Manage your assets: an interactive forum with industry experts.

• Author: Dressendofer, Jo Anne
• Position: Panel Discussion

I have found that CEOs and boards of directors are asking their finance organizations for three things: 1)Is the organization under control? 2)Is the finance organization adding value by taking working capital out of the system, shortening the revenue cycle time, getting lower cost financing and maximizing tax benefits? 3) And to what extent is the finance organization able to contribute to corporate strategy and performance management?

One must examine deeply the core structure of the organization, how it all works -- the management processes, how decisions are made and the way resources are allocated. So the question is, exactly what are the new financial outsourcing business models for process and decision-making? How do you develop this financial outsourcing strategy so that it can deliver, not just in singular events, but consistently over time? Let's ask the experts.

Joe Vafi, Senior Vice President of Jefferies and Company

Historically, outsourcing has unlocked corporate value through cost elimination, focused primarily on IT budgets and increasingly, on related business processes. Results have helped buoy the bottom line during slow growth periods, including the last two years. While much of the low hanging fruit in IT outsourcing has been plucked, there still exists significant corporate value to unlock via the balance sheet: better DSO, cash flow, and inventory turns can also be achieved through evolving outsourcing strategies. This type of corporate value creation is just as important as earnings growth when it comes to stock valuation. Ultimately, healthier balance sheets equate to more profitable companies, as returns on equity are increased and external financing needs are reduced.

As a stock analyst, I am focused on return on assets, capital, cash flow generation and DSO.... If you are looking for a short cut, an acceptable trend is to look for financial process outsourcing companies, such as Creditek, which is helping to get more out of the single largest line item - AR.

Contact: jvafi@jefco.com

Barry Culman, CEO of EYT Inc.

In our experience working with both Ernst & Young LLP clients and other organizations, the most common factor in a company's decision to outsource business functions is the need to focus on their core business. Whether the company is looking to outsource IT finance support staff, transaction-intensive activities, such as payroll and accounts payable or to fill voids in their financial expertise, smart...