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Brother, Can You Spare An Electronic Payment?
Tech savvy Sweden’s high utilization of electronic payment technology has the country on pace to become the first cashless society. While widespread credit and debit card usage is fueling the trend, the rise of mobile pay apps is also a key factor. According to a recent article in The New York…
Recognizing the Impact of the New Revenue Recognition Rules
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have issued their long-awaited converged standards on revenue recognition. The rules govern how and when revenue can be recognized in different industries. In essence, the new rule will do away…
Finance in 2020: A Radical Departure
The following conversation is derived from my recent sit-down with Accenture Strategy’s David Axson, one of America’s leading thinkers when it comes to the transformation of the finance function. Mr. Axson will share his latest research and advice on APQC’s financial management webinar Finance 2020…
Some Large U.S. Companies Face More Cost Reduction
Some of America’s largest companies have been releasing worrisome earnings reports to Wall Street lately. The phrase being bandied about by equity analysts is “revenue light,” meaning such and such a company failed to deliver expected levels of revenue growth. Corporate profits, meanwhile,…
Can Countries Coordinate Currency Policies & Achieve Economic Success?
In today’s globalized economic environment, government action on macroeconomic policy can have a significant impact on business activity. Interest rates, trade policy, and currency exchange rates are but a few areas in which a central government can make changes to improve the overall business…
Is Your 2016 Budget Already Obsolete?
Budget season can be difficult for financial professionals. The combination of resource allocation under strict deadlines creates an unenviable, annual responsibility. While budgeting may be difficult, it does not have to be an ordeal to suffer through. Proper planning and targeted budget scope can…
Keys to Better Shared Service Centers
On August 26, 2015, APQC conducted a webinar on benchmarking shared services centers (SSC). The webinar highlighted characteristics that make SSCs advantageous to organizations that utilize them and how benchmarking can be used to point out opportunities for process improvement at SSCs.…
Think Corporate Finance Execs Can’t Be ‘Phished’? Think Again
Greetings and salutations cherished employee, This is an email spoofing scam masquerading as an executive or trusted vendor. It goes sort of like this: I am travelling overseas visiting our facilities in Eastern Europe and need funds to confirm our commitment to a building expansion.…
The Business of the Future Today, with Predictive Analytics
One of the greatest challenges any business faces is staying relevant in a competitive environment. In the past, business leaders were forced to feel out their environments and read the tea leaves of industry and market forces to stay in the game. Today, a new augur for performance and planning…
Corruption and Business: What the FIFA Scandals Can Teach Finance
The ongoing Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) corruption investigation took a comical turn on July 20, 2015 when a British comedian began throwing fake money at long time FIFA President Sepp Blatter, requesting a World Cup be held in North Korea. While many observers have…