December’s 46.2 Manufacturing PMI Shows Industry Contracted

Since April 2022, S&P Global's PMI — or purchasing managers index — has been on a slide. That means tougher operating conditions for U.S. manufacturers. December's index reading was 46.2 (seasonally adjusted), down from 47.4 in November when it dropped below the all-important level of 50 for ...

By Vincent Ryan • Jan. 4, 2023

SEC OKs Changes to Insider Securities Trading Rules

Just one year after the amendments to Rule 10b5-1 executive trading plans were proposed, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Dec.14 to adopt the rule changes.The changes are designed to eliminate any potential loopholes in the stock trading plans that could allow corporate insiders to...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 19, 2022

Scenario Planning: A Roadmap Through Recession and Inflation

For the first time in well over a decade, American businesses are looking a possible — perhaps probable — economic recession in the eye. With many companies just now recovering from the pandemic, everything from cash flow and capital investments to debt covenants and labor are once again clouded ...

By Stacy Galligan • Dec. 5, 2022

SEC Awarded $229M to 103 Whistleblowers in 2022

The Securities and Exchange Commission received 12,322 whistleblower tips in fiscal year 2022 — the most ever and a slight increase from 2021, according to its annual report to Congress.The rise in inbound tips, especially in the last two years, shows that the program’s enhanced confidentiality p...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 30, 2022

What CFOs Need to Know About the IRS Employee Retention Credit Crackdowns

The CARES Act of March 2020, Relief Act of 2021, and American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided trillions of dollars in government-backed financial incentives to U.S. companies to help them weather the COVID-19 pandemic. These financial incentives proved extremely valuable at a time when uncertain...

By Gary Wallace • Oct. 25, 2022

8 Tips for CFOs to Create Ethical Guardrails

The ninth annual Global Ethics Day is celebrated today, October 19, with the theme “Ethics Empowered.” After 20+ years at a Fortune 500 consumer goods company, I’m now CFO for a smaller, private company. In the spirit of Global Ethics Day, I’m going to explore how ethical decision-making plays ou...

By Steve McNally • Oct. 19, 2022

DOJ Encouraging Self-Disclosure as Guilty Pleas in Corporate Crimes Down 70%

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking steps against corporate crimes, as a recent report from the sentencing commission shows a sharp decrease in guilty pleas by corporations. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and company have announced on multiple fronts that these numbers aren’t bein...

By Adam Zaki • Oct. 12, 2022

The Strong Dollar is a Problem for Companies Doing Business Abroad

The soaring U.S. dollar, up at more than a two-decade high against the Euro so far this year, is leading to dislocations in America’s international trade profile as the muscular greenback makes imports cheaper for American consumers but makes exports of American goods a lot less competitive and m...

By Ted Jackson • Oct. 10, 2022

Why Does the U.S. Dollar Continue to Surge?

In mid-July, going relatively unnoticed, a historic event occurred in the foreign exchange market: the soaring U.S. dollar traded at parity with the Euro. A level that has only been hit once before, and that was over 20 years ago. This year in particular has been a historic one for the U.S. dolla...

By Ted Jackson • Oct. 4, 2022

Taiwan Tensions: Reassessing the Risks of Operating in China

Companies with Chinese ties are facing the biggest escalation of risks in decades, as the race for clean energy combines with rising geopolitical tensions to undermine already fragile trade relations with Washington. This is not just a squall that CEOs can hope to ride out while relations return ...

By Lou Longo • Sept. 27, 2022

Half of CFOs Rethinking Efficient Supply Chains

In a new Protiviti survey released Sept. 20, nearly three-quarters of global finance executives (72%) said their organization "experienced disruptions or delays because of supply chain challenges, pandemic-related impacts, or the effects of inflation" in the past year.Indeed, supply chain disrupt...

By Vincent Ryan • Sept. 21, 2022

7 Ways CFOs Can Create Value With ERM

More than ever, CEOs, boards, and cross-functional partners are looking for their CFO to bring structure to the decision-making process. While they need support in clarifying and executing their business strategies, there is also a desire for greater assurance over the viability of these strategi...

