Controller and CFO's Guide to Accounts Payable
by Mary S. Schaeffer

As controller or CFO of your company, you may not realize the far-reaching impact of the decisions within the accounts payable (AP) process unless you are intimately involved in the particulars of AP's operations. You might be thinking, "What's the big deal? AP gets bills and pays them. How can that possibly take up a whole book?"

Controller and CFO's Guide to Accounts Payable demonstrates that there is much more to AP than merely paying bills. Drawing on her extensive experience in the corporate financial community, author Mary Schaeffer unveils the myriad of tasks involved in this department and reveals what it actually takes to get these tasks done in the most cost-efficient manner while strengthening internal controls. Her unflinching look at the problems—and their best-practice solutions—shows readers effective ways to tackle the issues encountered between AP operations and the controller's or CFO's office to move on to excellence as a corporate whole.

Controller and CFO's Guide to Accounts Payable is strategically divided into three segments:

• Part I focuses on the core functionality of the AP operation—the processing of invoices and ensuing payment
• Part II turns its attention to specialty functions such as T&E, 1099 Reporting, etc., that may or may not be handled by accounts payable
• Finally, Part III looks at management and oversight issues, explores the latest in fraud and financial crimes as well as the newest initiatives to put a stop to them, and the enduring impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Refreshingly candid and witty in tone, Controller and CFO's Guide to Accounts Payable is required reading for any professional wanting to understand more about their organization's AP operations. It declares that AP is no longer a back-office function and underscores the reality that proper attention must be paid to this crucial department in order to run a leading edge and competitive company.

New Payment World: A Manager's Guide to Creating an Efficient Payment Process
by Mary S. Schaeffer

In the past five years, the number of electronic payments that U.S. companies have made has doubled while the number of checks written has started to decline. With increasingly more vendors requiring their customers to pay electronically, corporations will be seeking guidance on the alternatives that are available to them. That guidance is here.

Holding conventional payment functions up to the light of day, New Payment World: A Manager's Guide to Creating an Efficient Payment Process is a revolutionary guide to creating a successful electronic payments process for the modern corporation. Insightful and highly readable, its practical approach to the payment alternatives available to corporations provides an abundance of best practice ideas for accounting managers, auditors, and CFOs.

Written by esteemed author and accounting expert Mary Schaeffer, New Payment World begins with an eye-opening overview of how organizations of all types are paying their bills today and how they think they will be paying invoices five years from now. This guide covers a myriad of topics, including:

• International payments and letters of credit
• The underpinnings of the payment tools currently in use in business-to-business interactions
• An in-depth analysis of payment tools including paper checks, wire transfers and electronic data interchange, p?cards, e-payments, ACH credits and debits, and use of the petty cash box
• Outsourcing
• Sarbanes-Oxley and internal controls
• Check fraud: Prevention tools and techniques
• ACH fraud: Prevention tools and techniques

A thorough introduction to every aspect of the payment process, New Payment World is an authoritative guide filled with immediately useful advice to setting up the payment process that works best for your organization.

Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley: Strengthening Your Internal Controls (Hardcover)
by Mary S. Schaeffer

Thousands of companies face the task of ensuring that their accounting operations are in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (sox), and no other department needs to be more law-abiding than the accounts payable department. Providing information on the proper documentation and necessary guidelines needed to conform, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley clearly defines how SOX requirements should be implemented as they pertain to accounts payable functions.

Highlighting the conceptual change that must take place in accounts payable if the organization has any hope of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley examines the need for strong internal controls that are integral to the efficient operation of any well-run department. Author Mary Schaeffer—a leading authority on accounts payable—includes discussions of why the controls demanded by the Act are vitally important to both public and private organizations, and provides an overview of the Act, specifically sections 404 and 302. Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley also examines several of the compliance alternatives, including the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations) framework and outsourcing.

An entire section analyzes how poor controls surrounding the payment process can result in large-scale fraud. Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley also explores related areas where organizations sometimes run into trouble, including 1099s, travel and entertainment, unclaimed property, and sales and use tax, applying the Act on these functions to determine appropriate processes. Finally, the book provides overall guidelines to help accounts payable departments conform to the Act, including information on preventing fraud, proper documentation, and the overall principles to structure accounts payable so it will be indisputably compliant.

A must-read for treasurers, controllers, cash managers, accounts payable managers, accounting managers, and small business owners, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley provides readers with a healthy respect for the internal controls needed in accounts payable and all related functions to help their organizations achieve their goal of a healthy bottom line.

Reinventing the CFO
by Jeremy Hope

On the heels of a decade of scandals and the new pressures brought on by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporations expect far more from their CFOs than simply managing the numbers. They expect decision-making support and performance insights that can improve bottom-line results. Unfortunately, the complexity and detail inherent in CFOs’ jobs keep them shackled to budgeting and transaction-processing systems that leave little time for value-adding activities.

