U.S. Proposes $4B More European Tariffs Over Aircraft Subsidies

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) proposed a list of products that could be hit with new tariffs, as part of a long-running dispute with the European Union over aircraft subsidies.The products, which include olives, Italian cheese, and Scotch whiskey, could be worth $4 billion. They would be i...

By Lauren Muskett • July 2, 2019

TPG to Buy Crunch Fitness

Private equity firm TPG Growth will acquire Crunch Fitness through its growth-equity unit. The sale includes the company-owned “Signature” facilities and its global franchising business.The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.Crunch is managed by Mark Mastrov and Jim Rowley, the...

By Lauren Muskett • July 1, 2019

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

Pier 1 Stock Plunges as Sales Slump Continues

Pier 1 Imports shares dipped for a second straight day on Friday on news of another weak earnings report and additional store closures.The home goods retailer has been pursuing a turnaround strategy amid shrinking sales due in part to online competition. But in the first quarter, the slump contin...

By Matthew Heller • June 28, 2019

Walgreens Stock Jumps 4% on Earnings Beat

Walgreens Boots Alliance shares got a boost on Thursday from a better-than-expected earnings report but analysts remain skeptical about the drugstore chain’s outlook.For the third quarter, Walgreens reported adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share on revenue of $34.59 billion, beating analysts’ esti...

By Matthew Heller • June 27, 2019

Moody’s, Israel’s Team8 to Offer Global Cyber Risk Standard

Moody’s and Israeli cybersecurity platform Team8 are joining together to establish a global standard for evaluating and assessing cyber risk for businesses.The joint venture will focus on ways to effectively measure and analyze cyber risks facing global corporations, ways to better understand a c...

By Lauren Muskett • June 27, 2019

Working Capital Scorecard: The Hard Part of Boosting Liquidity

What CFO doesn’t want working capital to generate cash rather than consume it? To not have to answer pesky analyst questions about lower quarterly cash levels? To not have to draw on a line of credit because customers are paying on time?No, CFOs would rather be confident that the accounts receiva...

By Vincent Ryan • June 27, 2019

Breaking The Budget

Despite the constantly churning mechanisms of business, the traditional budgeting process has changed little since the 1920s. An organization can spend months creating a blueprint for the next year and then expend even more effort to stay on that defined path—regardless of whether the initial ass...

By Lauren Muskett • June 26, 2019

Blockchain: Hype or Hope?

There is a stark contrast between what I call the “technical view” and the “business view” of emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and quantum computing. However, focusing only on one or the other can present challenges that have long-term consequences for companies.With many technologies t...

By David McCann • June 25, 2019

Botox Maker Allergan Sold to AbbVie for $63B

Pharmaceutical company AbbVie has reached an agreement to buy Allergan, the maker of Botox, in a cash and stock transaction.Under the terms of the deal, Allergan shareholders would receive 0.8660 AbbVie shares and $120.30 in cash for each share that they hold, a 45% premium to the stock’s closing...

By Lauren Muskett • June 25, 2019

FedEx Sues U.S. Government Over Export Rules After Huawei Dispute

FedEx filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Monday, arguing that it should not be required to enforce the recent federal government export bans.The move comes after FedEx mishandled a couple of deliveries for Huawei and failed to deliver a Huawei smartphone shipped from London to the Uni...

By Lauren Muskett • June 25, 2019

Global Cannabis Sales Could Hit $15B This Year

Global cannabis sales could reach $15 billion in 2019, a 36% increase year-over-year, according to a report published by Arcview Group and BDS Analytics.The report, “The State of Legal Cannabis Markets,” evaluated sales of medical and recreational cannabis at dispensaries, hemp-derived delta-8-TH...

By Lauren Muskett • June 20, 2019

What Happens When the CFO Is the COO, Too?

A notable development in corporate governance over the past two decades is that CFOs have considerably expanded their management role, in some instances taking on the additional position of chief operating officer.While the increase in CFO/COO duality and the resultant savings in C-suite salaries...

