AFP Virtual Education Series 2004

The 2004 Virtual Education Seminar Series will consist of 12 cyberconferences related to AFPs most popular conference tracks. Seminars will cover critical finance topics such as Regulation Q, using the Internet to make payments and paycards.

All sessions are from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. ET and are broadcast by teleconference and corresponding visual presentation via the Web. Earn Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and Certified Cash Manager (CCM) recertification credits (except from career development sessions) without leaving the privacy of your office.

These cost-effective seminars are available for only $50 per session for members and $75 for non-members until one week prior to the session. Late registration fees are $80 for members and $105 for non-members.

Group Registration
New! Now you can register additional participants at your location for the low cost of $20 per each additional member and $40 per each additional non-member. To guarantee that each participant's name is on file to obtain continuing education credits, simply:

Register one person per location
Click on the link for the Web site in your e-mail confirmation
Complete the form

You may submit additional attendees up to two weeks after the broadcast date of the Virtual Education session. Participants will receive a verification e-mail for credits earned following the completion of the session.

NOTE: All participants in a group must use the same phone line. Any additional phone lines/locations must be registered individually. Individuals must be registered in order to earn any continuing education credits.

Attend 2004 Summer Virtual Education Seminar Series Sessions

Order 2003 Virtual Education Seminar Series Audiocassettes

Cash and Working Capital Management

Session 1: January 15, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VW14]

Regulation Q and What It Means for Your Business
Regulation Q is a Federal Reserve Board statute that prohibits the payment of interest on commercial demand deposit accounts. In this informative presentation, the history of Regulation Q will be discussed, as well as the profound implications its repeal will have on both banks and corporations and what is being done to prepare.

Speakers:
Constance Etter, Principal, Treasury Strategies

Session 2: February 26, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VW24]

Linking the Supply Chain to Drive Global Execution
Financial professionals are being asked to explore new ways to optimize their companies' working capital. A fresh solution is being mined in the field of modern-day supply chain management. Traditionally, supply chain management has been defined as the movement of goods and information. Today, however, the definition has been expanded to include the movement of funds. The emerging discipline of Supply Chain Financing where goods, information and money come together in a seamless flow will play a key role in helping financial managers maximize their allocation of precious capital resources.

Speakers:
Richard Bradshaw, Chief Administrative Officer, UPS Capital

Session 3: May 20, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VW34]

Linking Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Forecasting: Adding Strategic Value
Many organizations prepare short-term weekly, quarterly and yearly cash forecasts, in addition to long-term (three- to five-year) balance sheet projections. However, few take full advantage of information and variance analysis derived from these forecasts. Members of AFP's Working Capital Management Task Force will discuss how these tools can improve future forecasts, provide early warning signals of underlying business issues, and position Treasury as a strategic partner by bridging the gap between the short-term cash forecasting process and the long-term strategic planning process.

Speakers:
Melody Hart, CPA, CTP, Independent Consultant
David O'Brien, Assistant Treasurer, EDS Corp.

Career Development

Session 1: March 11, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VC14]

Cultivate the Truly Outstanding Leader in You
Today's finance leaders and managers face tougher challenges than ever before in developing staff, motivating teams, reducing costs and increasing productivity. Cultivating an environment where people thrive requires new insights and skill sets for optimum leadership. Effective leaders are passionate about their beliefs, respectful of their power, and mindful of the privilege. During this presentation, participants will examine their personal leadership style and behaviors and discover how to influence others to get projects accomplished.

Speakers:
Karen Lawson, President, Lawson Consulting Group, Inc.

Session 2: June 3, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VC24]

Dazzling, Precise, and Accurate Presentation Skill
Presentation skills can put a career on the fast track, or permanently derail the most promising technician. This session will build the skill base needed to accurately convey information in an efficient and informative manner. Goals will include:

Identify the purpose of the communication
Understand the audience and their expectations
Define what should be said and what should be written
Define what should be left on the "cutting room" floor
Using PowerPoint and templates
Ethical consideration and obligations
Time management
Overcoming and using stage fright

Participants are encouraged to submit particular concerns and situations in advance of this session to smcarthur@amcore.com. Take-aways will include guidelines for presentations, examples of good and bad slides, and a resource guide.

