CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 29

Ronald Domanico has been named to lead the finance function at The Brink’s Co., succeeding Joseph Dziedzic. Most recently, Domanico was senior vice president, strategic initiatives and capital markets, at Recall Holdings.Jack Callahan Controller and chief accounting officer Robert MacKay has been...

By Joan Urdang • July 29, 2016

Small Companies Are Dropping Health Benefits

In the wake of the Affordable Care Act, while large employers are continuing to offer health benefits to their workers, many smaller ones are opting out, according to new findings by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.The EBRI analysis examines the percentage of employers offering health ins...

By David McCann • July 28, 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

Securities Class-Action Cases on the Rise

Plaintiffs filed 119 new federal securities class action cases in the first half of 2016, a 17% increase over the second half of 2015, according to Securities Class Action Filings — 2016 Midyear Assessment, a new report released Tuesday by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securiti...

By Vincent Ryan • July 27, 2016

CFOs Divulge Their Eclectic Leisure Pastimes

On Feb. 26, 2005, Kurt Schmidt went with family members to the Black Otter Supper Club in Milwaukee for his daughter’s 16th birthday dinner.The restaurant had on its menu a challenge entrée: anyone who could eat the entire “Extreme Cut” steak would get it for free. For some reason, the challenge ...

By David McCann • July 26, 2016

Why CFOs Need to Consider Sustainability

With sustainability capturing the attention of consumers, regulators, activists and the media, organizations can no longer afford to put it on the back burner. Sustainable initiatives are now integral to a company’s overall business strategy and as such, the responsibility for driving these progr...

By Pierre-Francois Thaler • July 25, 2016

GE Posts Higher Q2 Earnings and Revenue

General Electric reported a 15% rise in second-quarter revenue and strong earnings gains, even as the company continued to cope with volatile oil and gas markets and to shed the remainder of its GE Capital banking division.GE revenue rose to $33.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $29.2 billi...

By Christopher Hosford • July 22, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 22

David Marberger has been chosen to replace retiring finance chief John Gehring at ConAgra Foods, effective Aug. 29. Marberger currently heads finance at Prestige Brands.Noel Samuel Research firm Abt Associates has appointed Noel Samuel to the top finance spot. He joins the firm from immixGroup, w...

By Joan Urdang • July 22, 2016

Smartwatch Sales Take a Tumble

Worldwide sales of smartwatches plummeted in the second quarter of 2016, according to preliminary data from International Data Corporation’s quarterly Wearable Device Tracker report. Vendors shipped 3.5 million units last quarter, down from 5.1 million one year ago.Apple took the biggest hit, wit...

By Vincent Ryan • July 21, 2016

Agility Demands IT-Business Alignment

For years I’ve been writing about the “IT-Business Singularity.” The idea is that modern business not only relies on IT, but in fact is made possible by IT. If you believe that, then surely the fact that “IT” and “the business” are often at loggerheads appears to be insane. But the fact is that t...

By Romi Mahajan • July 21, 2016

Risk Accounting and Economic Profit

If CFOs were to be asked what keeps them awake at night, their answer is likely to be “unexpected losses.” There can be no worse experience for a CFO than to have to explain to the CEO, the board, the media and, in extreme cases, in congressional or similar governmental hearings, why he or she on...

By Peter Hughes • July 20, 2016

What Promise Does the IoT Hold for Your Business?

This is the third article in a three-part series on commercial applications of the Internet of Things. Read the others here and here.If you manage factories, airlines, hospitals, or farms, you probably know something about the Internet of Things. If you don’t, your thoughts on the IoT may start a...

By Timothy Chou • July 20, 2016

Teens Find Summer Jobs After All

After a weak first month, many more teenagers found summer jobs in June, with employment among 16- to 19-year-olds increasing by 691,000, said Challenger, Gray & Christmas.The 691,000 employment gain recorded last month represents a 13% improvement over June 2015, when 609,000 teenagers found...

