(Inside Investor Relations: Editor’s Blog, 18 April 2012) In Brief: Despite holding record levels of cash, many companies are still hesitant to hire or invest. Apparently, this mindset also applies to investments in IR. 42% of respondents to a new survey claimed that their IR budgets decreased over the past two years, and 46% claimed [...]
Read more(CFO, 9 April 2012) In Brief: Finance executives should use proactive variance analysis during the planning process to enable their organizations to meet commitments and manage risks more effectively, this writer says. Our View: Ideal planning processes assume that target setting, strategic plans, financial plans, and performance evaluations are tightly integrated. Leading companies align the [...]
Read more(Business Finance, 5 April 2012) In Brief: Companies should change their budgets any time the key assumptions they are based on become invalid, this writer says. Some examples: when the economy grows at a much stronger or weaker rate than anticipated, when new technologies or innovations that can “dramatically improve your business” become available, or [...]
Read more(Harvard Business Review, 26 March 2012) In Brief: If your final budget is relatively the same as the one proposed at the beginning of the budgeting process, which is relatively the same as this year’s forecast, you’ve been “anchored” – this writer’s name for (unwittingly) allowing the same old numbers to dictate new estimates. To [...]
Read more(Business Finance, 30 January 2012) In Brief: Statoil has a finance organization that this article describes as being “one of the key drivers of innovation within the company.” Not only has Statoil gotten rid of budgets, it is now working to eliminate calendars. As CEO Helge Lund explains, “We have a management model which … [...]
Read more(Business Finance, 10 January 2012) In Brief: This article explains that organizations should take six steps to improve their planning and budgeting processes, including: 1) Automating, 2) Focusing on material items, 3) Being honest, 4) Taking the time to do things right, 5) Iterating, and 6) Reviewing and improving. Our View: While most companies have [...]
Read moreAs anemic top-line growth, heightened economic volatility, and global political uncertainty continue, finance executives, once again, are turning to cost management to deliver profitability. Unfortunately, the typical short-cuts used to cut costs focus squarely on SG&A. Traditional SG&A cost cuts follow three distinct paths, each involving a typical mistake that management fails to consider. Mistake [...]
Read morePeter Drucker once said, “the only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.” Drucker’s words are as true now as ever. Recently, three prominent economists gathered at the University of Chicago to share their views on the economy and projections for 2012. Asked about heightened volatility, they all agreed it [...]
Read more(BusinessFinance, 16 December 2011) In Brief: In this volatile, fast-paced business environment, FP&A teams must increasingly be able to forecast with speed and accuracy. They have to be able to collect, assess, and analyze both financial and nonfinancial data, use it to formulate views, and quickly display relevant information in an easy-to-understand format for those [...]
Read more(CFO, 7 December 2011) In Brief: During periods of economic and market volatility, companies should strive to become as stable as possible. Three ways to create stability include 1) relying less on working capital, 2) spreading out your revenues, and 3) shedding your debts. Our View: Approximately 60% of respondents to our recent survey stated [...]
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