|
March 29, 2004
Astron in the News
Astron Solutions
has enjoyed considerable media attention in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, March 16,
National Director Jennifer Loftus appeared on
Cold Pizza, ESPN2's morning show. She was part of
the lead-off segment on the impact of the NCAA tournament on
workplace productivity. The point / counterpoint discussion
also featured John Challenger, of Challenger, Gray, and
Christmas, Inc., who calculated the impact of March Madness
at $1.5 billion in lost productivity.
National Director Michael Maciekowich
was quoted in the Thursday March 25th edition of The
Buffalo News regarding the impact of spam on workplace
e-mail productivity. The article also featured quotes from
Peter Loomis of Loomis Associates, one of Astron's strategic
partners.
It's Back - the Master Group Forum!
It's time for you to register for the
2004 edition of the Master Group Forum!
Not sure what the Master Group Forum
is? It's a great opportunity for you to hear about the
latest in compensation, proactively learn critical
information about the new FLSA regulations, and discover
solutions to your thorny HR issues. Not only will you
network with other HR professionals, you'll come away with
the tools you need to make a positive difference in your
organization, earn 2.0 HRCI recertification credit hours,
and enjoy our delicious signature breakfast to boot!
This year's Manhattan Master Group
Forum will be held at St. John's University Conference
Center (101 Murray Street) on Thursday April 29.
Pre-registered attendees pay $60. The fee is $75 at the
door.
Click here to download the registration form. For more
information, contact
Sharon Terry
at 800-520-3889 x4.
Finance Terms Made Simple
Human
Resources may find itself at odds with Finance when seeking
approval for proposals. While both hopefully have the
organization's best interests in mind, different approaches
and terminologies underscore the differences that often
exist between these two departments. In this Astronology,
we present a glossary of terms useful when seeking the
buy-in of CFOs and Finance Departments.
ROI: Return on Investment. This refers to how much
profit or cost saving is realized in a given period of time
- usually a year - as the result of a particular
expenditure. Human resources professionals who are sometimes
accused of presenting "touchy-feely" rationales for monetary
expenditures can use ROI calculations to help develop the
financial case for a proposal in a way an organization's
financial staff can readily understand.
While useful from an accounting point of view, the following
five terms are also critical for designing and administering
sales compensation plans:
Revenue: The total influx of funds into an
organization, usually resulting from the sales of goods or
services, calculated before costs or expenses are deducted.
This figure includes all sales made to customers / clients
in addition to other income arising from business
operations.
Expenses: All costs deductible from revenues.
Gross margin: Sales revenue minus the cost of the
goods sold. This term is often used as a performance
measure.
Net income: Revenue minus expenses, including
maintenance, taxes, and losses. This term is synonymous with
the terms net earnings, net profit, and bottom line.
Profit margin: The percentage of total revenues that
net income represents. This term is often mistakenly used as
a synonym for net income or profit. If total revenue for a
given period is $12,000, and expenses are $10,000, the net
income would be $2,000, while the profit margin would be
16.67%. Acceptable profit margins vary widely by industry.
Value added: The sales price of goods or services
minus the cost of any raw materials or inputs purchased
elsewhere. Success is often measured by how much value an
organization can add to its goods or services.
ROA: Return on assets; the ratio of net earnings to
total assets. Sometimes used as a measurement in executive
incentive compensation plans.
Asset: Anything owned by an organization or an
individual with commercial or exchange value, including
claims against others. Accounts receivable, product
inventory, and buildings owned by the company are examples
of assets. Often contrasted with liability.
Liability: Debt or responsibilities owed by an
organization that must be paid in the future. Examples of
liabilities are accounts payable, bonds payable, and taxes
payable.
Deferral of taxes: Postponement of taxes to a later
payment period, often by recognizing income or gain at a
later time, such as through qualified retirement plans.
Tax incentives: Benefits that reduce pre-tax income,
resulting in less tax paid by both employer and employee.
New York City's
TransitChek program is one example.
Earning per share: An organization's net income
divided by total shares outstanding, adjusted for common
stock equivalents. This is often used as the measurement in
executive incentive compensation programs.
Balance sheet: A detailed statement of an
organization's finances, showing assets, liabilities, and
net worth. The balance sheet follows the formula assets =
liabilities + net worth. Net worth can be comprised of
owner's equity and retained earnings. The balance sheet
describes the financial well being of an organization on a
given date.
Income statement: A financial statement including
revenues and expenses incurred during a particular period of
time. The business equivalent of your personal checkbook.
Present value: The current value of a cash payment,
good, or service, discounted at an appropriate interest
rate. By the logic of present value, $5 received five years
from now is worth less than $5 received today. Using
present-value formulae, assumptions about future interest
rates are applied to produce estimates of the current worth
of a dollar delivered at some specific point in the future.
Such formulae are useful in determining ROI for proposed
initiatives.
Days in Receivables: Average collection period, or
how long it takes an organization to collect on invoices
sent out for work performed / goods sold. The longer the
average collection period, the greater the potential
negative impact on cash flow.
How do you describe your relationship with
the finance department?
Be sure to vote in this week's on-line poll!
Wonder what your fellow readers think about critical HR topics? Is your organization unique from or similar to others?
Click here to view the results of our past polls!
If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us! Simply reply to this e-mail. See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology.
Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting? Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues. For more information, send an e-mail to
info@astronsolutions.com.
Are you reading a pass-along copy of Astronology? Click on
this button
to start your own subscription today!
Send inquiries to
info@astronsolutions.com or call 800-520-3889, x105.
We hold your e-mail address in trust. Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information. We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time.
To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail.
Copyright 2007, Astron Solutions, LLC
ISSN Number 1549-0467
|
|