Accenture Finance Management Feed

Customer Acquisition and Retention: Front-Office Cost Management

Fri, 29 May 2009 12:09:57 GMT

The prospect of an extended period of economic uncertainty presents organizations with a difficult challenge: reduce front-office costs while remaining responsive to changing customer needs, new competitive risks and growth opportunities. Yet even in challenging times, organizations seeking to achieve high performance have opportunities to strengthen valued customer relationships and expand their markets while remaining cost-competitive and profitable.

The G20 Summit and Beyond

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:42:32 GMT

To position for growth and high performance, financial institutions must anticipate regulatory reforms and devise their own strategies for success in the emerging environment.

Managing Risk in Extraordinary Times: Strategy for High Performance

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:43:03 GMT

Listen to the Podcast

Managing in Extraordinary Times: New Choices for New Challenges

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:28:35 GMT

The greatest changes in companies' relative positions within their industries occur in times of economic turbulence, not calm. To benefit from such seismic change, a company must quickly make the right decisions and act on them with conviction—a core characteristic of high-performance businesses.

Effective Decision Making for Uncertain Times: Strategies and Practices for High Performance

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:51:00 GMT

Outlook Point of View May 2009, No. 1

Future Value and Innovation: How to Sustain Profitable Growth

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:29:03 GMT

Companies are beginning to look beyond traditional metrics like price-earnings ratio to assess their effectiveness at generating growth through innovation. Determining a company's future-value premium provides a simple but effective way for management to diagnose and understand the complexities of market expectations, as well as the investment community's confidence in the company's long-term outlook.

In Uncertain Times, Businesses Need Dynamic Planning to Chart the Course to High Performance

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:49:00 GMT

In today’s economic climate, high-performance businesses will increasingly set themselves apart by their ability to quickly make smart decisions. Accenture believes that rolling forecasting is not the solution for many companies, and has created a framework for a more pragmatic alternative—event-driven dynamic planning.

In Uncertain Times, Businesses Need Dynamic Planning to Chart the Course to High Performance

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:07:00 GMT

High Performance after the Crisis: How Australian CFOs are Managing and Transforming the Finance Function

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:34:00 GMT

While Australia has escaped even a technical recession, the global economic crisis has been a wake-up call that will change the way businesses operate and the assumptions they make for years to come. Australia’s CFOs are responding by focusing on four key areas to help manage their organisations better for the current period and to ensure performance and resilience in the future.

When Good Management Shows: Creating Value in an Uncertain Economy

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:39:36 GMT

Good times mask poor corporate performance, but it is during downturns that excellent management distinguishes itself. Accenture conducted in-depth research to investigate the performance of companies during a previous recession and uses the findings to outline the characteristics that set high-performance businesses apart from their competitors.

A World of Opportunity: Driving High Performance through Finance Workforce Mastery

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:20:00 GMT

The finance workforce plays a key role in enabling high performance—especially during troubled times. The Accenture High Performance Finance study, however, indicates that many companies lack the very capabilities they need to build capable finance workforces. Accenture outlines the challenges and suggests remedies.

A World of Opportunity: Driving High Performance through Finance Workforce Mastery

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:43:00 GMT

Constructive Tension

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:45:14 GMT

Enterprise risk management and enterprise performance management are really two sides of the same coin. To achieve balance between the two, companies must fully integrate risk management with their operating model, performance goals and decision-making frameworks—the layers of day-to-day accountability within the organization as well as the bigger rules and governance structures by which it operates.

Managing Risk for High Performance in Extraordinary Times

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:56:00 GMT

Outlook Point of View August 2009, No. 1

Managing Risk for High Performance in Extraordinary Times: Report on the Accenture 2009 Global Risk Management Study

Thu, 21 May 2009 02:43:00 GMT

The Accenture 2009 Global Risk Management Study was designed to help understand the issues around enterprise risk management in the current economic downturn. Based on this research and its experience in helping companies improve their risk management functions, Accenture outlines eight primary lessons to be drawn—and the most important keys to achieving high performance through an improved risk management function. Listen to the Podcast: Managing Risk in Extraordinary Times [MP3, 2.4MB] Media Help

Achieving High Performance in Consumer Goods & Services During Uncertain Times

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:47:32 GMT

We face a challenging environment. But while some organizations struggle to survive, others will emerge even stronger. Having worked for decades with the world’s most successful companies—through up cycles and down—Accenture has the experience to help you come out on top. Accenture brings a unique perspective and body of knowledge that can help you make and implement the best decisions. Read the insights from our research of how successful companies achieve high performance during times of economic turmoil.

