The more I look beyond the mega-issues affecting employers in the new economic stimulus package, the more I see to worry finance executives. more

Mobile payment — payment for products and services via a mobile device, usually a cell phone — is coming. In Japan, shoppers already pay for purchases via their cell phones through NTT DoCoMo, the dominant cellular carrier there. People will use their mobile phone to pay for anything, even trivial things like a can of soda from vending machine. All they do is point or wave their phone at the appropriate place.

Before widespread mobile phone payments become possible, however, considerable work needs to be done, including infrastructure work. But the industry is working on it. CTIA, the Wireless Association (formerly known as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association), just published its best practices and guidelines for mobile financial services (MFS).

So, in addition to cash, check, letter of credit, credit card, debit card, money transfer, PayPal, and whatever other forms of payment your organization currently accepts, prepare for yet another, payment via mobile devices. And if the industry acts true to form, expect not one but several variations, each with its advocates. more

Let’s get it straight: Transitioning to XBRL does not simply mean installing new software and converting documents.

There are several common XBRL oversights, and this is a major one. Here’s another, says Michael Ohata, KPMG LLP’s managing director, advisory services, and one of the firm’s top XBRL experts: Executives don’t really need to immerse themselves in XBRL.

“Executives who don’t understand XBRL’s potential impact on the organization’s current financial reporting won’t be able to effectively oversee the XBRL preparation process, develop an XBRL filing process, or assemble a qualified team,” he says. “And regardless of whether an XBRL document is prepared internally or externally, management is responsible for its accuracy.” more

There’s a limit to “more with less.”

And corporate tax departments are just about hitting it.

It sounds almost quaint these days to talk about the pressing demands of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance — unless you’re in tax. Every year since the law’s inception, deficiencies in tax accounting have topped the list of reasons for material weaknesses in financial reporting. Add to that the ongoing struggle with the intricacies of FIN 48. Throw in the ever-growing mound of local, state, federal, and international regulations and the prospect of far-reaching tax reform under the Obama administration, and you have to wonder how much more companies can ask of their chronically undernourished tax functions. more