National Sales Tax Wouldn’t Depress Consumer Spending: Study

In a study that may have implications for the debate over a possible national sales tax, researchers have found that close to one-third of consumers pay little or no attention to sales taxes expressed as a percentage in making spending decisions.Critics of a national sales tax are concerned that ...

By Matthew Heller • April 13, 2015

Former Controller Admits to SEC’s Fraud Charges

A former controller of a Japanese subsidiary near Chicago  has admitted to and settled charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he fraudulently cost his company millions of dollars in trading losses and manipulated accounting records to avoid detection.The SEC said Thursday that Kat...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 10, 2015

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

Accounting-Driven Class Actions Rising, Study Finds

Now that securities litigation related to the 2008 financial crisis has largely petered out, accounting-driven class-action suits based on regulatory enforcement actions are on the rise, according to PwC’s 2014 Securities Litigation Study released Friday.There were 53 accounting-driven cases file...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 10, 2015

France Steps Up Probe of HSBC in Tax Evasion Case

French authorities appear to have expanded their investigation of whether global banking giant HSBC helped wealthy clients hide hundreds of millions of dollars from tax authorities.The bank’s parent company, HSBC Holdings plc, announced Thursday that it had been placed under formal criminal inves...

By Matthew Heller • April 9, 2015

After Merger, Walgreens Plans $1.5B in Cost Cuts

Now that Walgreens has completed its trans-Atlantic merger with Alliance Boots, the European-led management team is set to close 200 U.S. stores and cut other costs within the U.S. operations, as part of a $1.5 billion cost-cutting initiative.New Walgreens boss Stefano Pessina In its second-quart...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 9, 2015

Starting from Zero-Based Budgeting

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years building and managing budgets, and I’ve used a lot of different approaches, usually mandated by the corporate finance management team to do so. I don’t really have a favorite method – whatever gets the job done is usually fine with me – but I have observed ...

By John Parkinson • April 9, 2015

FASB Revises Rule for Presenting Debt Issuance Costs

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an updated rule for the presentation of debt issuance costs as part of its effort to reduce complexity in accounting standards.The new rule is FASB’s response to feedback from stakeholders that having different balance sheet presentation require...

By Matthew Heller • April 9, 2015

PCAOB Preparing New Rule for Audits of Accounting Estimates

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is moving closer to proposing a comprehensive new standard for audits of accounting estimates in financial statements.Thomson Reuters reports that according to the standard-setting agenda the board updated on March 31, PCAOB staff is planning to discu...

By Matthew Heller • April 9, 2015

Lloyd’s Sees Big Rise in Cyber Insurance Sales

High-profile cyberattacks on businesses have fueled a sharp rise in demand for cyber insurance from Lloyd’s of London, The Telegraph reports.The number of insurance submissions in the cyber market reportedly rose by 50% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2014, ...

By Matthew Heller • April 8, 2015

China’s Gifting Crackdown Hurts Luxury Accessories Firms

The luxury accessories market is experiencing rough headwinds in China that are taking a bite out of revenues. In part, the business falloff is stemming from China’s crackdown on the long-popular practice of “gifting” items to public officials and company executives in exchange for favors.Moreove...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 7, 2015

Iran Nuclear Deal Could Spark U.S. Exports

If Iran can strike deal curbing its nuclear weapons development with Western powers and meet its resulting transparency and nuclear-production commitments, the resulting lift in economic sanctions could be a boon for Western companies selling consumer products there, according to an article poste...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 6, 2015

RadioShack Rescue Focuses on Cost Structure

RadioShack was rescued last week from bankruptcy by Standard General, a New York hedge fund, which will now reportedly revamp the beleaguered company’s cost-structure in an effort to survive — and, perhaps, thrive.Standard General, led by Soohyung Kim, last Tuesday won court approval for its take...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • April 6, 2015

This Week in Comments: April 3, 2015

We revisit a handful of comments posted recently on CFO.com. Check the articles and join your peers in the discussion.FASB Votes to Defer Revenue Recognition RuleThe board votes to delay implementation for one year, after previously debating a two-year deferral.Kayla says:04/02/15 at 01:48:57 pmI...

