Companies (Almost) Without Borders

The global economy is changing and for businesses to stay competitive, they will have to enter new markets overseas and across the world, according to a panel of finance chiefs assembled Wednesday for a CFO RoundTable event on globalization.To begin, though, companies have to define what global m...

By Alissa Ponchione • Nov. 21, 2013

Sink or Swim: Video

How do you grow an organization that relies heavily on volunteers? Many nonprofits have struggled with this question, and probably few more acutely than U.S. Masters Swimming, a 60,000 member organization that encourages adults to swim. U.S. Masters launched in Sarasota, Florida in 1970. Until 20...

By Marielle Segarra • Nov. 20, 2013

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

Small Firms at Risk of Health-Plan Cancellations, Too

Individuals whose health plans have been canceled or not renewed because they wouldn’t have complied with the Affordable Care Act come Jan. 1 have been big news. Hardly any talk has been heard about the impact on small companies with noncompliant plans.Some of those companies stand to have their ...

By David McCann • Nov. 15, 2013

The Other Successful Tech IPO: Veeva Systems

Standing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Veeva Systems’ CEO Peter Gassner, CFO Tim Cabral and its original 10 employees were feeling excited and a little nervous. Recently, technology companies have become a lucrative investment, and Veeva, whose beginning as a public company started...

By Alissa Ponchione • Nov. 12, 2013

CFOs Still Cautious About Growth: EY

For many global CFOs, continuing economic uncertainty is reason enough to remain cautious, even prudently so, according to an Ernst & Young “CFO: Need to Know” paper.The U.S. government shutdown, the ongoing debt ceiling fight and the Affordable Care Act are holding back companies from aggres...

By Alissa Ponchione • Nov. 11, 2013

Hermès Tops “Most Reputable” List

By the time business professor Theodore Levitt explained in a 1960s Harvard Business Review article how buggy whips comprised an exemplary industry that failed to adapt to changing markets, the former horse-and-buggy supplier Hermès was well into its twelfth decade of innovation. Founded in 1837 ...

By Jonathan Salem Baskin and Nir Kossovsky • Nov. 5, 2013

Have Data Center, Will Travel

Like any company, LexisNexis was looking for ways to expand its business while also delivering better services to its customers without any added cost. The company looked to its data centers, which are the backbone of the online services, data hosting and backup services it provides its clients. ...

By Alissa Ponchione • Nov. 4, 2013

CFOs Should Step in as Strategic HR Leaders

Although it falls outside their traditional job description, CFOs of growth companies must often play the role of human resources strategist. The responsibilities related to HR — managing performance, designing the leadership team for the next stage of growth and creating clear objectives for all...

By Robert Sher • Nov. 1, 2013

Does IT Matter?

When Nicholas Carr wrote “IT Doesn’t Matter” for the Harvard Business Review 10 years ago, he may not have realized the far-reaching effects it would have on information technology. For many, it signaled a shift from focusing on compute, storage, data centers and networks to focusing on packaged-...

By Timothy Chou • Oct. 29, 2013

Data Mining: The Fear Factor

Technology firm Ion Geophysical has been using big data to solve customer problems for 20 years. The company converts seismic wave data into graphs that help its clients know where to drill for oil. Although Ion has been at the forefront of big data for more than two decades, it only recently beg...

By Alissa Ponchione • Oct. 23, 2013

‘Cadillac’ Plans Aren’t Affordable Care

Among the costs of complying with the Affordable Care Act, one potentially big-ticket item is far enough in the future that there is perhaps little cause for alarm. But it may not be a good strategy to sit idle for long, some experts say.Employers that trigger the “Cadillac tax” could suffer seve...

By David McCann • Oct. 21, 2013

Affordable Care Act Architect Says the Law Is Working

[Editor’s note: Opinions attributed to Jonathan Gruber are his own. Those not attributed are the opinions of the author.]CFO’scoverage of the Affordable Care Act has included much scrutiny of new costs companies must bear to comply with the law. We’ve focused relatively little on the purposes of ...