By Steve McNally • Sept. 6, 2022

Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal’s Death Follows Stock Fraud Allegations

Gustavo Arnal, CFO of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBB), reportedly jumped to his death on Friday, September 2, from a New York City skyscraper where he lived. Arnal, a veteran finance executive who held the role of CFO at BBB since May 2020, was among a number of defendants recently named in a class-a...

By Andy Burt • Sept. 5, 2022

3 Ways Finance Is Armoring Up for a Future of Disruption

The office of finance has navigated organizations through one of the most disruptive periods in living memory. Unfortunately for the finance teams directing the front lines of business, there’s no time to take a breather. Teams that fail to facilitate responsiveness in strategic and operational d...

By Alessio Lolli • Aug. 15, 2022

4 Ways SMBs Can Recession-Proof Their Businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are known as the backbone of the U.S. economy and play a major role in most economies, with tremendous contributions to job creation. They represent about 90% of businesses, and more than 50% of employment worldwide.Although some continue to thrive, many S...

By Michael Levine • Aug. 4, 2022

Is Your Internal Control Environment Up to Date?

Amid the upheaval of recent workforce shifts such as the Great Resignation and remote work, it's likely your financial processes have been disrupted more than you realize. As a result of constantly adapting over the past two and a half years, many companies find themselves vulnerable to weaknesse...

By Mary Wisenski • June 28, 2022

3 Rising Risks CFOs Must Navigate in Second Half of 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed some systemic weaknesses in the global supply chain, changes in customer and investor preferences, an increase in remote working models, and the need to reconfigure third-party risk service models. In short, the pandemic has transformed the meaning of risk for execu...

By Simone Grimes • June 9, 2022

How Litigation Funding Can Protect a Small Company’s Cash Flow

For companies of all sizes and in all jurisdictions, a common emphasis is on reducing risk exposure and costs while still looking for opportunities to maximize revenues, market share, and advance business objectives. When the prospect of litigation arises, companies can struggle with issues such ...

By Grant Farrar • April 19, 2022

A CFO’s Guide to Carbon Offsets

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a proposal to mandate companies disclose climate-related risks that could impact their businesses. The proposal is open for a 60-day comment period and will almost certainly face legal scrutiny after. Should it be codified, organizat...

By Suzy Taherian • April 13, 2022

Cryptocurrency Case May Lead to Disclosure of Investment Risks

For CFOs considering adding digital assets to their cash management strategy, there hasn’t been much guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, answers to such questions as “What are the risks?” and even “Are digital assets subject to SEC regulation?” are unclear.But ...

By Matthew Heller • April 7, 2022

What the Ukraine Crisis Means for CFOs

Why should American financial officers care about the business impact of the Ukraine conflict? After all, Russia and Ukraine combined account for under 2% of global GDP, and relatively few U.S. companies have direct supply or partnership links with them.  Lou LongoBut this terrible war has huge i...

By Lou Longo • March 29, 2022

Managing Legal Risks Without a General Counsel

In a 2016 article for the Harvard Business Review, former General Electric general counsel Ben W. Heineman, Jr., wrote, “The CFO-GC alliance has always been important because the finance function and the legal function are truly the nervous system of the corporation — sending critical signals to ...

By Andy Brownstein • March 22, 2022

Supply Chain Turmoil: Applying the Lessons

Will all suppliers learn from the disarray and turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic? Unfortunately, no, according to Kevin Linderman, chair of the supply chain and information systems department at Penn State University. After such an event, firms can engage in “antilearning” behavior, wrote Linderma...

By Vincent Ryan • March 15, 2022

Weekly Stat: Will PPI Continue to Predict Rise in Overall Inflation?

On fourth-quarter earnings calls, anecdotal evidence clearly showed the prices of many goods and services produced by U.S. businesses were outpacing consumer inflation.For example, packaged food company Conagra Brands endured quarterly gross inflation in the double digits. In early January, CFO D...

By Vincent Ryan • Feb. 22, 2022

The DOJ Targets Fraud: 5 Things to Know

The costs to build and run a company compliance program can run into the millions or tens of millions of dollars. But the cost of non-compliance — in the form of fines, loss of customer trust, lost productivity, and operational expenses related to remediation — can be double or triple that.On Oct...

By Russ Banham • Feb. 18, 2022