Speakers:
Steve McArthur, Vice President-Cash Management, Amcore Bank

Payments Systems

Session 1: January 29, 2004 AUDIOCASSETTE NO LONGER AVAILABLE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VP14]

PayCards: Hip or Hype?
Companies are challenged continually to do more with less and payroll cards have become the latest hip tool toward achieving this goal. They promise to streamline processes, and cut the costs of issuing pay to employees who lack bank accounts and don't use direct deposit. Do they deliver all they promise? Listen as panelists describe the experiences of companies in different industries that analyzed, bid out and implemented payroll cards. Speakers will discuss their cost/benefit analyses, the request for proposal (RFP) process, targeted employees, and choices made about access, fees, liabilities, marketing and more while working with their banker to implement the service.

Speakers:
Susan Albonetti, CTP, President, Albonetti & Company, LLC
Susan Brown Whitman, CCM, Vice President-Strategic Initiatives, Skylight Financial, Inc.
David Riposo, CTP, Manager, Supplier Credit, Yum! Brands, Inc

Session 2: March 25, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VP24]

Is the Internet Ready for High-Value Payments?
The Federal Reserve is embracing new strategies to develop and implement well balanced, multi-channel options that focus on an integrated customer delivery experience. Like the rest of the payments industry, the Fed works hard to keep current, deploy new tools and function effectively, continuously evaluating new channel delivery options. For an access method to be viable, a high level of security must be in place. How do you evaluate channel delivery options for payments? The Federal Reserve is in the midst of doing just that, with the current objective being to move all financial services to a Secure IP platform. To obtain this objective, the Federal Reserve is leveraging new technologies to meet the imminent changes in the payments marketplace and the demands of technology-savvy customers. Every channel option is evaluated based on the risk and security level compared to the return and benefits offered, and appropriateness for the highest-value transactions. As the proliferation of electronic payments increases, the risk/return evaluation of electronic channels is something every financial professional will encounter.

Speakers:
William Barouski, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve System

Session 3: April 22, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VP34]

Transformation of Treasury and Payments: Will You Survive?
Strategies for treasury's control and optimization of payments are now more critical than ever. Government regulations and new market practices require them, shifting payments patterns have created new elements of risk and cost, and treasury downsizing puts a premium on efficiency. This has a direct impact beyond treasury to include payables and receivables groups. AFP Payments Advisory Group members will offer valuable help in coping with the new environment. That includes actionable information about best payments practices—with a focus on incoming payments—and the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley, the PATRIOT Act and other government actions. Speakers will also clarify the processes transforming payments from paper to electronic through truncation, conversion and imaging, and highlight ways to retain control of your company's payment activities.

Speakers:
G.M. Stetter, Executive Director, Head of North American Sales, ABN AMRO Bank
Nicholas Alex, CCM, Senior Vice President, Bank of America
Donald Hollingsworth, CTP, Assistant Treasurer, Ameren Corporation
Karen Nash-Goetz, Esq., Vice President and Associate Legal Counsel, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.

Session 4: May 6, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VP44]

What Corporate Treasury Needs to Know About Check 21
By stimulating innovation and automation in check collection practices, Check 21 will bring about wide-ranging changes in the payment system. This session will help you understand, adapt to and take best advantage of these innovations now…and what only the future will tell. You'll hear about the reasons behind Check 21-why the financial services industry supported the creation of a new payment instrument called a "substitute check" to replace original checks. You'll learn the difference between check truncation permitted by Check 21 and check conversion to ACH debits under NACHA rules. Check 21 will mean different things, depending on your perspective as a depositor or a disburser. Speakers will explain how Check 21 will change-or not-treasury practices on both sides of the payment process, as well as the impact on a company's rights and liabilities. Finally, the session will describe some of the new payments services made possible by Check 21-and their implications for your payments strategy.

Speakers:
Peter D. Wheeler, CCM, SVP, Receipts Product Line Manager, Bank of America
Thomas A. Fox, Partner, Schwartz & Ballen LLP

Treasury Operations

Session 1: February 12, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VT14]

Treasury and Tax: Working Together
For companies with operating units across the globe, treasury is routinely tasked with supplying each business unit with the appropriate levels of liquidity, providing tools to receive, disburse and move funds and, at the same time, providing the company's organizations with the information required to track and control the proper level and risks associated with the company's cash, debt and investments. No treasury organization that seeks to be world class can truly call themselves the "best" without assistance from other financial professionals to evaluate the plethora of alternatives that all seek to answer one of the enduring questions in treasury: How do I optimize my global, net cost of funds on an after-tax basis?

