The holiday season is a time of symbols — jolly old bearded men, snowmen, and reindeer. But this year, it’s hard for me to think about festive images because so many of the faces I see in the media remind me of the economic crisis. Greedy CEOs looking for handouts, grandstanding politicians, failed regulators, and unemployed factory workers fighting for severance from companies that shut their doors without warning, replace visions of sugarplums that danced in my head during happier holiday seasons. more

One of the few certainties for CFOs about the new year is that they’ll see continued efforts toward significant accounting changes that surfaced in 2008, as companies move toward adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS). more