Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment Down 54%

“VCs continue to urge their portfolio companies to seek liquidity, even if it means taking lower overall returns via an acquisition,” according to the PitchBook/NVCA report.

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 2, 2023

Bally’s CFO, July Jobs Report, Thriving Amid Uncertainty: Trial Balance

The week ahead includes the latest labor productivity report, Apple and Amazon earnings, and more. 

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 31, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

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

Kroll Lowers Equity Risk Premium to 5.5%

The U.S. economy may be entering a period of less uncertainty around inflation, interest rates, and economic growth.

By Vincent Ryan • July 19, 2023

Red Sox CFO, Economic Reports, and Finance CIOs

This week we look ahead to June retail sales, SEC’s Gensler discussing AI, and more.

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 17, 2023

57% of CFOs Will Increase Internal Investments Over the Next 12 Months: Weekly Stat

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty and an abundance of risks, new McKinsey data shows that most CFOs are pushing for growth.

By Adam Zaki • July 12, 2023

3 Ways to Accelerate Travel Expense Approval and Reimbursement: Metric of the Month

Companies that reimburse employees more quickly save time and money, while reducing finance teams' and employees' frustrations.

By Perry D. Wiggins • July 5, 2023

The 6 Most-Read CFO Stories in 2023 (So Far)

As we enter the second half of 2023, we take a look back at the top CFO stories that captured finance executives’ attention.

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 30, 2023

4 Tactics for CFOs to Navigate Economic Uncertainty

With inflation still high and the Fed pushing rates higher, talks of whether or not the world is headed into recession continue to persist. While a potential recession is concerning, it’s not all doom and gloom. Economic downturns provide opportunities to level up: finance smarter, do more with s...

By Sonalee Parekh • June 27, 2023

Net Working Capital Up 11%: Working Capital Scorecard

Net working capital (NWC) — the difference between a company’s current assets (cash, accounts receivable/customers’ unpaid bills, and inventories of raw materials and finished goods) and its current liabilities (such as accounts payable and debts), according to Investopedia — is a funny measure.T...

By Vincent Ryan • June 21, 2023

Working Capital Scorecard 2023: Supplier Clout Limits Liquidity Boost

Ask a CFO what dashboard they review first thing in the morning, and most say cash-related metrics — accounts receivable, accounts payable, and the latest payments to hit the firm's bank account.High inflation, higher interest rates, and significant wage increases focused CFOs on short-term liqui...

By Vincent Ryan • June 14, 2023

47% of Cash Reserves Remain in Deposits Following Bank Failures

The recent failure of three regional U.S. banks is likely influencing companies to lower their allocation of cash and short-term investments to bank deposits. Less than half (47%) of such reserves were parked in banks as of March 2023, according to the Association for Finance Professionals&rsq...

By David McCann • June 14, 2023

8 Keys to Building Trusted Banking Relationships

Liquidity is the lifeblood of a company, especially a small business. Driven by ongoing economic turbulence and disruption, monitoring cash and accurately forecasting future cash flows has become a top priority. It’s a business imperative to keep on top of and effectively manage everything from p...

By Steve McNally • June 12, 2023

How CFOs Can Optimize Cash Flow: 4 Steps

CFOs have always served as mission-critical liaisons between different units within a business, conduits to sponsors of private equity-backed businesses, and overseers of efforts to scale business growth. They plan for and measure success while holding people accountable for achieving that succes...

By Junaid Samnani and Sanjay Purohit • June 6, 2023

How AI Will Transform the Ability to Collect Business Debt

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds tremendous promise for creditors who want to reduce the impact of bad debt on cash flow and profitability. Already, AI is helping B2C lenders predict which customers are likeliest to fall behind and design strategies to quickly resolve past-due amounts.  Because...

By Dean Kaplan • May 23, 2023

Want to Negotiate Better Deals? Research, Prepare, and Frame

CFOs who can negotiate well provide an upside that can help make sure the business isn’t overpaying for things like technology and labor.

By Adam Zaki • May 12, 2023

Best in Class CFOs Drive 6.6% Savings With Spend Management Tech: Weekly Stat

Profitability and cost control have been at the forefront of CFOs' priorities in 2023. And with it, decision-making around expenses, aided by technology, has become the finance chief's mandate. Growth inhibitors, including a looming recession, unstable banks, and even talent retention issues cont...

By Adam Zaki • May 3, 2023

Is Your Chart of Accounts Too Long? Metric of the Month

The chart of accounts (COA) is a listing of the general ledger account names and identification numbers arranged in the order in which they customarily appear in financial statements. It can also include a description of what should be included in each account. The COA is a key accounting tool us...

By Perry D. Wiggins • May 3, 2023

CFO Leadership Conference East

Join us June 6-8 at the CFO Leadership Conference East. Register today to receive 15% off your ticket using code CFOCOM15.

By CFO Editorial Staff • May 2, 2023

5 Ways to Reduce Accounts Receivable Risks, Strengthen Cash Flow

The current business outlook is fraught with uncertainties that are causing sleepless nights for many CFOs. Recession worries, high-interest rates, and the struggle to maintain a stable, engaged workforce while controlling labor costs are just a few of the pain points noted by analysts in early Q...

By Dean Kaplan • April 18, 2023

68% of CFOs Still Expect Net Profits to Rise in 2023

The first quarter of 2023 introduced an expanding set of challenges for CFOs — bank insolvency issues, a determined Federal Reserve, and escalation of the war in Ukraine. But finance chiefs remain resilient in the face of a whirlwind of external forces on costs, talent, supply chains, and corpora...

By Adam Zaki • April 12, 2023

The Four-Day Workweek, March’s Job Numbers, and Reducing Cyber Risk: Trial Balance

With OPEC’s slashing of production, ChatGPT’s innovation being globally challenged, and the U.S. dollar’s struggle to remain the world’s reserve currency, March’s ending wasn’t very “lamb-like.” To evaluate Wall Street's reaction to all of the recent hurdles faced by the financial sector, senior ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • April 3, 2023

Emerging Cannabis Markets: Cloudy Regulations, High Potential

Cannabis markets, and the organizations that function within these markets, have respired with the same issues faced by many CFOs across the industry spectrum. Amid the myriad 2023 challenges, the cannabis industry has them all — supply chain, talent acquisition and retention, technology implemen...

By Adam Zaki • March 6, 2023

91% of CFOs Concerned with Hitting Sales Forecasts: Weekly Stat

Despite recent widespread agreement a recession would likely occur in 2023, CFOs have shown confidence in their companies' ability to bob and weave their way through a struggling economy. Despite this confidence, new data suggests that there are multiple financial, social, and technology-induced ...

By Adam Zaki • Feb. 15, 2023

4 Ways to Turn Your KPIs Into Strategic Assets

In the digital economy, businesses are finding new paths to success. That means the metrics used to measure and steer performance need to change too — but many companies are still wedded to old-school key performance indicators (KPIs) that don’t fully reflect the needs of today’s organizations.Me...

By Alka Tandan • Feb. 14, 2023

Small Company CFOs Gear Up for Heightened Spending

With odds improving that the economy will escape falling into a recession in 2023, small-company CFOs are all-in with plans to ramp up business spending this year.Even before financial firms lowered their expectations for a recessionary year — Goldman Sachs, for example, recently downgraded the l...

By David McCann • Feb. 13, 2023