Standout Stories
Perils of plant equipment… A roll of paper towels accidentally left in the belly of a turbine after routine maintenance. That was all it took to destroy a million-dollar piece of equipment at one of our customer’s power-generation facilities. Although a turbine is a beast of a machine, it’s precision equipment. The blades are vulnerable, and when they started to turn, the paper towels won.
Why would an incident like this be your problem as a CFO? Well, equipment cost aside, the incident disrupted service and angered consumers long enough to affect the utility’s revenue, loyalty, and brand. If shareholder value and competitive advantage are your bailiwick, so is mitigating the risk of failure of big equipment in your company…read article.
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Closing books… Ever wonder where the term the “last mile” of finance originated? This oft-used phrase to describe the month’s worth of work painfully squeezed into a few days to close the books refers to the final steps taken by a prisoner condemned to die. Company accountants can relate to this fate.
Compressing the closing activities for financial reporting into scant days results in overwrought accountants more likely to make mistakes, high labor costs to staff up for the peak overload, delayed forecasts by financial planning and analysis, and tardier testing of Sarbanes-Oxley controls by internal audit…read article.
Headlines
Junk Bond Defaults Seen Rising Again in 2016
The credit ratings agency forecast that the junk default rate will be 4% this year, up from 3.5% in 2015.
Exxon to Cut 2016 Capital Spending by 25%
The cuts reflect the prolonged commodities slump but Exxon says it still has “the financial flexibility to pursue attractive opportunities.”
The Perils of Plant Equipment Neglect
Unchecked, small plant equipment woes, like a fissure in a chemical vessel or a wobble in a compressor fixture, can grow into serious business problems.
Stopping the Madcap Sprint to Close the Books
Continuous accounting can put an end to the recurring nightmare accountants experience.
Sports Authority Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The retailer plans to close 30% of its stores as it slims down to cope with increased competition and substantial debt.
Ex-Chesapeake CEO Dies a Day After Indictment
Aubrey McClendon was facing charges that he conspired with another company to not bid against each other for oil and natural gas leases.
Olympus Fined $623 Over Bribery Scheme
The medical device maker was accused of paying bribes and kickbacks to doctors and hospital administrators to win new business.
Boardroom Doors Still Closed to Female Execs
A new survey finds that nearly four in five women who are C-level executives at public companies have yet to serve on a board.
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