CFO Conundrum: We Need Workers, But Can We Afford Them?

You can get good help today — but it’s far from easy. A combination of economic and societal factors has turned hiring staff into one of the trickiest propositions companies face.Most companies are optimistic about their long-term financial prospects, so they have a great need for new blood in th...

By David McCann • Aug. 31, 2022

CFO Insights on Inflation, Workforce Challenges, and Future Plans 

Download our 2022 survey report for a high-level view of finance team projections and strategies, directly from our CFO.com executive readers.

By CFO Editorial Staff • Aug. 31, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Valuations of 2020, 2021 Software IPOs Sink

Finance chiefs of privately held software companies that envision a future initial public offering may have a long wait. On the other hand, potential buyers of public software companies may want to kick the tires on targets with shrinking valuations.Stock market investors have been unkind to the ...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 30, 2022

Durable Goods Orders Flat in July: Weekly Stat

Manufacturing orders for some equipment slowed in the United States in July, but only slightly. New orders for manufactured durable goods — products meant to last at least three years — fell less than $0.1 billion, or virtually unchanged, to $273.5 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Wednesda...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 24, 2022

Economists Doubt Fed Will Avoid Recession

Waging war on inflation could be costly.JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon told clients last week there’s only a 10% chance of a U.S. economic slowdown that doesn’t lead to a recession. The other probabilities he supplied:10% chance of a soft landing20% to 30% chance of a "harder landing"...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 23, 2022

3 Roles CFOs Must Learn to Be an M&A Player

CFOs are the truth-tellers of the executive team. They bring facts and certainty to the company's decision-making process. Not surprisingly, the diligence and precision with which they approach their day-to-day tasks also make them indispensable in a merger or acquisition.But being an M&A pla...

By Frank Williamson • Aug. 22, 2022

N.Y. Manufacturing Business Conditions Index Dives 42 Points: Weekly Stat

Though workers in the U.S. manufacturing sector were more productive in the second quarter, as reported last week, data this week suggest declining business conditions for goods-producing firms, at least in New York State.The Empire State Manufacturing Index for August showed a steep fall (42 poi...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 17, 2022

Corporate Bond Issues Fall More Than 25% Through Q2: Weekly Stat

On Tuesday, Facebook parent Meta Platforms raised $10 billion in its first-ever corporate bond issue. But don’t expect other companies to follow suit.Sharply higher interest rates and capital market volatility will weigh on U.S. nonfinancial corporate debt issuance through 2022, said Fitch Rating...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 10, 2022

How the Real Estate Industry Is Addressing ESG Compliance

How much does it cost to heat and cool the globe’s millions of office buildings and other commercial structures? A lot more than it should, as it turns out.A majority of such buildings waste from 10% to 30% of their energy output, according to Logan Soya, founder of Aquicore, considered to be the...

By Ted Jackson • Aug. 9, 2022

1 in 4 Banks Reported Tightening Loan Terms in Q2: Weekly Stat

File this data under the category, “Signals that banks are restricting credit.”After some easing of business lending standards in 2021 and 2022, domestic U.S. banks may be getting more scrupulous when it comes to borrowers and the terms they offer on commercial and industrial (C&I) loans.The ...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 3, 2022

5 Ways CFOs Can Maximize Access to Capital

Over the past few years, companies issued record volumes of debt, and now that interest rates have doubled in the past six months finance teams are becoming nervous. This is understandable for companies with floating-rate debt or significant upcoming maturities. But otherwise, CFOs can find some ...

By Reuben Daniels • Aug. 2, 2022

GDP Contracts 0.9%, Fed Raises Rates 0.75% As Tightening Cycle Continues

Less than one day after the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal funds rate by 75 basis points, the advance estimate for second-quarter GDP showed the U.S. economy contracted by 0.9%.Although Fed Chair Jerome Powell insisted on Wednesday the U.S. economy was not in a re...

By Vincent Ryan • July 28, 2022

3 M&A Pitfalls CFOs Must Avoid

Deciding to move forward on a company merger is a team effort — and one of the most indispensable members of that team is the CFO.Other members of the executive team might offer out-of-the-box ideas, sales experience, or the ability to weigh long-term strategy. But when it comes to deal-making, t...

