SEC Warms to Social Media for Disclosures

In 2007 the Securities and Exchange Commission said that companies no longer needed to send printed proxy materials to investors, but could mail a postcard with the web address for those documents instead. Considering that most investors had begun checking corporate filings on the Internet years ...

By Howard E. Berkenblit • Sept. 3, 2013

New Strategies Around Strategy

Along with the traditional annual budget, the five-year strategic plan is a staple of business, a rou­tine exercise with scant thought given its continu­ing utility. Most every company performs the ritual, consuming count­less hours of management time in the process, as if predicting the tortuous...

By Russ Banham • Aug. 29, 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

One CFO’s Motto: It’s the Relationship, Not Just the Product

While nothing may be more certain for people than death and taxes, for firms that serve the business-to-business market, nothing may be more certain besides billing and taxes. For the CFO of one cloud- software-solutions provider, making sure customers bill efficiently is its top priority.Tyler S...

By Kathy Hoffelder • Aug. 26, 2013

IT Budgeting Descends to Business Units

 This is the third of four articles that explore the outlook for technology spending — and why corporate tech budgets are bound to rise. The other three are IT Outlays Are Poised for Takeoff, which looks at what’s driving the burgeoning budgets; CFOs Holding CIOS’ Feet to the Fire, which looks at...

By Keith Button • Aug. 23, 2013

CFOs Holding CIOs’ Feet to the Fire

 This is the second of four articles that explore the outlook for technology spending — and why corporate tech budgets are bound to rise. The other three are IT Outlays Are Poised for Takeoff, which looks at what’s driving the burgeoning budgets; IT Budgeting Descends to Business Units, which rep...

By Keith Button • Aug. 23, 2013

Effective Tech Budgeting: A CFO’s View

 This is the fourth of four articles that explore the outlook for technology spending — and why corporate tech budgets are bound to rise. The other three are IT Outlays Are Poised for Takeoff, which looks at what’s driving the burgeoning budgets; CFOs Holding CIOS’ Feet to the Fire, which looks a...

By Jennifer McLean • Aug. 22, 2013

IT Outlays Are Poised for Takeoff

This is the first of four articles that explore the outlook for technology spending — and why corporate tech budgets are bound to rise. The other three are CFOs Holding CIOS’ Feet to the Fire, which looks at how finance chiefs asking top tech execs to justify their spending; IT Budgeting Descend...

By Keith Button • Aug. 22, 2013

Getting the Most Out of State and Local Tax Incentives

As CFOs and other senior executives prepare to implement their 2014 capital budget, they should be aware that there is an excellent opportunity to maximize their return on investment (ROI) by using state and local tax incentives. Depending on a corporation’s project parameters, these incentives c...

By Michael R. Press • Aug. 22, 2013

More CFOs Back Digital Business Initiatives

CFOs are getting more involved in digital business initiatives, according to an August report from McKinsey. In an April survey of 850 C-suite executives, seventy percent of finance chief respondents said they support digital initiatives, compared to 64 percent in 2012. Of that group, 37 percent ...

By Marielle Segarra • Aug. 22, 2013

Audit Fees Actually Dropped Post-Sarbox

Despite the extra work that compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley has brought for auditors since it was first signed into law in 2002 and an increase in the percentage of companies required to adhere to the rule, audit fees for certain filers have actually decreased over the last few years, says a new r...

By Kathy Hoffelder • Aug. 21, 2013

How to Get Ready for Economic Cycles

The Red Cross recommends you prepare your home and your family for the possible emergencies and disasters that are most likely to occur where you live.  They recommend you prepare a home disaster plan, rehearse it with your family and set up a kit full of first aid, food, water and other supplies...

By Gregory V. Milano • Aug. 15, 2013

Pandora: Mobile Maverick

The value proposition of Pandora is simple — to pro­vide all of us with the music we love most without hearing songs we’d rather tune out. If your taste runs to jazz standards or punk, you can sit back and listen without having to intermittently endure a country bal­lad. This singular mission has...

