Features

Learning from Global World-Class eProcurement Practices
Jari Tavi
By helping companies better understand where and how their money is being spent, best-in-class eProcurement practices increase flexibility and savings, offer better supplier selection, and create opportunities for continuous improvement. Available for use on every desktop throughout the organization, third-generation eProcurement technologies contain all relevant information in one system, enhancing visibility, and are driven by established business rules and policies, enabling better fraud protection.

IFRS for All
Ramona Dzinkowski
Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), shares his thoughts on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the United States, including the efforts of the FASB and regulatory bodies such as the SEC, as well as the reactions from financial executives, the audit firms, accounting organizations, and companies both large and small, domestic and international.

Financial Leadership: What’s It All About?
Jeffrey C. Thomson
Financial leadership isn’t the sole responsibility of the CFO or company controller. With the ability to influence people, decisions, and outcomes, the entire CFO team has the power to drive business performance from within an organization. IMA’s vice president of research examines the practical characteristics of financial leadership and what management accountants and finance professionals can do to act as financial leaders in their companies.

Business & IT Alignment: Then & Now, A Striking Improvement
Dutch Holland and Gary Skarke
The view of investments in information technology has evolved in the last seven years. Major IT expenditures are now seen as business investments similar to a new plant or factory that begins production. Yet as software develops into a bigger part of business functions and operations, it is becoming more difficult to implement and use effectively. By following the appropriate steps to ensure alignment of business processes and IT, an organization can use new technologies to their full potential and achieve greater success.

Ethics: The Framework for Success
Steve Hunter, CMA
Corporate scandals have pushed ethics to the forefront of the business world. Instead of succeeding at all costs, companies must ensure that they are instilling the proper ethical mind-set in their employees. Establishing an effective ethical culture not only improves a company’s reputation and employee morale, but it also impacts the bottom line. There are five elements that top management must use to create an effective ethical culture: integrity, competence, consistency, loyalty, and openness.

Columns

PERSPECTIVES
Take a bow, volunteers.

TOP LINE
Applying professional judgment.

BEST PRACTICES
Resiliency.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Managing innovation risk.

TAXES
Incentive stock option plans.

ETHICS
Should government agencies be subject to Sarbanes-Oxley?

EXCEL
Fill Handle tricks.

XBRL
The distinctiveness of XBRL GL.

Departments

STREETWISE
How useful are financial reports?
IFAC wants your responses
IRS ruling on parachutes lands softly on accounting concerns
Books: Focus on the customer

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

TECH FORUM
Crossing over to the right brain.

END NOTE
Brute-force computing.