Health-Care Cost Growth Increased in 2018

Employers’ costs for health benefits ticked upward this year by 3.6%, a full percentage point higher than the 2017 rate, according to new research by Mercer.Still, overall growth in health-care costs remains moderate, averaging 3.3% annually over the past five years compared with an average of 5....

By David McCann • Nov. 8, 2018

Fox Reports Earnings Ahead of Disney Sale

Twenty-First Century Fox reported earnings of 52 cents per share, in line with analyst expectations, for the third quarter.The media behemoth reported quarterly income of $1.29 billion, up 54% from a year ago. Revenue was $7.18 billion for the quarter, up 2% from a year ago. Analysts had expected...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 7, 2018

Many Companies Slow to Automate T&E Management

Even as companies increasingly implement modern artificial intelligence and robotic process automation tools, many are figuratively stuck in the stone age when it comes to managing expense reports.According to a survey of 546 finance professionals by web-based expense management vendor Certify, 1...

By David McCann • Nov. 6, 2018

Rising Logistics Costs Fuel Sysco Earnings Miss

Shares in Sysco fell sharply on Monday after the food supplier missed quarterly earnings estimates on rising distribution and transportation costs.For the first quarter, Sysco’s net earnings rose 17.2% to $431 million and sales increased 3.9% to $15.2 billion over the year-ago period.Adjusted ear...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 5, 2018

Metric of the Month: Automated Primary Controls

If you’re not already automating your internal controls, you should be. The cost of the technology has come way down, while its capabilities have increased. Advanced controls automation is now accessible even to smaller organizations, and the return on investment is high. Automation not only effe...

By Perry D. Wiggins • Nov. 5, 2018

Audit Committees Say More About Auditor Choices

Audit committees are continuing a long-term trend of providing more disclosure about their selection of independent auditors.For the fifth year, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and Audit Analytics (AA) analyzed all proxy statements filed by the S&P Composite 1500 companies between July 1 a...

By David McCann • Nov. 5, 2018

Apple Shares Fall 6.5% on Disappointing Outlook

Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates due to hikes in iPhone prices but its outlook for the holiday season disappointed investors, sending its shares down more than 6% in after-hours trading Thursday.The company reported earnings of $2.91 per share on revenue of $62.9 billion, ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 2, 2018

Avon Turnaround Proceeding Slowly

Avon Products reported break-even earnings per share for the quarter ended September 30, down from three cents per share a year ago.The cosmetics company reported net income excluding one-time items of $7 million, down from $18 million last year. The company said including one-time items it poste...

By William Sprouse • Nov. 1, 2018

GM Price Hikes Drive Earnings Beat for Q3

General Motors shares jumped 9% on Wednesday after the automaker delivered better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with strong demand for more expensive vehicles offsetting a decline in sales volume.GM’s vehicle sales volume dropped by 14.7% in the third quarter from the previous year, reflectin...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 31, 2018

Facebook Beats on Earnings, Raises Outlook

Facebook reported lower-than-expected revenue for a second straight quarter but earnings beat analysts’ estimates despite the company’s recent public relations troubles.For the third quarter, Facebook’s revenue rose 33.5% to $13.73 billion, compared with estimates of $13.78 billion. The revenue m...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 31, 2018

Why CFOs Shouldn’t Come From Public Accounting

Editor’s note: This opinion article is adapted from the author’s comment on our recent article, “The Dark Side of Accounting Expertise.”As a former CPA with public accounting experience and a former controller or CFO for three different public companies, I have long held that companies shouldn’t ...

By Danny Severns • Oct. 29, 2018

Business Spending Falls Again

Orders for U.S. durable goods were up 0.8% in September, driven by a sharp increase in orders for defense goods, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. But that 0.8% was a paltry number compared to August’s jump of 4.6%.Economists surveyed by MarketWatch said they had expected a 1.9% dip i...

