The Trial Balance is CFO’s weekly preview of stories, stats, and events to help you prepare.
Part 1: Epiq bankruptcy data, cannabis accounting takes on 280-e, and OnlyFans CFO Q&A
This week, contributing editor Dave McCann will also publish a story on bankruptcy filings from Epiq. (4/16).
Also, reporter Adam Zaki will publish a Q&A with Lee Taylor, CFO of OnlyFans and co-founder of the CFO networking group the F Suite. Zaki and Lee discuss the company’s trajectory, his take on artificial intelligence and its impact on his business, maintaining a start-up mentality during growth, and more. (4/18)
Zaki will also publish a story on cannabis accounting, talking to fractional CFOs who have built businesses offering services in this space. As the cannabis business grows its market legitimacy and industry challenges simultaneously, specifically when it comes to IRS guidance around Section 280-e, sound financial leadership will be required to grow many businesses within cannabis to the next level, experts say. (4/19)
Part 2: NYSE’s president on the IPO market and upcoming U.S. economic data
With 2024’s first quarter wrapped up, Q1’s IPO data is starting to roll in, and results are promising for CFOs looking to evaluate the potential turgidity of the capital markets for the remainder of the year. According to Renaissance Capital’s IPO report, 30 IPOs raised nearly $8 billion, triple the amount from the first quarter of 2023. And 15 of those IPOs raised over $100 million.
Over the past weekend, the NYSE’s president Lynn Martin spoke on CNBC to address the return of a healthier public offering market and added several comments about the impact of artificial intelligence as well for the NYSE.
Martin noted that IPOs have raised 3.5x the amount raised a year before, corroborating Renaissance’s calculations. Following a strong January, Martin said a quiet period of time was likely a reflection of companies who had to “state their financials and restate their financials.” But in April, “You saw Reddit a few weeks ago, and yesterday we had a great company called PACS ($450 million), today you have UL ($964 million) … deals are getting done. Both were upsized,” she said.
In regards to the impact of AI on the NYSE, Martin said it is the “next trend that shows the importance of data.” When asked if AI makes markets safer, Martin replied that it enables the organization to “surveil the amount of increase in data, and add transparency in most opaque markets,” with the goal to be able to add transparency, fairness, and reliability, hallmarks of the NYSE.
Here's a list of important market events slated for the week ahead.
Monday, April 15
- Empire State manufacturing survey
- U.S. retail sales
- Home builder confidence index
- San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks
Tuesday, April 16
- Housing starts
- Building permits
- Industrial production and capacity utilization data
Wednesday, April 17
- Fed Beige Book
- Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks
Thursday, April 18
- Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey
- Existing home sales
- U.S. leading economic indicators
- New York Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speak
Friday, April 19
- Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks
Part 3: The CFO-CMO relationship
Achieving a strong CFO-CMO partnership hinges on refining metrics that synchronize financial goals with marketing strategies — and the key is getting the CFO and the CMO to speak the same business language. Michael Cohen, chief global data and analytics officer of Plus Company, and Sabaa Quao, chief creative officer of Cossette, offer specific measures to help bridge the gap between marketing and finance. (4/16)