Corporate Cashflow Magazine articles from March 1996

Corporate Cashflow Magazine archives from March 1996

Treasury logic: valuable but ignored.(Editorial)
March 1, 1996... I don't know much about accounts payable and accounts receivable systems, but the stories I've been hearing lately suggest that they still aren't built according to treasury logic and that treasuries could operate more productively if they were....

Auditors plug duplicate payment drain in A/P. (accounts payable)
March 1, 1996... Companies that go after the cost savings of purchasing cards and paying vendors electronically through EDI may lose more than they gain if they don't re-engineer their accounts payable operation to turn off the flow of paper invoices, A/P...

Treasuries want IRS to confirm taxes paid by ACH credit. (Internal Revenue Service; automated clearing house)
March 1, 1996... Electronic tax collections are about to kick into high gear for thousands of corporate taxpayers, but the expected flood of EFT payments could cause compliance headaches for many unless improvements are implemented soon, treasury managers report....

New crime coverage answers need of evolving workplace.
March 1, 1996... Increased use of electronic correspondence and the changing definition of an "employee" has increased the need for risk managers to update their commercial fidelity coverage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that corporations lose $40...

Treasury-friendly systems arrive for managing derivatives.
March 1, 1996... Treasury managers who have to monitor and report their financial exposures and derivatives holdings now man buy help from a derivatives software market that is moving to meet their needs. Products traditionally built for large dealers and...

DOL 'safe harbors' expand sponsors' education options. (Department of Labor)
March 1, 1996... The hazy picture of what a plan sponsor can and cannot tell 401(k) participants without stepping over the line and becoming an advice-giving fiduciary is now clearer, thanks to four safe harbors outlined in a proposed Department of Labor (DOL)...

Cheap financing, Euro-investors fuel ongoing M&A boom. (merger and acquisition)
March 1, 1996... Corporate America's current urge to merge is as sound as bedrock - a reflection of the strength of the U.S. economy, says Michael A. Smith, the Chicago-based senior managing director of BA Partners, the M&A financing arm of Bank of America....

Refinance IDBs with floaters for big interest cost savings. (industrial development bonds)
March 1, 1996... Issuing companies can save 300-350 basis points of interest expense by refinancing tax-exempt bonds issued in the 1980s at coupon rates of 8-8.5% with today's low floaters. Turning 8.5% industrial revenue bonds or industrial development bonds...

Working capital: key to cash flow that treasury rarely manages. (includes related articles on working capital management strategies and liquidity management at the U.S. Postal Service)(Cover Story)
March 1, 1996... Fragmented control wastes cash, drives up costs. In one of the rosy scenarios circulating in 1988, cash managers would prosper by reinventing themselves as treasury managers, who would then reinvent themselves as working capital managers. That...

How to implement EVA and make share prices rise. (economic value added)
March 1, 1996... Three steps and four rules that can lead to better decisions and rewarded shareholders. Eva[TM] (economic value added) is a measure of financial performance that combines the old concept of residual income with principles of modern corporate...

Ways to lower workers' comp costs. (workers' compensation)(includes related article on steps to reducing workers' compensation costs)
March 1, 1996... The best ways to reduce skyrocketing workers' compensation costs are often the simplest but are all too often overlooked. Understanding your company's unique problems is the key to dramatic reductions in comp costs. Well designed programs can...

Tax breaks sought for medical savings accounts.
March 1, 1996... RCI, an automotive specialty manufacturing firm in Brighton, MI, switched two years ago from a traditional fee-for-service health plan to a medical savings account (MSA), which is a fund from which employees pay their routine medical expenses...

Managing the flood of cash from an initial public offering.
March 1, 1996... Initial public offerings (IPOs) often confront treasury managers with a new problem: how to manage an embarrassment of riches. After years of nursing its cash account hand to mouth, a growing company can hits the IPO jackpot and suddenly finds...

Reduce banking costs with a request for proposal.
March 1, 1996... One of the best ways for treasurers and chief financial officers to get the best price for their entire banking relationship is to ask for it in a request for proposal, or RFP. Because banking relationships often are established on the need for...

When fundamentals break down, crazy things happen. (fundamental policies on treasury management)
March 1, 1996... During my 13 years as a treasury consultant, I have had opportunities to review the performance of major international banks and companies. In those reviews, many deficiencies have been discovered. I will highlight a few of those "treasury...