Study Pans Disclaimers on Forward-Looking Statements

They are among the most common of corporate communications to investors: forward-looking statements about company prospects, accompanied by warnings that these projections could differ materially from actual future results.Commonplace though such cautionary disclaimers are, there is much controve...

By David McCann • July 5, 2018

Metric of the Month: Uncollectible Balances

More than half of organizations consider customers’ adherence to payment terms to be a key indicator of the credit function’s performance. But all too often, organizations take an unrealistically optimistic outlook on past-due receivables — even when deep down, they know that the likelihood of co...

By Perry D. Wiggins • July 5, 2018

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

Balancing Act: CFOs Must Meld Innovation and Control

Risk and caution. Speed and patience. Creativity and restraint. Innovation and control. Life, and business, are made up of finding the shifting balance between extremes and knowing when to drift toward one pole or the other.Tom Crawford As a former CFO, I firmly believe that the role of finance g...

By Tom Crawford • July 2, 2018

SEC Wants the Power to Limit the Size of Whistleblower Awards

The Securities and Exchange Commission apparently thinks the federal government is paying some whistleblowers too much for revealing corporate malfeasance.So, the SEC is proposing amendments to rules governing the whistleblower program. Among other things, the changes would give commissioners mor...

By William Sprouse • July 2, 2018

Key Inflation Rate Hit Fed’s Target Level in May

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index ticked up to 0.2% in May as core inflation hit 2%, the Federal Reserve’s long-run target, for the first time since April 2012.Economists had not expected its key measure of inflation to hit 2% until later this summer, though Fed Chairman Jerome Po...

By William Sprouse • June 29, 2018

Amazon to Buy Online Pharmacy Company PillPack

Online giant Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire PillPack, the online pharmacy that offers pre-sorted doses and home delivery, the companies said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch, citing sources close to the deal, said the price tag was just under $1 billion.The d...

By William Sprouse • June 28, 2018

The 2018 CFO State Tax Survey: Land of Confusion

The 2018 CFO State Tax Survey(Jump to the survey results at bottom of page.)The preparation of state income tax returns has in recent years evolved into a more complex endeavor. Now, uncertainty over how states will respond to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), as well as fallout from a U....

By David Katz • June 28, 2018

Auto Groups: Trump Tariffs Would Cost Jobs, Hurt Consumers

The Association of Global Automakers (AGA) and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) spoke out against possible Trump administration tariffs on imported cars Wednesday, saying the levies could dramatically increase prices and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.Last Friday, President Dona...

By William Sprouse • June 27, 2018

Meeting the Tax Reform Challenge Through Automation

At its core, innovation is about solving problems and building solutions to address common challenges. At the risk of stating the obvious, the enactment of the most comprehensive tax reform in more than 30 years has created a host of new challenges for companies.Technology — including artificial ...

By Michael Shehab • June 26, 2018

AT&T to Buy Adtech Firm AppNexus

AT&T has reached an agreement to buy the digital ad platform and global advertising marketplace AppNexus, the companies said. Financial terms were not disclosed; however, last week The Wall Street Journal reported the companies were in talks for a deal valued at about $1.6 billion.The transac...

By William Sprouse • June 25, 2018

Red Hat Shares Dive on Disappointing Guidance

Red Hat shares had their worst trading day since 2006 after the enterprise software company issued lower-than-expected second-quarter guidance.The stock plunged 14.2% to $142.14 on Friday even though Red Hat’s first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates. Before Friday’s tumble, the shares wer...

By Matthew Heller • June 25, 2018

Carmax Shares Hit Record High on Q1 Earnings

Carmax on Friday reassured investors with an earnings report that showed an improvement in comparable store sales, sending its stock to an all-time high.For the first quarter, the used-car company posted adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share, up 17.7% year over year, on revenue of $4.79 billion. A...

By Matthew Heller • June 22, 2018

Internet Sales Tax Ruling Seen Boosting States

The U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to force online retailers to collect sales taxes may not lead to immediate credit rating upgrades for states but should provide a welcome financial boost over the long term, according to S&P Global ratings.The court on Thursday revived a South D...

