Glenn Hafler

For CFOs, Changing the Stripes on the Zebra is a Must!

It is often said that you can’t change the stripes on a zebra and to some extent that is true.  But for CFOs striving to become strategic partners to the organization, the stripes need to be changed. For over 10 years, I and other Finance Transformation consultants have presented models describing the typical evolution of finance organizations from the role of custodian of corporate assets to that of a strategic partner.  While these discussions were typically met with nodding heads, it begs ...

ISA Consulting Offers a Complimentary Performance Management Workshop

ISA Consulting, a premier Corporate Performance Management consulting firm based on the East Coast is offering a a complimentary Performance Management Workshop to qualified organizations.  In this two day complimentary workshop, ISA's advisory and performance management consultants will review your existing systems and processes for budgeting, forecasting, consolidation and financial reporting and then provide you with a Gap/Opportunity Analysis; Best Practices Assessment; Implementation Roadma...

Finance: Adding Value in International Expansions

"Handling Clients’ International Expansion" was written by myself and Joseph Riccie, a director with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP and was published in the September/October 2009 issue of the New Jersey CPA, the magazine of the New Jersey Society of CPAs. Often, Finance's role in expansion is limited to tax planning and in some cases, Finance isn't involved in the process until key decisions have been made.  In this article, we examined various areas where the Finance can, and should, be pr...

Thinking from “Outside the Box”

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope that you find Thinking from “Outside the Box” an interesting discussion of thoughts and strategies that you can apply as you see fit.  I welcome your thoughts and comments as well.  They are essential to increasing the value of the information provided.  The About page contains some additional information about me and please feel free to reach out and connect on LinkedIn and Twitter.   Thanks again and I'm looking forward to connecting.

Like Ducks Moving Across a Pond

Perhaps a strange title to talk about process and controls, but hang with me for a second.  As I engage with organizations of all sizes and talk about the issues and problems facing them, on the surface, everything looks fine and they are just gliding across the water like nothing is amiss.  But dig down and go under the surface, and you are likely to find frantic activity, just to keep up.  So there you have it, like a duck gliding across the pond with the greatest of ease but paddling like hec...

Revenue Analysis and the 80/20 Rule

I recently had a discussion with a CFO of a major entity.  During our discussion he mentioned that they were looking at the overall revenue base and found that the bulk of their revenue came from just a few customers.  Further, they had build a significant support structure to generate and manage that revenue.  Not surprising when you think of the 80/20 rule which holds time and time again. The reality is that this is likely true for many organizations.  It is hard to turn away business, but ...

Quality of Revenue in a Capital Efficient Organization

Revenue generation ideas are hot topics right now.  But revenue generation doesn't always mean greater profits.  Reviewing your revenue base is an important exercise that should be conducted regularly.  Pruning the bottom 20% of your revenue base can increase your margins and net income.  While this sounds easy, the problem is in actually measuring the total cost of service and that goes well beyond direct costs. First start with the information that is readily available and trustworthy.  Rev...