As many of our members know, a company that cannot get a handle on fixed asset accounting—a fundamental, meat-and-potatoes aspect of financial management—can raise a lot of eyebrows. Investors want to see that a company can get the basics right. In this video, Mary Driscoll gives a primer…

I recently talked to Steve Williams, president of DecisionPath Consulting, about the risks and rewards business executives face when trying to understand and use analytics, big data, and business intelligence. What’s the basic argument you would make to a CFO who doesn’t yet know how…

Big Data is all the rage, with more and more companies drawing on burgeoning data streams to better understand their customers and make better business decisions. But it can be tricky when you’re trying to turn data into insights and actions that provide a competitive advantage. And both data…

Financial forecasting and resource planning can be challenging under any circumstances, but today there is more demand from operating managers for forward-looking, driver-based analysis and scenario testing. APQC has found early indications that CFOs and controllers want to strengthen…

I recently spoke with Brad DeMent and Trey Robinson, partners in ScottMadden’s Corporate & Shared Services practice, about the benefits, challenges, and future of financial shared services. They will both be joining me for our September 25th Webinar—Finance Shared Services: New Metrics and Best…

The headline in The Wall Street Journal said: “Walgreen Shakeup Followed Bad Projection.” The buzz in the financial executive community was loud. The CFO at Walgreen Co., Wade Miquelon, had in April of this year told Wall Street that the nation’s largest drugstore chain would generate $8.5…

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…

The deadline for filing your company’s Specialized Disclosure Report (or Form SD) and Conflict Minerals Report is looming (effectively June 2nd). The theory behind exposing human rights violations in corporate supply chains is important, but the mix of social consciousness and SEC filings…

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…