Welcome to the Spring 2004 issue. We hope you enjoy the mix of articles in this issue from banking to education.

Three authors analyzed the impact of audit committees in small commercial banks and found that institutions whose audit committee members had banking or financial experience reported more effective internal controls than those without this expertise. In another finance-related article, the authors compare three methods of estimating a company’s weighted average cost of capital and discuss the issues surrounding each.

In a management accounting article, the author discusses cost terminology, particularly direct labor costs, and brings the traditional treatment of cost terms more in line with today’s business environment.

Regarding education, the debate continues as to whether accounting graduates are being recruited for entry-level management positions and whether universities are meeting the technology needs of accounting professionals. These issues are discussed in-depth in two additional articles.

As always, we welcome any comments about these articles and any suggestions for future ones. Please e-mail me at kwilliams@imanet.org,or give me a call at (201) 474-1576.

Kathy Williams
Editor-in-Chief