We are pleased to announce the launch of the FERF Research Blog. This new blog will be used to disseminate new FERF research, inform members of current research projects, request their participation in surveys and research interviews and announce donation campaigns. We encourage you to visit the FERF Research Blog and subscribe to the RSS feed.

Business and global economic confidence among chief financial officers continues to dive to some of the lowest levels in more than a year, according to the most recent survey of CFOs conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. The quarterly CFO Outlook Survey, which polls CFOs of public and private businesses in the U.S. and Europe (Italy and France) on their economic and business confidence and expectations, reveals that CFOs are uncertain about the financial and political turmoil engulfing them and impacting their business outlook. With a pending presidential election and debt reduction a major focus, U.S. CFOs in particular are highly critical of their president, giving him a failing grade for his handling of the economy, health care and unemployment.

 

This quarter, the CFO Outlook Survey is comprised of electronic interviews with 309 corporate CFOs from the United States and 91 corporate CFOs from Italy and France from Oct. 17– Oct. 31. CFOs from both public and private companies and from a broad range of industries, revenues and geographic areas, including some offshore companies, are represented. The U.S. survey respondents are members of Financial Executives International; France survey respondents are members of Association Nationale Des Directeurs Financiers Et Du Controle De Gestion (DFCG) and Italy survey respondents are members of Associazione Nazionale Direttori Amministrativi E Finanziari (ANDAF). Financial Executives International has been conducting surveys gauging the country’s economic outlook from the perspective of CFOs for more than 11 years.

 

>> Download report here.

 

 

For publicly held companies that file reports, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now requires tagging of quarterly and annual reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). XBRL tagging is now a key part of the financial statement production process. In many com­panies, this production process entails a number of different players using a variety of documents and spreadsheets, providing the opportunity for error, inconsistency and inflated costs.

 

To find out how companies are complying with these XBRL tagging requirements, FERF surveyed members of FEI and other financial statement preparers. Executives from 300 unique companies responded to the survey.

 

>> Download report here.

 

 

One of the benefits of your membership in FEI is free research, including our annual Technology Issues survey. FERF, in collaboration with FEI’s Committee on Finance & Information Technology (CFIT) and Gartner, is launching the 14th annual Technology Issues for Financial Executives survey. We conduct this survey each year to get members’ perspectives on how the finance function uses IT. This is the third year that IT technology research and advisory company Gartner will compile the responses and draft the Executive Report.

 

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. To make the survey easier to complete, we have removed any questions that require outside research or information from someone else at your company. CFIT has worked with Gartner to refine the questions and length of the survey to make the final report that much more relevant to you and your company. The more responses we receive, the more valuable the final report will be.

 

We hope that you will support FEI by completing this survey. All responses are confidential and participants will remain anonymous. John Van Decker, vice president, Research, for Gartner, will present the survey results at the FEI Summit in May 2012.

 

If you would like to download a copy of the survey questions before taking the online survey, click here.

 

 

We are always grateful for your responses, and to demonstrate our appreciation for taking the survey, all participants who complete and provide their email address will be entered into a raffle to receive one of three $100 Amazon Gift Cards*.

 

This is the sixth annual Financial Executive Compensation Survey from FEI and FERF. Remember that this survey will be completed by your peers, not by human resource professionals, and will provide benchmarking information on participants’ total direct compensation packages, along with other benefits.

 

As an active member of FEI, your participation is crucial in order to compile a viable study. The survey should only take about 15 minutes to complete. We received over 1,000 responses last year and we would like to collect at least that many this year, or more, so that we can provide you with a robust year over year comparative analysis.

 

All responses are confidential, and participants will remain anonymous. We expect the results to be available in Spring 2012.

 

FEI is very pleased to be contributing to a larger effort to study and collect data about accountants working in corporate environments. While several data collection efforts are in place to gather information on accountants as students, in firms and companies, and in the academy – interest is growing in a collective effort to create a more comprehensive view of accounting practice.

FEI is beginning our new survey project as part of that important effort. Prompted by developing conversations in the Pathways Commission* addressing the need for more data about accountants working and leading in corporate settings, we have developed a survey of our members that we believe will make a unique contribution to this effort and to understanding of critical issues for the future. The AICPA has long been collecting useful data and reporting on supply and demand of CPAs, and the American Accounting Association will continue collecting information about accounting faculty, programs and students. FEI looks forward to becoming part of expanding this existing data.

While the Pathways Commission continues its work, with plans to make recommendations in the spring of 2012, FEI hopes to have preliminary data to contribute to conversations about next steps in efforts to develop a more comprehensive, and regular, process for gathering and considering data about accounting practice. The 20-question survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete. All responses are confidential and participants will remain anonymous.

*Background on the Pathways Commission:
The U.S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP) identified in its October 2008 report many contemporary forces affecting human capital requirements for the broader accounting profession. Among its findings, ACAP made several recommendations including the importance for the AAA and the AICPA to form a commission to study the future structure and content of accounting education. The Pathways Commission’s purpose is to fulfill the goals of that recommendation and to consider the other ACAP human capital recommendations. The commission will identify, explore and establish a national higher education strategy for the accounting profession broadly defined. The Commission’s activities also will be guided by the social purpose of accounting to consider the information right of capital providers, particularly individuals who are the core source of property at risk in the marketplace, as well the economic purpose of accounting, to provide timely information to those who are the decision makers employing and directing the use of such resources.

Close to 300 guests were welcomed by red carpet and a glass of champagne at the 6th annual FEI Hall of Fame gala held on Mon., Nov. 14, 2011 at Gotham Hall in NYC to honor the 2011 Hall of Fame Class of inductees:
 

FERF is grateful to the support and generosity of many corporations, who sponsored this very important FEI undertaking, led by Microsoft Corp., Merck & Co. and CNBC.