The New-Look CFO

Finance chiefs of the future will have diverse professional backgrounds, meaning that accounting experience will not always be required. In these five articles, industry experts weigh in on the most sought-after attributes of the modern CFO.The Optimal CFO? Depends on Industry Growth Rate“Account...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 2, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 1

Things aren’t getting any easier for SunEdison, a bankrupt solar energy company. On Tuesday, a week after CEO Ahmad Chatila resigned, Ilan Daskal, who had been designated in March as the company’s next CFO, resigned before assuming the post. He was to have replaced Brian Wuebbels, who was slated ...

By David McCann • June 30, 2016

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

Who Should Decide Whether to Keep Funding a Project?

New research provides some surprising evidence regarding a perennial issue that bedevils capital projects: how to avoid cost underestimates that can lead to budget-busting cost overruns.Commonly proffered advice for avoiding overruns addresses decision-makers’ tendency to escalate their commitmen...

By David McCann • June 30, 2016

With Focus on Revenue, FASB Eyes Nonfinancial Assets

The intense corporate focus on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s revenue recognition rules has prompted FASB to try to clarify how companies should account for sales of nonfinancial assets — assets not part of their regular dealings with customers.Following up on problems it unearthed in...

By David Katz • June 29, 2016

Making Cybersecurity a Business Function Poses Challenges

Thanks to the constant stream of mega-breaches, cybersecurity has moved from the server room to the boardroom. While it’s become evident that cyber defense requires board-level input and attention, translating deeply technical cybersecurity and risk factors into business terms has been an ongoing...

By Elon Kaplan • June 29, 2016

U.K. Firms’ Shares Tumble on Brexit Concerns

U.K. firms Foxtons and easyJet saw their shares tumble Monday after they warned investors that profits this year could be hurt in the fallout of the Brexit vote.London-based real estate firm Foxtons said the run-up to the referendum created “significant uncertainty” across London residential mark...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 27, 2016

CFO Week in Review

In case you missed them, CFO offers the week’s most-read stories.Welcome to ‘Risk Accounting’Academics have codified a new accounting technique that could revolutionize enterprise risk management.The Longest Cash CycleCan the asset-backed security market cure wireless carriers’ elongated cash cyc...

By Kerry Maruna • June 26, 2016

Despite Chip Cards, Payment Security Continues to Be a Concern

 As retailers and restaurants have been slow to roll out chip-based point-of-sale terminals for more secure payment processing, companies such as Wendy’s are still experiencing POS breaches. Here are five stories to get you up to speed on the latest in POS security.Only 37% of Retailers Equipped ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 25, 2016

Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index Fell 0.2% in May

The U.S. economy is showing signs of resilience, but the numbers still point to slow growth with meaningful downside risks, according to new data from the Conference Board released Thursday.The board’s Leading Economic Index for the United States declined 0.2% in May to 123.7, following a 0.6% in...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 23, 2016

Musk Shifts Gears at Tesla With SolarCity Offer

Elon Musk is planning to drive his electric car maker Tesla Motors toward diversification by combining it with the solar installation company he also controls.Tesla on Tuesday offered to acquire SolarCity in an all-stock deal valued at up to $2.8 billion. Musk is the chairman and largest sharehol...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 22, 2016

FedEx Beats Q4 Estimates But Lowers Guidance

FedEx Corp. posted an unadjusted loss for its fiscal fourth quarter and lowered its guidance for the coming year as it continues to beef up its ground operations to keep up with the growth in online shopping.The company said Tuesday that it lost 26 cents per share for the quarter ended May 31, co...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 22, 2016

Corporate Cash Piling up as Brexit Vote Nears

While there’s a great deal of uncertainty about whether the United Kingdom will vote to leave the European Union this Thursday, there’s almost no doubt that a pro-Brexit result would be a downer for U.S.-based multinationals. And while no one is comparing the situation to the 2008-2010 financial ...

By David Katz • June 21, 2016

The Optimal CFO? Depends on Industry Growth Rate

Last month, in our Square-Off debate forum, CFO presented five opinions on the question of whether an accounting background is important to today’s finance chiefs. The views given were divergent, well-stated, and in some cases startling.Now comes a look at the issue from academia, with three busi...

By David McCann • June 21, 2016

Economic Profit: A Better Way to Measure Performance

BP shareholders balk at a $19 million compensation award for the company’s chief executive officer. Forty-two percent of Anglo American shareholders vote against a $4.9 million executive pay package. Credit Suisse’s CEO asks the board to cut his bonus after an unprofitable year.Frank R. Hopson Fr...

By Frank R. Hopson • June 20, 2016

CFO Week in Review

In case you missed them, CFO offers the week’s most-read stories.CFOs on the Move: Week Ending June 10IMAX, Coach, Edison Int’l, Assurant, Ruby Tuesday, DSW, Colfax, Nexteer Automotive, DeVry Education, Beam SuntoryThe Era of the Well-Rounded CFOFour major disruptive changes in the past several y...

By Kerry Maruna • June 18, 2016

Taking a Closer Look At Compensation Strategies

 Changes in overtime pay rules present an opportunity for CFOs to review their company’s payroll practices to minimize existing risk as well as future risk. Here are five articles covering the latest compensation trends that are important to CFOs.New Overtime Pay Rules: How to AdjustThe U.S. Depa...

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 18, 2016

The Longest Cash Cycle

In the last decade, Amazon.com’s cash cycle — the time between when it pays cash for inventory and when it receives cash from the customer — started appearing in corporate finance textbooks as an example of brevity. While in many industries and companies a cash cycle can be one, two, three months...

By Vincent Ryan • June 17, 2016

Rite Aid Swallows Tough Medicine in First Quarter

Rite Aid on Thursday posted lower-than-expected revenues and earnings for its fiscal first quarter 2017, due to pressure on pharmacy reimbursement rates.The Camp Hill, Pa., drugstore chain reported revenues of $8.2 billion, a net loss of $4.6 million, or zero cents per diluted share, for the quar...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 16, 2016

FASB Requires Timelier Recording of Credit Losses

Addressing an issue that arose in the early days of the financial crisis, the Financial Accounting Standards Board today put out an Accounting Standards Update (ASU)  “requiring timelier recording of credit losses on loans and other financial instruments held by financial institutions and other o...

By David Katz • June 16, 2016

Welcome to ‘Risk Accounting’

Conventional ERM systems are generally assessment based and, consequently, they typically report results via an assessment metric often based on three colors: red, amber, and green. The managerial usefulness of such systems is limited for a number of reasons: first, “assessment” as opposed to “me...

By Peter Hughes • June 16, 2016

SEC Allows Use of Inline XBRL Data in Filings

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it will allow companies to file financial statements using a format known as Inline XBRL as part of its effort to improve the transparency of and access to disclosures.Companies are already required to structure financial statement data in...

By Matthew Heller • June 14, 2016

IT Operational Budgets Barely Increasing

Slowing corporate revenues are impacting IT spending, according to the Computer Economics annual IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks study for 2016/2017..The Irvine, Calif. firm’s survey of more than 200 IT executives in the United States and Canada showed that IT operational spending will increa...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 14, 2016

Private Firms Loving FASB Breaks on Interest-rate Swaps

Despite worries that privately held giants like Koch Industries and Cargill will gain an unfair advantage over public companies via a Financial Accounting Standards Board simplified hedge accounting alternative for reporting interest-rate swaps, the board enacted the measure in 2014.Michael Cheng...

By David Katz • June 14, 2016

Brexit Fears Roil Markets

Not only are stock markets down across Europe ahead of a possible Brexit, but bonds are even in negative return territory as investors are now willing to pay for safety.Recent opinion polls have suggested that there may be growing support for a Brexit vote in the June 13 referendum, in which Brit...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 14, 2016

Tech M&A Activity on the Rise

The tech sector has seen quite a bit of activity recently, with Microsoft buying LinkedIn, Salesforce buying Demandware, and Marketo going private. Here’s a look at some of the larger tech deals so far this year.In the largest tech deal of 2016, Microsoft announced early Monday that it was acquir...

By CFO Editorial Staff • June 13, 2016