Nextdoor Lands SPAC Deal With Khosla

A social media platform that connects people living in the same neighborhoods announced a SPAC merger to help fund expansion plans.The SPAC Deal: Nextdoor announced a deal with Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co. II that values the company at a pro forma equity value of $4.3 billion.A PIPE of $270 mi...

By Lauren Muskett • July 6, 2021

Metric of the Month: Personnel Cost of Finance

Costs are rising across the board as the U.S. economy continues to move forward from a short but deep recession, and labor costs are no exception to this trend. Many employees who kept their jobs in 2020 were happy to stay put, but 2021 is a new year and the labor market is much more competitive....

By Perry D. Wiggins • July 6, 2021

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

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending July 2

Ronald Kisling Fastly appointed Ronald Kisling chief financial officer. Kisling joins the cloud computing service provider from Google, where he was CFO of Fitbit. Kisling joined Fitbit in 2014 and served as chief accounting officer before taking over as finance chief. Kisling has held chief fina...

By Lauren Muskett • July 2, 2021

NYCE Breaks Crowdfunding Record, Announces IPO

NYCE formally announced Wednesday a record-breaking $1.31-million raise, as well as the signing of a deal to go public with blockchain-powered alternative trading system tZero Group, a subsidiary of Medici Ventures, the venture capital arm of Overstock.com.What Happened: In light of the pandemic,...

By Lauren Muskett • July 1, 2021

CFOs Being Cautious With Balance-Sheet Cash

The U.S. economic rebound has boosted many U.S. companies’ cash and short-term investment holdings. The Association for Financial Professionals’ survey of 327 corporate treasury and finance professionals found that 47% reported an increase in their organizations’ cash and short-term investments. ...

By Vincent Ryan • June 28, 2021

Cannabis Companies Winning Lower Priced Debt Deals

Cannabis companies are posting robust sales growth and, in doing so, winning better debt deals.Legal U.S. cannabis sales surpassed $17.5 billion in 2020, a 46% spike from 2019, according to Canaccord Genuity. Analysts at Cowen estimate annual legal sales will reach $41 billion by 2025.In Californ...

By Vincent Ryan • June 24, 2021

The Skill That Can Make or Break a CFO’s Career

Of the many vitally important roles and responsibilities of a chief financial officer, the ability to deliver compelling financial presentations would likely not make the top five. But as many CFOs would attest, these presentations can make or break careers. Deliver a compelling and persuasive pr...

By Rob Morhaim • June 21, 2021

Working Capital Scorecard: Inventories, Receivables Need Attention

Post-COVID-19, the future of working capital management has changed. Last year, supply chain complexity, inventory buffers, and loss of negotiating power all crimped many companies’ ability to reduce their working capital effectively. The height of the pandemic in 2020 also exposed weaknesses in ...

By Ramona Dzinkowski • June 21, 2021

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending June 18

Kate Jaspon Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin’, named Kate Jaspon as its new finance chief. Jaspon was previously chief financial officer of recently acquired Dunkin’ Brands. She joined Dunkin’ Brands in 2005 as assistant controller and was later promote...

By Lauren Muskett • June 18, 2021

Working Capital Scorecard: A Tumultuous Year

Shortfalls in revenues, curtailed or redirected customer demand, liquidity pressures, receivables collection headaches  — on the working capital front, 2020 put finance departments to the test.  How did the largest U.S. companies perform overall?Many, especially those with market clout, improved ...

By Vincent Ryan • June 17, 2021

GM Anticipates Up to $3B Hit from Chip Shortage, Inflation

General Motors said on Wednesday the ongoing semiconductor shortage and rising commodity inflation could bring in a $2 billion to $3 billion headwind in the second half of the year.What Happened: The number one U.S. automaker expects chip shortage to continue in the second half of 2021 with the t...

By Lauren Muskett • June 17, 2021

Fed Maintains Interest Rates, Forecasts 2023 Rate Hike

The Federal Reserve maintained its target fed funds rate range of between zero and 0.25%. The Fed also reassured investors it will continue to support the economy via asset purchases while the U.S. recovers from the pandemic.“The Federal Reserve will continue to increase its holdings of Treasury ...

By Lauren Muskett • June 16, 2021

First American Settles SEC Charges for Cybersecurity Disclosure Failures

Real-estate title insurer First American Financial reached a $487,616 settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for not maintaining cybersecurity disclosure controls and procedures that exposed sensitive customer information.First American was notified by cybersecurity journalis...

