Six Steps Remote Sellers Can Take to Prepare for the ‘Wayfair’ Decision

For remote retailers, marketplace providers, international sellers, and many others, the world may change dramatically in the next month or so.On April 17, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in South Dakota v. Wayfair, a case in which South Dakota seeks to have a statute imposing e...

By Kent Johnson and Harley Duncan • May 30, 2018

Not Your Father’s Tax Department Anymore

Tax reform may have brought simplification to some aspects of the U.S. tax code, but it certainly didn’t simplify matters for corporate tax departments. At least not for the near term.Lenny Vairo Well-established corporate tax strategies, designed to optimize taxes on a global basis, now must be ...

By Lenny Vairo • May 25, 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

Deloitte & Touche Fined Over Auditing Lapse

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has fined Deloitte & Touche $500,000 and censured the firm over its audits of Jack Henry & Associates in fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014.The accounting watchdog found that none of the engagement personnel Deloitte had assigned to its audits ...

By William Sprouse • May 25, 2018

Amazon Asked to Stop Selling Facial Recognition Tech to Governments

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition technology, dubbed “Rekognition,” to local governments, saying the system is “primed for abuse,” GeekWire reports.In a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the ACLU asked the company to limit how its Amazon Rek...

By William Sprouse • May 23, 2018

It’s Time to Review the Advertising Budget

Advertising spend is often a “black box” for finance professionals and when budgets and economic conditions are tight, it can be the first area to be cut.The correlation of ad spend to revenue is usually not well understood, while spending reductions will presumably flow directly to the bottom li...

By Grant Fitz • May 22, 2018

Fifth Third Makes Chicago Move With MB Buy

Ohio-based regional bank Fifth Third Bancorp has agreed to acquire smaller rival MB Financial in a $4.7 billion deal that will make Chicago its largest market.MB Financial, the parent company of MB Financial Bank, has served the Chicago market for more than 100 years, specializing in loans to mid...

By Matthew Heller • May 22, 2018

Do Big Four Auditors Unfairly Raise Fees?

Should length of tenure for a company’s auditor make a difference to investors and other stakeholders?Some new research suggests it should — particularly when the auditor is among the Big Four public accounting firms. It’s a fairly timely topic, as U.S. public companies are now required to disclo...

By David McCann • May 21, 2018

Deere Profits Jump 50% to Record $1.21B

Deere & Co. shares jumped more than 5% on Friday after the world’s largest farm-equipment maker reported record quarterly profits on a surge in equipment sales.For the second quarter, Deere’s net income rose 50% to $1.21 billion, or $3.67 per share, while worldwide net sales and revenues incr...

By Matthew Heller • May 21, 2018

Big Four Facing Calls for U.K. Breakup

The Big Four accounting firms are facing pressure to break up their U.K. businesses after a scathing government report labeled them a “cozy club” with conflicts of interest embedded in their audit functions.The Financial Times reported that all four firms are planning for a potential breakup amid...

By Matthew Heller • May 17, 2018

U.S. Retail Sales Increase 0.3% in April

U.S. retail sales increased for a second straight month in April, indicating consumer spending is accelerating after a sluggish first quarter.The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales climbed 0.3% last month following an upwardly revised 0.8% surge in March. The April gain matche...

By Matthew Heller • May 15, 2018

Home Depot Sales Hit by Slow Spring Spending

Home Depot shares dipped on Tuesday after the retailer reported a quarterly revenue shortfall that it attributed to a slow start to the key spring selling season.For the first quarter, Home Depot’s same-store sales grew 4.2%, missing analysts estimates of 5.4% growth. Excluding the performance of...

By Matthew Heller • May 15, 2018

Will New Tax Law Uproot Overseas Financial Structures?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) slashed the corporate tax rate and levied a first-time U.S. residual tax on overseas earnings. But it also contained a lot more changes for finance and tax departments to contend with: among them, provisions to encourage companies to locate new intangible investme...

By John Hintze • May 15, 2018

Symantec Stock Dives on News of Internal Probe

Symantec shares plunged to their worst day in 17 years on Friday, shedding about $6 billion in market value after the cybersecurity firm disclosed it was investigating “concerns” raised by a former employee.The disclosure came as a major shock to Wall Street since, as CNN Money reports, Symantec ...

