner at Agency 3.0.

Vaalco Energy.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... Gregory Hullinger has taken on the CFO role at independent energy company Vaalco Energy. He succeeds W. Russell Scheirman, who was named COO and will remain president. Hullinger was global finance implementation manager for a records-management...

SunPower.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
December 1, 2008... SunPower, a maker of solar cells and panels, has selected Dennis Arriola to be its SVP and CFO. He replaces Emmanuel Hernandez, who will be retiring in January. Arriola most recently served as SVP and CFO for San Diego Gas & ELectric and...

My avatar ate my homework.(grapevine)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WITH THE CREDIT CRUNCH BEARING down on them, finance executives may feel like escaping to an alternate reality. With the help of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, they can. In September, the...

Campaign relief.(grapevine)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... WHEN MARIANNE MARKOWITZ JOINED BARACK OBAMA'S Presidential campaign as a financial-operations consultant in January 2007, she had no due that what started with 30 staff members, a three-person financial-operations team, and one retail bank...