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

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

Silent partners.(from the editor)(client-auditor relationship)(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... IT'S NEVER A HAPPY DAY when a relationship goes sour. When frosty silence replaces intimate conversation, when friendship gives way to mistrust, when frustrations multiply until the good old days seem but a distant memory, we inevitably wonder...

Standards and lack thereof.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... Let's be clear: the term convergence continues to be misleading ("Goodbye GAAP," April). It implies that it will ultimately lead to a hybrid of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards...

IFRS were not written with consideration of abuse and fraud in mind, so they will make both [of those risks] easier and more prevalent.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... IFRS WERE NOT WRITTEN WITH CONSIDERATION of abuse and fraud in mind, so they will make both [of those risks] easier and more prevalent. Even GAAP is weak on this point, as no member of FASB has had any training in fraud prevention or detection....

Valuing assets.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... In addition to A/R lending or factoring as mentioned in "Living on Borrowed Time" (Topline, March), we are seeing an increase in machinery and equipment, inventory, and intellectual-property loans. As valuation professionals, we are...

Straight talk on health plans.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... Let's get this straight: consumer-driven health plans are a cost shift, not a cost control ("A Fatal Flaw for CDHPs?" Topline, March). Value-based medicine has shown the savings opportunities when you lower or reduce financial barriers to...

Web 20: hype versus promise.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... Much of the talk about Web 2.0 is market hype ("Web 2.0, Confusion 1.S," March), and people can quickly lose interest in novel ideas. If users find a new technology truly useful, that new technology will stay. So I think that blogs about new...

Clients take a hit.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... The introduction to your interview with Joe Martinetto of The Charles Schwab Corp. (On the Record, March) stated that a "conservative risk profile saved the company exposure to subprime-mortgage risk in its corporate portfolio." While it may be...

Understanding cash flow--or not.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... The new approach to financial statements that FASB plans to propose ("A New Vision for Accounting," February) may work for large companies presenting financials to big banks and Wall Street analysts. My experience with smaller companies,...

Clarification.(letters)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2008... "Goodbye GAAP" (April) reported that it would cost Procter & Gamble more than $1 million to convert from generally accepted accounting principles to international financial reporting standards. In fact, such a conversion would likely cost tens...

Show me the green.(SUSTAINABILITY)
May 1, 2008... ACTIVIST SHAREHOLDERS SCORED A VICTORY last month when Ford Motor Co. announced that it would reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions of its new vehicle fleet by at least 30 percent by 2020 in response to pressure from a number of groups focused on...

A new top cop for corporate finance?(REGULATION)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TUCKED AWAY AMONG THE FIVE NEW REGULATORS called for in U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's blue-sky blueprint for reforming the financial-services industry is an authority of special interest to CFOs: a...

To err is human, and common.(ACCOUNTING)(Accounting standards)
May 1, 2008... THE SARBOX ERA has seen a surge in both financial restatements and the finger-pointing associated with them. The two most commonly blamed villains are confusing regulations and overly conservative auditors, but new research challenges that...

No flex, please, we're skittish.(LEADERSHIP)
May 1, 2008... YOUR COMPANY MAY HAVE GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS to create flexible work arrangements, but that doesn't mean employees are comfortable with them. In a survey of more than 1,600 workers, Deloitte found plenty of concern that taking advantage of...

Verbatim.(topline)
May 1, 2008... "VOLATILITY IS GOOD. WHEN YOU HAVE TOO LITTLE, PEOPLE DON'T QUESTION THINGS AS MUCH." R. HAROLD SCHROEDER, DIRECTOR OF RELATIVE-VALUE ARBITRAGE AT CARLSON CAPITAL, DISCUSSING THE EXPECTED IMPACT OF FAIR-VALUE ACCOUNTING

All in the families.(ENFORCEMENT)
May 1, 2008... PSSST... LOOKING FOR A STOCK TIP? So are federal investigators, and their efforts may have ramifications for CFOs. A recently reinvigorated Securities and Exchange Commission task force, having brought charges against 11 Wall Street insiders...

Trivially astute.(TRAINING)
May 1, 2008... UP TO SPEED on Syrian corporate tax rates? Happen to know which country is considered the "Switzerland of South America" because of its regional stability and offshore banking?* Then Cash Flow at Risk is the board game for you. Think of it...

General ledger vs. major opportunity.(BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE)
May 1, 2008... WHEN THE APPLE iPHONE became the must-have gadget among affluent technophiles last year, AT&T braced for the onslaught. As the exclusive U.S. carrier, it knew demand would be high, and it was: 4 million units sold in the first 200 days. ...

Best of the web: a snapshot of some of the most popular stories from cfo.com.(topline)
May 1, 2008... The Rap on Accounting Education As if the "millennial generation" didn't already pose challenges for their bosses in terms of attitude (poor) and expectations (high), now comes word that they may not be graduating from accounting programs...

Top 10 concerns of CFOs: CFOs don't lack for worries as the credit markets continue to create uncertainty.(by the numbers)
May 1, 2008... THE MANY INTERLOCKING PARTS of the current economic downturn add up to one overriding concern for CFOs: weakening consumer demand. For the second consecutive quarter, consumer demand topped the list of CFO worries in the quarterly Duke...

View from Asia: time to seek alternatives to China? Some CFOs think so.(topline)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I WAS HOSTING A DINNER OF multinational executives in Shanghai recently when the CFO of a well-known U.S. company that has been operating in China for ages told me that he was about to conclude a long assignment in...

Effort of duplication: "managed print services" may help companies rein in an insidious expense.(in tech)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MAKING copies isn't brain surgery, but at Florida's Health First chain of hospitals it had become what chief information officer Richard Rogers describes as a "convoluted mess." Nursing stations were overrun by...

