Ransomware Seen as Growing Cyber Threat

Miscellaneous errors accounted for the largest number of data security breaches last year, while ransomware is becoming a more common form of cyber attack, according to Verizon.The telecom company said in its 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report that miscellaneous errors were at fault for 17.7%...

By Matthew Heller • April 29, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending April 29

Sean Dell’Orto has been named to head finance at Hilton Worldwide’s planned real estate investment trust spin-off, expected to occur later in the year. He is currently treasurer of Hilton Worldwide.Mark Widmar Yum Brands has promoted David Gibbs to president and CFO, effective May 2. Gibbs, who t...

By Joan Urdang • April 29, 2016

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Top 5 stories from CFO.com

From CPA licensure changes to undergoing a digital transformation, these are the most popular stories CFOs are reading. 

By CFO.com staff

U.S. Q1 GDP Growth Slows to 0.5%

The U.S. economy is on track to repeat the same pattern its followed each year during the recovery, analysts say: log weak growth in the first quarter only to rebound in the spring.The U.S. gross domestic product grew by just 0.5% in the first quarter, down from 1.4% growth in the fourth quarter,...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 28, 2016

Facebook’s Q1 Soundly Beats Expectations

Facebook on Wednesday posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter on greater numbers of new users and higher advertising revenues, particularly from mobile ads.The Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm said that it had reached 1.65 billion monthly active users and reported a 52% rise in ove...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 28, 2016

P&G: Sales Down, but Profits Up on Cost Cuts, Price Hikes

Procter & Gamble’s quarterly profit rose on expense reduction and higher prices for its products. However, sales continue to fall as higher prices pushed down volumes and as the company winnows its portfolio to focus on faster-growing brands such as Pampers diapers and Pantene shampoo.Net inc...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 26, 2016

Cigna Gets 129% ROI on Tuition Reimbursement Costs

Chances are that your company offers a tuition reimbursement program, as do your competitors. The purpose is likely to enhance employee recruitment and retention. As a CFO, you may not spend much energy thinking about such HR matters.But according to research results released Monday, there is a m...

By David McCann • April 25, 2016

Trending: Blending

Meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals will require additional investments of $2.5 trillion a year in things like health care and education for the world’s poorest people, according to UNCTAD, a UN agency. A further $13.5 trillion is needed by 2030 to implement the Paris climat...

By Economist Staff • April 25, 2016

How An Obsession with Metrics Is Killing Your Company

Felix Fox, an ambitious car salesman in the post-financial meltdown society where valuable resources are scarce, looks enviously at people who are personally quoted on the human stock exchange. The evolution of their stock — the value of their life — is being tracked on a continuous basis with a ...

By Jean-Marie Bequevort and Alexander Van Caeneghem • April 25, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending April 22

Yelp has appointed Charles (Lanny) Baker to the top finance spot, effective May 9. Previously president and CEO of ZipRealty, he’s also a former CFO of that company, as well as of Monster Worldwide.Gunther Plosch Gunther Plosch will join The Wendy’s Co. on May 2 and will become head of finance af...

By Joan Urdang • April 22, 2016

JOBS Act Confined by Limited Reach

The JOBS Act was crafted with the hopes of making it easier for companies of all sizes to access funding by loosening regulations and expanding the investor pool. While Title I of the act saw success in increasing IPOs by lowering the hurdles for emerging companies to go public, Titles II and III...

By Wayne R. Pinnell • April 21, 2016

Congress Got the JOBS Act Right

As an early advocate for the JOBS Act, I firmly believe it has largely been a success. The purpose of the JOBS Act, signed into law April 5, 2012, is to promote capital formation for small businesses, IPO-ready companies, and everything in-between. There are seven titles in the Act. Though rarely...

By Nick Bhargava • April 21, 2016

Intel to Cut 11% of Workforce, Reassign CFO

Intel has decided to cut 12,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, and continue a major overhaul of its executives by reassigning CFO Stacy Smith as it seeks to accelerate its shift toward non-PC growth engines.The world’s largest chip maker announced the “restructuring initiative” Tuesday as it repo...

