CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Aug. 18

Cynthia Earhart has been named to head finance at Norfolk Southern, taking over for interim CFO Thomas Hurlbut. Earhart joined the transportation firm in 1985 and previously was chief information officer.Mark Shamber Grocery distributor SpartanNash has appointed Mark Shamber to lead the finance f...

By Joan Urdang • Aug. 18, 2017

Employee Pay Raises to Hold Steady Next Year

U.S. companies expect to hold the line on pay raises for employees in 2018, according to a survey of 819 employers by Willis Towers Watson.The survey found that virtually all respondents (99%) are planning to hike compensation next year. Salaries for exempt (i.e., professional) non-management wor...

By David McCann • Aug. 17, 2017

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

Ex-SEC Attorney Raps WSJ Report on Enforcement Activity

If the first half of the year was any indication, the Securities and Exchange Commission is on track to have another record year for enforcement activity in 2017. Looking at data compiled in our SEC Sanctions Database, which tracks a subset of enforcement actions that resulted in monetary sanctio...

By Jordan A. Thomas • Aug. 15, 2017

Three Accused of $15M Oil Investment Scam

Two Tennessee men with criminal records and an associate in Florida have been charged with fraudulently raising $15 million by misrepresenting to investors that their funds would be used for oil drilling.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said David R. Greenlee and David A. Ste...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 11, 2017

The Cloud: A Better Expense Model

Cloud computing is one of the biggest tech trends in a generation. It’s changing IT strategy for just about every business on just about every level, and it’s driving a huge shift in spending. The global cloud market is expected to grow to $390 billion by 2020, according to research by Bain, and ...

By Roy Golding • Aug. 11, 2017

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Aug. 11

Caterpillar announced that CFO and group president Brad Halverson will retire next year. The company plans an external search for his successor.James Standen James Standen has been named to the top finance spot at Compass Minerals. He joined the firm in 2006 and had been interim CFO and treasurer...

By Joan Urdang • Aug. 11, 2017

The U.S. Jobs Market: Full Steam Ahead

June’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey affirmed what many employers are already experiencing: a growing jobs market that shows no sign of slowing down.According to Tuesday’s Labor Department report, job openings increased by 461,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.2 million in June. Openings ar...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 10, 2017

Chill Out About China

Recently, U.S. and Chinese officials concluded a marathon 100-day round of trade talks without reaching agreement on a single significant economic issue. The dialogue reportedly ended in a stalemate after China balked at the U.S. side’s demand that it curtail its alleged overproduction of steel.T...

By Lanier Saperstein • Aug. 7, 2017

Bill Ackman, ADP Heading for Proxy Fight?

Payroll processing giant ADP has apparently rebuffed an overture from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, possibly setting the stage for a proxy fight.Ackman has acquired an 8% stake in ADP through his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund, saying there is a “need for transformational chang...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2017

Much Ado About Blockchain

Companies invested about $1.4 billion in blockchain initiatives last year, officially making distributed ledger technology the sexiest piece of back-office plumbing since the modem first arrived on the scene.Simultaneously touted as a game-changer with the power to disrupt every industry and a go...

By Brian Peccarelli • Aug. 4, 2017

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending August 4

Samuel Hamood has been named to head finance at Change Healthcare, effective Aug. 21, succeeding the retiring Randy Giles. Hamood has held the top finance spot at TransUnion since 2008.SeaWorld Entertainment has named Marc Swanson interim CFO and interim treasurer, replacing the departing Peter C...

By Joan Urdang • Aug. 4, 2017

Scaramucci, Leadership, and You

To effectively lead a vitally important team, what capabilities count most? Different people might see that differently, but off the top of my head I’d say a top-flight leader possesses these traits:Insightful, innovative problem solverSharply aware of the organization’s mission, strategy, cultur...

By David McCann • Aug. 3, 2017

Plan-Design Changes Have Less Impact on Health Costs

Companies may finally be running out of ways to hold their health costs in check by tinkering with plan design, new research suggests. Plan-design changes generally reduce participant benefits, increase participants’ share of total costs, or both.In its annual Best Practices in Health Care Employ...

