Features

Redefining Management Accounting
Peter C. Brewer, CPA
The new management accounting framework presented here illustrates the vital functions management accountants perform within an organization. By providing leadership, supporting a company’s strategic management efforts, creating operational alignment, and facilitating continuous learning and improvement, management accountants fulfill their primary responsibility of improving financial performance and increasing stakeholder value.

The Business of Selling Movies
S. Mark Young, James J. Gong, Wim A. Van der Stede, Tatiana Sandino, and Fei Du
Regardless of whether a movie is made by a major studio or small independent producer, it can’t become a box-office success unless it gets into theaters and people go see it. This second article on accounting in the motion picture industry examines the processes involved with the successful distribution and marketing of a film. Analysis of production, marketing, and revenue data shows that marketing costs have a bigger positive effect on a film’s performance than production costs do.

Transforming Social and Environmental Risks into Opportunities
Tamara Bekefi and Marc J. Epstein
Many leading companies recognize that social and environmental issues aren’t simply risks. Responding to them proactively instead of reactively can lead to substantial benefits, including reduced costs, increased revenues, and improved processes. To realize this potential, an organization must develop comprehensive strategies and systems to identify, evaluate, and monitor sustainability opportunities and integrate them into management decision making.

What’s Going on in My Organization?
Cedric Tyler
In order to make optimal business decisions, CFOs need a thorough understanding of the processes in their organization: what work is being performed, who is doing it, where and when is it being done, and how. Adopting xBML as a business modeling framework enables companies to create a detailed, accurate picture of the inner workings of any business operation. Among other uses, xBML is valuable in representing controls, driving risk mitigation, and as a robust audit tool.

Columns

PERSPECTIVES
An investment in the future.

BEST PRACTICES
The adolescent manager.

TAXES
AMT relief: if not too little, definitely too late.

ETHICS
Do medical ethics apply to your employee health benefits program?

CAREERS
Rudeness in the workplace.

IMA
Meet Bob Kaplan.

EXCEL
Calculating elapsed days.

Departments

STREETWISE
SEC releases Financial Explorer
Comptroller General to resign
Letters: A time for change
CIFiR backs mandatory XBRL, tougher restatement criteria
Books: Four levels of optimization
New SMAs are available
Joseph L. Brumit, 1918-2008
XBRL workshop is available

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

TECH FORUM
License plates and Band-Aids.

END NOTE
Brute-force computing.