Business planning, budgeting and forecasting

Consumer confidence, spending are top coronavirus concerns

The sudden onset of the coronavirus is testing many companies’ financial stability and emergency preparedness. But financial executives tend to believe their businesses are positioned to weather the storm.

35 questions for coronavirus planning

Business leaders should be proactive in putting emergency plans in place in response to the spread of coronavirus. Here’s a checklist for organizations related to employees, customers, and vendors.

Surviving an economic downturn

This article offers advice on how to survive, and even thrive, during tough economic times.

Effective financial projections for a startup

Meaningful and easy-to-understand financial projections can bridge the communication gap between investors and entrepreneurs.

The link between rowing, the Super Bowl, and FP&A

What can FP&A professionals learn from a famous Super Bowl play? And what’s the role of storytelling in FP&A? Learn more in this podcast episode.

How to integrate FP&A and ERM

Integrating risk management and financial planning and analysis can offer new insights that could affect business projections.

The benefits of ‘budgeting for results’

By starting with specific outcomes in mind in their budgeting process, not-for-profits can make themselves more attractive to detail-oriented, impact-driven donors.

How to keep employees in the game

Brandy Amidon, CPA, the CFO at South Carolina marketing and creative agency Brains on Fire, found a way to hold employees’ interest and get them to care more about the organization’s profitability.

What’s next for health care reform?

A health care reform expert discusses what will come next and what accountants need to know about it.

The countries most likely to be affected by automation

Automation is inevitable, but its impact won’t be felt evenly across the globe.

Using surplus budgeting to advance and sustain your mission

A disciplined budgeting approach helped not-for-profit Ducks Unlimited overcome serious financial concerns following the most recent recession.

5 biggest challenges controllers face—and how to take control

This article examines how controllers can address technology issues, budgetary constraints, and more.

Brexit lesson: Focus on consequences, not cause in scenario planning

The Brexit referendum underscores the need for companies to be ready for upheaval through robust scenario planning.

Business practices that not-for-profits can’t afford to overlook

A strong foundation and structure can help not-for-profits reach their full potential. Appropriate business practices can help these organizations develop the governance, strategy, and fundraising prowess they need to survive and thrive.

Trends that will shape the CPA profession in 2016

This column highlights some of the top economic trends to be mindful of in 2016, and ways they will affect CPAs.

U.S. finance execs remain optimistic, envision growth, according to survey

Overall optimism among U.S. finance executives in business and industry took a slight quarterly dip, but sentiment remains positive compared with previous first quarters in the post-recession era, according to an AICPA survey.

How to better connect planning, forecasting, and budgeting

Finance professionals are taking on strategic duties in addition to traditional reporting and compliance roles, and they’re becoming more influential in their organizations. But they still have an opportunity to make improvements, particularly when it comes to the use of forecasts.

Cutting the clutter: Streamlined operations reports engage key stakeholders

Carol Kenner, CPA, CGMA, knew her company’s financial statements backward and forward. Every number on every page made sense to her. But not everyone at Solix Inc., the New Jersey company where Kenner is CFO, knew what the numbers meant.

Forward roll: How companies can move beyond traditional budgeting

For more than a decade, Tim Quinn, CPA, CGMA, negotiated the tedious, back-and-forth magic of building the annual budget for Northern Quest Resort & Casino. Every year, it was the same time-consuming endeavor: Quinn, the company’s vice president of finance, would send out budget worksheets to 45 department heads. The

Embrace uncertainty to develop more business acumen

A mere accounting professional is not the same as a full-fledged finance professional. At least that’s how consultant David Axson sees it. The more evolved finance professional, Axson says, considers the business environment, embracing its volatility, and then adapting to it. “Being comfortable with uncertainty is, to me, the difference