Thinking

Here you’ll find our opinions, viewpoints and rants. But don’t forget to add your comments – good or bad – on anything you like or loathe. We value your feedback.

Leading Indicators plus KPIs will increase Finance productivity by 20%
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Leading Indicators and Key Exception Indicators are key tools in optimising finance processes. Gartner’s latest research supports this and even makes the bold claim that predictive business performance measures will help drive productivity by 20 percent by 2017. According …

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BMW Group: Leadership Lessons in Financial Risk Management
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BMW Group is one of the largest car manufacturers and arguably the most successful and esteemed car maker in the world. With the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand, it possesses three of the strongest premium labels in the automotive industry. …

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What is "World Class" Finance?
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“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” a quote that probably describes best organisations’ efforts to achieve world class finance.”
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Enron – Making a drama out of an accounting crisis!
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I am very pleased to welcome a guest blog post today from Irina Predescu. Irina graduated from London School of Economics last year and has since immersed herself in the world of business risk, financial control, finance processes and compliance. …

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Fraud, ‘Smart Guys’ and ‘Better Than Average’
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I was skiing the weekend before last in the Swiss Alps and as luck would have it, a rather interesting conversation developed on a chair lift. A pretty long lift as it happened . . .

The only other person …

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Accounting Regulation Reducing Fraud, Really?
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An article in CFO magazine today announced the opinion that the US ‘Jumpstart Our Business Startups’ (JOBS) Act, whilst easing the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX, Sarbox) standards, might pave the way for fraud. You can read the article here . . . …

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Will it make the boat go faster?
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I had a interesting chat with a friend the other day, where he recounted this quote from a world record beating sailor (I forget the name, but it is not critical to the story).

With any new suggestion for additional …

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Risk, misplaced confidence, early warning systems and health checks
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I am sitting in a 6th floor office in Manhattan and ruminating between meetings. Over the past couple of years I have talked with numerous finance executives, controllers, risk and control specialists and audit folk on the topic of
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May we live in interesting times !
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2011 has been a year of both turmoil and progress in the world and in many businesses. It’s certainly been a roller coaster ride!

Ups and Downs . . . Looking back, January 1st saw Estonia officially adopt the Euro …

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Why Controls Monitoring is not enough . . .
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This picture says it all for me. I could stop here . . . .  . 

Controls Monitoring is not enough
 
 

The car park barrier is the ‘control’ over access and use of the car park. The automatic gate opens only when you swipe your …

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