By Lauren Muskett • June 15, 2021

Experts React to 5% CPI Inflation

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust traded higher by 0.5% on Thursday morning after the Labor Department reported a 5% increase in the consumer price index in the month of May, the fastest inflation growth since the summer of 2008.What Happened: The headline CPI index rose 5% in May, exceeding economi...

By Lauren Muskett • June 14, 2021

Four Questions CFOs Should Ask Their Supply Chain Leaders

Transportation seems to be the topic of conversation more often these days. From shortages on our grocery store shelves for everyday items we previously took for granted, to the news of a large container ship stuck in the Suez Canal, to more recent news of disruptions in fuel supply in the Southe...

By Chris Gaffney, and Mark Shaughnessy • June 14, 2021

Balancing ‘Subscribe Once’ and ‘Pay for Usage’

Software-as-a-serve (SaaS) is almost synonymous with subscription models. After all, the whole notion of subscribing to something is not that you’re simply buying a product but that you’re committing to a long-term relationship with a service provider. Subscriptions are ideal for SaaS. They allow...

By Todd McElhatton • June 12, 2021

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending June 11

Anan Kashyap Anan Kashyap is stepping down as CFO at Poshmark after five years. Kashyap will leave the clothing reseller in August after completing its second-quarter 10-Q filing and will remain with the company as an adviser until the end of the year. Kashyap played a key role in Poshmark’s Janu...

By Lauren Muskett • June 11, 2021

GameStop Stock Falls On Q1 Results; Hires New CEO, CFO

GameStop reported first-quarter financial results after the close Wednesday and announced the appointment of two new top executives.What Happened: Sales in the first quarter rose 25% year-over-year for GameStop.The company’s $1.28 billion in sales came in ahead of Wall Street’s consensus estimate...

By Lauren Muskett • June 10, 2021

IAC Finance Chief to Leave Job

Glenn Schiffman Glenn Schiffman, IAC executive vice president and chief financial officer, is leaving the media conglomerate to pursue a new opportunity.IAC, which owns home project marketplace Angi, childcare platform Care.com, and other businesses, said Schiffman will stay at the company for a ...

By Lauren Muskett • June 9, 2021

U.S. Recovers $2.3M in Bitcoin From Colonial Pipeline Hackers

A U.S. government task force has reportedly seized more than $2.3 million, out of the $4.3 million, in Bitcoin, which was used to pay the ransom in an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system.Officials from the Department of Justice said in a press conference on Monday that they had found and recap...

By Lauren Muskett • June 8, 2021

Gensler Ousts PCAOB Chair; Other Board Members to Follow

In a statement that hit the Securities and Exchange Commission website at 4:14 p.m. on Friday, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said he removed William D. Duhnke III, chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, effective immediately.Duhnke III’s term was not officially up until October 24, 2022...

By Vincent Ryan • June 7, 2021

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending June 4

Aradhana Sarin Aradhana Sarin will become CFO at AstraZeneca when its takeover of Alexion Pharmaceuticals is completed later this year. Dr. Sarin is currently executive vice president and chief financial officer of Alexion. She joined Alexion in November 2017 and was chief business and strategy o...

By Lauren Muskett • June 4, 2021

Beyond Meat Appoints Phil Hardin CFO

Beyond Meat appointed Phil Hardin as its new finance chief. Hardin joins the plant-based meat maker from Amazon, where he worked for 15 years in finance and investor relations across several business units. Hardin was most recently vice president of finance for Amazon Advertising and held other l...

By Lauren Muskett • June 4, 2021

Six Ways CFOs Can Help Small Businesses Recover

Many small- and medium-size businesses have been sailing through incredibly turbulent waters for over a year. As of May 2021, 34% of small businesses in the U.S. remained closed. Even as the economy picks up and GDP growth surges back, overall confidence in the small business sector remains low, ...

By Steve McNally • June 3, 2021

Blockchain Strategies Needed as U.S. Clamps Down on Crypto

Two developments unfolding in Washington this spring should have corporate finance and tax departments brushing up on their blockchain. First, Gary Gensler was confirmed as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Then, the Biden administration announced a new tax enforcement pl...

By Lauren Muskett • June 2, 2021