By Matthew Heller • June 22, 2018

WillScot Expands with ModSpace Purchase

WillScot (Williams Scotsman) has reached an agreement to buy the parent company of Modular Space, a privately-owned provider of office trailers, portable storage units, and modular buildings, the companies said.After closing, WillScot will have more than 160,000 modular space and portable storage...

By William Sprouse • June 22, 2018

Supreme Court Ruling Scrambles Online Retailers

Online retailers took a sizable hit Thursday morning with the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair.The 5-4 ruling in favor of South Dakota, which applies to thousands of such businesses, allows states to require them to collect and remit state sales taxes for internet tran...

By David McCann • June 21, 2018

Kroger Shares Soar on Big Q1 Earnings Beat

Kroger’s quarterly earnings easily beat expectations in an early indication that its program of investing in technology and store-brands is paying off.For the first quarter, the largest U.S. grocery chain said it earned an adjusted $0.73 per share on revenue of $37.53 billion. Analysts had expect...

By Matthew Heller • June 21, 2018

BEAT Could Eat into Income Tax Savings

Tax legislation generally includes promises to simplify the process of computing taxes. But in the process of transforming legislation into law, those good intentions often are overshadowed by new complexities.The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is no exception, especially for U.S. multinational co...

By Ilene Mak, Tim Evans, Tifphani White-King, and Tom Barber • June 15, 2018

Shares of Payment Firm Adyen Soar

Shares of the Dutch payment-processing firm Adyen jumped nearly 90% in their first day of trading Wednesday, in what was one of Europe’s largest technology initial public offerings.The fintech firm, a rival of PayPal, priced its shares at $281.6 (240 euros) which was at the higher end of its rang...

By William Sprouse • June 14, 2018

Tesla to Cut 9% of Workforce in Profit Push

Tesla Motors has announced the biggest layoff in its 15-year history in a move to cut overhead as it faces increasing pressure to show a profit.CEO Elon Musk told workers in an email Tuesday that management had “made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 9% of our colleagues across th...

By Matthew Heller • June 13, 2018

How to Quench Investors’ Thirst for ESG Information

While companies are ramping up initiatives to win interest from an investor population that’s growing ever-more focused on sustainability, it may be a race to keep pace.Among the 47% of 189 investment professionals surveyed by strategic communications firm Clermont Partners who said they take env...

By David McCann • June 11, 2018

U.K. Fines KPMG $4M for Audit Deficiencies

In another blow to the U.K. operations of Big Four accounting firms, KPMG has been fined $4.2 million for deficiencies in its audit of a scandal-plagued legal services company.The U.K.’s accounting watchdog launched an investigation of KPMG in 2015 after Quindell plc became the subject of multipl...

By Matthew Heller • June 11, 2018

New Accounting Rules Test Companies’ Mettle

Companies’ level of readiness for complying with the new revenue recognition standard was a popular topic throughout 2017, leading up to the rule’s effective date for public companies.As it happens, the talk hasn’t yet died out.The rule is effective for public-company fiscal years beginning after...

By David McCann • June 8, 2018

Fears Over Downside to Clawbacks Are Unwarranted: Study

Even as the SEC continues to maintain that the clawbacks provision of the Dodd-Frank Act remains on the commission’s to-do list, failure to finalize the rule eight years after the law’s passage inevitably raises doubts about its ultimate fate.Yet the great majority of firms in the S&P 1500 ha...

By David McCann • June 7, 2018

McDonald’s to Lay Off Workers, Restructure Regional Offices

McDonald’s plans to lay off workers and cut costs by $500 million by the end of 2019. In an email to employees, McDonald’s U.S. President Chris Kempczinski said the company would be restructuring regional offices as it trims its corporate structure, according to a report from The Wall Street Jour...

By William Sprouse • June 7, 2018

The Real Cost of Invoicing: Metric of the Month

For this month’s metric, we focus on the cost to invoice customers, per invoice processed, as reported to APQC’s Customer Credit and Invoicing Open Standards Benchmarking survey by 896 organizations. The process of invoicing a customer, for purposes of this benchmark, includes maintaining custome...

By Perry D. Wiggins • June 6, 2018