By Vincent Ryan • July 19, 2016

8 Keys to Becoming the CEO’s Trusted Strategic Adviser

Competitive threats from new market entrants and established competitors are forcing CEOs to develop a greater appetite for risk. CEOs see danger in maintaining the status quo; to achieve growth, CEOs believe they need to be more aggressive about taking on risk. In fact, according to a study done...

By Kathy Crusco • July 18, 2016

Summer Spectacle

On August 5, the Summer Olympic Games will open in Rio de Janeiro. Thought to cost as much as $20 billion to stage, the quadrennial event takes place amid Brazil’s worst recession since the 1930s, the impeachment of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, and the threat of the mosquito-borne Zika vir...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 15, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 15

Logicalis has named Sally Brandtneris to lead the finance function in the United States. She joins the managed-services provider from Stefanini IT Solutions, where she was also finance chief.James Mikolaichik James Mikolaichik has been appointed to head finance at Hilton Grand Vacations when it s...

By Joan Urdang • July 15, 2016

Over a Barrel

The 2016 CFO/REL Working Capital ScorecardWorking capital performance among America’s largest companies took a turn for the worse in 2015. After three years of stability, the cash conversion cycle — the amount of time that cash is tied up in working capital — increased by 7% (2.4 days) for the 1,...

By Edward Teach • July 14, 2016

United to Take $412M Hit on Newark Slots

United Airlines will take a special charge of $434 million in the second quarter, largely due to a regulatory move that has made its takeoff and landing time slots at Newark Liberty International Airport worthless.United dominates Newark, one of the nation’s most important airports, with a 73% sh...

By Matthew Heller • July 13, 2016

Activist Fund Fined $11M on Antitrust Charges

Activist investor ValueAct has agreed to pay a record $11 million to settle charges that it failed to seek antitrust clearance for its investments in Baker Hughes and Halliburton after the energy firms announced their proposed merger.The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires buyers of more than $78.2 mi...

By Matthew Heller • July 13, 2016

Johnson Controls Fined $14M Over China Bribes

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has fined manufacturing company Johnson Controls $14 million over about $4.9 million in bribes that its Chinese subsidiary paid to employees of Chinese government-owned shipyards through sham vendors.From 2007 to 2013, the SEC said in an administrative ...

By Matthew Heller • July 12, 2016

Worldwide PC Sales Fall Again, But Less Than Expected

Shipments of personal computers worldwide fell for the seventh straight quarter as consumers increasingly relied on tablets and smart phones and companies delayed hardware replacements. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.4 million units in the second quarter of 2016, a year-on-year decline of 4.5%...

By Christopher Hosford • July 12, 2016

Metric of the Month: Accounts Payable Process Performance

The adage “time is money” hits home for managers of payables processing. To make the most of staff time and keep process costs under control, invoice errors must be resolved quickly.On the supplier side, your counterparts in accounts receivable appreciate quick resolution of errors, too. Nothing ...

By Mary C. Driscoll • July 11, 2016

IRS Seeks Facebook Records in Tax Probe

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking records from Facebook as part of an investigation into whether the social network understated its 2010 tax liability by valuing intangible assets it sold to an Irish subsidiary too cheaply.The Justice Department filed a court petition last week asking a fed...

By Matthew Heller • July 11, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 8

Del Monte Foods has promoted Paul Miller to the top finance spot. He joined the firm in 2014 as senior vice president and controller, and last year was appointed as senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer.Mark McCollum, who had been named chief integration officer at Hallibu...

By Joan Urdang • July 8, 2016

McDonald’s to Take $235 Million Charge in Q2

McDonald’s will take a $235 million pre-tax charge in the second quarter to account for the costs of refranchising thousands of restaurants and moving its headquarters to downtown Chicago.The fast-food giant on Thursday said the charge will lower profit by about 20 cents a share as it seeks to sa...

By Christopher Hosford • July 8, 2016

The Most Crucial KPI: Pricing Power

The rise of the digital enterprise has come with a rash of new issues that must be addressed. Organizations are struggling to utilize the increasing quantity of data available, make sense out of it, and create value for their customers in order to establish long-term profit growth.As such, CFOs t...

By John Oosterhouse and Stephan Liozu • July 7, 2016