IBM Sales Weighed Down Again by Legacy Businesses

For the 12th straight quarter, IBM has reported a year-on-year decline in revenue as the company continues its rocky transition away from its legacy businesses.Big Blue’s fourth-quarter revenue decreased 12% to $19.59 billion from $22.24 billion, falling slightly short of projections for $19.64 b...

By Matthew Heller • April 21, 2015

Greece Orders Seizure of Local Government Cash

With Greece’s cash crisis continuing to get ever more dire, the government has ordered public-sector entities to transfer cash reserves now held in commercial banks to the central bank.The administration of new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cited “extremely urgent and unforeseen needs” in taking ...

By Matthew Heller • April 21, 2015

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

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Join the Discussion: Reader Comments

We revisit a handful of comments posted recently on CFO.com. Check the articles and join your peers in the discussion. Reply to comments directly on this page.National Sales Tax Wouldn’t Depress Consumer Spending: StudyWhen a tax on consumption is a “distinct percentage add-on,” U.S. consumers te...

By Alexander Johnson • April 20, 2015

Specialty Drugs to Fuel 10% Pharmacy Cost Hike in 2016

U.S. employers could be facing a low double-digit increase in pharmacy costs by next year amid a sharp rise in the price of specialty drugs, according to an analysis by Aon Hewitt.The consulting firm forecasts that pharmacy cost increases for active employees and retirees before plan design chang...

By Matthew Heller • April 20, 2015

GE Records $13.6B Q1 Loss

General Electric’s move to shed the bulk of its banking business and refocus on its core industrial operations has resulted in a first-quarter loss of $13.57 billion.Last week the Fairfield, Conn., company said it would book roughly $16 billion in charges related to the sale of loans and assets o...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 17, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending April 17

Sandra Martin Sandra Martin has been named to the top finance spot at Tribune Publishing. She joined the firm last year as vice president of corporate finance and investor relations, and had been serving as interim CFO since the departure of John Bode.MV Transportation has appointed Bob Pagorek t...

By Joan Urdang • April 17, 2015

Yelp Dodges Subpoena for Info About Reviewers

In a case with First Amendment implications, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a judge could not force Yelp, a provider of crowdsourced reviews of local businesses, to turn over information about anonymous posters who allegedly defamed a Virginia carpet-cleaning company.A trial judge...

By Matthew Heller • April 16, 2015

Moody’s Sees 6.5% Profit Growth in Consumer Durables

Moody’s Investors Service has upwardly revised its forecast for operating profit growth in the U.S. consumer durables industry, citing increasing consumer confidence and the accelerating release of pent-up demand from middle-income consumers.Moody’s says it now expects now expects the sector’s ag...

By Matthew Heller • April 16, 2015

Robust Risk Management May Lift Margins

Companies that use risk management to accelerate performance and drive growth record higher profit margins than other firms, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report.In its Risk in Review 2015 report, PwC says many companies believe that a robust risk management strategy will slow them do...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2015

Suit Against Ex-Freddie Mac Execs Ends With ‘Whimper’

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against three former Freddie Mac executives that arose from the mortgage meltdown has ended in a relatively modest settlement.The executives, including CEO Richard Syron, were accused of misleading investors into believing Freddie Mac had far ...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2015

What Kind of Problem Solver Are You?

Most humans are by nature problem solvers. It’s been an important evolutionary trait that has fueled social and economic evolution for at least the past half a million years, and we all do it to some extent every day at work and at home.But few people truly understand the range of approaches to s...

