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

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

The good soldier.(from the editor)
March 1, 2007... WHILE CFO IS WRITTEN PRIMARILY for private-sector executives, we sometimes find it useful to look at the challenges facing CFOs in other spheres. If in the private sector CFOs can be said to operate at the juncture of Main Street and Wall...

Behind charities' numbers.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... I read with much interest your recent article on nonprofit accounting and oversight ("Misgivings," January). While I don't disagree that it is not uncommon for charities to misreport the percentage of their overall costs allocated to...

Scoring scorecards.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... Have you ever noticed that the biggest advocates of the balanced business scorecard are IT companies ("Links Still Missing," Topline, January)? Data companies and accountants love all that data collection, storage, and parsing, and ignore two...

No black holes.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... I admit to taking issue with CFO's assertion that "there is no denying that hedge funds are the black holes of the investment galaxy" ("Inflection Point," Topline, January). I, for one, deny it. But even if it were true, I would point to the...

The myth of fingerprints.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... CFO survey respondents may not realize the problem-prone reality of the added safety measure that 73 percent of them consider to be tolerable--fingerprint scans ("Flying the Unfriendly Skies," Topline, December 2006). Contrary to the...

Getting a seat at the table.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... It would seem that this is a perfect opportunity for human-resources professionals to get what they want: a seat at the table ("Are Your Workers Engaged?" Topline, January). How do you get employees engaged? Expect them to develop objectives to...

Standard vs. practices.(AUDITING STANDARD NO. 5)(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)
March 1, 2007... EVEN BEFORE PRESIDENT BUSH TOLD AN ENTHUSIASTIC Wall Street audience in January that "we don't need to change the [Sarbanes-Oxley] law, we need to change the way the law is implemented," the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)...

Going for the records.(HEALTH BENEFITS)
March 1, 2007... IN THEIR EFFORTS to reduce sick time and rein in soaring health-insurance premiums, companies have invested in a range of employee health and wellness programs. Now, several large employers have decided to attack the issue from a different...

Six stigma?(BUSINESS PROCESSES)
March 1, 2007... WHEN ROBERT NARDELLI WAS OUSTED as CEO of Home Depot, one unusual side effect was the attention paid to his advocacy of the Six Sigma process-improvement methodology. Consultancies, particularly those with competing approaches, were quick to...

So much for that post-Enron glow.(R-E-S-P-E-C-T)
March 1, 2007... YOU MAY NOT INSPIRE AS MUCH CONFIDENCE AS YOU USED TO. According to a Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey of more than 12,000 workers at all job levels and across all industries, confidence in senior management's capabilities has dipped. Not...

Private equity attracts public scrutiny.(REGULATION)
March 1, 2007... AS PRIVATE EQUITY GETS HOTTER, it continues to attract heat. The latest wrinkle inspiring calls for increased regulation are so-called club deals, in which PE firms team up to bid for large companies. Last fall, the Department of Justice...

Healthy debates.(SICK TIME)(paid sick leaves for San Francisco workers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... IN FEBRUARY, San Francisco became the first jurisdiction in the country to require employers to offer paid sick days, but such laws may become contagious. With similar efforts pending in state and municipal legislatures across the country and...

Phasing out is in.(RETIREMENT)(baby boom generation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... AS THE FIRST OF THE BABY BOOMERS approach retirement next year, much has been written about a potential worker shortage (see related story, page 40). That has triggered interest in ways to keep workers around longer, including a move toward...

Reams deferred.(COMPENSATION)(good benefits for top executives says survey)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... AS EXECUTIVE-COMPENSATION SCHEMES come under increasing scrutiny, nonqualified benefits plans are booming. Two recent studies say more companies are offering nonqualified forms of compensation to top executives, not only to boost those...

Too big to succeed? Banking giants struggle to keep costs under control.(by the numbers)
March 1, 2007... BANKING CONSOLIDATION IS FAR FROM OVER. Plenty of banks are still on the lookout for the perfect piece of the puzzle to build out a national brand. But at the top of the list, the Big Three (now that the American automakers have been downgraded...

Being here: making big changes in a business is always difficult. Can managers make it easier by mastering the art of "presence"?(insight)(stress management in workplaces)
March 1, 2007... THE PACE OF WORK IS ACCELERATING. Competitive pressures come from all over the globe; investors grow ever more demanding; cell phones and the Internet keep everyone connected and on alert, 24/7. People are constantly busy and anxious about the...

Six degrees of irritation: business types are finding all sorts of uses for social networks, but some say they are the ones who are being used.(in tech)
March 1, 2007... CARL TAIBL IS A BIG BELIEVER IN THE power of personal contacts--even if those contacts don't know who the heck he is. Taibl, a CPA with San Ramon, California-based accounting firm Armanino McKenna LLP, has for the past five years been a regular...

Capitol blending: democratic control of Congress probably won't roll the M&A waters--much.(deals)
March 1, 2007... JANUARY'S AIRLINE-MERGER hearings by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee seemed to signal a new sheriff in town. Daniel Inouye, the Hawaii Democrat installed as chairman after Republicans lost control of both houses of...

