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

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

A perfect storm.(from the editor)
September 1, 2008... LAST MONTH SEVERAL CFOs in the energy sector offered up painful evidence that timing is, indeed, everything. During one investor call after another, they pointed to the combination of surging oil prices and fair-value accounting to explain...

Run with it.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Discussing your article "Going for the Gold" (July/August) with my 13-year-old soccer-playing daughter, I worry that women's professional soccer may yet again miss the mark. Cost-containment is indeed critical to the...

In defense of Ben.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Shame on you for the libel against Benjamin Franklin (From the Editor, July/August). In fact, Mr. Franklin was a great proponent of physical fitness, keeping a routine of daily swimming during a time when exercise in general, and swimming in...

Worth the trouble.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... In "IFRS and When" (Topline, July/August) you failed to describe the opportunity cost of not switching to international financial reporting standards compared with all of the training required to make that switch. I'm inclined to believe...

Reality bites.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I understand the frustration of Americans who love to complain about outsourcing or insourcing of talent ("Coming to America," July/August). But globalization is forcing a lot of Americans to face the fact that they are part of the global...

Hard as ROC.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I totally agree with the idea that operating return on capital is useful for predicting value--with caveats (By the Numbers, June). The question is, What should management do to boost value growth of the businesses in its control? There are...

Death by committee?(FINANCIAL REPORTING)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SIR BARNETT COCKS, a clerk in the UK's House of Commons, once provided this cynical definition of a committee: "a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled." As two high-profile advisory...

Talk about missed earnings.(COMPENSATION)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHY DO CFOs WORK SO HARD to meet quarterly earnings benchmarks, even those based on a consensus of outside analysts? The answer is self-interest, according to a new study by three university professors. CFOs and...

The taxman cometh.(OFFSHORING)
September 1, 2008... AFTER YEARS of doling out tax breaks and incentives to sup-port the domestic information-technology industry that made offshoring a household word (and lured plenty of U.S. businesses to Bangalore and other high-tech hot spots), India's...

Roiled by oil.(ENERGY)
September 1, 2008... IT'S OFFICIAL: The price of oil is a problem. Even as the going rate for black gold set one record after another, finance chiefs seemed largely unconcerned. But when gasoline crested the $4-per-gallon mark this summer, fuel prices rose to the...

Gunning for global graft.(COMPLIANCE)
September 1, 2008... ANYONE TRYING TO GREASE a few palms abroad, beware. The Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission are on track to file a record number of enforcement actions this year based on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...

Deception perception.(ETHICS)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From financial-statement shenanigans to fraudulent billing schemes, corporate frauds can be elusive, to say the least. Fraudsters usually operate alone, rarely have criminal records, and are nearly as likely to be...

Debt financing 101.(LENDING)
September 1, 2008... FOR PARENTS SEEKING REASSURANCE that their college-bound children will have access to student loans, Larry Warder, CFO at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), has good news and bad news. As CFO since April 2006 (and acting chief...

Prepare to be more accommodating.(LEGISLATION)(United States. Department of Justice)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, which prohibits discrimination against disabled people in the workplace and at public facilities, will see major revisions this fall that could translate into big changes--and big...

Work-life programs: how the big 7 flex.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If your talent shortage has you contemplating a raid on a major accounting firm, think twice. The firms have bent over backward to attract the employees they need, offering a huge range of ways in which schedules and...

Revenue-recognition rules: from the many, one?(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
September 1, 2008... Could the many rules governing revenue recognition be boiled down to a single general standard? That's what a forthcoming discussion paper from the Financial Accounting Standards Board will explore. The goal is to move away from a system in...

Spreadsheets: formula for success.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
September 1, 2008... What's the difference between corporate managers' sex lives and the state of spreadsheet controls within their companies? Most would be more willing to talk openly about the former than the latter. That was one sentiment expressed at a recent...

Anatomy of a CFO's agony.(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
September 1, 2008... How, exactly, does a CFO end up pleading guilty to accounting fraud? As he awaits sentencing, one CFO shares his experiences in taking a company public amid plenty of pressure from his boss to make the numbers work. Told by investment bankers...

Who needs a COO?(Best of the Web: A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR STORIES FROM CFO.COM)
September 1, 2008... First the good news: CFOs are enjoying more power, and more compensation, these days. The bad news? In many cases this is because companies have cut the COO position and heaped more work on the already slumping shoulders of the CFO. Starbucks...

Let us now praise private equity: buyout bosses manage companies that outperform their publicly traded peers on key measures of growth. And they don't do it just by cutting costs.(by the numbers)
September 1, 2008... THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION of private-equity firms is all wrong--at least according to a new study from Ernst & Young. Often viewed as hard-hearted financial engineers who pile up profits by slashing expenses, P-E kingpins are criticized for...

View from Asia: the region is in for a bumpy ride, and high oil prices are only partly to blame.(topline)
September 1, 2008... AS CORPORATE growth grinds to a halt in the United States and Europe, the bosses of global companies are rediscovering their enthusiasm for emerging markets. Companies ranging from Sony to General Electric to General Motors stress that, despite...

A place in the cloud: cloud computing offers an enticing value proposition, but do the benefits justify the risks?(in tech)
September 1, 2008... OVER THE PAST TWO years, Google has spent a whopping $5 billion to construct a network of state-of-the-art data centers. The company's goal is to meet not only its own insatiable need for computing power, but yours as well. [ILLUSTRATION...

