MELISSA A. CRAIG - PRACTICAL TURNAROUND THINKING

PWC's latest European Working Capital study found that its sample of firms showed no improvement in working capital as a % of net assets since 2004.  Decreases in DSO and DPO have been observed, but these too will hit a limit.  Researchers suggest that supply chain optimization may be the last remaining frontier for companies to significantly reduce working capital.  This will not be a quick and easy win.

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Hackett Groups reports that 80% of firms are unable to forecast 13-week cash flow within 5% accurracy.

Only one in three can accurately forecast their earnings, due to unknowns in the sales and expense categories. 

Top performers have five characteristics in common:  the simplest of the five is to "develop closer vendor and customer relationships."  The other four require substantial organizational effort.  Management and boards should throw their weight behind these initiatives.    

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How do the mighty fail?  Since hindsight, not foresigt, is 20/20, it's a lot harder to detect early decline than it is late decline. 

Collins provides the five stages of corporate decline. It's not until Stage 4 that management even admits that something is wrong. 

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According to Mr. Gross’s September newsletter, we are into a New Normal – “a period of time in which economies grow very slowly as opposed to growing like weeds; in which profits are relatively static; in which the government plays a significant role in terms of deficits and re-regulation and control of the economy; in which the consumer stops shopping until he drops and begins, as they do in Japan, saving to the grave.”

Live blogging the Association of Finance Professionals in SF, CA

Today David Peraino, Managing Director and Global Product Executive for Order-to-Pay presented JP Morgan’s electronic invoice presentment and processing (EIPP) platform.

Live blogging the Association of Finance Professionals in SF, CA

John Kelso, CPA, is the VP of Global Process for Thomson Reuters. He walked us through their 2008 process for automating Accounts Payable (AP). Thomson operates in 93 countries with 55,000 employees. Consider this: they have 30,000 cost centers.

Live blogging the Association of Finance Professionals in SF, CA

The name of this blog is Practical Turnaround Thinking and it’s written for 21st century management teams who want to use the tools of the turnaround manager to stay ahead of the curve.

Live blogging the Association of Finance Professionals in San Francisco, CA

Tim Hesler, Head of Treasury and Risk Advisory Practice at KPMG, moderated the panel and started with a funny Top 10 things to not tell your CFO. We laughed but knew that these statements are uttered every day, somewhere.

The name of this blog is Practical Turnaround Thinking and it’s written for 21st century management teams who want to use the tools of the turnaround manager to stay ahead of the curve.

Yesterday a memorial service for Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America, was held at New York City’s Lincoln Center.

The name of this blog is Practical Turnaround Thinking and it’s written for 21st century management teams who are looking for practical steps to improve their company’s performance.

Early Warning Signs are simply financial measurements and ratios. The numbers that make up the measurements and ratios come mostly from current accounting system reports. These measurements and ratios are extracted regularly and graphed; the trend line is monitored over time. The curve is either moving up, flattening out or heading downward.

What is renewal? It’s based on the verb, to renew -- to make new again; to restore to existence: reestablish, recreate, rebuild, revive, resuscitate; to restore to fullness or sufficiency.