Jeremy Hope says it’s time to redefine the role of CFOs in today’s organizations, liberating them from ineffective number-crunching responsibilities and enabling them to focus on helping managers improve performance. Grounded in extensive research, Reinventing the CFO outlines seven critical roles—from streamlining redundant processes to regulating risk to identifying a few key measures—that CFOs must take on in order to successfully transform the finance operation.

Challenging many of the finance field’s accepted practices and systems, this bold book revolutionizes the role of financial managers and frees them to make smart, ethical, strategic decisions that add real value to the firm.

The Complete CFO Handbook
by Frank J. Fabozzi, Pamela Peterson Drake & Ralph S. Polimeni

This must-have reference covers all of the major areas of cost accounting and analysis including product costing, relevant costs, cost-volume analysis, performance evaluation, transfer pricing, and capital budgeting.

• Includes methods of reorganizing, classifying, allocating, aggregating, and reporting actual costs and comparing them with standard costs.
• Equips experienced cost accountants with a reference tool and students with a thorough textbook.
• Provides numerous examples, succinct language, chapter review, glossary, and appendices.
• Includes an abundance of exercises, many of which are based on exam questions from the CPA and CMA exams.

The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual (Hardcover)
by Steven M. Bragg

Today's Chief Financial Officer is faced with responsibilities that have become as diverse and dynamic as they are important. In addition to the management of day-to-day financial activities and the implementation of a long-term fiscal strategy, the CFO must also keep abreast of up-and-coming key issues such as electronic commerce, shared services, and outsourcing. These duties require both a thoughtful consideration of the changing nature of this job, as well as a reliable step-by-step guide to the nuts and bolts.

Now in a Second Edition, The New CFO Financial Leadership Manual is the blueprint for the next millennium, filled with the best practices to help CFOs improve efficiency, mitigate risks, and keep their organizations competitive.

The Vest Pocket CFO (Paperback)
by Jae K. Shim (Author), Joel G. Siegel

The Vest Pocket CFO is the perfect up-to-date reference tool for today's busy CFO, controller, treasurer, and other finance professionals. Written in an easy Q&A format and packed with checklists, samples, and worked-out solutions for a wide variety of accounting and finance problems, readers can take this handy reference wherever they go-on a business trip, visiting a client, conducting a conference call, or attending a meeting.

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Provides 435,000 senior financial executives with analysis and innovative ideas they need to add value to their organizations.

The CFO Handbook by Mark Haskins

Obtain valuable guidance from today's financial leaders. First published to universal acclaim over ten years ago, The CFO Handbook has been updated and revised by editors Marke E. Haskins and Benjamin R. Makela to reflect changes in the profession during the tumult of the 80s and 90s. Among the many topics covered are: determining financial policies, budgeting, defining goals and rewarding performance; creating and implementing mission, values and strategy; assessing international risk and controlling global operations. The CFO Handbook is written for, and by, financial leaders!

Just look at a few of the esteemed CFOs and/or financial professionals who have contributed chapters to this landmark volume: Robert M. Agate, Colgate Palmolive; Caroline Dorsa, Merck & Co.; Michael Grobstein, Ernst & Young International; Thomas G. Manoff, Saturn Corp.; Robert J. Chrenc, AC Nielsen; A. Nicholas Filippello, Monsato Company; George B. James, Levi Strauss & Co.

CFO as Business Integrator (Hardcover)
by Cedric Read, Hans-Dieter Scheuermann & the mySAP Financials Team

From complexity to simplicity - that's where the CFOs of today's world-class companies are headed. Propelled by globalization and new technology, and recent accounting scandals the CFO's role is shifting dramatically, from that of numbers interpreter to business integrator.

What demands will CFOs face now - and in the future?
* Mastering enterprise-wide integration tools

* Extracting ROI from technology investments

* Streamlining finance processes still further

* Improving analytics and decision support

* Managing outsourcing and external alliances

* Ensuring rigorous reporting and transparency

The CFO as Business Integrator addresses all these challenges - and more. It offers timely, practical advice and solutions for reshaping your finance function to exploit real-time information sharing, sophisticated decision support, and true globalization. The book features CFO interviews, original research, case studies, and action plans for creating proactive, value-adding finance initiatives.

Accounting Best Practices (Hardcover)
by Steven M. Bragg

"For a comprehensive, yet easy-to-read guide to fixing those all-too-common shortcomings in your accounting department, look no further than this excellent book. Steve Bragg provides hundreds of fixes, many of them requiring surprisingly little time or cost while providing a handy guide to common implementation pitfalls . . . I would recommend this invaluable book to anyone who is looking to enhance their existing processes, whether due to growth in their business, compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, or just as part of their ongoing improvement process."
—Martyn Webster, CPA, Director of FinanceXenoPort, Inc.

