Features

Navigating the Economic Downturn
By Mark Morgan
The current economic turmoil won’t be disappearing anytime soon. As it continues to spread across the globe, now is the time for companies to focus on creating value. Those with a strong balance sheet and strategic discipline will be uniquely positioned to take advantage of the economic conditions to grow market share and value at an attractive price.

Old Meets New
By Raef Lawson, CMA, CPA
The second in a three-article series based on a study of management accounting practices in China focuses on the tools and techniques Chinese management accountants use in performing their jobs. While some companies look to the West for new techniques and best practices and others develop or devise their own alternatives, there still remains a noticeable influence of the practices required under the old planned economy.

Probing Financial Statements in a Post-Sarbanes-Oxley World
By Carlos A. De Mello-e-Souza and Vidya N. Awasthi, CMA, CFM
A company’s financial statements are a window to its health. But they’re only as good as the process that goes into creating them, which should include tough questions from upper management. A look at three major retailers illustrates what these documents should include—and how the information in them benefits investors and corporate executives alike.

Breaking Down Boundaries
By Tim R.V. Davis and Lance P. McLaughlin
A survey of CFOs at Fortune 1,000 companies found that the level of partnering between the finance unit and line management varied greatly, as did the methods used to encourage partnering. This second of two articles takes a look at the types of management practices that may help or hinder partnering and suggests guidelines on how managers in finance can help improve partnering relationships.

Columns

PERSPECTIVES
Keeping Things in Perspective

BEST PRACTICES
Too Smart for Your Own Good

ETHICS
Should We Just Re-Regulate or Totally Restructure Banks?

TAXES
IRAs and Roth IRAs in 2010

FINANCIAL REPORTING
Financial Instruments and the Financial Crisis

IMA LIFE
My Convoluted Career Path

SF BULLETIN
• Obama budget lowers boom on business
• Taxing all corporate income
• CDS bill moves forward
• Letters: A bad accounting rule, No more cheap shots
• Books: The Fraud Auditor

EXCEL
Creating Custom Views in Excel

ACCESS
Complex Data Designs

Departments

TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Philips Pocket Memo 9500, Logitech diNovoTM Media Desktop®, ZAGG Invisible SHIELDTM, Belkin Clamp-On Surge Protector

TECH FORUM
Jailbreaking Your Phone