The IMA Small Business Council

We know that many of you work in smaller companies, where your responsibilities often spread far beyond the traditional areas of management and financial accounting. You've told us that your employers turn to you for advice on subjects as diverse as incentive plans, raising capital, setting credit policy and choosing insurance.

A surprising number of you are not only accountants, controllers or CFOs of small firms, you're also in charge of human resources or information technology-sometimes even both! You have to deal with the company owners and minority shareholders, outside accountants, bankers, brokers, insurance agents and more. Yet being in a small company can be more professionally isolating than in a large firm. There are fewer colleagues in your profession to bounce ideas off and sometimes no one to turn to for knowledgeable, impartial advice.

Many of you told us you would like a way to reach out to other IMA members in similar positions at other companies. And you wanted practical, how-to information that could help you handle your day-to-day responsibilities and decision-making. The result was the Small-Business Council.

The Small-Business Council focuses on the special needs of IMA members working in small firms. It also deals with the unique issues that arise in closely held companies, since many small companies are owned by one person, a family or a small group.

Membership in the Small-Business Council provides several options for acquiring current information and networking with peers, such as:

Reading Small-Business Update, the monthly newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on what your counterparts in other companies are thinking and doing. Each month's issue covers different topics of interest to you. We welcome your responses to articles that appear in the newsletter, and are open to your suggestions for future articles. We want you to think of Small-Business Update as your newsletter.

Utilizing our interactive online service known as the Small-Business Council E-Mail Exchange. If you're connected to the Internet, you're connected to other Small-Business Council members. Obtaining helpful answers to your tough question or problem is as simple as sending one e-mail message to a central address, which is then distributed to all participating members. The responses you receive back from your colleagues will allow their experience to work for you.

If you are already an IMA member and would like to join a Member Interest Group, please call 1-800-638-4427, or by e-mail at ima@imanet.org. If you're not an IMA member please go to the IMA Membership Application. You can join a MIG at the same time.

The Controllers Council

There are many benefits to membership in the Institute of Management Accountants, and one of them is the Controllers Council.

The Controllers Council is open to all members of the IMA. Members do not necessarily have the title of controller; they are also assistant controllers, vice presidents of finance, and chief financial officers, to name a few. What they do have in common is the desire to learn more about the contrtollership function, network with others holding the same responsibilities, and improve their performance so they can make a greater contribution to their companies' bottom line.

Membership in the Controllers Council gives you several ways to gain information and networking with peers, such as:

Reading Controllers Update, the monthly newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on what your counterparts in other companies are thinking and doing. Controllers Update reports on surveys of members, who give their opinions on subjects ranging from the general economic outlook to the use of derivatives. The newsletters also provide interviews with key executives, case studies, summaries of legislative and regulatory developments, and advice on managing your professional sphere.

Participating in surveys, to share your opinions and experiences with your colleagues. These survey results are widely reported in the media, enhancing the visibility and credibility of the Controllers Council in the business community. You are welcome to view and/or participate in the most recent Controllers Council survey.

Utilizing our interactive online service known as the Controllers Council's E-Mail Exchange. If you're connected to the Internet, you're connected to hundreds of other Controllers Council members. Obtaining helpful answers to your tough question or problem is as simple as sending one e-mail message to a central address, which is then distributed to all participating members.

The responses you receive back from your colleagues will allow their experience to work for you.

If you are already an IMA member and would like to join a Member Interest Group, please call 1-800-638-4427, or by e-mail at ima@imanet.org. If you're not an IMA member please go to the IMA Membership Application. You can join a MIG at the same time.

New Orleans: A Startup Laboratory

For those who missed it, this past August, a BusinessWeek article featured the growing number of startup companies coming to the New Orleans area post-Katrina. The article can be found here:
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/aug2007/sb20070823_490984.htm

One of the companies featured was The Receivables Exchange, and we were fortunate enough to have a representative of their firm at our October 24th general membership meeting. The Receivables Exchange introduces an evolution in business-to-business financing, connecting businesses to a nationwide network of lenders ready to compete in real-time to fund receivables.

More information on this company can be found here:
http://www.receivablexchange.com/

University of New Orleans Research Project

A graduate student at UNO is seeking assistance from New Orleans IMA members. Please review the question below, and if you can be of assistance, reply directly to Johnathan Morpurgo.

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I am an accounting student at the University of New Orleans and would like to get the input of controllers on a software issue:

1. What software do you use for data collection and process improvement?
2. How satisfied are you with your data management system and how much did you pay for it?
3. What do you see as the common program & level of satisfaction in your particular industry?

I am creating a commercialization plan for a new data engine platform developed in UNO’s computer science department. If you are willing to give me more detailed information, please email me a phone number and best time so I may call you for a brief lead user interview. This can lead to free customized software for you, as well as some very happy graduate students. I need this information this week, so I ‘m sorry about the quick turn-around.

Thanks for your help!

Johnathan Y. Morpurgo
Graduate Assistant
Center for Innovation
University of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana 70148
504.280.6282
j.morpurgo@uno.edu

Welcome to the IMA New Orleans Blog!

This is the first posting to the blog of the New Orleans Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants. Our time lately has been involved in making individuals aware of our chapter activity, and working with the national IMA organization on a variety of issues.