VIRTUAL SEMINAR - The regulatory landscape is constantly evolving. Within the last 18 months we've seen revisions to decade-old regulations, tweaks and clarifications to industry standards, new regulations and state data privacy laws, looming regulations for financial firms and changes to current regulations, such as the recent addition of HITECH.
Posted: February 10, 2010 | Published: March 24, 2010


Topics:  Compliance Audits | Financial Reporting | Health Care Compliance | Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Compliance | Regulatory Compliance | Security Spending

WHITE PAPER - This paper reviews aspects of cost reduction and examines some typical financial accounting expense categories. This paper also looks at how data quality services can be applied in those examples to reduce expenses, and examines the potential for applying data quality management as a way to manage and reduce organizational expenses.
Posted: January 22, 2010 | Published: January 22, 2010


Topics:  Cost Benefit Analysis | CRM | Data Management | Data Quality | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | IT Spending | Master Data Management | Product Life Cycles

WHITE PAPER - Businesses running SAP solutions still employ paper-driven Accounts Payable processes. As a result, they are limited in their ability to minimize per-invoice costs, improve productivity, and prevent duplicate invoices. Read this paper to learn about the unique value of a comprehensive platform to streamline Accounts Payable processes.
Posted: January 18, 2010 | Published: January 18, 2010


Topics:  Accounting | Accounting Software | Billing Software | ERP Software | Financial Applications Software | Financial Management | Financial Metrics | Financial Reporting | Financial Transaction Processing | Purchase Order Management | SAP (Product) | Software as a Service

WHITE PAPER - This paper introduces hedge funds and hedge fund service providers to IFRS.
Posted: January 4, 2010 | Published: January 4, 2010


Topics:  Accounting | Accounting Software | Financial Applications Software | Financial Reporting | Financial Services | Financial Transaction Processing | Reporting Software | Standards

WHITE PAPER - This document examines the current state of Order Management Systems (OMS) portfolio management capabilities, identifies major challenges and "pain points" that firms encounter, and outlines seven system attributes needed to overcome them.
Posted: August 10, 2009 | Published: January 5, 2009


Topics:  Asset Management (Finance) | Business IT Alignment | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | Financial Services Industry | Order Management Systems | Portfolio Management (Finance) | Workflow Software

WHITE PAPER - A new standard file format, Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), for submitting financial reports to the SEC in the United States is being mandated for June 2009. Both the creation of, and reporting from XBRL, are functions performed by the same new tool described in this paper.
Posted: June 19, 2009 | Published: June 19, 2009


Topics:  Business Intelligence | Compliance (Finance) | Financial Reporting | Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) | Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance | XBRL

ANALYST REPORT - In June 2008, CFO Research Services conducted a research program among senior finance executives in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The research looked at what kinds of alliances companies are forming and how finance sees itself working with internal and external partners to establish and assess successful alliances.
Posted: June 8, 2009 | Published: June 1, 2008


Topics:  Business Communications | Business Intelligence | Business IT Alignment | Business Management | Business Metrics | Business Models | Business Performance Management | Business Process Modeling | Business Processes | Business Systems | CEOs | CFOs | CIOs | Communications Networks | Financial Management | Financial Reporting

WHITE PAPER - What's arguably the single greatest barrier to the fast close has remained constant - the completion of the intercompany reconciliation process. This paper examines the issues behind intercompany reconciliation and outlines how companies can make impressive progress when they employ software solutions such as those from SAP Business Objects
Posted: June 8, 2009 | Published: June 2, 2009


Topics:  Accounting | Accounting Software | Compliance (Finance) | Financial Applications Software | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | Regulatory Compliance | SAP (Product) | Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

WHITE PAPER - The term "financial close" describes a corporation's ability to complete its accounting cycles and produce financial statements for internal management and external legal reporting. This paper identifies solutions to help organizations improve and sustain their close times and address the challenges associated with automating internal controls
Posted: June 5, 2009 | Published: June 2, 2009


Topics:  Accounting | Business Performance Management | Compliance (Finance) | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | Financial Statements | Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) | Legal Compliance Software | Risk Assessment | Risk Management

ANALYST REPORT - To find out how senior executives view their financial processes, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed a global sample of mostly financial executives in September 2008. Some respondents focused on the importance of developing processes that reduced costs and improved efficiency. Others acknowledged the importance of cost and efficiency..
Posted: June 5, 2009 | Published: November 1, 2008


Topics:  Business Process Automation | CFOs | Chemical Industry | Consumer Packaged Goods Industry | Economic Environment | Financial Reporting | Financial Services | Financial Services Industry | Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) | Life Sciences Industry | Retail Trade Industry | Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

WHITE PAPER - To maximize profitability, companies must know the true cost of making and delivering their products and services. Traditional cost accounting, devised in a simpler era, does not satisfy that need. This paper examines indirect and overhead costs, which are crucial to managing profitability.
Posted: June 5, 2009 | Published: June 1, 2008


Topics:  Business Intelligence | Cost Benefit Analysis | ERP | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | Financial Services Industry | Financial Systems | Manufacturing | SAP (Product)

WHITE PAPER - In February 2008, CFO Research Services, a unit of CFO Publishing and part of The Economist Group, began a research project with Business Objects, an SAP company, asking senior finance executives to give views on their priorities and challenges around integrating operational and financial planning processes.
Posted: June 5, 2009 | Published: May 1, 2008


Topics:  Balance Sheets | Business Intelligence | CFOs | Financial Industry Organizations | Financial Management | Financial Metrics | Financial Reporting | Financial Services | Financial Services Industry | Financial Systems | Risk Assessment | Risk Management | SAP (Product) | Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 | Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

WHITE PAPER - In this research, we examine the lessons that have been learnt from the current financial crisis, and propose ten practical lessons that could help to address perceived weaknesses in risk identification, assessment and management.
Posted: June 4, 2009 | Published: June 2, 2009


Topics:  Compliance (Finance) | Economic Environment | Financial Management | Financial Reporting | Regulatory Compliance | Reporting Software | Risk Assessment | Risk Management

WHITE PAPER - Enterprises looking to compete in a global marketplace must be able to comply with international financial and legal requirements-they must be able to think globally but at the same time act (and comply) locally.
Posted: September 19, 2008 | Published: September 17, 2008


Topics:  Business Intelligence | ERP | ERP Software | Financial Reporting | Globalization | Manufacturing | Vendors

WHITE PAPER - In August 2007, CFO Research Services launched a research program to explore the ways in which the role of the finance team has changed in recent years. This report presents the findings of our online survey of 255 senior finance executives.
Posted: September 18, 2008 | Published: September 18, 2008


Topics:  Accounting | Executive Information Systems | Executive Management | Executive Training | Financial Reporting | Performance Testing | Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance