Metric of the Month: Cost Control Savvy

Nothing warms the heart of a top executive like seeing everyone in the organization rowing in the same direction. CEOs and CFOs have spent years green-lighting IT investments to get business information flowing smoothly across the organization, keeping everyone in the know to support competitive ...

By Mary Driscoll • Jan. 9, 2017

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Jan. 6

Kenneth Moreland, who began his career at T. Rowe Price Group in 2004, plans to retire as head of finance this year. A search is under way for his successor, and Moreland will assist during a transition period.Gregor Morela Insurance brokerage Hub International Northeast has promoted first vice p...

By Joan Urdang • Jan. 6, 2017

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

In Accounting Swan Song, SEC’s White Urges Convergence

In what seemed like a swan song on accounting issues for her tenure at the Securities and Exchange Commission, outgoing SEC Chair Mary Jo White advised the next commissioner to restart currently moribund efforts to converge U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles with those of the Internati...

By David Katz • Jan. 6, 2017

How to Cut Corporate Utility Costs: Look at Your Lease

Energy can represent as much as one-third of a facility’s operating costs, suggesting that even marginal reductions in consumption, rates, or both, will result in meaningful savings.Michael Zwang Utility costIt’s no secret that energy costs vary widely by region. Beyond moving its facility, howev...

By Michael Zwang • Jan. 5, 2017

Macy’s Shares Drop 14% on Weak Holiday Sales

Macy’s stock price fell nearly 14% after the retailer reported same-store sales declined over the holiday period and lowered its earnings guidance for full-year 2016.Comparable sales fell 2.1% in the months of November and December 2016 combined from a year ago, signalling that Macy’s, like other...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 5, 2017

2017: A Year to Review Capital Structure

Donald Trump’s tax plan may have the biggest impact on corporate capital structure strategy in the last 30 years. It is time for every company to prepare for what lies ahead. In all likelihood, the Trump tax plan will fundamentally change the way companies raise and deploy capital, and by extensi...

By Reuben Daniels and John R. Cryan • Jan. 3, 2017

New Private-Company Stock-Based-Pay Rules: Analysis

As part of its simplification initiative, the Financial Accounting Standards Board last March issued new stock-based compensation guidance. The update provides private companies, when granting stock to employees, with a one-time election to switch from measuring all liability-classified awards at...

By Rick Schwartz and Amy Thomas • Dec. 30, 2016

Start Preparing Now for New Lease Accounting Rules

The new lease accounting rules will have far-reaching implications for both public and private companies.The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s leases standard will take effect for public companies for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2...

By Sean Moynihan • Dec. 29, 2016

How to Boost Workers’ Take-Home Pay Without a Raise

A fiscal black cloud has emerged in American business, and it’s threatening the livelihood of the middle-class workforce. Health benefit plans, meant to enhance compensation packages, are having the opposite effect. Over the last decade or so, increases in disposable income have been hugely outpa...

By Eric Krieg • Dec. 28, 2016

How to Make Hay out of Trump Tax Plans

We’ve all read the headlines: a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending, a repatriation holiday, corporate tax reform, Let’s Make America Great Again!Tom Liguori Sounds great for the country. Though what will be the affect on your company? Will there be winners and losers? Which will we be?We...

By Tom Liguori • Dec. 27, 2016

When Cost Cutting Gets Expensive

During periods of slow economic growth, companies instinctively move to curtail their costs, often via strategies shaped by the CFO. Yet many cost cutting programs actually cost the company money.Daniel Mahler How? Serious efforts to shed costs require substantial investments, as evidenced by the...

By Daniel Mahler and Greg Portell • Dec. 27, 2016

Rite Aid Misses Estimates, Comp Sales Drop

Rite Aid reported a 3.4% drop in same-store sales for the third quarter as low prescription-reimbursement rates and cheaper generic drugs hurt pharmacy revenue.The decline in comparable sales reflected a 4.7% decrease in pharmacy sales that included an approximate 182 basis point negative impact ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 24, 2016

Bed Bath & Beyond Shares Fall 10% on Earnings Miss

Bed Bath & Beyond shares fell sharply after the retailer reported a miss for third-quarter earnings, casting further doubt on the prospects for its turnaround plan.For the quarter ended Nov. 30, Bed Bath & Beyond earned $126.4 million, or 85 cents a share, down from $177.8 million, or $1....

