Corporate income tax rates have been on the decline in many parts of the world as countries position themselves to attract new businesses and investments. But that trend may be heading for at least a temporary halt. more

The IRS dropped a gentle hint last week that it really, really isn’t kidding about a long-planned audit campaign to examine employment tax and worker classification issues. The audits, originally scheduled to start in October of this year, are now slated for February 2010. more

The project management office (PMO) sets world-class operations apart from the rest, according to a recent Hackett Group research note on PMO maturity. The PMO, typically established as a resource coordinating function, can be elevated to deliver strategic value with the right leadership.

According to Hackett, many companies place (strategic) portfolio management and performance management processes in the PMO alongside (tactical) program execution and delivery. When following “the path to a cross-functional G&A Service Delivery Model and to convergence between IT and the business, PMOs [become] a crucial vehicle for bringing various stakeholders together,” according to the researchers.

Jack Duggal, a leading PMO expert and frequent lecturer at the Project Management Institute (PMI), goes even further, believing that the PMO is not only strategic but also indispensable, especially in turbulent times. Here he gives five reasons why. more

I would like to apologize to those of you who regularly look for my blog on Finance Transformation. As you may have noticed, I have not posted an update in the last five weeks. It has been a difficult period, and I appreciate your patience.

I have been working with my team at The Player Group to create an entertaining and enlightening path forward. One of our ideas is to share some of the things people say about planning and budgeting. We are also researching quotes about change in general and enabling change within your organization. Some quotes have a way of sticking with you. One that sticks with me is one from a boxer, who said:

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Last fall’s economic downturn was a smack in the mouth for many organizations. The City of Chicago’s Olympic hopes of hosting the Summer Games took a hit when they were eliminated in the first round of voting. Here at The Player Group we suffered a tremendous blow when my younger brother, Michael, unexpectedly passed away last month. In many ways it feels like a boxer’s punch, and all life’s plans don’t seem to make any sense anymore.

When these things happen, you often must do what boxers do: Cover up and protect yourself from further damage. But you will never win if you stay covered up, hunkered down, or withdrawn from your pursuits. You have to find ways to re-engage. At The Player Group, we find strength in thinking about what Michael would want us to do. His voice still rings in our memory. We want to honor his wishes and strive to finish the work he joined us in.

Many exciting things are coming soon, including our new book on forecasting (coming to the U.S. in January 2010). We will also be announcing additional resources that will add dramatic new ways in which we can help you transform and also provide exciting new implementation tools, as many organizations are moving directly to implementation.

Today, I am happy to advise you of some great content on the Beyond Budgeting principles that are available through BBRT member Adaptive Planning. Please take a look at their Web site for my blog posting titled “Goals of Financial Planning: Stretch for the Best,” where I focus on switching from internally negotiated, annual fixed targets to stretch goals based on long-term external benchmarks to boost performance and increase shareholder value.

This blog posting can be found here.

If you are new to Beyond Budgeting, you should start with the blog posting titled “Budgets: The Case for Change.” ###