By Frank Williamson • July 25, 2022

9.1% CPI Inflation Will Pressure Fed: Weekly Stat

CFOs woke up to not-so-great news on the inflation front Wednesday. The headline consumer price index hit 9.1% in June, another 40-year high. That was 30 basis points above most economists' estimates. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI increased 5.9% compared with the 5...

By Vincent Ryan • July 13, 2022

ESG is Now Table Stakes — Is Your Company Still On the Sidelines?

We often say today’s best practices are tomorrow’s requirements.  Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives are no exception. Today, most large-cap leaders have well-established ESG programs and are evolving their approach and finding new ways to attract sustainability-focused inves...

By Moira Conlon and Leigh Ann Johnston • July 12, 2022

1 Out of 3 Companies Increased Cash Holdings: Weekly Stat

The Association for Financial Professionals’ annual Liquidity Survey takes a thorough look into corporate treasury trends and information on corporate cash holdings, cash management, and short-term investing. Among other questions on cash management, the survey asks whether balance sheet cash inc...

By Vincent Ryan • July 6, 2022

The Rise of ESG: Where It Is Now and How It Got Here

Germany’s top money manager DWS was rocked by scandal in early June as police and agents from that county’s securities regulator BaFin swarmed into the company’s Frankfurt head office to investigate allegations of greenwashing.Greenwashing is the practice of claiming to follow environmental, soci...

By Ted Jackson • July 5, 2022

CFOs: 9.3% Jump in Prices Will Wipe Out Real Revenue Growth

CFOs' views of the economy and the future financial performance of their own companies worsened in the second quarter, according to results of The CFO Survey released Wednesday. Overall optimism about the U.S. economy fell to its lowest point in nearly 10 years.Compared with the first quarter, th...

By Vincent Ryan • June 29, 2022

Strategic Acquisitions: Their Mistake Could Be Your Next Opportunity

Jeff Bezos famously said, “your margin is my opportunity.” Amazon certainly delivered in the decade since these words were spoken, despite its early naysayers. Unfortunately, recent history has also shown that a similar mentality in less able hands creates chaos and destroys value. Many neglected...

By Kal Vadasz • June 27, 2022

Tracking GDP Growth Estimates: Weekly Stat

Predicting a recession — especially the timing  — is difficult. And even when you’re right, you can be wrong.In March 2019, the yield on three-month and 10-year Treasuries inverted. And two-thirds of finance chiefs surveyed by Duke University and CFO expected the U.S. economy to be in a recession...

By Vincent Ryan • June 17, 2022

Equity Markets Near Stall Speed: Weekly Stat

A company is unlikely to sell new stock if the equities markets are not welcoming new issues with open arms, market volatility is high, a depressed stock price would make equity expensive, or a slew of other reasons. This year, multiple variables have put many initial public offerings (IPOs) and ...

By Vincent Ryan • June 3, 2022

Fixing Invoice Errors Shouldn’t Take a Week: Metric of the Month

Invoicing errors are a waste of time for all parties. The customer not only has to contact you (the supplier) to resolve the error, but your employees need to investigate its cause. Then, ideally, an employee has to take action to make sure the problem doesn’t recur.  Invoicing errors happen for ...

By Perry D. Wiggins • June 1, 2022

7 CFO Tips for Taking Your Company Public

If you want the straight story on what it’s like taking a company public, Mike Ellis has some thoughts for you. At the CFO Leadership Conference in Boston on Friday, Ellis, named a Boston Business Journal CFO of the Year, offered an inside look into how a CFO prepares a company for an initial pub...

By Vincent Ryan • May 23, 2022

Data Integration Drives Successful Mergers

A lackluster integration process is often to blame if a merger or acquisition doesn’t create new value for a combined entity. However, despite the prevalence of the problem, the dreaded post-merger integration (PMI) failure still slips under far too many corporate radars.   Stacy GalliganThankful...

By Stacy Galligan • May 16, 2022

CFO to CEO: 6 Tips to Prepare for the Top Spot

When Peloton Interactive and Hertz recently named former CFOs to the CEO position, they were keeping up with a trend. According to the Crist|Kolder Associates Volatility 2021 Report, 7.9% of the chief executive officers appointed in 2021 came from the CFO seat – up from 5.6% in 2012.  But unlike ...

By Sandra Beckwith • May 10, 2022