May16

Top bank regulator: Risk models key May 16, 2012 14:26

Banks that use models for risk management should compare results of those models to results from other approaches, narrowing their reliance on single approaches, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said Wednesday. The banking regulator warned that operational risk – the risk of loss due to failures of people, processes, systems and external events – is high and increasing, noting it’s “at the top of the list of safety and soundness issues for the institutions we supervise,” according to a copy of his speech, prepared for the Exchequer Club in Washington, D.C. [More]

May14

Bernanke: Banks healthier despite ongoing challenges May 14, 2012 12:34

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke believes conditions in the U.S. banking system have “improved significantly,” though he acknowledges lending for residential mortgages and for small business owners remains challenging.

In remarks prepared for a speech May 10 at the 48th Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition in Chicago, Bernanke said several key measures of systemic risk have improved in recent months and are now well below their levels during the financial crisis. Banks have made considerable progress in repairing their balance sheets, and overall, the sector has substantially improved its liquidity, he said.
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May11

Investors may like Facebook, but it is richly valued - Sageworks CEO May 11, 2012 13:02

Facebook’s initial public offering, scheduled to begin trading on May 18, will have a rich valuation compared to other big tech players, according to Sageworks CEO Brian Hamilton, a noted expert on privately held companies. “To put Facebook’s valuation in perspective, if Apple, which manufactures tangible products, was valued at a multiple comparable to Facebook, Apple’s market capitalization/value today would be approximately $2.7 trillion,” Hamilton said, noting Apple’s current market capitalization is about $500 billion. [More]

May08

Sageworks’ CEO Brian Hamilton speaks to FDIC examiners on the important elements of evaluating privately held companies May 08, 2012 10:03

Brian Hamilton, CEO of Sageworks, spoke to federal bank examiners from the FDIC, OCC, NCUA, and the Federal Reserve last week at the Community Financial Institution Lending Forum about the important elements of evaluating privately held companies. Hamilton discussed global cash flow, best practices for understanding the financial position of private companies and their owners, and challenges commonly encountered in this process. [More]

May02

Private company sales, GDP continue to grow, but what about unemployment? May 02, 2012 13:44

New data from Sageworks, a financial information company, shows that privately held companies in the United States saw average sales growth of 8.3 percent in the 12-month period ending in April 2012. That’s up slightly from the 2011 growth rate of around 8.2 percent, and up significantly from the low in 2009, when sales declined by an average of almost 6 percent.  Private companies drive over 50 percent of GDP, which grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter, according to the latest government data. While private company sales and U.S. GDP have been growing consecutively for over two years, another important economic indicator, the national unemployment rate, no... [More]

Apr12

CFO Corner: Managing the chaos of growth Apr 12, 2012 08:28

Hartman King, CFO of Nashville restaurant developer MStreet Entertainment Group, discusses managing the chaos of growth and the benefit of evolving financial processes. [More]

Apr06

The U.S. Unemployment Rate vs. Private Company Revenue Growth Last 12 Months Apr 06, 2012 09:39

Sageworks found that private companies are seeing healthy sales growth, around 8 percent annually with net profit margins remaining over or close to 6 percent for the last 12 months as unemployment rate ticks downward. [More]

Apr05

CFO Corner: Trade-offs in growth, profits Apr 05, 2012 10:21

Wai-Yan Sun, CFO of Boston-based technology and marketing firm FreeCause, discusses making trade-offs and the effort tied to cash flow forecasting. [More]

Mar28

CFO Corner: When clients want more for less Mar 28, 2012 19:36

Robert Frabasile, CFO of New York accounting firm Kiwi Partners Inc., discusses client relations and the role of balance sheet items in cash flow forecasting. [More]

Mar23

Three ways to grow your accounting practice Mar 23, 2012 13:44

Most accountants this time of year are swamped meeting tax-filing deadlines, but once business slows down, do you know how to rev things up? Gale Crosley, founder and principal of Atlanta-based consultant Crosley+Company, offers these tips for growing your practice. [More]