By William Sprouse • Oct. 26, 2018

The Dark Side of Accounting Expertise

How important is it for CFOs or other top corporate executives to have accounting expertise?Around the turn of the century, when the financial director of a major bank stated that “the day of the finance director as bean counter is well and truly over,” he was reflecting much contemporary thinkin...

By David McCann • Oct. 25, 2018

IRobot Shares Plunge on China Tariff Worries

Robotic vacuum maker iRobot’s quarterly revenue and earnings easily beat estimates but its shares fell more than 9% in extended trading Tuesday amid concerns over supply chain disruption due to U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.In a rollercoaster after-hours session, the stock initially jumped 10.6...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 24, 2018

McDonald’s Shares Jump 6% on Earnings Beat

McDonald’s shares had their best day in three years on Tuesday after the fast-food giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings amid a store modernization program that has depressed customer traffic.Revenue at McDonald’s fell 7% to $5.37 billion in the third quarter while net income dec...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 23, 2018

Auditing: Time for an Adjustment?

Failure to detect corruption, negligence in approving an accounting treatment, lack of professional skepticism, failure to unmask fraud, and inappropriate familiarity with the client. The Big Four have been accused of all of these transgressions, and more, in the past three years.Material account...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 23, 2018

Lessons on Auditing from Carillion’s Collapse

If past is prologue, U.K. accounting regulators may want to take a hard look at the great American business tragedy known as Enron.In 2002, the scandalous collapse of the energy company caused the demise of one of the Big Five audit firms, Arthur Andersen, resulting in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s st...

By Russ Banham • Oct. 23, 2018

SEC Intensifies Focus on Non-GAAP Metrics

Complementing its recent report on companies’ increasing usage of non-GAAP metrics, Audit Analytics has released data on the SEC’s enforcement of its guidance for use of the unofficial financial measures.This year, through the first six months the Securities and Exchange Commission sent 1,409 com...

By David McCann • Oct. 23, 2018

U.S. Given ‘C’ Rating In Annual Pension Survey

Mercer released its tenth annual Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index on Monday, finding the Netherlands and Denmark to be the countries most prepared to meet the challenge of ageing populations.The two countries offer “world-class retirement income systems with good benefits,” Mercer stated in ...

By William Sprouse • Oct. 22, 2018

Breakout Quarter for Venmo Powers PayPal Beat

PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue amid signs that its Venmo peer-to-peer payment app has turned a corner after struggling to make money.Total payment volume for Venmo rose 78% in the third quarter to roughly $17 billion. That was a fraction of PayPal’s volume of $143 billi...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 19, 2018

SAP Sales Jump 7% on Cloud Business Surge

SAP’s cloud business fueled a 7% jump in quarterly revenue but its shares fell amid concerns over whether its shift to the cloud will crimp profitability.For the third quarter, the enterprise software giant on Thursday said new cloud bookings increased 36% year-over-year while cloud subscriptions...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 18, 2018

Netflix Posts Big Rebound in Subscriber Growth

Netflix shares jumped nearly 11% in extended trading Tuesday after it reported subscriber growth that crushed estimates, with particularly large gains overseas.In the third quarter, the streaming giant added 6.96 million new subscribers, topping the 5.3 million new subscribers it added this time ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 17, 2018

Email Scammers Still Tripping Up Finance Personnel

In an investigative report designed to bring attention to the need to beef up internal accounting controls to protect against fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission found that the finance departments of publicly held companies continue to fall prey to relatively unsophisticated cyber-scams...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 16, 2018

J&J Gets Boost From Strong Cancer Drug Sales

Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday as a big jump in sales of its cancer drugs helped offset a weaker performance from its medical-device and consumer businesses.For the third quarter, J&J’s net income rose to $3.93 billion, or $1.44 per share, fro...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 16, 2018

Report Details Ubiquity of Non-GAAP Metrics

It’s no secret that companies have for some time been steadily using more non-GAAP metrics to quantify their financial performance, leading to accusations of earnings management.A new report portrays just how stark the shift toward the unofficial financial measures has been.Audit Analytics looked...

By David McCann • Oct. 15, 2018