"This book is critical to running an efficient and accurate accounting department. The use of RFID technology to track documents is one of many valuable tools in this latest edition. A required read for the demanding accounting manager's role."
—Jason Charet, CPA

CFO Survival Guide: Plotting the Course to Financial Leadership (Hardcover)
by Catherine Stenzel & Joe Stenzel

You’re already a technical expert in accounting, and probably finance, or you wouldn’t occupy (or be aiming for) the CFO chair. However, accounting experts now acknowledge that technical competency alone isn’t enough to be competitive. You need more to stand out in the field.

The CFO Survival Guide helps you become a superior financial officer by assisting you in better understanding your relationships with your CEO, peer executives, staff, and other people who make up an organization at large, including its customers, suppliers, and community constituents.

From financial reporter to financial leader and visionary, CFOs must wear many hats. In the CFO Survival Guide, practical, sensible coverage explains the new role of the CFO in the post—Sarbanes-Oxley era, outlining why short-term, numbers-oriented goals are limiting and how focusing on the people and processes within a company can ensure long-term growth.

CFO Insights: Delivering High Performance (Hardcover)
by Michael R. Sutcliff & Michael Donnellan

CFO Insights: Delivering High Performance explores the implications of Accenture’s high performance finance research and interprets the link between high performance business and the role of the CFO in delivering this. Written from the perspective of the Chief Financial Officer, the book provides real-world, relevant examples, including flagship interviews with CFOs of high performing businesses.

The book also includes industry analyses prepared by the Accenture Strategy and Business Architecture Practice, case studies, and chapters dedicated to the CFO and financial practices of Japan, China, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

CFO Insights: Achieving High Performance Through Finance Business Process Outsourcing (Kindle Edition)
by Stewart Clements, Michael Donnellan & Cedric Read

Many CFOs have led their companies to invest in ERP and shared services in order to create leaner, more global organization structures. Today, they seek more radical transformation through business process outsourcing (BPO). CFO Insights is a practical, comprehensive guide to this exciting, fast-growing field. It features expert advice from the CFOs of major companies worldwide, including BP, Procter & Gamble, Dell, and Exel. Step by step, it takes you through the stages of a successful outsourcing solution - from evaluating providers and contracting, through transition planning and risk management.

Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap (Hardcover)
by Jeremy Hope & Robin Fraser

The annual budgeting process is a trap. Pressured by fixed targets and performance incentives, managers focus on making the numbers instead of making a difference, meeting set goals instead of maximizing potential. With their compensation at stake, managers often resort to deceitful-even unethical-behavior. In the end, everybody loses-the employee, the company, and ultimately the customer.

Now, finance experts Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser reveal the results of an intensive study aimed at fixing the broken budgeting process. They argue that companies must abandon traditional budgeting contracts in favor of a radical new model that links performance measurement to evolving competitive benchmarks-and shifts the firm's focus from controlling employee behavior to delivering customer value.

The Beyond Budgeting model is built on the best practices of companies that have successfully revised their centralized planning and budgeting processes. It combines a leadership vision that devolves more authority to operating managers and a finance vision that enables fast decision making through appropriate tools and accessible information. Through vivid examples, Hope and Fraser illustrate how companies can implement these shared visions-and the long-term benefits that accrue from embracing them.

Offering a compelling case for breaking free from the budgeting trap, this book paves the way toward making organizations better places to work for, invest in, and do business with.

CFO Insights: Enabling High Performance Through Leading Practices for Finance ERP (Hardcover)
by C. Cristian Wulf

For decades, ERP solutions have consumed vast amounts of time, resources, and money as organizations strive to implement, upgrade, and operate these complex integrated solutions from vendors such as Oracle/PeopleSoft and SAP. Successful organizations have learned to treat an ERP solution as a broad program that impacts business processes, policies, organization and technology, rather than a one-time event. By looking at end-to-end business processes rather than individual functions, organizations are able to identify and understand key integration points and areas of focus.

This book reviews key end-to-end business processes such as procure to pay, order to cash, and asset lifecycle, along with key finance functions such as the closing process and financial and management reporting. Each chapter discusses process, technology, and organizational considerations—all components of high performance.

CFO Insights: Enabling High Performance through Leading Practices for Finance ERP also provides key points of view on broader implementation and operational imperatives such as:

• Transforming finance through ERP-enabled shared services
• Enterprise performance management
• Total cost of ownership
• This book includes metrics and insights from The Hackett Group to provide the latest information from their database of finance benchmark information and leading practice trends.
  

Bigwig Briefs: Become a CFO - The Real World Intelligence to Become a CFO or to Become a Better CFO or Financial Professional (Paperback)
by Aspatore Books Staff, Bigwig Briefs Staff & BigwigBriefs.com

Bigwig Briefs features condensed business intelligence from industry insiders and are the best way for business professionals to stay on top of the most pressing issues. Each brief is less than 100 pages, can be read in 2-4 hours, and represents the best way for executives to comprehend the most important information on a given topic in the most time efficient manner possible, while also having a valuable resource they can put on their bookshelf to refer back to over the years.

Bigwig Briefs features knowledge excerpts from best selling business books published by Aspatore, other leading business book publishers, and essays written by leading executives for inclusion in a particular brief.