Achieving High Performance through Shared Services: Lessons from the Masters

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:48:00 GMT

Shared services masters run their shared services organizations as high-performance businesses. In this research survey, Accenture outlines the questions that enterprises should be addressing as they formulate strategies to progress their own shared services organizations along the path to high performance. Press Release Mastery of Shared Services Can Sustain and Strengthen Enterprises for the Economic Upturn, Accenture Study Finds

Achieving High Performance through Shared Services: Lessons from the Masters

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:56:00 GMT

Aligning the Finance Workforce with Executive Priorities

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:20:05 GMT

Recent Accenture research pinpointed finance as one of the three most critical workforces for organizations intent on high performance. However, insufficient investment in this workforce means expectations are not being met. The Accenture Human Capital Development Framework can help to determine areas for improvement by measuring performance along six key dimensions.

Finance and Performance Management: Strategies for High Performance in the Energy Industry

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:49:47 GMT

Download survey [PDF, 4.4MB] PDF Help

Rapid and Sustained Cost Management for Industrial Manufacturing

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:46:24 GMT

The economic environment is challenging, and profit margins and cash flow are under intense pressure. Rapid and Sustained Cost Management is one approach that can help companies address their cost challenges. The objective: helping the organization to institute enhanced rigor around its cost-management processes to drive margins and cash-flow improvements needed to fund and grow initiatives—especially those that enable product differentiation.

WIND: Cost Transformation

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:27:34 GMT

WIND is a leading Italian telecommunications operator, one of the few European telecoms providers to offer customers integrated/convergent wireline, wireless and Internet solutions. Founded in 1997 and now owned by Orascom Telecom Holdings, WIND has a long history of innovation.

Shared Services and the Link to High Performance

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:51:09 GMT

Outlook Point of View November 2008, No 3

Preparing for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): An Opportunity for Finance Transformation

Fri, 15 May 2009 07:42:17 GMT

Companies in the United States and around the world face the challenge of complying with IFRS standards. Accenture commissioned a survey to gain an understanding of how major US companies across all industries are coping with the new requirements. Conducted in December 2008, the survey collected data on how US companies view IFRS adoption, as well as how they are preparing for it.

The Changing Role of the Finance Organization in a Multi-Polar World: Accenture High Performance Finance Study 2008

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:34:28 GMT

Accenture’s third High Performance Finance Study shows the challenges facing the finance function in today’s multi-polar world—and outlines the practices leading companies are adopting to create a finance function that truly enables high performance in this environment.

International Financial Reporting Standards, a Canadian Perspective: More than Accounting Policies

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:54:00 GMT

Many countries are moving toward the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)—including Canada, which has a deadline of January 1, 2011. Accenture draws on its experience in helping European companies make this same journey, recommending that organizations look beyond mere compliance to realize more extensive benefits and enable high performance.

Managing in Uncertain Times: Strategies and Practices for High Performance

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Listen to the Podcast In the current economic downturn, high-performance businesses should take decisive action from a position of strength. Accenture has devised a framework that helps assess corporate strategic readiness and then outlines the four strategies that companies can adopt to manage through the uncertainty with the ultimate goal of high performance firmly in their sights.

Shared Services and the Link to High Performance

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:54:00 GMT

Shared services—the standardization and consolidation of administrative or support functions into a single entity that provides common services—has become a powerful value creator for private- and public-sector organizations.

Compliance: From “Must Do” to Profit Opportunity

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:42:00 GMT

Compliance with an expanding number of regulatory regimes is costly but also represents an opportunity for CFOs eager to help their businesses compete more effectively. Accenture outlines how continuous controls analysis can help achieve this goal, turning compliance into a source of competitive advantage and ultimately supporting the drive to achieve high performance.

Globalization: A Challenge and an Opportunity for the Finance Function

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:43:48 GMT

The third Accenture High Performance Finance Study examines the most pressing challenges facing CFOs in the multi-polar world being created by globalization. Globalization offers both challenges and opportunities for the finance function, and CFOs must develop strategies to ensure that they maximize the finance function's contribution to the enterprise's journey to high performance.

Moving the Finance Team to the Future

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:26:00 GMT

Financial Executive, September 2008

High-Performance Finance in China: The Dragon Stirs

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:36:03 GMT

Recent Accenture research studied the relationship between finance and high performance at 700 companies across 32 industries globally, including China. Seventy percent of the high-performance businesses in the study demonstrated a mastery of finance that set them apart.

Performance Management and Technology in Corporate Governance

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:58:12 GMT

George Marcotte, Joshua J. Bellin, Robert J. Thomas and Anthony J. Relvas

Walking the talk: Making the workforce investments that drive high performance from the finance function

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:49:45 GMT

Outlook Point of View May 2007, No. 1

Navigating the Multi-Polar World

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:56:14 GMT

In the new multi-polar world of multiple centers of economic power and activity, China is becoming a key player—both as a market for multinationals and as an economics player in its own right. Accenture surveyed both multinationals coming into China and expanding Chinese companies to understand how these companies are reaching for high performance to compete successfully.