By David McCann • Aug. 2, 2017

SeaWorld CFO Jumps Ship

SeaWorld CFO Peter J. Crage is leaving the entertainment park operator “to assume a senior-level financial position” at an unnamed company.Craig, who will remain with the company through August, is being replaced on an interim basis by Marc G. Swanson, SeaWorld’s chief accounting officer since 20...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 1, 2017

The Road to Finance Transformation

A CFO who can accurately report on the financial position of his or her organization with great detail and insight — and on a timely basis — is empowered both immediately and in the future. For today, that accurate financial snapshot clarifies competitive positioning; for tomorrow, it enables pla...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Aug. 1, 2017

Cancer-Fighting Investments Went to Fund Restaurants

The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges to stop an alleged ongoing fraud by a Massachusetts businessman misusing investments intended for the development of cancer diagnostic tests.According to the SEC’s complaint, Patrick Muraca established two pharmaceutical development compa...

By Vincent Ryan • July 31, 2017

For a CFO, How Important Is Industry Knowledge?

In our Proformative question of the week, Wayne Spivak, president and CFO at SBAConsulting.com, writes:How important is industry knowledge to the CFO? My thesis is that all businesses are about 90% the same. They all have cash-flow issues, budgeting, products and/or services, ownership (of some t...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 31, 2017

Plotting a Path to Financial Excellence

Digital disruption, investor activism, and a host of other forces are causing companies to look to their CFOs for more strategic support. And finance chiefs are more than happy when they’re playing a bigger role than corporate number cruncher. In fact, when Bain & Co. interviewed about 100 CF...

By Laura Miles and Henrik Poppe • July 31, 2017

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 28

United States Steel has named Kevin Bradley finance chief. He takes over from Pipasu Soni, who became interim CFO when former CFO David Burritt was promoted to president and CEO. Bradley formerly headed finance at Terex.Brian Hamm Lawn-care provider TruGreen has appointed Brian Hamm to the top fi...

By Joan Urdang • July 28, 2017

The Heat Is On

Summer in North America brings to mind the power of the Sun and the fact that the many fans and air conditioners that bring relief from the “yellow dwarf” still rely on electricity from fossil fuels. But the solar industry is slowly increasing its share of electric capacity. How much do you know ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 27, 2017

Balance Due

Structuring executive compensation is a delicate balancing act that isn’t getting easier. Pay plans have multiple goals — attracting and retaining top talent, motivating performance, and keeping activist shareholders at bay — that are often at odds with each other.Ostensibly, both shareholders an...

By Keith Button • July 26, 2017

J.C. Penney Names New CFO

Jeffrey Davis, former CFO of Darden Restaurants, was named the finance chief of struggling retailer J.C. Penney on Monday.He replaces former CFO Edward Record. Andrew Dexler, who was in the job on an interim basis after Record’s resignation earlier this month, will return to his role as the retai...

By Vincent Ryan • July 25, 2017

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 21

Bruce Stanski, president of the government group at engineering and construction firm Fluor Corp. since March 2009, has been promoted to CFO, effective Aug. 4. He replaces Biggs Porter, who announced his retirement in March of this year. Porter will continue with the company as an adviser.Amit Si...

By David McCann • July 21, 2017

Lawyer Accused of Shell Company Stock Fraud

A New York attorney has been charged with making false and misleading statements in corporate filings to conceal the true ownership of a public company he co-founded.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said David Lubin, who was both a director and corporate counsel of Entertainment Art, p...

By Matthew Heller • July 20, 2017

Got Extra IP Addresses? You Can Sell Them

Can there be a “secondary market” for a scarce resource, when that resource was available to its original market for free?It’s merely a question of semantics. Whatever you call it, any company that possesses unused internet addresses — that is, internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses — can v...

By David McCann • July 19, 2017