The 3 Pillars Of Financial Management - Nov 17, 2009
Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles
The 3 Pillars of Financial Management Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles How can my medium sized business compete? B2B CFO® provides permanent part time CFO advisory services to small and medium sized businesses. Our partners average over 25 years of experience in business and industry. I happen to have significant experience working in large Fortune 500 companies but also have significant experience working with small and medium sized entities. I can appreciate how the owners of small and medium sized businesses can feel challenged when they are facing off against large mulitnational businesses that have seemingly endless resources. But small and medium sized entities (SMEs) have significant advantages that are unique to them, that if used to full advantage, can make SMEs formidable competitors. When I was growing up, my parents started a roadside vegetable stand selling some vegetables that my father grew on a half acre of land behind our house. Outwardly, this business looked unsophisticated but behind the scenes my relatively uneducated parents were operating a significant and sucessful business. We lived on a busy street and cars just kept stopping. Demand outstripped supply - so my mother decided to buy inventory from local farmers in the Southern new Jersey area where we lived. She would buy corn from a farmer that had 40 acres in Medford, NJ that was a large supplier to supermarket chains and tomatoes from a farmer in Swedesboro, NJ that she met at the Swedesboro farmer's auction. She built relationships with these vendors and solidified relationships with them so that they became reliable suppliers who always provided us reasonable prices. This solidified the supply chain and insured that our goods were always fresher than our competitors. Customer seemed to like the image that we represented - a small family owned business where the sales staff (my brothers sisters and me) were always polite and carried our customers purchases to their from a aged picnic table to their cars. In reality, we had significant inventory hidden out of sight and registered significant sales for a business of this type. My mother (the CFO/COO) always made sure that our prices were lower than other farm markets in the area. Supermarkets weren't really competitors as their fresh produce was 1 or 2 days older than ours - but we always made sure our prices were lower than theirs. My parents would rarely invest in CAPEX (capital expenditures), they preferred that the equipment that we used looked old - so that customers wouldn't feel like we were profiting too much from our business. Our customer base remained incredibly loyal and we had some customers for, literally, decades. Although, my parents never articulated it, they were very strategically minded and looked after the image of our business very sucessfully. They acheived excellent financial results, kept fixed costs low and surely generated incredible return on equity statistics. I think this story highlights some of the difference between huge businesses and smaller ones. Large business can have incredible resources at their disposal - both financial and human resources. They are powerful and are able to forge alliances that give them an operational, financial and/or strategic advantage. But they are often slow to act, inept at strategic planning and bureaucratic. Many times in my career I have compared the Fortune 500 company that I was working for to my family's roadside vegetable stand. I was often amazed at how slow the Fortune 500 company was at seizing low hanging fruit and how poor their strategic planning was - sometimes they didn't know what they wanted a particular unit or geographic region to be from a strategic standpoint. Many attributes of a SME can actually be advantageous versus a larger entity. Smaller companies can be nimble and can act quickly. They can often operate sucessfully under the radar gaining advantage without the notice of competitors. And most importantly, they are closer to their customers (or should be). They can convert on customers wants/concerns/needs/desires much faster than a larger bureacratic entity which needs to have memos written and conduct meetings and conduct research before taking action. By identifying competitors weaknesses, acting quickly and attacking they can acheive great sucess. Their closeness to their customers allows them to do "real time" research that a large competitor can't. To position yourself to compete with larger competitors, make sure that you have a solid (albeit small) team that allows you to fully function from a financial, operational and strategic and operational basis. When you see an opportunity or an exposure fully assess the situation with your.... Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles How can my small business compete? B2B CFO® provides permanent part time CFO advisory services to small and medium sized businesses. Our partners average over 25 years of experience in business and industry. I happen to have significant experience working in large Fortune 500 companies but also have significant experience working with small and medium sized entities. I can appreciate how the owners of small and medium sized businesses can feel challenged when they are facing off against large mulitnational businesses that have seemingly endless resources. But small and medium sized entities (SMEs) have significant advantages that are unique to them, that if used to full advantage, can make SMEs formidable competitors. When I was growing up, my parents started a roadside vegetable stand selling some vegetables that my