By Matthew Heller • May 14, 2018

Deloitte Turkey Execs Banned for Audit Rigging

In another case of alleged rigging of audit inspections, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has banned two former chief executives at Deloitte’s Turkey practice for their roles in a plan to alter documents ahead of a 2014 inspection of three audit engagements.The accounting watchdog sa...

By Matthew Heller • May 11, 2018

CFO’s Tech Companies to Watch: Duo Security

We combed through websites, interviewed tech experts, and researched a host of product categories to assemble, once again, the roster of 20 companies that make up our annual “Tech Companies to Watch.” We uncovered a wide range of technologies and products that would be valuable to finance chiefs,...

By Keith Button • May 11, 2018

Seattle Businesses Decry Proposed ‘Head Tax’

Seattle-based companies including Alaska Airlines, Redbox, and Expedia have joined a chorus of opposition to the city’s proposed “head tax” on large businesses to fund programs for the homeless.Top executives from a total of 131 companies signed an open letter to city council members that said th...

By Matthew Heller • May 10, 2018

CFO’s Tech Companies to Watch 2018: Adaptive Insights

We combed through websites, interviewed tech experts, and researched a host of product categories to assemble, once again, the roster of 20 companies that make up our annual “Tech Companies to Watch.” We uncovered a wide range of technologies and products that would be valuable to finance chiefs,...

By Keith Button • May 10, 2018

CFO’s Tech Companies to Watch 2018: Emagia

We combed through websites, interviewed tech experts, and researched a host of product categories to assemble, once again, the roster of 20 companies that make up our annual “Tech Companies to Watch.” We uncovered a wide range of technologies and products that would be valuable to finance chiefs,...

By Bob Violino • May 9, 2018

Metric of the Month: Days Sales Outstanding Measures Efficiency

Days sales outstanding is a key measure of a finance team’s efficiency and is closely linked to days cash on hand and liquidity. Every organization is happy to have sales, but closing sales isn’t enough to keep a business afloat. Collections are key — and the faster the money comes in, the more b...

By Perry D. Wiggins • May 9, 2018

Loan Originations Boost LendingClub Earnings

LendingClub reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings as it originated more loans, but net income took a hit from legal costs related to government investigations of its lending practices.For the first quarter, the peer-to-peer lending pioneer said Tuesday its revenues rose 22% from a year...

By Matthew Heller • May 8, 2018

How CFOs Can Navigate Trump’s Trade War

The United States and China are approaching the $200 billion mark in threatened tariffs and retaliatory tariffs on one another as the two economies spar over global trade strategy. For the companies caught in the middle of it all, navigating these sweeping changes can create major operational and...

By Brian Peccarelli • May 8, 2018

CFOs Bullish on 2018

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may be getting a lukewarm reception from consumers, but CFOs are clearly over the moon about the lower corporate income tax rate and other provisions in the new law. In the first quarter, CFO optimism in the United States climbed to its highest level since 1996, and fina...

By CFO Editorial Staff • May 4, 2018

Ex-Wilmington Trust CFO Guilty of Loan Fraud

The former CFO and three other former executives of Wilmington Trust were convicted on Thursday of hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in past-due loans from regulators to mask the bank’s true financial condition after the 2008 financial crisis.After a two-month trial in Delaware federal court...

By Matthew Heller • May 3, 2018

Avon Stock Dives on ‘Unsatisfactory’ Results

Avon Products shares tumbled on Thursday after its new chief executive said its latest quarterly results were “unsatisfactory” and the beauty company was designing a turnaround strategy with “deliberate urgency.”For the first quarter, Avon narrowed its net loss to $20.3 million from $36.5 million...

By Matthew Heller • May 3, 2018

Kraft Heinz Sales Fall for 8th Quarter in a Row

Kraft Heinz’s revenue declined for an eighth straight quarter amid weak demand in the U.S. for processed foods but profits got a boost from higher pricing.The maker of such products as Velveeta cheese and Heinz ketchup has been raising prices in the U.S. and other parts of the world, driving over...

By Matthew Heller • May 3, 2018