Financial statements

For professional services firms, the only way to address clients' most complex issues is for specialists to work together across the boundaries of their...

Instead of casting a wide net, try a more strategic approach.

In the current economic climate, there is tremendous pressure--and personal incentive for managers--to report sales growth and meet investors' revenue...

And how to fix it.

The sophisticated technologies used to understand costs don't illuminate revenue sources well. For that you need a whole new breed of accountant.

When crucial financial estimates rely on judgment, companies can minimize their risk by turning to appraisers, actuaries, and evaluators, whether internal,...

In the current economic climate, there is tremendous pressure--and personal incentive for managers--to report sales growth and meet investors' revenue...

Traditional metrics like satisfaction and Net Promoter scores correlate poorly with what matters most: share of wallet. Managers need to think about how...

An abrupt and lasting drop in revenue growth is a crisis that can strike even the most exemplary organization. The authors' comprehensive analysis of...

Investors reward clear communication.

Steady, predictable growth is what every big company strives for, and what investors prize above all else. McGrath set out to discover how many companies...

By definition, forecasted numbers in a financial statement involve educated guesses. But that's not always clear in the statement itself. To reduce legal...

The use of stock options for executive compensation has become a lightning rod for public anger, and it's easy to see why. Many top executives grew hugely...

Corporate treasurers and chief financial officers have become adept at quantifying and managing a wide variety of risks: financial, hazard, and operational....

Now that companies such as General Electric and Citigroup have accepted the premise that employee stock options are an expense, the debate is shifting...

Green initiatives can, by reducing costs, enhance a company’s bottom line. Actions that harm the environment can have the opposite effect. Now, thanks to a burgeoning market in greenhouse gas emission credits put into effect by the Kyoto Protocol, environmental considerations will increasingly affect not only companies’ income statements but also their balance sheets. A […]

Most executives would say that adding a point of growth and gaining a point of operating-profit margin contribute about equally to shareholder value....

On July 30, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act addressing corporate accountability. A response to recent financial scandals, the law...

Current accounting rules don’t always communicate real value to investors.

When you understand financial statements-including the estimates and assumptions that go into them-you can offer insights that help ensure the statements...