APQC recently published an article entitled End-to-End Mapping of an Order-to-Cash Process. The idea was to illustrate the workflows in each stage of the end-to-end process as well as depict how upstream activities can have an impact—positive or negative—on the ultimate speed at which…
I recently asked Samuel Dergel, author of Guide to CFO Success: Leadership Strategies for Corporate Financial Professionals, three critical questions for CFOs. This prompted a discussion about interest in STEM talent in finance, relationship maps, and practical wisdom for business decision makers…
I recently spoke with Jim DeLoach, a managing director with Protiviti Inc., about enterprise risk management (ERM) and the ways in which CEOs and board members can move beyond theory and develop actionable strategies. We began the conversation by referring to a statement made by our academic…
APQC recently spoke to Kristina Narvaez, President & CEO of ERM Strategies, about enterprise risk management (ERM). In the interview below, she talks about several factors that tend to undermine ERM programs. APQC: What are the essential components of an effective ERM program? KN: First…
One top priority for big company CFOs this year will be to cut the costs of financial management processes. Wait! Haven’t we seen this movie already? These costs have already been slashed over the past decade. Finance managers: prepare yourselves for “The Hangover Part III.” Recent APQC research…
In this day and age, a company has to know—and not guess at—the ways in which non-financial factors impact financial results. And business leaders need finance teams, with their vast and natural analytical skills, to help them compete on facts and develop highly educated views on cause-and-effect…
The cost of finance operations at the typical large company has been cut in half over the past decade. CFOs got what they wanted: talented and dedicated people doing more with less, and those with a knack for stats polishing their analytical contributions. So, I got to wondering: what’s behind the…
Some companies’ accounts payable (AP) functions spend 30 percent more than necessary on labor costs. That’s because they are drowning in paper invoices that must be processed by hand. Typically, documents have to be fed into a scanner that feeds into a software program that recognizes and sorts…
A recent survey by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) found that 61 percent of organizations experienced actual or attempted payments fraud in 2012. One example of payments fraud: a criminal manages to print what appear to be legitimate paper checks and then finds clever…
APQC just launched a survey to uncover how recent advances in mobile computing can enhance business decision-making and performance management. We were flooded with responses during the first 24 hours—a sign the corporate world is going mad over mobile. Early results suggest that senior executives…