By Alexander Johnson • April 3, 2015

Firm Accused of Auditor Independence Violations

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has disciplined a majority shareholder of L.L. Bradford & Co. and two former partners in the Las Vegas accounting firm for violating auditor independence requirements.Shareholder Hazel-Leilani De Los Reyes Bradford was responsible for quality cont...

By Matthew Heller • April 2, 2015

Ex-CEO Fined $545,000 for Inflating Company’s Value

The former CEO of TelWorx Communications has agreed to pay $545,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he inflated the telecom company’s financial results before and after it was acquired by PCTel.Tim Scronce, now the head of a Winston-Salem, N.C., private equity firm,...

By Matthew Heller • April 2, 2015

Inside Audit Firms: A CFO’s View

During periods of explosive growth, the role of the CFO of an auditing firm often involves scrambling to help it adjust internally to all that change, Michael Barton recalls.Now the finance chief of global law firm Goodwin Procter, Barton spent 13 years in finance roles at Grant Thornton, a secon...

By David Katz • April 2, 2015

Accounting-related Securities Class Actions Climb 47%

Filings of securities class actions with accounting-related allegations surged in 2014, apparently reflecting in part the heightened regulatory focus on accounting-related fraud, according to a new report.After two years of relatively low activity, consulting firm Cornerstone Research reported, 6...

By Matthew Heller • April 2, 2015

A Finance Chief Among the Partners

When corporate finance people think about accounting or law firms, they tend to think of them as the groups of professionals who provide them with services. Structured as private partnerships, they operate in ways that may be mysterious to CFOs who haven’t lived previous lives as accountants or l...

By David Katz • April 1, 2015

How to Mitigate the Impact of New Lease Accounting Rules

New lease accounting standards expected to be finalized by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in the third quarter are already a concern for CFOs, even though they’re not expected to take effect until January 2018.Sean Moynihan ...

By Sean Moynihan • April 1, 2015

Norway Ranked Least Risky for Supply Chains

Norway remains the least risky country for businesses planning to expand their supply chains while Venezuela ranks most risky in the latest edition of the FM Global Resilience Index.The commercial property insurer defines resilience as a combination of the vulnerability of a country to supply cha...

By Matthew Heller • April 1, 2015

CFOs With Big Signatures More Likely to Misreport

Regulators on the lookout for financial misreporting may have a new investigative weapon — the size of the CFO’s signature.According to a new study, finance chiefs who are narcissistic are more likely to engage in misreporting and if they have large, self-important signatures, that “predicts misr...

By Matthew Heller • March 31, 2015

The CFO’s Role in Cyber Security

The importance of cyber security is no secret to anyone who watches the nightly news. Senior executives at businesses of all sizes understand all too well that today’s global economy is still not adequately protected against cyberattacks, despite years of effort and spending in the multi-billion ...

By Steve Durbin and Information Security Forum • March 31, 2015

Morgan Stanley Selling Natural Gas Unit

Pentagon Energy LLC, a newly formed commodities-trading company in Coral Gables, Fla., is buying Morgan Stanley’s Wentworth Gas Marketing unit for an undisclosed amount, according to a Bloomberg story.Wentworth is a compressed natural gas export facility, which Morgan Stanley received permission ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 30, 2015

Special Report: Managing Cyber Risk

It’s time for a sea-change in managing the risks of a cyber attack on your company, according to authors and subjects of articles in CFO’s Special Report on the subject. No longer can you assume that software and firewalls will keep hackers out of your systems. Instead, you have to assume the wor...

By David Katz • March 30, 2015

What’s the Cost of a Cyberattack?

In a February editorial about the buildup of cyberattacks between the United States and Iran, The New York Times quoted President Obama’s observation that, compared with conventional weaponry, cyberweapons provide “no clear line between offense and defense.” Thus, getting into the enemy’s network...

By David Katz • March 30, 2015