father grew on a half acre of land behind our house. Outwardly, this business looked unsophisticated but behind the scenes my relatively uneducated parents were operating a significant and sucessful business. We lived on a busy street and cars just kept stopping. Demand outstripped supply - so my mother decided to buy inventory from local farmers in the Southern new Jersey area where we lived. She would buy corn from a farmer that had 40 acres in Medford, NJ that was a large supplier to supermarket chains and tomatoes from a farmer in Swedesboro, NJ that she met at the Swedesboro farmer's auction. She built relationships with these vendors and solidified relationships with them so that they became reliable suppliers who always provided us reasonable prices. This solidified the supply chain and insured that our goods were always fresher than our competitors. Customer seemed to like the image that we represented - a small family owned business where the sales staff (my brothers sisters and me) were always polite and carried our customers purchases from a aged picnic table to their cars. In reality, we had significant inventory hidden out of sight and registered significant sales for a business of this type. My mother (the CFO/COO) always made sure that our prices were lower than other farm markets in the area. Supermarkets weren't really competitors as their fresh produce was 1 or 2 days older than ours - but we always made sure our prices were lower than theirs. My parents would rarely invest in CAPEX (capital expenditures), they preferred that the equipment that we used looked old - so that customers wouldn't feel like we were profiting too much from our business. Our customer base remained incredibly loyal and we had some customers for, literally, decades. Although, my parents never articulated it, they were very strategically minded and looked after the image of our business very sucessfully. They acheived excellent financial results, kept fixed costs low and surely generated incredible return on equity statistics. I think this story highlights some of the difference between huge businesses and smaller ones. Large business can have incredible resources at their disposal - both financial and human resources. They are powerful and are able to forge alliances that give them an operational, financial and/or strategic advantage. But they are often slow to act, inept at strategic planning and bureaucratic. Many times in my career I have compared the Fortune 500 company that I was working for to my family's roadside vegetable stand. I was often amazed at how slow the Fortune 500 company was at seizing low hanging fruit and how poor their strategic planning was - sometimes they didn't know what they wanted a particular unit or geographic region to be from a strategic standpoint. Many attributes of a SME can actually be advantageous versus a larger entity. Smaller companies can be nimble and can act quickly. They can often operate sucessfully under the radar gaining advantage without the notice of competitors. And most importantly, they are closer to their customers (or should be). They can convert on customers wants/concerns/needs/desires much faster than a larger bureacratic entity which needs to have memos written and conduct meetings and conduct research before taking action. By identifying competitors weaknesses, acting quickly and attacking they can acheive great sucess. Their closeness to their customers allows them to do "real time" research that a large competitor can't. To position yourself to compete with larger competitors, make sure that you have a solid (albeit small) team that allows you to fully function from a financial, operational and strategic and operational basis. When you see an opportunity or an exposure, fully assess the situation with your senior advisors and.... Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles My father served in Europe during World War II with the 30th Division. He landed in Normandy on D-Day +3 and was lucky enough to survive relatively unscathed. He was relieved near Essen, Germany in April of 1945 as he had accumulated enough points to be shipped back to the United States. After the war he settled down in New Jersey and raised a family. I’m sure the war impacted him greatly. He refused to ride in elevators, would never watch war movies and spoke little of his war time experiences. When attending a function such as a wedding reception or large dinner, he would always immediately determine where the fire exits to the hall were. I think this was partly due to his wartime experiences and having to be aware of his unit’s position, the proximity of other friendly units and the position of the enemy and their strength. It was important to him to know where the path to safety was in the event of a calamity. Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles Preparation - It is important that the entity that is the target of the transaction has reliable financial and operational information which is produced regularly. This will serve multiple purposes. It will enable the seller and other parties to clearly understand the performance of the business. Additionally, it will help to ensure that a repository of data is always available in the event that a buyer wants to perform financial due diligence. Reliable and clear operational and financial data will give the buyer confidence that he knows what he is getting and will increase the likelihood that the transaction will be executed in a timely manner. Analysis - Accurate and reliable financial and operation information will let you and your advisors study your business and understand its dynamics. It may also bring to light items which are "less than arm's length" which