Chrome River CURRENTS

Our best wishes go out to California Chrome this weekend in the Belmont Stakes. The possibility of a Triple Crown win has captivated the hearts of all the Chrome River employees and we wanted to share our excitement with you. 

Carrying out an impeccable job as CFO is crucial to the well-being of your company. As CFO, your main duties include managing risk and analyzing your company’s finances. Your analyses and recommendations guide the company, and inappropriate suggestions based on analysis of inaccurate or delayed data can be disastrous for your company, and could lead to taking on undue risk or making poor budgeting decisions. Timely and correct data are essential for your job, but you may need to take some steps to ensure that you get the data you need whether you are analyzing the numbers from within your division or from a different or remote department or partner company.

Computers and other electronic devices are just as critical to your business as lights and telephones. Your office could not function without them, but they do have a downside. They require electricity, and can be a substantial contributor to your power bills. Limiting your and your employees’ use of computers and technologies is out of the question if you want a viable business, but you can cut your carbon footprint – and some of your bills – with some other strategies.

Is visualization the key to proper use of big data? Bar charts, treemaps, scatter plots – these are all visualization tools that put data into perspective, but do they drive the point home for those looking to extract meaningful information? The answer is to create a multidimensional view of the data that is more intuitive. This approach is Interactive Visualization.

OK – we understand that we don’t want the chemical known as BPA in our water bottles. But when it comes to the BPA that stands for ‘business process automation’ – well that’s a good thing.  A recent survey from CompTIA revealed that more and more businesses are using workflow automation to boost efficiency and overhaul existing business processes. Technologies like direct deposit are streamlining activities, and helping businesses get more done faster, growing their scope and market share. The industry of business process management (BPM) and business process automation (BPA) is projected to grow to $7.6 billion in 2016, up from $4.4 billion in 2012. 

Business people often feel hesitant about writing off meal, travel and entertainment expenses incurred during business. Even though you understand the fun activities you're engaged in are strictly business, you're don't always feel confident that the Internal Revenue Service will agree with you. Just because a work-related task is enjoyable, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to deduct expenses on your tax return.

Cloud technology has revolutionized nearly every industry - from technology to healthcare to hospitality to food service to telecommunications. Small and large businesses, the government and educational institutions depend on cloud-based software applications for many organizational functions. Cloud-based applications enable or enhance activities like more robust data storage, collaborative projects, automated marketing and more streamlined billing.

Traditionally, CFOs and their finance teams stayed narrowly in the arena of management. They strategically employed data-driven analytics to manage the business from the upper levels. As the ability to collect and analyze data has exponentially expanded, CFOs are increasingly in a position to aid their organizations in improving profitability and efficiency and more granular levels.

When it comes to survival of the midsize firm, you have two choices. You can be ruthless. Or you can die. Time is your biggest resource and the one most often abused. Because of the precarious spot in which midsize companies are wedged, inefficient use of time will kill you every time.

When it comes to hiring finance staff members, the traditional hiring process may not be enough to ensure you’re getting the best candidate for the job. Candidates may shine at the interviews, ace your proficiency tests and amaze with their litany of technical skills, but you won’t really know what they're all about unless you throw a real-world financial dilemma into their lap.