Manpower's Michael Van Handel.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... MANPOWER WAS VERY MUCH AN ISSUE at the World Economic Forum in January, where delegates from around the world pointed to a variety of demographic factors that will challenge businesses to find the skilled workers they need. Among those holding...

Support our ex-troops: for the beleaguered Veterans Benefits Administration, errors in forecasting can leave veterans out on the street.
March 1, 2007... * They have an unwritten yet clearly understood commandment in the military. It's a rule that soldiers in combat live, and sometimes die, by. It is, like love of flag and country, inviolate: Never leave a buddy behind. Understand this concept...

Star search: companies are increasingly looking in top MBA programs for finance talent.
March 1, 2007... IT'S 7:30 A.M. ON A SATURDAY and Ananda Baron is juggling a cup of coffee and a bagel, trying to down a quick breakfast before a long day of interviews. One of 25 MBA students invited to PG&E Corp.'s San Francisco headquarters for second-round...

The colors of money: the widespread availability of credit is rapidly changing the dynamic between banks and their corporate customers.(THE STATE OF BANKING & FINANCE)
March 1, 2007... Facing competition from a number of new sources, "banks are dying to get any business," one finance executive recently claimed. Really? Last year the combined profits of Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase totaled $56 billion, nearly...

Nothing to bank on: the banking industry is bracing for a slew of regulatory actions.(THE STATE OF BANKING & FINANCE)
March 1, 2007... In the depths of the Great Depression, Solomon A. Smith, the longtime head of Chicago's Northern Trust Co., made a point of carrying an umbrella to work every day, rain or shine. It was his way of conveying an impression of caution and...

Dividing the spoils: easy credit conditions may mean companies can spend less time tending to their banking relationships. But they do so at their own risk.(THE STATE OF BANKING & FINANCE)
March 1, 2007... Bill Gerber, senior vice president and CFO of discount broker TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., really likes the people at Bank of New York (BoNY). Their expertise in servicing the broker-dealer industry, he says, was the main reason his $1.8...

Treasure trove: the latest trends in banking and finance.(THE STATE OF BANKING & FINANCE)
March 1, 2007... Ask 10 treasurers what they want from their banks and you will probably get similar answers: seamless payment solutions and multiple financing options. Those wishes are easier to fulfill these days, thanks to forces that include hybrid...

Restructuring redux? Thanks to the availability of cash, the options for bankrupt companies--and their advisers--abound.
March 1, 2007... Larry Hyatt is no stranger to restructuring. In 2001, Hyatt, then-CFO of pioneering Internet service provider PSINet, navigated the company through its 13-month bankruptcy and a subsequent restructuring that included the sale of parts of its...

Beware the fine print: despite some welcome improvements, variable annuities still scream "caveat emptor".(your money)(Company overview)
March 1, 2007... AT A FAMILY GATHERING this past Thanksgiving, the head of the household suddenly announced that he was planning to invest in a variable annuity as part of his retirement portfolio. The patriarch started to explain why, but before he could get...

Uh, is this microphone on? Experts say anyone can become a better public speaker--even a CFO.(your move)
March 1, 2007... WHEN TOM WHITE first began to move up the corporate ladder at a major accounting firm, he often spoke to various internal audiences--without great success. "I didn't get any high marks" he notes, "which was a real wake-up call." White...

Scholastic Corp.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... It's a new chapter for Maureen O'Connell, the new CFO and chief administrative officer of Scholastic Corp. She replaces Mary Winston, who resigned. O'Connell was formerly the CFO of Affinion Group

Evergreen Solar.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Michael El-Hillow has stepped into the CFO role at Evergreen Solar. Formerly chairman and director of the company, he replaces Donald Muir, who resigned

Lombardi Software.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Lombardi Software has named Jim Luttenbacher as its CFO. Luttenbacher joins Lombardi from RealVue, an Austin Ventures portfolio company, where he was the company's president and CFO

Autobytel.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Monty Houdeshell is the new CFO of automotive-marketing company Autobytel. He joins the company from Remedy Temp

Altera.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Timothy Morse is trading plastics for silicon as the new CFO of microchip maker Altera. Previously he was the finance chief for General Electric's plastics company

Avaya.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Software company Avaya has appointed Caroline Dorsa, formerly at Merck, as CFO. She replaces Garry McGuire, who retired. Lynn Wentworth, former CFO at BellSouth's communications group, is now CFO of Bluelinx Holding

U.S. Bancorp.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
March 1, 2007... Andrew Cecere was promoted to CFO at U.S. Bancorp, where he had served as vice chairman of wealth management since 2001. He replaces David Moffett, who is retiring.

For CFOs, few gold watches.(grapevine)
March 1, 2007... THE CAREER-LIFE EXPECTANCY OF the top finance spot at large public companies continues to decline. In the past few months, several high-profile CFOs left after short stints in top finance positions, including Sallie Krawcheck, who spent just...