By Matthew Heller • April 20, 2016

ECB Stimulus: Good for Loan Volumes, Bad for Profits

The European Central Bank’s asset purchase program (APP) is encouraging banks to make loans but is hurting their profitability, according to an ECB survey.As part of its economic stimulus policies, the ECB has been buying 80 billion euros worth of securities, mainly government bonds, from banks e...

By Matthew Heller • April 19, 2016

Ex-Logitech CFO Accused of Accounting Fraud

The former CFO of Logitech International has been charged with inflating the computer accessories company’s operating income to conceal the poor sales of a television set-top device.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Monday that Erik Bardman and Logitech’s former acting controlle...

By Matthew Heller • April 19, 2016

U.S. Housing Starts, Building Permits Languish

More signs that the economy was weaker than expected in the first quarter: U.S. housing starts fell more than forecast in March and permits for future home construction hit a one-year low.Privately-owned housing starts in the United States last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 19, 2016

Where’s My Connected Car?

The shift to a “digital” economy is fundamentally changing virtually every industry. Over the next decade or so, the accelerating integration of digital technologies will make many things connected and “smarter,” capable of reporting where they are, who’s using them, and how they are used. That f...

By John Parkinson • April 19, 2016

Modern Spear Phishing is a Security Wake-Up Call

In a recent report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned that a type of spear phishing attack known as “CEO email scams” is on the rise. In those kinds of attacks, the perpetrator usually assumes the identity of someone in a position of authority and sends email requests for privileged info...

By Richard Barber • April 18, 2016

Etsy’s Growing Pains: Knitty Gritty

Etsy, an online marketplace for all things artisan, from dog soap to Bernie Sanders dolls, seems to be on a roll. In February the firm was recertified as a “B Corporation,” which meets certain social and environmental standards, and reported good results, with sales last year reaching $2.4 billio...

By Economist Staff • April 18, 2016

Tax Bill for Many Companies Comes to Zero

Many U.S. corporations have not been paying federal income tax, with even large and profitable companies having little or no liability, according to the Government Accountability Office.The watchdog said in a report that in each year from 2006 to 2012, at least two-thirds of active corporations h...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2016

U.S. Consumer Prices Inched Upward in March

While consumer prices finally started rising again in March, inflation pressures remain modest, leaving many economists to predict that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at their current level.The consumer-price index last month rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from February, the Labor ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 14, 2016

Analyst Charged in $1.5M Trading Scheme

A former analyst at a New York hedge fund has been charged with making $1.5 million in illicit profits by trading on inside information about an impending takeover.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said John Afriyie, 28, used his access to “highly confidential” information about the buy...

By Matthew Heller • April 14, 2016

On the Menu for Restaurants: Higher Earnings

Lower operating costs and stronger consumer demand will bolster top-line growth and operating income for the U.S. restaurant industry this year, said Moody’s Investors Service in a report released Thursday.The credit rating firm said steady economic growth, a decline in under-employment, lower ga...

By Vincent Ryan • April 14, 2016

Why CFOs Continue to Gain Clout in the C-Suite

When I entered the accounting profession three decades ago, chief financial officers were most often viewed as overseers of the accounting and treasury functions whose focus was to keep the lid on expenses and explain performance to shareholders and analysts. Today, it is more broadly understood ...

By Scott Marcello • April 13, 2016

IMF Cuts 2016 Growth Forecast to 3.2%

The International Monetary Fund has made another gloomy forecast for global economic growth, warning of stagnation and “doldrums” if the sluggish pace of growth continues.In its latest World Economic Outlook, the fund cut its growth forecast for this year to 3.2%, down by 0.2 percentage point fro...

By Matthew Heller • April 13, 2016

Super Tuesday: New CFOs for Workday, Revlon, Cracker Barrel

Three companies — Workday, Revlon, and Cracker Barrel — on Tuesday all named new chief financial officers.Robynne Sisco, who joined Workday in 2012 as chief accounting officer, is now CFO of the enterprise software company. Sisco will continue to report to co-president Mark Peek, who had been con...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 12, 2016