By David McCann • Oct. 18, 2013

Midsize Companies Move to Private Health Exchanges

The market of private health-insurance exchanges got another strong boost today, with human resources consulting firm Mercer announcing that 33 companies will use its exchange for their active employees starting Jan. 1.The announcement comes less than a month after Mercer competitor Aon Hewitt re...

By David McCann • Oct. 15, 2013

Should You Cut Volume or Price?

How many times have you asked your team, “If we cut price, what will be the impact on volume and/or share?” Pricing is the moment of truth in any transaction and often has enormous impact on profitability and shareholder value.There can be very divergent answers to the question, depending on mana...

By Thomas E. Conine Jr. • Oct. 10, 2013

Rupee Plunge Spotlights Trade-Credit Currency Risk

The large recent drop in the value of the Indian rupee relative to the U.S. dollar is causing worries among American companies that sell products to businesses on the subcontinent. More broadly, however, the rupee’s relatively sudden dive is bringing currency volatility overall into the spotlight...

By David Katz • Oct. 7, 2013

Risk Chiefs Scramble to Curb Insurance Hikes

For Tri-Marine International, a global tuna-fishing company, the price of protection-and-indemnity insurance — a kind of seagoing workers’ compensation coverage — has been rising relentlessly the last few years.In its upcoming insurance renewal in Feb. 2014, Tri-Marine is looking at a 5 percent r...

By David Katz • Oct. 1, 2013

Property Insurance Premiums Flatten

“The $64,000 question here,” Al Tobin was saying, “is what type of event is a market-changing event?”Tobin, national property practice leader at Aon Risk Solutions, was talking about the market for commercial property insurance. His point?  Devastating as SuperStorm Sandy was, it didn’t have a lo...

By David Katz • Oct. 1, 2013

Tencent’s Worth

Is Tencent one of the world’s greatest internet firms? There are grounds for skepticism. The Chinese gaming and social-media firm started in the same way many local internet firms have: by copying Western success. QQ, its instant-messaging service, was a clone of ICQ, an Israeli invention acquire...

By Economist Staff • Sept. 26, 2013

What U.S. CFOs Can Learn from Emerging-Market Multinationals

Mexican bread maker Bimbo. Chinese electronics brand Haier. Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer. A decade ago, those companies were largely dismissed by their larger, U.S. competitors. Now, they have taken over the lead in global market share in their respective industries.These companies all ha...

By Marielle Segarra • Sept. 24, 2013

Business Outlook for 2014

A lot of key priorities for CFOs are currently revolving around emerging trends, new regulations and other variables that will continue to take shape next year. Please take our quick, 20-question survey on your expectations for 2014. You will help inform your peer financial executives and, while ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Sept. 23, 2013

General Solicitation of Investors Begins

The day has finally arrived: companies may now solicit investors using public advertisements. In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission lifted its ban on general solicitation of private placement deals, allowing companies to market private placements publicly as long as they only sell equit...

By Marielle Segarra • Sept. 23, 2013

U.S. Companies Refocus on Competition

Does U.S. business believe that the economy is finally starting to turn the corner? The latest results from the quarterly Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook Survey may provide at least a foundation for building on business confidence.After shooting above 60 last quarter, the U.S. Busines...

By David W. Owens • Sept. 10, 2013

Lawyers Warn of Risks of Cyber Counterattacks

On June 5,  Microsoft announced that, along with leaders of the financial-services industry, other information-technology firms and the FBI, it had “successfully disrupted more than a thousand botnets that are responsible for stealing people’s online banking information and personal identities.”T...

By David Katz • Sept. 10, 2013

CFO Leaves Banking for Growing Ad Company

You’re a finance star, you land at a large firm in a vibrant, expanding industry, and you think you have it made. What do you do when business starts to contract? If you’re Joan Lavis, you make the leap to a growth company in a (relatively) new industry. Lavis, former managing director at UBS and...

By Marielle Segarra • Sept. 9, 2013

Boards, CFOs Out of Whack on M&A Goals

If CFOs and boards of directors can align their thinking or are already aligned on how to approach mergers and acquisitions, deals have a chance to be more successful.But a study released in August by Deloitte, “Bridging the Gap: M&A,” shows that CFOs and board members can have significantly ...

By Vincent Ryan • Sept. 9, 2013