Feature Article
Remote Capture: The Time Has Come
Entering a new post-Check 21 era in deposit processing. Legislation known as Check 21 brought sweeping changes to the payments industry. One of the biggest changes was the creation of "substitute checks" - electronic images created from the original paper checks. As a result, businesses can now transmit images of checks remotely from the business location to the bank using specially designed scanners and software, instead of physically sending an employee to the bank to make deposits. This process, known as remote capture deposit, offers many benefits to businesses, including time and cost savings, greater accuracy, better float management and ultimately more immediate availability of funds

Businesses benefit with remote capture
DeKaser's Financial Market Outlook
Immigration Reform
The proposals all fall short by failing to address the changing labor requirements of the American economy. More specifically, the U.S. has experienced a widening distribution of income that is largely agreed to reflect a rise in demand for more highly skilled occupations relative to the supply of those workers.

There's more harmony than meets the eye

Legislative and Regulatory
Coming Clean about Bribery
Spurred by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the increasing likelihood of being caught bribing foreign officials, managers at increasing numbers of U.S. companies are voluntarily disclosing breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a Department of Justice official says. Since the beginning of March, the Department of Justice has received 11 voluntary disclosures of either clear or potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

National City continues its sponsorship of the Windy City Summit and Opening Day Luncheon
Over the past 20 years, Treasury Management Association of Chicago's Windy City Summit has become a "must attend" event for treasury management professionals.

Learn how you can register for this event

Business Planning and Strategy
The People Who Count
All over the country similar scenes are playing out as accounting firms large and small sweeten the pot in order to lure or retain employees. The Big Four have doubled their assurance staffs in the past five years and are expected to nearly double them again in the next five, thanks largely to Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. Smaller accounting firms, their client rosters expanding thanks to new rules on auditor independence, are also upping the ante. Add to that a precipitous plunge in the number of accounting degrees granted in the late 1990s and disaffection with corporate finance jobs, and suddenly the labor pool is roiled by a perfect storm, one that CFOs readily admit is difficult to navigate.

Too few accountants to go around

Human Resource and Benefits
Mandatory Health Screenings Reap Huge Rewards
Cadmus Communications, a publishing services company in Richmond, Va., took a radical approach to employee wellness last year: It required employees to take a health risk assessment, blood pressure screening and cholesterol screening. Seventeen employees lost their health coverage this year because they didn't cooperate.

Pros and cons of mandated health screenings

Finance and Treasury
A Banner Year Despite a World of Trouble
War, high fuel prices, monetary uncertainty, a percolating deficit, a new Fed chairman, and, of course, a hurricane that broke a critical levee --and America's heart. In financial terms, this year had all the ingredients for a sputtering economy at best, a significant downturn at worst. In spite of the portents of doom, however, America's largest corporations sailed through in extraordinary style, setting records for both revenues and profits.

Setting records for revenue and growth

Personal Investing
Non-qualified deferred compensation plans
A number of high-profile cases involving executive abuse of non-qualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plans are currently working their way through the court system. One immediate result of these cases, however, was Section 409A of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA), which dramatically changed the rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation. "This new law represents a profound change in non-qualified deferred compensation," says Sandra A. Gontero, Senior Vice President, Private Client Group. "Section 409A is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of non-qualified deferred compensation."

Financial planning for executives

Economics
It's Way Too Early To Count Consumers Out
The most important question mark in the economy right now is the American consumer. Last year spending by households accounted for 71% of the growth in the economy, and it contributed to another solid showing in the first quarter. Typically, as consumers go, so goes the economy. So will they continue to be the main engine powering economic growth or will they finally start to sputter?

Wage growth lifting household incomes

Sales and Marketing
Dipping Into History for Inspiration
One of the best-known, most-liked advertising campaigns, for Polaroid cameras and film, will be the subject of a rare tribute at a museum. But the ads, it seems, are far from museum pieces. Marketers today are emulating many elements of the Polaroid campaign, which was created for three decades by Doyle Dane Bernbach, owned by Omnicom Group. Here are some increasingly popular present-day ad trends and their Polaroid precedents. 

A salute to the Polaroid campaigns

International and Trade
European Union Regulations Address U.S. Objections
Two European Union regulations passed last month to amend a system for protecting products with geographical names address three key complaints lodged by the United States, but raise potential new questions regarding the relationship of trademarks and so-called geographical indications (GIs) of agricultural and food products. But U.S. private-sector sources emphasized that these new questions do not pose a major problem and that overall the benefits of the new regulations outweigh any complaint they have.

Compliance issues for the European Union 

Trends and Technology
I.M. Generation is Changing the Way Business Talks
Instant messaging (I.M.) has come of age. No longer the province of chatty teenagers, it is now part and parcel of advanced communications networks at many corporations. And as instant messaging takes hold, companies are benefiting from new productivity gains and improvements in customer response time.

I.B.M. to launch new I.M. product

Small Business
Getting Your Idea Off The Ground
Q: How do I get my idea off the ground?
A: Although I have previously been involved with the process of taking a new product from inspiration to launch, the best way to answer your question would be to speak with an expert: Someone who has successfully launched an innovative product. Glenn Hudson, an inventor out of Mackinaw, Ill., is a big believer in the power of the Internet.

A plan to start small

Women Business Owners
Negotiating for Your Business
When it comes to doing business, negotiations are key to closing deals and getting what your business needs. How do women business owners feel about negotiating? Is it harder for women to negotiate than their male counterparts? We spoke with several female entrepreneurs as well as experts to learn more.

Three reasons women don't negotiate like men

Woman Business Owner of the Month

 

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