[Jay] Rasulo was asked if he’d rather have five minutes with Federal Reserve Board chairman Janet Yellen or a five-year-old kid who’d just gone to a Disney park for the first time. “That’s an easy one — way too easy,” he said. “I’ve had a million of those conversations with kids and they’re all great. And they’re always honest, which is the best thing.” [CFO]
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You Can Forget About Landing That CFO Position at the SEC
Mary Schapiro took some time out of her fraud fighting Friday to ask Kenneth Johnson to quit acting as the Commission’s CFO and to take on the official responsibility of running the Office of Financial Management.
Mr Johnson (KenJo?) vehemently accepted the offer and threw in a shout out to the boss, “I’m honored to accept this new role at such an important time for the agency. Chairman Schapiro is deeply committed to strong financial management, and I’m proud to lead the agency’s initiatives in this area.”
Presumably, the CFO position isn’t a kicking-down-doors type job so Johnson’s first order of business should be to determine the savings on a group rate at one porn site that can appropriate service all tastes.
Washington, D.C., May 21, 2010 — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today announced that Kenneth A. Johnson has been named Chief Financial Officer for the agency.
Mr. Johnson has been serving as acting CFO for much of the past year. The agency’s CFO is responsible for leading its Office of Financial Management, which handles the budget, finance, and accounting operations for the SEC.
“I’m delighted that Ken has agreed to take on this role at the SEC,” said Chairman Schapiro. “His deep experience in the financial arena will be incredibly valuable as we grow as an agency.”
Mr. Johnson added, “I’m honored to accept this new role at such an important time for the agency. Chairman Schapiro is deeply committed to strong financial management, and I’m proud to lead the agency’s initiatives in this area.”
Mr. Johnson, 37, joined the SEC in 2003 as a Management Analyst in the Office of the Executive Director. In that role, he advised on all aspects of the budget process, developed strategy initiatives, and responded to inquiries from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Congress regarding the SEC’s budget and financial operations. He became Chief Management Analyst in 2006.
Mr. Johnson has served as a valuable staff expert on legislative proposals, and he managed the development of the SEC’s long-range Strategic Plan that would guide agency policy through 2015.
Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. Johnson worked as a Commerce Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. His primary responsibility in that role was to analyze and report on the budgetary effects of committee-approved legislation.
Mr. Johnson earned his Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and earned his BA at Stanford University.
Weatherford CFO Not Taking $500 Million Accounting Error Well; CEO Slightly More Upbeat
WTF WFT CFO Andrew Becnel needs a hug:
Weatherford International Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Becnel called a $500 million accounting error disclosed by the oilfield-service company late Tuesday an “embarrassment,” the damage of which is “impossible to quantify.”
But you know who’s taking this whole snafu in stride? CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner that’s who! BDD told investors on a conference call today that nothing is fucked and that this will all be yesterday’s news in no time:
Chief Executive Bernard Duroc-Danner said there is no risk of a U.S. government investigation or of any tax penalties or fines related to what he characterized as a mistake in calculating the tax rates on dividends moved from one subsidiary to another.
Geez. Give the SEC some credit wouldja? Just because they missed a few things here and there doesn’t mean they won’t ask any questions about your material weaknesses.
Weatherford Finance Chief Calls Accounting Error an ‘Embarrassment’ [WSJ]
Renegotiate Everything NOW
Editor’s Note: Chad Cohen is a licensed CPA in California and currently serves as a Senior Director of Finance and Corporate Controller for Zillow.com in Seattle, WA. He has over 13 years of experience in corporate finance, audit and accounting; primarily in the technology and entertainment sectors. He has also functioned in financial planning and Sarbanes Oxley compliance efforts. Previously he also worked as a Big 4 auditor of high technology clients both domestically and abroad. Chad spent the first 12 years of his life in Hong Kong and as such enjoys eating dimsum in Chinatown and practicing Kung Fu in his free time. You can follow him on Twitter @cfolounge.
Unemployment is over 10%, the US dollar is going through the floor as interest rates continue to tank and Congress wants to push through a 2,000 page, $1 trillion health care bill. It might appear that our country is coming apart at the seams but if you are riding out this tidal wave, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the crappy macro conditions and start turning the screws to your vendors.
I don’t care if you’re an accounting manager, a senior buyer, AP clerk or CFO; everyone in the finance department should have a part in looking for ways to save the company some coin and NOW is the perfect time.
Here are a few ideas off the top of my head:
Commercial real estate is in the crapper &mdash Talk to your landlord about extending your lease and locking in or lowering your rents for the next 3 to 5 years. Get concessions, push for free TIs, get a couple more parking spaces, etc.
Strong Arm Your Outside Accountants &mdash Accounting firms have been laying off employees left, right, and center so lock in a long term contract and negotiate a steep discount on standard audit rates and other services like taxes. OR have a bake off with other accounting firms. This will get your auditors attention and encourage them to drop their rates to be competitive with these other firms. BDO, Moss Adams, RSM, etc. also audit public clients (it’s not just the Big 4 firms, folks) and their fee structure is 20 – 30% less than the Big 4. Don’t be afraid to switch firms or give parts of your accounting business (tax compliance, SALT, audit, etc.) to other firms.
Contracts &mdash If you find yourself in the middle to end of a contract term, try to extend your subscription, maintenance or service contract for multiple years in exchange for steeply dropping prices. Mandate that your IT, sales or marketing departments bid out services to multiple businesses when deciding who to give your precious business to. Find a free service that can do what your paid service does &mdash these do exist (they’re usually crappier but you may not need the “Cadillac”).
Price out hardware purchase orders with new vendors &mdash You’ll be surprised what others are willing to do now to get your business. You can usually negotiate better at quarter-ends as sales departments have quotas and targets to meet.
I could go on and on but I think you catch the drift.
I read a book on negotiations a couple years ago that encouraged its readers to negotiate “fearlessly”. I couldn’t agree more.
Thoughts?