CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from June 2007

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from June 2007

The diversity gap.(from the editor)
June 1, 2007... ONE YEAR AGO, we examined "What Women Want" from their finance careers and found that they continue to face a number of hurdles as they pursue (or choose not to pursue) the executive ranks. This year we've expanded our focus to include women...

No more stupid accounting tricks.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2007... The nasty little CFO secret about earnings projections is this: We don't know. Often we don't even have the foggiest notion ("The Long View," May). As the CFO of a public company in the late 1990s I struggled with (and against) the sales...

Perspective beyond the CFO.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2007... While CFOs are an important source of information for boards and audit committees ("Board Battles," May), directors should not rely on them for information to the exclusion of two other critical parties--the director of internal audit and the...

A disservice to America.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2007... I totally disagree with Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner's comments concerning corporations increasing their debt ("The Buyout Binge," April). I think he is doing a great disservice to the United States by encouraging corporations...

Creating a better way.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2007... I read "Being Here" (Insight, March) with great interest. Robert Gunn is so right when he states, "Our assumption is that clients always discover the answer within themselves, as opposed to getting an answer externally" As a senior financial...

Lessons from for-profits.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2007... Having spent my entire career in the nonprofit financial field, the entire discussion/debate about nonprofit accounting continues to frustrate me ("Misgivings," January). If an organization is delivering on its mission (and that means not...

Correction.(letters)(Correction notice)
June 1, 2007... In the May Insight column, the subtitle of Dan Gross's book Pop/ was incorrectly identified. It is Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy.

Not so taxing?(CORPORATE AUDITS)
June 1, 2007... WHEN MARK EVERSON TOOK OFFICE in 2003 as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, he promised that collecting underpaid corporate taxes would be a top priority, and backed it up by increasing the number of large corporate audits. Results...

J-SOX nation.(ACCOUNTING)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
June 1, 2007... THIS PAST APRIL, JAPANESE PITCHING SENSATION Daisuke Matsuzaka wowed Red Sox Nation with his "gyroball." From now until next April, Dave Sackett expects to be equally mesmerized by Japan's version of the corporate curveball. The corporate...

Subsidiary rights.(DEFERRED COMPENSATION)(409A regulations )(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... WHEN THE IRS's LONG-AWAITED 409A regulations were finally released in April, they generally clarified the tax rules regarding nonqualified deferred-compensation plans, which recipients now must include in their gross income. The biggest and...

The next backdating scandal?(INSIDER TRADING)
June 1, 2007... WHEN JOSEPH NACCHIO, former CEO of Qwest Communications International, is sentenced in July for insider trading, he could get life. His time served may be less, but stilt, at age 57, Nacchio will probably spend most of his remaining years...

What, me register?(CORPORATE DEBT)
June 1, 2007... LOOKING TO ISSUE DEBT? Why bother filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission when, like Time Warner Cable, Alcoa, and Siemens, you can skip the registration process--and save money? About $52 billion of nonregistered debt was issued...

The numbers in safety.(OSHA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... EVEN AS CONGRESS WAS PREPARING to hold hearings on the agency's effectiveness, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent out its annual warning letters to companies with higher-than-average injury and illness rates. More than...

Exit strategy.(funeral services for employees)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... HERE'S A NOVEL employee benefit: death. Well, not death per se, but help with what might be called death-related issues, from writing a will to planning funeral services to bereavement support. A small number of insurance companies and...

Do as I say, not as ...(Securities & Exchange Commission, Government Accountability Office)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... It was good news/bad news for the SEC: on the plus side, it fixed 58 of the 71 weaknesses in internal controls that the Government Accountability Office found in its most recent audit. But 15 new flaws joined the list, prompting the GAO to...

Are captive REITs kaput?(REAL ESTATE)
June 1, 2007... A GROWING NUMBER of state officials are taking aim at an entity known as captive real estate investment trusts. Their claim? That a captive REIT's sole purpose is to enable companies to shirk state income-tax obligations. In their sights are...

A little less shifty: employers are passing on less of the health-care burden to workers.(top line: by the numbers)
June 1, 2007... AS HEATH-CARE COSTS BEGIN TO MODERATE, the percentage of the cost that employers shift to employees is following suit. In 2007, the portion of the premium that employees pay is expected to rise by 6.5 percent, the smallest increase in years and...

A series of bribery scandals in Europe becomes a global issue.(top line: View from Europe)
June 1, 2007... WHEN NEWS BROKE THIS spring that the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an informal investigation into the bribery scandals plaguing Siemens, CFOs in Europe gave a collective shudder. Combined with the announcement that the U.S....

For road warriors, lightening strikes again: these four very portable computers make terrific traveling companions.(top line: in tech)
June 1, 2007... AH, THE NEVER-ENDING FAScination with miniaturization: Nanotechnology. Quantum physics. The Mini Cooper. Portable computers keep getting smaller, too, although the terminology used to describe them keeps expanding. First came laptops, then...