could have purchase price implications, such as: Execution - To begin executing the sales process, make sure that you have a stellar team of advisors. One of these advisors should be a B2B CFO® partner who can provide you with the financial, operational and strategic advice that you need to maximize the operation of your business and to make exceptional transactions like a sale or purchase as effortless as possible. You will also need a merger and acquisition specialist - use a quality advisor like the Woodbridge Group , an M&A advisor and a B2B CFO® strategic partner, that has a worldwide footprint. They can help you clarify your transaction criteria and help execute an efficient search and sale transaction. The inclusion of a B2B CFO® partner onto your senior team can give you the financial expertise and strategic insight that you need to maximize the performance of your operation. Our partners, who have over 2500 years of cumulative experience, (including significant merger and acquisition related experience) are part of the largest US firm providing services on a part-time basis to closely-held companies with annual revenues of as much as US$75 million. Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles All entities, regardless of size, face a tremendous challenge overseeing operations in distant locations. Each additional location increases the complexity of an operation from a financial reporting and control perspective and from many other perspectives as well, including treasury, tax and human resource. If your entity has international operations the complexities can grow exponentially as a parent company also has to consider cultural nuances, local practices, legal requirements and language. Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles Expanding your business overseas – Where do you start? Your business has enjoyed great success with tremendous growth in its home market. Now you decide that for strategic, operational and/or financial reasons that you would like to expand internationally. This is a logical path to take for many businesses, after all, over 95% of the world’s population lives outside the United States and the growth forecast for the World ex-USA is almost 3 times the growth rate of the US alone. Much of the world outside the US is under developed or categorized as third world so they are undertaking tremendous infrastructure projects. Incredible amounts of people in the developing world are entering into the world of disposable income and are looking to spend their newly earned disposable income on consumer goods, housing, automobiles and other services. Strategy So what is your first step? Determine what the strategic vision of your business is – Do you want to off shore some processes or procedures to diversify your operations or lower your costs? Or do you want distribute your goods in a new country or region? Do you want to use acquisitions as a path to expansion. Execution If you are looking to perform manufacturing or some other support function overseas, you will probably want a location that offers good security, a pro business government, the rule of law, a plentiful supply of well educated labor and adequate support functions like telecommunications and electricity supply. There are more than a few locations that would fall into those constraints including most every country in Asia (the region I know best) including Malaysia. Note: I was posted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for over 8 years as a CFO for the 17 country Asian operations of a NY based communications entity and while posted there was the President of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce. Malaysia , 12 time zones ahead of the US and located smack dab in the heart of South East Asia is a developing country with a population of 27 million persons who are well educated and generally have very good English language skills. The government is very business friendly and services are excellent. It is such a sound location that Intel has over 10,000 employees manufacturing semiconductors in Penang (an Island off of Peninsula Malaysia) and Dell manufacturers 95% of the laptops sold in the US in Malaysia. However, there are several other markets in Asia that could be just as attractive like Vietnam, India and China. Japan, Korea and Taiwan are also more than suitable but are generally much more expensive places to do business. Narrow your search down to 3 or 4 countries and contact the local Chamber of Commerce in those markets. Malaysia has a Chamber of Commerce for most ever nationality including an American Chamber , a British Chamber and an EU chamber among others. Also, contact target country’s Industrial Development offices – such as MIDA (the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority) who have offices in their home country as well as around the world. These entities will put you in touch with people who can help educate you about doing business overseas and in that market. These organizations are usually very cooperative and will host meetings or assist you in organizing junkets so that you can visit potential locations and businesses just like yours. Most countries will structure a package of financial incentives to attract large, high end manufacturing companies to their market. You might also receive incentives if you are in the BPO (business process outsourcing) space, logistics industry or some other venture that is likely to employ a significant number of employees. If you are looking to exploit new markets, you probably already know of regions that are underserved for the product or service that you sell. Again, you may want to contact the American Chamber of Commerce in that market.&nb....
Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles Investing overseas – Where do you start? Your business has enjoyed great success with tremendous growth in its home market. Now you decide that for strategic, operational and/or financial reasons that you would like to expand internationally. This is a logical path to take for many businesses, after all, over 95% of the world’s population lives outside the United States and the growth forecast for the World ex-USA is almost 3 times the growth rate of the US alone. Much of the world outside the US is under developed or categorized as third world so they are undertaking tremendous infrastructure projects. Incredible amounts of people in the developing world are entering into the world of disposable income and are looking to spend their newly earned disposable income on consumer goods, housing, automobiles and other services. Strategy So what is your first step? Determine what the strategic vision of your business is – Do you want to off shore some processes or procedures to diversify your operations or lower your costs? Or do you want distribute your goods in a new country or region? Do you want to use acquisitions as a path to expansion. Execution If you are looking to perform manufacturing or some other support function overseas, you will probably want a location that offers good security, a pro business government, the rule of law, a plentiful supply of well educated labor and adequate support functions like telecommunications and electricity supply. There are more than a few locations that would fall into those constraints including most every country in Asia (the region I know best) including Malaysia. Note: I was posted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for over 8 years as a CFO for the 17 country Asian operations of a NY based communications entity and while posted there was the President of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce. Malaysia , 12 time zones ahead of the US and located smack dab in the heart of South East Asia is a developing country with a population of 27 million persons who are well educated and generally have very good English language skills. The government is very business friendly and services are excellent. It is such a sound location that Intel has over 10,000 employees manufacturing semiconductors in Penang (an Island off of Peninsula Malaysia) and Dell manufacturers 95% of the laptops sold in the US in Malaysia. However, there are several other markets in Asia that could be just as attractive like Vietnam, India and China. Japan, Korea and Taiwan are also more than suitable but are generally much more expensive places to do business. Narrow your search down to 3 or 4 countries and contact the local Chamber of Commerce in those markets. Malaysia has a Chamber of Commerce for most ever nationality including an American Chamber , a British Chamber and an EU chamber among others. Also, contact target country’s Industrial Development offices – such as MIDA (the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority) who have offices in their home country as well as around the world. These entiti.... Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles Fighting Corruption – which key areas should Malaysia work on to improve its international image? Background Infrastructure Capital Effective, productive workforce Rule of law Pro business government The result has been that American semiconductor and electronic companies now employ over 60,000 Malaysians at their facilities here. Additionally, Malaysia is America’s 16th largest trading partner and America is Malaysia’s most significant source of accumulated foreign direct investment. And much of this happened during periods when Malaysia did not have optimum transparency in government dealings, the regulatory environment could be viewed as inadequate for a country of Malaysia’s level of FDI and corruption was at a level that was unacceptable. So why should Malaysia strive to improve its image in relation to fighting corruption? I thought I would talk about 3 very important issues. -1- Competition for FDI Competition for FDI Unlike the period when China and India were relative upstarts and Vietnam was a non entity when it came to attracting FDI, the current environment for FDI for high end manufacturing such as electronics and semiconductors is fierce. Even though Malaysia has endeavored to improve efficiency and heighten the fight against corruption with things like: Establishment of Permudah Establishment of an IP (Intellectual Property) court Participating in the World Intellectual Property Organization Improving transparency in government regulatio....
Posted by: Vincent Leusner in Articles Monday, February 11, 2008 SUSIE GHARIB: Sovereign wealth funds have taken center stage on Wall Street recently, buying into U.S. businesses with big amounts of cash. But the U.S. isn't the only place where sovereign funds are investing. In Malaysia, a new special economic zone called the "Iskandar Development Region" is expanding just outside Singapore. As Rian Maelzer reports, the funding is coming from Malaysia, the Middle East and one very big American conglomerate. RIAN MAELZER, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Malaysia's government is aiming to transform its southern region into a logistics, high-tech industrial, educational, medical services and entertainment hub. To that end, it's not only investing billions of its own dollars. To entice investors, it's also offering large tax breaks and liberalizing foreign investment rules. It's a move Vince Leusner of the American Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia, applauds. VINCENT LEUSNER, PRES., AMERICAN MALAYSIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: These incentives are perhaps icing on the cake and I think they will be very well received. There's nothing that business people enjoy more than higher levels of flexibility. MAELZER: Land prices in the Iskandar special economic zone are as little as 1/30th those of Singapore just the other side of the causeway. The first significant foreign investment since the initiatives launch hasn't come from Singapore though, but from a consortium of investors from the Gulf States. They have pledged an initial $1.2 billion to buy some 3,600 acres of land with an eye to creating entertainment, medical and financial services facilities. It's one of the biggest single foreign investments in Malaysian history and if all goes to plan, it will grow several fold over the next few years, to the obvious delight of Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI, PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA: They have confidence that the political stability is continuing. They have confidence that the government policy is pro- business policy, pro-private sector policy, pro-investment. MAELZER: One long time American investor in Malaysia, General Electric, has committed to a partnership with the government-owned, lead developer for the Iskandar project. GE's CEO Jeff Immelt was on hand for the signing. JEFFREY IMMELT, CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC: We think it's a great opportunity for security, water, energy, so I think it's going to be a substantial growth opportunity for us. MAELZER: Analysts agree that for this economic zone to really take off, Singaporean government-linked and private investors will have to play a significant role. That will require the often prickly relations between the two countries to remain cordial, as they generally have been since Badawi replaced the abrasive Mahathir Mohamed as Malaysian prime minister four years ago. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the project would be fundamentally good for Singapore if it succeeded, boosting the island states tourism, manufacturing and services sectors. Singapore and southern Malaysia lie at the heart of a region of some 600 million people. And if this special economic zone develops as the two governments hope, this region may one day be seen as Southeast Asia's equivalent of Chinas Pearl River delta. Rian Maelzer, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, southern Malaysia.
