It’s a well known fact that IT projects fail every so often. Standish Group has been researching the success and failure factors of IT projects for a decade and a half, and they publish their results in their CHAOS report every two years or so. According to their 2006 report, only about 35% of...

By Thomas G. Stephens, Jr., CPA, CITP Originally published in Accounting Network News Information security remains a challenge for accountants in all walks of the profession. As accountants, most of the information we work with on a daily basis is sensitive and, as such, requires professional due diligence...

By Heather Hamilton Originally posted on One Louder ...index cards. I swear. When I was in high school, a teacher taught us how to use note cards to construct a paper: you make an outline, transfer it to note cards and then add extra cards throughout to supplement with content. You re-order, create transitions...

They say the only constant is change. I’d say that the only other constant is error. We humans tend to err. Give a repeatable task to a human, and they’ll mess it up every once in a while. Some call it the human factor. One of the many repeatable tasks in Microsoft Dynamics NAV is setting...

In reality, if you need 1,000 of whatever product, the manufacturing process is rarely going to yield exactly 1,000 of it, even if you feed into the first operation the exact quantities of raw materials system calculated as gross requirements. The process may produce 980 or 1,020, but is hardly ever...

By Randolph P. Johnston Executive Vice President, K2 Enterprises If the early part of 2008 has kept you busy, there are changes that are important to your immediate and future technology planning. Technologies introduced recently will be used for years into the future, and are ready to be deployed now...

Last time, I gave you a recipe on how to do a bad thing. If you really need to do something bad, I figure it’s better to do it the way that would hurt the least, or the way that isn’t so bad after all. I wouldn’t have dreamt of a comment on that blog post, [...]

A Microsoft and Knowledge@Wharton collaboration What is the best strategy for a company to grow? By increasing the sales of high-margin, best-selling products, right? That sounds like a no-brainer, but it may not always be the smartest move, says John Percival, an adjunct professor of finance at Wharton...

By L. Gary Boomer While there are seminars and on-the-job training for managing partners, there is no book or school on how to manage an accounting firm. Too often, managing partners get strapped with administrative duties and fail to lead the firm toward strategic objectives. It is often lonely in the...

By Bill Aulet A new breed of financial executive focuses its skills on the function that needs them most — sales. Today’s CFOs wear several different hats: accountant, ambassador to investors, efficiency expert. While they’re juggling all those responsibilities, however, CFOs have another important role...