An epilogue to Chapter 11: bankruptcy sales rise as the credit crunch makes reorganization more difficult.(deals)(Financial report)
May 1, 2008... LONG ISLAND-based retailer Fortunoff had already been losing money in September 2007 when the company began discussing a sale with NRDC Equity Partners. But as losses accelerated, the parties could not agree on a price and broke off...

Half full, and then some: new research suggests that CFOs, like CEOs, can be confident to a fault.(insight)
May 1, 2008... CONFIDENCE IS IN SHORT SUPPLY these days. The prospect of a lengthy recession has left just about everyone feeling nervous and insecure. Finance chiefs in particular are gloomier than ever, as indicated by CFO magazine's recent Business Outlook...

Harvard University's Elizabeth Mora.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
May 1, 2008... TO UNIVERSITIES WITH SMALLER ENDOWMENTS, overseeing finance at the world's richest school might seem easy. But Harvard University CFO Elizabeth Mora can tell you it is a juggling act. The 47-year-old CFO advises on a $35 billion endowment, and...

Can this relationship be saved? CFOs and auditors aren't the friends they once were, but they are working out their differences.(Can We Talk?)(Cover story)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The healing has begun. It's been six years since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and four years since companies faced their first Sarbox audits. After a painful start, compliance with the act has become more...

Auditor angst: want faster, cheaper audits? your auditor humbly suggests you avoid last-minute data dumps and other less-than-helpful practices.(Can We Talk?)(Cover story)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Want to drive your auditors crazy? Try this: First, meet with them ahead of the annual audit and agree on a date when your work papers will be ready. Then, when they arrive for the audit, tell them you're "almost...

Patents under pressure: the battle over business-method patents heads to court in what may be a landmark decision.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Anyone who has ever made a purchase on Amazon.com using its "1-Click" checkout option can't help but be impressed by the convenience. Register your personal, credit, and delivery information once and all subsequent...

Let the games continue: the practice of manipulating working capital in the fourth quarter appears to be alive and well.(spotlight)
May 1, 2008... LAST YEAR, when we first took a look at the corporate propensity to prop up fourth-quarter results at the potential expense of the following quarter's performance (see "Fourth and Goal," November 2007), recession loomed on the horizon. Today...

Courting disaster: confusion over 401(k) plan fees is triggering lawsuits and congressional inquiries. What can plan sponsors do to head off trouble?(buyer's guide)
May 1, 2008... LAST SUMMER, WHEN A federal judge dismissed a suit brought by employees of John Deere & Co. alleging that they were charged unreasonable and poorly disclosed fees in their 401(k) plans, companies may have been tempted to breathe a sigh of...

The 2008 401(k) providers guide.(Buyers guide)
May 1, 2008... The 2008 401(k) Providers Guide KEY TO RESPONSES: C = Currently offers or qualifies P = Plans to offer or qualify NP = No plans to offer or qualify NA = Not applicable R = Receives payment PY = Pays for service ...

Making the pieces fit: how to avoid finance hiring mistakes.(your move)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SOON AFTER DAVID Dreyer joined AMN Healthcare in 2004, he faced a personnel crisis. One of his divisional controllers was isolating himself from the team, not communicating with direct reports effectively, and...

Brink.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Security-related services provider Brink's has appointed Michael J. Cazer as its new CFO. Most recently the finance chief of GE Security, a part of General Electric, Cazer succeeds Robert T. Ritter, who is retiring.

Limco-Piedmont.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Carla S. Covey has joined airplane-repair company Limco-Piedmont as CFO. She takes the reins from Shabtai Moshiashvili, who remains finance chief of subsidiary Limco-Airepair. Covey was an M&A consultant with TI Capital.

InterNAP Network Services.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Internet solutions company InterNAP Network Services has selected George E. Kilguss III to flu the CFO role. He takes the place of David Buckel, who resigned in November. Kilguss is the former CFO of Towerstream.

Adaptec.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Mary Dotz was named CFO of storage-solutions manufacturer Adaptec. Replacing Chris O'Meara, Dotz joins from Beceem Communications, where she was CFO.

GAIN Capital Holdings.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... GAIN Capital Holdings, a provider of retail foreign-exchange trading and services, has tapped Henry C. Lyons for the newly created role of CFO. He was most recently finance chief at ACI Worldwide, a provider of E-payment processing software and...

TraceSecurity.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Paul McCown is the new CFO at security compliance and risk-management-solutions company TraceSecurity. Previously SVP of enabling technologies at Equifax, he succeeds Allison Doherty.

Gerber Scientific.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Gerber Scientific has named Michael R. Elia, previously the CFO of Frank Gates Cos., to its CFO post; former CFO Jay Zager left the company in June to pursue another opportunity.

Imclone Systems.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... Kenneth J. Zuerblis has joined biotechnology firm Imclone Systems as its new CFO. He replaces both Ana Stancic, who resigned as the SVP, finance, in September 2007, and Michael Howerton, who left the CFO role in September 2006. Zuerblis comes...

For those about to rock.(grapevine)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... EIGHT YEARS AFTER STEVEN GOODWIN dreamed of creating the world's first rock-and-roll theme park, he can finally break out his air guitar. In June, Goodwin will celebrate with the likes of the Moody Blues and the Eagles at the grand opening of...

Cowboy up.(grapevine)(Steward Realty Management Co.)(roping competitions to a charity for cancer research)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Growing up in Beverly Hills, Steve Freed didn't hang out on tony Rodeo Drive. Instead, the current CFO of Steward Realty Management Co. was drawn to the real thing. "I got very into the western lifestyle," says...