Thursday, February 22, 2007

Father and CFO of His Country? - Finance - CFO.com

CFO.com has a fun article on George Washington.

Father and CFO of His Country? - Finance - CFO.com:
"Washington 'took great pride in maintaining clear, concise, and accurate [financial] records,' notes the Library of Congress's guide to the material. Indeed, at the end of the war, Washington used those expense accounts to request reimbursement from Congress for his total expenses of $160,074. That request was audited by the Comptroller General of the United States Treasury, James Milligan, with a result that today's CFO can only dream of: Milligan concluded Washington was owed an additional eighty-nine ninetieths of one dollar."

Of course, the modern finance executive might not want to emulate everything about Washington, particularly when it came to executive compensation. Washington asked only for his expenses when Congress selected him as commander of the Continental Army; he refused a salary."

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