Asked about their current use of cloud-computing services, a majority of senior finance executives either have no plans to pursue it in the short term, or are doing so very tentatively. Nearly a third admit that they aren’t even sure what “cloud computing” really means. Yet, when asked how cloud computing might affect their company’s approach to IT longer term, almost half say they believe it will enable a significant restructuring of their entire IT strategy. [CFO]
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GM CFO: Today Is No Big Deal
Chris Liddell is thinking about the future!
“I’m not worried about today, I’m worried about the three months and the six months and the nine months” from now, GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview this morning on CNBC.
Liddell also had some frank talk about how GM can never go back to the bad, old days, when he said GM was a financing company with a car company “attached,” and the auto maker used its pension plan as a “piggy bank.” GM needs to have a “fortress” balance sheet to support its business plan, Liddell said.
So the intention is there but old habits die hard, amiright? Francine McKenna thinks so and makes a prediction:
My prediction: GM needs another accounting restatement before the 2012 election. This time it shouldn’t be retail investors who end up with the short end of this stick.
Any takers? November 6, 2012 is the over/under. We’ll take the overs (post-election day) and if we lose, we’ll take FM to dinner at the restaurant of her choosing.
Sirius CFO’s Subtle Suggestion That Howard Stern May Have to Take a Paycut Doesn’t Go Over So Well
Receiving news that you might be expected to earn less money would upset the most mild-mannered of Americans.
But if you’re the King of All Media and you hear through the grapevine that your company’s Chief Financial Officer says this: “At the time of the [Sirius and XM Radio ] merger we were in many long-term contracts. As they come up for renewal, we’ll have the opportunity to get more favorable economic terms there.”
You might react with the following:
“I am not taking a f—ing paycut,” Stern said. “Why would I have to take a paycut? … Who is this guy to say this in public?”
“I know what I have done in this company,” he said. “I am more important than Oprah, in this company anyway. Oprah’s out getting the Kennedy Center honor and I’ve got the CFO announcing to Wall Street that I have to take a paycut.”
“Nevermind getting respect from the industry,” Stern continued, “I want respect from the company.”
Which you might follow up with this:
“I am calling my agent today that want more f—ing money. I don’t want it perceived that I took a paycut,” Stern railed, disclosing that Frear got a raise in 2008, putting his annual salary at $3.3 million. “Where’s your paycut, David?”
To be fair – if you tell someone who makes 3% of what you’re pulling in to take a paycut, it may be time to get some perspective.
Howard Stern May Have to Take a Paycut [ABC News]
Howard Stern Slams Sirius CFO: ‘I’m Not Taking a F—ing Paycut’ [The Wrap]
An IRS agent walks into a CFO’s office…
This was sent to me by my 69-year-old landlord who is spending his winter in Florida and we humbly present it to you now for your reading pleasure during this lovely busy season.
At the end of the tax year, the IRS office sent an inspector to audit the books of a local hospital. While the IRS agent was checking the books he turned to the CFO of the hospital and said, “I notice you buy a lot of bandages. What do you do with the end of the roll when there’s too little left to be of any use?”
“Good question,” noted the CFO. “We save them up and send them back to the bandage company and every now and then they send us a free box of bandages.”
“Oh,” replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way. “What about all these plaster purchases? What do you do with what’s left over after setting a cast on a patient?”
“Ah, yes,” replied the CFO, realizing that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. “We save it and send it back to the manufacturer, and every now and then they send us a free package of plaster.”
“I see,” replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all CFO. “Well,” he went on, “What do you do with all the leftover foreskins from the circumcisions you perform?”
“Here, too, we do not waste,” answered the CFO. “What we do is save all the little foreskins and send them to the IRS office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick.”