By John Parkinson • April 15, 2015

Google Says EU Allegations Off the Mark

The European Commission on Wednesday accused Google of abusing its online search dominance by favoring its own comparison shopping product over others in search results. The Mountain View, Calif., company has 10 days to respond to the commission’s so-called “statement of objections.”“In the case ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 15, 2015

Data Breach Costs Overstated, Verizon Suggests

Data security breaches may not be as expensive for companies as has previously been thought, according to a new report from Verizon.In its eighth annual Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon for the first time offers predicted data breach cost ranges, casting doubt on an older formula that d...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2015

U.S. Shale Oil Output Set to Fall

Aggressive oil industry cutbacks to counter falling prices is about to dramatically slow U.S. shale oil production — at least temporarily, according to a Bloomberg article Monday.The Energy Information Administration said that North Dakota’s Bakken shale oil production and the output of other “pr...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 14, 2015

CEO Firings Drop to Lowest Level Since 2005

The improving U.S. economy may be having a positive effect on the job security of CEOs.According to the 2015 edition of CEO Succession Practices, released Tuesday by The Conference Board, CEO firings last year declined to their lowest rate since 2005. Less than 16% of CEO turnover in 2014 was due...

By Matthew Heller • April 14, 2015

Longtime CFO Mark Buthman: “I’m Ready for a Change”

Mark Buthman graduated from the University of Iowa in May of 1982 with a degree in finance and business. The next month, he went to work for Kimberly-Clark as a cost analyst at a Memphis manufacturing facility.Thirty-three years later, he is still with the paper-products maker, the only full-time...

By David McCann • April 14, 2015

Regulator Questions On-Call Scheduling

Workforce management software helps companies be more efficient, but are some companies using it to break the law?The New York Attorney General’s Office is seeking information from a number of large retailers on whether they use on-call scheduling systems — and whether employees, as is required, ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 13, 2015

Drought in California: The Price is Wrong

California is no longer taking a laid-back approach to drought. On April 1, for the first time, the Golden State imposed mandatory curbs on water use. Governor Jerry Brown ordered 400 local water-supply agencies, which serve 90% of residents, to deliver 25% less over the coming year. Communities ...

By Economist Staff • April 13, 2015

Tax Compliance Burden Weighs on Small-business Owners

Two-thirds of U.S. small-business owners say federal taxes have a significant-to-moderate impact on their day-to-day operations and one-third are spending more than 80 hours a year on complying with their tax obligations, according to the National Small Business Association.With the tax filing de...

By Matthew Heller • April 10, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending April 10

Claudia San Pedro Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic has promoted vice president of investor relations, communications and treasurer Claudia San Pedro to CFO and treasurer. As finance chief, she succeeds Stephen Vaughan, who has been promoted to executive vice president of franchise operations, fina...

By David Katz • April 10, 2015

The Strategist CFO: A Conversation with ADP’s Jan Siegmund

Broader expectations of the role of the finance chief are leading to some unconventional CFOs—executives with deep experience outside the traditional finance, comptroller, and accounting career paths. This is especially so the more companies rely on the CFO to shape, refine, and implement their s...

By Basel Kayyali and Ishaan Seth • April 8, 2015

Starbucks Commits $250 Million to Employee Tuition

Starbucks and Arizona State University are expanding their joint scholarship effort to give eligible Starbucks employees a full ride to the college’s online degree program.The parties announced in a joint press release Monday that the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, introduced in June 2014, w...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 7, 2015

Business-Backed Cyber Bill Getting Down to the Wire

A major cybersecurity bill backed by business groups could be derailed if Congress does not pass it by the end of this month, The Hill reports.Sen. Ron Wyden The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) would give companies legal liability protections when they share cyber threat data with th...

By Matthew Heller • April 6, 2015

8 Steps to Stronger Information Risk Management

Believe me, I know how hard it is to get funding to strengthen your information risk management program.  Ask pretty much any CEO to find the time to talk about risk management (much less formalize a risk management program) and you’re likely to get an eye roll.Less than half (45%) of the 103 U.S...

By Mary A. Chaput • April 6, 2015

Job Gains Much Weaker Than Forecast

The U.S. economy created only half of the jobs that experts projected it would create in March, the weakest showing in payroll additions 15 months.The economy added 126,000 new nonfarm jobs last month, the smallest gain since December 2013, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5%, the Labor...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 3, 2015