Best intentions: three rules can guide philanthropic companies that seek a profitable path toward a better world.(insight)
September 1, 2008... WE MUST BECOME A GOOD company," the chief executive declares, having just returned from a conference featuring the philanthropic Google Guys, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. "And I don't just mean good in the business sense; I mean good...

More guardian, less angel: when CFOs join the clubby world of angel investing, they don't spoil the party so much as ensure it goes on.(deals)
September 1, 2008... SOME ANGEL INVESTORS are more down to earth than others. When former CFO Mead Wyman joined CommonAngels, a Boston-area group of private investors interested in helping fledgling businesses get their start, he was soon confronted with a...

International Accounting Standards Board Chairman Sir David Tweedie.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
September 1, 2008... MAKE NO MISTAKE: the International Accounting Standards Board is poised to become the world's accounting-standards setter. When its chairman, Sir David Tweedie, spoke with CFO in late July, rumors were swirling that the Securities and Exchange...

Fair value revolution: historical cost accounting is fading as corporate America marches into a new era.(Cover story)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT IS A COMPANY REALLY WORTH? THAT IS THE CENTRAL QUESTION THAT ACCOUNTING ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER, AND IT IS NO EASY EXERCISE. EVERY ANSWER INVITES DEBATE, AND THAT DEBATE HAS NOW INTENSIFIED, THANKS TO "FAIR VALUE"...

Digging in: with the economy in the pits, companies are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to c ut supply-chain costs.(Company overview)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OVERWHELMED BY RISING COSTS, many companies are realizing that profits don't come easy these days. That's true even when you're sitting on a gold mine. Despite the massive run-up in gold prices (160 percent since...

Better ways to buy: sometimes costs don't need to be cut so much as captured, quantified, and reconsidered.(CFO 20/20 view on expense management)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At the height of the dot-com boom, in January 2000, the term "E-procurement" appeared in these pages for the first time. Virtually synonymous, then, with E-commerce, the term joined a burgeoning pantheon of Internet...

Over rated? The subprime fiasco has put corporate credit-ratings on thin ice.(spotlight)
September 1, 2008... HAVING long bestowed upon corporate bonds a measure of credibility, embattled rating agencies are now fighting to retain their own. Cascading credit problems triggered by catastrophic (but highly rated) subprime-mortgage loans have prompted...

No time to lose: tempted to extend payment terms? That's one sign that working capital demands your immediate attention.(working capital)
September 1, 2008... BEWARE YOUR survival instincts: they may dampen corporate performance more than you might expect. With a recession looming or quite possibly upon us, it can be tempting to ease up on receivables and retain inventory in order to placate...

To get the best gig, expand your repertoire: so you wanna be a finance star? Learn to play other parts.(your move)
September 1, 2008... HAVING begun his career at United Parcel Service (UPS) three decades ago as a driver, you might expect CFO Kurt Kuehn to know the company inside and out. During his long tenure he has managed such business functions as financial analysis,...

Watson Wyatt Worldwide.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide has named Roger Millay as its new CFO. He succeeds Cart Mautz, who retired. Millay was previously CFO for Discovery Communications.

Quanex Building Products.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Brent Korb is the new CFO for building-materials maker Quanex Building Products. Korb, who was VP of finance and accounting at Energy Alloys, replaces Tom Walker, who resigned in June for personal reasons.

Xethanol.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Renewable-energy company Xethanol has appointed Rom Papadopoulos as CFO. He takes the reins from Gary Flicker, who left to pursue other interests.

Paul Burner is the new CFO of People's United Financial and its subsidiary People's United Bank.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Paul Burner is the new CFO of People's United Financial and its subsidiary People's United Bank. He fills the former role of Philip Sherringham, who remains as president and CEO. Burner had been CFO for Citibank North America.

Jefferson Wells.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Jefferson Wells, a provider of finance-related services, has named Jeff Docalavich to the CFO post. Docalavich was previously VP of finance and business operations for a division of Rockwell Automation.

New Motion.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Andrew Zaref has been named CFO of digital advertising and entertainment network New Motion. He replaces Daniel Harvey, who will remain in another senior role. Zaref had been CFO for Westwood One.

Nuance Communications.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Thomas Beaudoin takes the place of James Arnold Jr. as CFO at speech-recognition-software maker Nuance Communications. Beaudoin had been CFO for Polaroid.

Heelys.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
September 1, 2008... Footwear maker Heelys has chosen Lisa Peterson as its new CFO. She succeeds Michael Hessong, who resigned in May. Peterson was previously CFO of Friedman's Inc.

This disaster is no movie.(grapevine)(Screen Actors Guild Awards)
September 1, 2008... THE SUMMERTIME STANDOFF between Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) yielded some useful lessons for executives interested in honing their negotiating skills. At press time, SAG was still rejecting an offer from the studios'...

Hackers are easy, lawyers ...(grapevine)
September 1, 2008... ANTIVIRUS-SOFTWARE COMPANY McAFEE has been fighting more than just computer bugs lately. In July, a judge dismissed a lawsuit that McAfee filed against Wilmer, Curler, Picketing, Hale and Dorr--the law firm that represented former CFO Prabhat...