By Russ Banham • Aug. 14, 2013

Audit Reports Could Face Biggest Shake-Up Yet

Audit reports could face a transformation not seen in more than 70 years, if a new proposal by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to include more “critical audit matters” in them gets passed. The move is controversial, since corporate executives are often at odds over how much informat...

By Kathy Hoffelder • Aug. 13, 2013

Cloudy with a Chance of Data

The American Academy of Physician Assistants is exactly what its name spells out — an association of ap­proximately 46,000 physician assistants, nationally cer­tified and state-licensed health care professionals who work as part of a team with a doctor and can practice medicine under the supervis...

By Russ Banham • Aug. 8, 2013

How an Aluminum Manufacturer Encourages Sustainability

Metals manufacturers don’t often come to mind when you think of companies “going green.” But such industrial companies may be just as big supporters of corporate sustainability as their retail counterparts.  One such firm not only encourages customers to reuse and recycle, it actually picks up th...

By Kathy Hoffelder • Aug. 2, 2013

Why Political Contributions Won’t Cut Workers Comp Costs

In June, CFO.com editor-in-chief David M. Katz wrote an opinion piece regarding the not-so-rhetorical question implied by its headline: “Why On-the-Job Injuries Cost So Much.”  He cited two recent Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) studies to make his point.  He also referred – corre...

By Steve Cattolica • Aug. 2, 2013

Standards Call For Green Disclosure in SEC Filings

CFOs and other senior executives will be encouraged to disclose more material, non-financial information in their financial reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission if a non-profit organization’s new sustainability accounting standards become commonplace.  The aptly named Sustainabilit...

By Kathy Hoffelder • July 31, 2013

Companies Using “Missing Months” to Play Accounting Tricks

When Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company in 2008, it changed its fiscal year-end from November to a calendar year-end in December— a fairly typical move for holding companies. Based on its numbers, Goldman recorded a pre-tax loss of $1.3 billion for December, which was not counted in its ...

By Kathy Hoffelder • July 26, 2013

Court Upholds “Conflict Minerals” Rule

Companies awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit challenging  the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “conflict minerals” rule before beginning to comply with the regulation have less reason to procrastinate. On Tuesday, Judge Robert L. Wilkins of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ...

By David Katz • July 24, 2013

Steep Climb Ahead for Level Tax Playing Field

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) introduced its long-awaited plan to stave off tax evasion at the G20 meeting of finance ministers last week. But several obstacles remain in the way of implementing the plan, which attempts to level the tax playing field globally.T...

By Kathy Hoffelder • July 23, 2013

Bernanke’s Wet Noodle

On June 19, when Ben Bernanke dared to tell the world the Federal Reserve might taper its quantitative easing, the media buzzed and the stock market shuddered.  Never mind that he suggested such a shift would be neither immediate nor abrupt and would only occur after evidence of strong economic r...

By Gregory V. Milano • July 22, 2013

Companies Lag on “Conflict Minerals” Reporting

Despite estimates that put the costs of complying with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “conflict minerals” rule as high as $16 billion, many corporate executives say their companies don’t have a clue about whether they would be subject to the regulation, according to a new survey.Public ...

By David Katz • July 19, 2013

A Cautionary Tale About the Sales and Use Tax

CFOs and their staffs need to get up-to-speed on sales and use tax in their states, not only for what they may be overpaying but what they may be underpaying. For example, I had just joined Center Rock Inc., a privately-held drilling tool manufacturer based in Berlin, Pennsylvania, as their CFO i...

By Ted Proctor • July 18, 2013

Banks Have More Time to Comply With Offshore Tax Rule

The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury are giving financial institutions a longer time to comply with rules that seek to curb offshore tax evasion. The move helps the agencies work more closely with international governments and makes it easier for CFOs and their staffs t...

By Kathy Hoffelder • July 16, 2013

SEC Eyes Data Mining to Boost Fraud Detection

Newly formed Securities and Exchange Commission task forces will explore the use of the SEC’s increased data-mining capability as a way to detect financial-reporting fraud at corporations, the two leaders of one of the units told CFO.Formed earlier this month, the SEC’s Financial Reporting and Au...

By David Katz • July 16, 2013