Speaker:
Bruce Lynn, CTP, Managing Director, The Financial Executives Consulting Group

Session 2: June 17, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VT24]

The Bank Scorecard: The Blueprint for Optimizing a Banking Relationship (Part II)
Treasury professionals must build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with banking partners to meet the goals and strategic initiatives of their particular organizations. Financial institutions are responsible for the performance of the services they provide. To clearly communicate expectations and performance measurements, a bank scorecard is an effective tool. This presentation provides the basic "blueprint" needed to implement a bank scorecard evaluation system, inclusive of a step-by-step methodology.

Speakers:
Gail Ball, CTP, Senior Vice President-Treasury, NCO Group
Francine Smith, CTP, Treasury Svcs. Officer-Treasury Svcs. Sales Associate, Wachovia Bank

Risk Management

Session 1: April 8, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VR14]

New Developments in Corporate Risk Management
Due to the changing accounting, regulatory, and legislative environment, efficient and effective financial risk management is at the forefront of the agendas of most corporate executives and Boards of Directors. This webcast leverages the content of a new book, Corporate Financial Risk Management, by Peter Marshall, partner in Ernst & Young's global treasury advisory services group. The book was published by the AFP in October 2003. Topics to be discussed include leading practices and new developments related to corporate governance, risk management policy and systems, credit, liquidity, and enterprise risk management, accounting, tax, and disclosure issues impacting effective risk management, and applications of asset and liability management for corporations.

Speaker:
Peter Marshall, CTP, Partner, Ernst and Young LLP Within E&Y's Global Treasury Advisory Group, Peter Marshall mitigates risk management, accounting and other treasury challenges faced by corporations and financial services firms. He previously worked for Emcor Risk Management Consulting and Data General Corporation. Marshall's a frequent speaker at treasury conferences and was the primary author of AFP's Corporate Financial Risk Management. He has an M.B.A. from Fordham University.

Sarbanes-Oxley

Is worrying about having effective controls over your company's treasury processes and financial reporting keeping you up at night?

Only the proof of Sarbanes-Oxley, Section 404 compliance can ensure worry-free nights.

If you are aware of the basic requirements of SOX 404 but need help in establishing a practical approach to compliance implementation, this new series of cyber-conferences has been designed for you.

Moderated by a corporate treasury practitioner with SOX 404 implementation responsibilities and drawing on expert perspectives you'll explore ways and gain resources to review the processes that impact financial reporting, document and assess your internal control system and learn what can go wrong.

With Sarbanes-Oxley as a compliance issue in which every manager's manager takes an interest, this promises to be an energetic and lively series.

Even if SOX is not applicable to your company today, your organization can only benefit by having the effective financial controls in place now and being ahead of the compliance curve in the event that your Board, bank, insurance company, or state encourages compliance with SOX 404.

Moderator:
James Bickmore, CTP, Director of Treasury Operations, AIG American General.

Panelists:
R. Trent Gazzaway, National Director of Corporate Governance Advisory Services, Grant Thornton
Dennis Hoyt, President, Hoyt Treasury Services
Joanne O´Rourke Hindman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Roundtable Advisors, Inc.

Session 1: January 21, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VS14]

Organizing and Prioritizing the Compliance Process
I. Brief overview of SOX
II. Overview of Section 404
III. Overview of implementation guidance
    a. SEC rules
    b. PCAOB draft rules
    c. AICPA guidance
    d. COSO framework
IV. Getting organized
V. Roles and responsibilities, including internal audit and boards

Session 2: February 4, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VS24]

Risk Assessments and Controls
VI. Segmenting the company
VII. Assessing risk
VIII. Documenting controls
IX. Identifying key controls, including EDP controls

Session 3: February 18, 2004 ORDER AUDIOCASSETTE
3:30-5:15 p.m. EST [VS34]

Testing, Evaluating and Reporting
X. Testing key controls, including EDP controls
XI. Evaluating test results
XII. Reporting the results
XIII. Evaluating the process
XIV. Overview of implementation tools

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