Pitch fever: American investors spend it like Beckham--and borrow heavily, too--to buy UK soccer teams. The big lure: global branding.(top line: deals)
June 1, 2007... AMONG BRITISH soccer fans, the gaffe was as shocking as a player accidentally heading a ball into his own goal. At a February press conference announcing the planned takeover of Liverpool Football Club, one soon-to-be owner, Thomas Hicks,...

Siemens' Joe Kaeser.(ON THE RECORD)
June 1, 2007... IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE A CFO IN A TOUGHER JOB RIGHT NOW THAN JOE KAESER. Just over a year into his position at $107.4 billion Siemens A.G., the 49-year-old finds himself confronted with a bribery scandal that has shaken the German electronics...

Gap analysis: why diversity programs work better for women than for minorities.(Cover story)
June 1, 2007... Having finished a big presentation to the management of a Mexican resort, Oscar Munoz, the 47-year-old CFO of transportation giant CSX Corp., was passing through the pool area when he was interrupted by a white-American couple on vacation. "Can...

The great divide: how finance executives view the job of creating a diverse workplace.
June 1, 2007... CFO magazine first surveyed its readers on the topic of gender and racial diversity six years ago. This year's survey of 210 executives again finds that companies have not made great strides in this area, although women are faring better than...

Hedge fund bullies: activist fund managers can be brutal, but there are ways to fight back.
June 1, 2007... If the Fox Network were ever to launch American Business Idol, Robert Chapman would be its Simon Cowell. The activist hedge-fund manager and founder of Chapman Capital once called the 78-year-old chairman of a target a "helpless Mr. Magoo--like...

Measuring up: many companies still struggle to use metrics effectively. It may be that fresh thinking is what really counts.
June 1, 2007... WHEN RED SOX ACE Pedro Martinez gave up a double, a single, and another double in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series, he not only squandered a three-run lead (and ultimately the pennant), but also provided a poignant lesson...

Food fights: as supply chains stretch to all corners of the globe, producers struggle to guarantee food safety.(in practice)(Company overview)
June 1, 2007... First it was E. coli in spinach, then Salmonella in peanut butter, then melamine in pet food. When quality controls in the food supply chain break down, the results can be deadly. The risks dwarf anything faced by makers of khakis, couches, or...

A piece of the P-E: you need more than deep pockets to enter and survive the world of private equity. You need connections, patience, and a fastidious accountant.(your money)
June 1, 2007... THINK OF PRIVATE EQUITY AS A CAN of Red Bull for your personal portfolio. But there's a catch: you have to wait 2 to 10 years for the rush to kick in. Actually, there are several catches, including high entrance costs, complex...

Not cleared for takeoff: controllers who want to become CFOs need to put down their pencils and master soft skills.(your move)
June 1, 2007... DOUG DUSKIN UNDERSTANDS the importance of thinking outside the container. When he took over as vice president and controller of $1.2 billion pallet and container services company CHEP in 2004, Duskin tacked on some risk-management and treasury...

Vita Food Products.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... Vita Food Products has named R. Anthony Nelson, formerly a senior-financial and business-unit executive at confectionary maker August Storck KG, as its new CFO. He replaces William Kenealy....

Debt Resolve.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... Debt Resolve named David Rainey CFO and treasurer. He replaces Katherine Dering, who remains with the company as SVP of finance. Rainey had been CFO and treasurer of Hudson Scenic Studio....

George Moschner is the new CFO of Baldor Electric, joining the company from BKD LLP, where he had been a partner.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... George Moschner is the new CFO of Baldor Electric, joining the company from BKD LLP, where he had been a partner. Moschner replaces Ronald Tucker, who became COO of Baldor....

Pacific Ethanol.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... eBay VP of finance and chief accounting officer Douglas Jeffries was named CFO of Pacific Ethanol, succeeding William Langley, who retired last year....

Advanced Magnetics has attracted David Arkowitz as its new CFO.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... Advanced Magnetics has attracted David Arkowitz as its new CFO. Formerly the CFO and treasurer of Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Arkowitz succeeds Michael Avallone, who resigned in March....

Limited Brands.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... Stuart Burgdoerfer is the new CFO of apparel retailer Limited Brands, having been promoted from EVP of finance at the company....

Saks.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
June 1, 2007... Saks has named Kevin Wills, formerly its chief accounting officer, as its new CFO. Wilts succeeds Douglas Coltharp, who elected not to relocate with the job to New York from Alabama and instead became a partner at Arlington Capital Advisors.

So much for chemistry.(grapevine)
June 1, 2007... RECENT EVENTS at Dow Chemical Co. can best be described as toxic. For the past two months, the company and its former longtime CFO, J. Pedro Reinhard, have been embroiled in a fight started by accusations that Reinhard was involved in a "secret...

Deal me out.(grapevine)
June 1, 2007... For weeks, the business pages followed the seesaw bidding war between Boston Scientific Corp. and Johnson & Johnson over then-struggling medical-device maker Guidant Corp. Just when the matter seemed sealed with Johnson & Johnson, Boston...