By David McCann • June 20, 2019

Companies Scramble to Ease Impact of China Tariffs

Even while some economists are predicting that the ultimate effect of President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods could actually be lower prices, many companies aren’t waiting to take action.Employing a smorgasbord of tactics, 100-plus companies surveyed by KPMG this spring reported that they’d be...

By David McCann • June 19, 2019

Audit Firms’ Problems Are Also Cultural

Is cheating on an exam worse than using data stolen from an industry watchdog? Probably not, but the revelations in a Securities and Exchange Commission order against KPMG do not cast audit professionals or the firm in a good light.The SEC charged KPMG on Monday with altering past audit work in c...

By Vincent Ryan • June 18, 2019

Puerto Rico Reaches Deal Over $35B in Debt

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board, the body tasked with overseeing the restructuring in billions of dollars of the island’s debt, has reached an agreement with holders of around $35 billion of its bonds, accounting for nearly half of its total bonded debt....

By Lauren Muskett • June 18, 2019

Do Tariffs Really Raise Prices?

Will prices in the United States rise substantially because of President Trump’s import duties on Chinese goods, especially if he makes good on his threat to expand the tariffs to all Chinese products coming into the United States?It’s a loaded question, because contrary to popular belief, tariff...

By David McCann • June 18, 2019

Sizing Up Uber’s Fate in Transfer Pricing Audits

Nearly all multinational enterprises face tax and transfer pricing examinations, both at home and abroad, at one time or another.The good news is that companies frequently receive a clean bill of health for their tax and transfer pricing policies, documentation, and tax positions. Where there are...

By David McCann • June 14, 2019

Financial Application Buyers Are Stuck in the Present

Most organizations will fail to realize the full value from purchasing new financial applications because they’re not accounting for digital capabilities they’ll need in the future, according to Gartner.Finance departments should seek solutions that will enhance their ability to innovate, rather ...

By David McCann • June 13, 2019

More U.S. Companies to Allow Remote Working

Forty-three percent of U.S. businesses said they expect to allow more employees to work remotely in the next year, according to a global workplace study from Condeco Software. More than half (54%) of U.S. companies said they offer remote working to increase employee retention.Only 9% of companies...

By Lauren Muskett • June 12, 2019

Spreadsheet Risks Still Being Ignored by C-Suite: Study

Companies are exposing themselves to financial and reputational risk by overlooking the vulnerabilities in spreadsheets, according to survey results released on Wednesday by Forrester Consulting and Incisive Software.In a survey of manager-level and above personnel at 170 midsize and large North ...

By Vincent Ryan • June 12, 2019

Tax on Nonprofits Could Snare Companies, Too

Companies with affiliated tax-exempt entities could find themselves surprised to be on the hook for a new tax, in light of interim guidance recently released by the Internal Revenue Service.A controversial provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposes a 21% excise tax on compensation that exceed...

By David McCann • June 11, 2019

Beyond Meat Sales Go Beyond Estimates in Q1

Beyond Meat shares soared in extended trading on Thursday after the maker of plant-based meats delivered better-than-expected revenue in its first quarterly earnings report since going public.In the first quarter of 2019, Beyond Meat’s net sales jumped 215% to $40.2 million, driven by increased s...

By Matthew Heller • June 7, 2019

Ex-EY Partner Sanctioned Over Inadequate Audit

Audit regulators have fined a former EY auditor $25,000 for failing to properly evaluate a client’s internal control deficiencies during a 2013 audit.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said William Trainor and his engagement team identified “pervasive” deficiencies in controls for two ...

By Matthew Heller • June 7, 2019

GameStop Shares Drop 29% After Dividend Halt

GameStop shares plunged in extended trading Tuesday after the struggling video game retailer reported another tough quarter and halted its dividend.GameStop’s revenue fell 13.3% in the first quarter to $1.5 billion and comparable store sales dropped 10.3% amid slowing demand for video games. Anal...

By Matthew Heller • June 5, 2019

PwC to Restructure U.K. Audit Practice

Audit company PwC said it would split its U.K. assurance practice, recruit 500 experienced auditors, and spend $38 million to restore the trust of investors as part of a restructuring of its practice in the United Kingdom.PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms that includes Deloitte, Ernst &am...

By Lauren Muskett • June 5, 2019