https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/rss en-us Industrial product manufacturers face increased demands for lower costs; concurrently, they are being called upon to develop and utilize more innovative and complex products. To achieve both objectives, where should organizations look to cut costs? One answer could be found in their accounts receivable practices. Few would disagree that many current back-office processes are not as efficient as they should be, but... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1932 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 06:37:36 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1932-automating-accounts-receivable-shorter-cycle-times-lower-costs Major changes are expected to the way many organizations forecast and ultimately incur payroll-related expenses associated with the Affordable Care Act. According to the findings of a recent survey conducted by payroll service provider Paychex, many small businesses are still not prepared for the changes imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In fact, only a little over half of small businesses understand and are prepared for the changes required by ACA. The rest of these companies either do not understand it at all or only partially understand it, and are not prepared to comply with its complex rules and regulations. It is likely that many larger companies as well are confused or unsure about compliance issues associated with this Act. This implies that... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1906 Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:41:24 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1906-the-affordable-care-act-and-your-budget There is one important area in manufacturing finance that many companies still struggle with: the much-dreaded process of budgeting, forecasting and analysis. In a typical manufacturing company, it is common to see full automation in the areas of inventory control, production control (e.g., shop floor control, scheduling, capacity planning) and of course the common functions of sales orders, purchasing (with or without MRP), accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger. In addition,... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1797 Mon, 10 Nov 2014 07:06:55 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1797-automated-budgeting-forecasting-and-business-intelligence-in-a-manufacturing-environment The new virtual office model proliferating through the business world means that company employees can work from wherever they can get an Internet connection and companies can dispense with the cost of maintaining physical offices through the power of cloud computing. Does your organization really need to rent or own physical office space? "The new virtual office model proliferating through the business world means that company stakeholders are all working from their own locations and coming to work via cloud computing," says Nikolaus Kimla, founder of PipeLiner, a CRM software provider. "Itï؟½s certainly a..." http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1043 Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:46:13 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1043-get-ready-for-the-virtual-office To avoid becoming a cloud service refugee your best solution is contingency planning at the time (or before) you commit to the service provider. On Oct. 1, Nirvanix, a well regarded cloud storage provider, filed for bankruptcy protection leaving its customers scrambling to find someplace to put the data they had entrusted to the company. This does not appear to be an unmitigated disaster for any of its customers but... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1042 Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:45:38 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/1042-when-a-cloud-provider-fails-avoid-becoming-a-cloud-refugee How can finance professionals help their non-financial colleagues understand corporate financial statements that land on their desks? If the accounting profession is to address the concerns of non-accountants, it needs to teach the subject in a way that focuses on those professionals and their concerns. Having worked with executives who have little or no accounting experience... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/925 Tue, 24 Sep 2013 07:30:18 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/925-accounting-for-non-accountants Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity. Customers must be convinced to buy your company's products or services, employees and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock, and partners to sign the next deal. But despite the critical importance of persuasion, most executives struggle to... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/924 Tue, 24 Sep 2013 07:29:42 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/924-the-cfo-as-a-business-storyteller The numbers from a new long-range planning study support quantitatively what we've known intuitively all along: The better your data, communications, processes and systems, the more your long-range planning will help you determine the best strategy for succeeding in your market and secure the best assets to support your strategic objectives. This is the good news... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/697 Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:45:34 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/697-long-range-planning-the-good-the-bad-some-ugly-and-the-way-forward Just picking a big data platform is not enough. The hard work starts when you customize the algorithms and models to enhance the really essential value of the business. "The use of big data will become a key basis of competition and growth for individual firms. From the standpoint of competitiveness and the potential capture of value, all companies need to take big data seriously," says McKinsey's Business Technology Office, in a report titled: Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity. But not every big data initiative... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/696 Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:44:43 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/696-avoiding-failure-on-the-last-mile-of-big-data-analytics Today's fiercely competitive global economy demands more from finance organizations than ever before. In addition to fast and accurate planning and forecasting, finance is being challenged with managing growing data volumes, evolving regulations and compliance requirements, and the need to deliver real - time insights to senior staff. Progressive CFOs and finance executives are... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/695 Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:43:54 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/695-three-technologies-cfos-need-to-know-about As we have discussed in our two most recent posts hereï؟½and here, data analytics can be a powerful tool that allows companies to determine whether they are spending their compensation budgets in the best possible way. This, in turn, opens up a variety of options for companies when it comes to managing that compensation budget, whether that involves keeping costs the same, cutting the compensation budget or... http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/670 Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:40:44 -0400 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/670-ongoing-analytics-the-hr-cfo-partnership Last month wiredFINANCE looked at the technology trends for 2013 from Gartner, Forrester, and othersAccording to international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, there are four main types of crises that can damageyour share price. They don't all have the same impact, whether short term or long. More to the point, however, how acompany http://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/542 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:32:10 -0500 https://www.businesswatchnetwork.com/articles/542-10-technology-issues-cfos-should-watch