Well managed companies employ many tools to optimize financial performance, some of which can be very sophisticated. However, most of these fall within the basic “blocking and tackling” of financial management.
Invariably, entities that under perform or experience fraud or some other impropriety will have failed in at least 2 of these categories. And the price of failure can be harsh. Many companies when they experience a negative event - a fraud perpetrated by an employee or a significant misstatement of their financial statements may be forced into bankruptcy or may be forced to merge or restructure against their wishes.
So reflect on your business operations and determine if you are lacking in these areas. If so, take quick, calculated action to supplement the areas of internal control, financial reporting and financial monitoring. The 3 pillars are:
Accurate, detailed financial statements produced in a timely fashion
Management should see to it that financial statements and management reports are produced in a relatively timely fashion. If your accounting staff cannot produce meaningful reports in a timely fashion or if the information is inconsistent or contains many errors, you could have a serious problem. If erroneous data has to be furnished to outside stakeholders like bankers, auditors or joint venture partners, you may lose credibility or may incur financial losses directly attributable to the loss of confidence of your stakeholders – such as the closure of a debt facility. You should ask yourself these questions:
Is the financial data contained with reports consistent? Does it dovetail with what you know is happening with the business? Does it allow you to conclude on opportunities and exposures?
Are you able to answer relatively simple questions such as what has led to an improvement or deterioration in your business over time or what is the biggest contributor to operating profit?
Adequate internal controls including adequate segregation of duties
Early in my career, the audit team that I was managing discovered a fraud at a location outside of the US. We couldn’t reconcile the general ledger to supporting data. We discovered a multimillion dollar fraud by a lower level accounting employee. The fraud was possible because the entity used manual checks instead of computerized checks (management didn’t want to switch because computerized check stock was more expensive than manual check stock). He was responsible for writing checks by hand and would make phony checks to real vendors and would then obtain the necessary 2 signatures from senior management. He would then alter the checks so that he could have a family member cash them. He reconciled the Accounts Payable subsidiary ledger (an inappropriate duty coupled with check writing and expense voucher entry) so he was able to cover up the fraud for several years.
Does your business have adequate controls and procedures in place to prevent errors and irregularities? Do the proper checks and balances exist so that one employee does not have an undue level of access or control? What controls and procedures are in place to prevent an employee from making an unauthorized disbursement by check or wire transfer? What prevents an employee from setting up a phony vendor or phony employee in your computer system?
Proactive, well informed, inquisitiv....
How Can My Medium Sized Business Compete - Apr 21, 2009
How Can My Small Business Compete - Apr 21, 2009
Finding The Exit - Mar 22, 2009
“Finding the Exit” is an incredible important task for an attendee in a crowded room or a passenger in an airliner that is in distress. But the time for this task is not immediately before you need it, but some time before - when you entered the large hall or have taken a seat on a plane.
So it is with business owners who are looking to engage in a trade sale of their business. Such a person should be navigating the process of “Finding the Exit” long before the settlement of the transaction. B2B CFO® has developed a product called “Finding the Exit” that allows our customers to deal with the strategic, operation and financial implications of selling your business. Your B2B CFO® Partner serves as your coach to help guide you through this process that can be somewhat contentious and difficult to navigate. They should be part of your senior team along with your lawyer and your investment banker.
Your B2B CFO® Partner has the senior financial executive experience that is invaluable in such a transaction such as a sale, acquisition or a merger. Our partners average 25 years of experience working for entities of all sizes.
We have significant mergers and acquisition experience in all industries and are well schooled in the acquisition process and the tax, financial reporting, working capital and legal issues that can arise during the sales process.
This experience will prove invaluable to you during the sale process and should help you maximize the proceeds from your sale.
Even if you are not currently anticipating a sale of your business, the inclusion of a B2B CFO® partner onto your senior team can give you the financial expertise and strategic insight that you need to maximize the performance of your operation. Our partners who have over 2500 years of cumulative experience are part of the largest US firm providing services on a part-time basis to closely-held companies with annual revenues of as much as US$75 million.
Selling Your Business And Maximizing Proceeds - Mar 18, 2009
You should lay the groundwork for such a transaction long before the settlement of the transaction. Proper planning and execution of all phases of the transaction will lead to less contention nearer to settlement
Here are some helpful steps for the process that you might want to employ:
Strategy - Determine the key factors that might impact the execution of the sale transaction. Answer the following questions, among others:
B2B CFO® has a strategy for just such an engagement called "Finding the Exit." This program has been specifically designed for our clients to help them navigate this challenging path. Make sure that you maximize the proceeds from a "once in a lifetime" sale of your business.