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 22, 2016

Disclosing Engagement Partner Improves Audit Quality

A PCAOB regulation slated to take effect on Jan. 31, which requires accounting firms to identify the principal engagement partner in corporate audits, should be a solid plus for investors and regulators, a new study suggests.Currently, companies disclose the audit firms overseeing their financial...

By David McCann • Dec. 22, 2016

First Penalty for Retaliation vs. Internal-only Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that SandRidge Energy, an oil and gas company, agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle charges that it retaliated against a whistleblower and used illegal language in separation agreements.It was the first time a company was penalized for alle...

By David McCann • Dec. 21, 2016

Coca-Cola to Pay $3.2 Billion for Stake in African Bottler

Coca-Cola has reached a deal to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev’s majority stake in Coca-Cola’s African bottling venture, the companies said Wednesday.The world’s largest soft-drink maker will pay $3.15 billion for a 54.5% equity stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), a joint bottling operation est...

By Sean Allocca • Dec. 21, 2016

Supplemental Financial Disclosure: What Stakeholders Really Want

Investors and analysts continually look for meaningful and concise financial disclosure. However, most 10-K and 10-Q filings are filled with extraneous information required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — information that’s often considered boilerplate. The information can leave...

By Phillip Joseph • Dec. 20, 2016

The Year in Review

Financial fallout from the Brexit vote dominated the dialogue in the first half of 2016, and a boorish presidential election captured everyone’s attention in the second half. With all that excitement, some developments in the world of finance flew under the radar. Take our quiz for a look back at...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 20, 2016

Oracle’s Cloud Sales Rise 62% But IaaS Lags

Oracle’s second-quarter earnings narrowly topped analysts’ estimates but revenue came in below expectations as the company’s “public cloud” infrastructure offerings showed weak growth.Oracle on Thursday reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.61, one cent above the Wall Street consensus. Reven...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 16, 2016

Goodwill Impairments Double

While 2015 was filled with merger and acquisition activity in the U.S., it was, unfortunately, also filled with goodwill impairments — the charges companies record when goodwill’s carrying value on financial statements exceeds its fair value.After increasing 18% in 2014, goodwill impairments doub...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 16, 2016

Top 10 CFO Risks for 2017

The potential for global developments to unsettle economic conditions and restrict growth opportunities both here and overseas is the top risk cited by executives in a survey from the consulting firm Protiviti and North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management. Seventy-two percent ...

By Sean Allocca • Dec. 13, 2016

10 Steps to Financial Audit Success

There are a variety of reasons why private companies need to subject themselves to the often-bemoaned financial audit. Whether it’s to provide reporting for investors, lenders, or creditors or to make better decisions on regulatory actions or succession planning, conducting a financial audit is a...

By Rahul Sheth • Dec. 12, 2016

Trade Deficit: Don’t Worry. Budget Deficit: Worry

“Make America Great Again.” Hmm — certainly a catchy campaign slogan designed to rouse our inner patriot.Marc Wagman Unfortunately, at least part of the message implicit in that sound bite is the misguided idea that because of our trade deficit — because the United States purchases more goods and...

By Marc Wagman • Dec. 12, 2016

Costco Returns to Same-Store Sales Growth

Costco Wholesale’s profit rose more than expected in the first quarter and the warehouse retailer returned to same-store sales growth despite lower food prices.Net income increased nearly 14% from a year ago to $545 million, producing earnings of $1.24 per share. Net sales rose 3.2% to $27.5 bill...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2016

Airline Stocks Rise on Unit Revenue Guidance

Shares in American Airlines and United Airlines rose more than 3% Friday after the carriers boosted their revenue and profit outlook for the fourth quarter.American, the world’s largest airline, said it expects unit revenue to range between a decline of 1% percent and an increase of 1%, compared ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2016