Economists may debate whether the credit crisis has officially tipped us into recession, but it's clear that now is no time to depend on cash flow from financing or investing.

Yet at a time of declining orders, how can companies depend on cash flow from operations? How can they keep working capital from swelling as inventory bloats and collection of receivables slows?

Join CFO.com to learn from past recessions. With help from financial analyst Karlo Bustos of REL, we'll examine how 500 companies were performing going into the recession that lasted from March to November of 2001. We'll look at their working capital, gross margins, and cost of goods as the recession began, and find out how they fared in 2002 when the recession ended. We'll also take a look those same 500 companies today, and what their performance says about their ability to weather the current economic storm.

Tim Reason, editorial director of CFO.com, will then discuss best practices with Mark Tennant, President of Americas for REL, an operational expert on managing working capital. Mark will identify specific pitfalls to avoid, including poor forecasting, demand planning errors, and how poorly managed price and promotion changes can wreak havoc with receivables. He'll also address ways to prevent your sales department from expediting orders in ways that can raise your production costs.

This webcast will help companies of all sizes understand how to survive in a recession, and the key areas to focus on to continue generating a healthy positive cash flow.

Speakers include:

• Mark Tennant, President of Americas, REL
• Karlo A. Bustos, Financial Analyst, REL
• Tim Reason, Editorial Director, CFO.com