Distant Operations Monitoring And Control - Mar 16, 2009
In a recent posting, I was responsible for an entity with 50 offices which were located in 17 different countries in Asia including countries that are less familiar even to worldly travelers like Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangledesh. During my tour, I faced many challenges including Avian Flu, SARS, Terrorism, natural disasters including a Tsunami that killed over 125,000 persons and 2 invasions by the United States in foreign countries.
When monitoring multiple operations, nothing replaces good old-fashioned basic management techniques and tight financial controls. Some of the controls that I think are most important when overseeing international operations include:
Treasury/cash management – I was of the philosophy that every penny of excess funds should be swept out of local operations to regional or worldwide centers. This can be accomplished by having entities pay their intercompany invoices and by declaring dividends to their parent. Many countries levy a withholding tax on dividend payment which is not insignificant. However, this practice minimizes foreign currency exposure and optimizes working capital efficiency.
In my experience, entities with the absolute minimum amount of working capital generate more value from their capital expenditures and control headcount numbers much better.
Authorizing cash disbursements (checks and wire transfers) - all outgoing payments should require 2 signers. For checks this usually means 2 of the senior officers of the operations. However, you can put limits on check authorities and require a certain indivual be a signer on disbursements of certain value - perhaps a regional CFO or treasurer. Also, many banks have electronic banking software that allows the approvers of a wire to be in distant locations to maximize control over cash disbursments.
Corporate governance – The Board of all entities should be controlled by representatives of headquarter management – that is, management of the local entity should represent a minority on the board. However, this alone does not necessary provide ultimate protection as the corporate resolutions that a director must sign in China or Thailand are in local language.
A reliable local attorney that is beholden to the center rather than the entity itself is invaluable and can provide a reliable check and balance in relations to corporate governance.
Banking – Having one preferred vendor in this space can greatly increase efficiency in this area. It enables regional management to face off against his banking counterpart and monitor banking activity across a wide spectrum of the region.
Advisors – Having quality advisors is especially important for overseas operations. I don’t know how I would have been able to set up a Korean operation for my a recent employer without a western educated, English speaking Korea lawyer from one of Seoul’s top firms. This firm helped me navigate the difficult path of setting up a subsidiary of an American entity while dealing with the legal, cultural, language and operational nuances of Korea.
Financial review – An extensive, recurring analytical review of foreign operations should be conducted at least every month. This review can take the form of a business review meeting or an audit but should be conducted by an individual or individuals that are familiar with the operations and that have significant financial expertise. Periodically, the review should be exhaustive and should be on a “drill down” basis so that the reviewer can go from statutory accounting results to management results. The reviewer should prepare a report to management noting any exceptions that were noted.
The reviewer should obtain confidence that account balances are fairly stated in much the same ways that an auditor would. In my recent experience, auditors are conducting significant compliance related work without much in the way of substantive testing. I don't think this results in the greatest value - nothing replaces vouching ....
Expanding Your Business Overseas Where Do You Start - Mar 15, 2009
Investing Overseas Where Do You Start - Mar 14, 2009
Transparency International Speech To CEO Forum June 2008 - Mar 7, 2009
Malaysia has enjoyed a tremendous period of financial growth, diversification of it’s economy and level of FDI (foreign direct investment) in what I call it’s modern era, that period since Intel established it’s first factory in Penang in 1972.
I suspect that the reason that Intel choose to come here as well as the flood of American companies since 1972 and, indeed, companies of all nationalities is because of those basic factors that we learn about in management textbooks:
-2- Confidence in Financial Markets
-3- Creation of wealth for it’s lower and middle class
Nightly Business Report Transcript Feb. 11 2008 - Mar 5, 2009
The Iskandar Development Region
Sitemap | About Us | CFO Services | Find A B2B CFO | TV | PR | FAQ | B2B CFO Directory | Office Locations | B2B CFO Careers | Why B2B CFO? | Part Time CFO | CFO Wise vs B2B CFO | CFOwise | Kenneth Kaufman | B2B CFO® Blog
B2B CFO Partners, LLC dba B2B CFO®
(877) 4-B2BCFO
2415 E. Camelback Rd, Suite 700
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Zoom in using the +/- tools on the left. Click on each photo for more details.