Facebook Changes U.K. Accounting Policy

Facebook is making an accounting change that will generate higher taxable profits in Britain but may ease criticism over its overseas tax arrangements.Starting in April, the world’s largest social network will book revenues from its largest U.K. advertisers through its local subsidiary, rather th...

By Matthew Heller • March 7, 2016

Finance Roundup for Executives

Standout StoriesChina devalues Yuan… The G20 did nothing last weekend. And that’s really something. Especially for U.S. companies like Apple.Leading up to the G20 summit, there was hope that world leaders might strike a new currency agreement. But no such luck. Even U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob ...

By Kerry Maruna • March 7, 2016

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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

Road Haulage: The Appy Trucker

Mention “logistics” and it may bring to mind shiny FedEx or UPS vans with their neatly uniformed drivers. However, the business of shifting cargo by road, especially larger loads, is far more fragmented and inefficient than the image of its best-known brands would suggest.Even the world-famous na...

By Economist Staff • March 7, 2016

Slowdown in Smartphone Sales Seen for 2016

The smartphone industry will decelerate to single-digit growth this year, with Apple’s iPhone being hit harder than Android devices, according to IDC.The market research firm said Thursday that after rising by 10.4% to 1.44 billion units last year, smartphone shipments will grow only 5.7% in 2016...

By Matthew Heller • March 4, 2016

Monsanto Lowers 2016 EPS Guidance

Chemicals maker Monsanto on Wednesday lowered its 2016 earnings guidance due to several variables creating “significant headwinds,” namely, weak foreign currencies; weak prices for generic glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup weed killer; compressed grower margins coming from lower commodit...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 3, 2016

C-Suite Optimism Falls Sharply: AICPA

Business executives’ optimism about the U.S. economy has fallen to its lowest level in more than three years, according to the American Institute of CPAs’ first quarter Economic Outlook Survey released on Thursday.Just above a quarter (28%) of the 540 top-level executives with CPAs said they were...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 3, 2016

Finance Roundup for Executives

Standout StoriesPerils of plant equipment… A roll of paper towels accidentally left in the belly of a turbine after routine maintenance. That was all it took to destroy a million-dollar piece of equipment at one of our customer’s power-generation facilities. Although a turbine is a beast of a mac...

By Kerry Maruna • March 3, 2016

Finance Roundup for Executives

Standout StoriesIdle Assets… It’s psychologically difficult for management to sell idle assets. Senior executives often rationalize the decision to hold onto assets well beyond their productive usefulness with seemingly valid reasons. But upon further review, often these are merely excuses.Three ...

By Kerry Maruna • March 2, 2016

Exxon to Cut 2016 Capital Spending by 25%

The prolonged commodities rout is taking its toll on the largest U.S. oil company, with ExxonMobil announcing it plans to cut capital spending 25% this year.Exxon anticipates capital spending of $23 billion in 2016, down from a reduced $31.1 billion in 2015. About a year ago, the company had proj...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 2, 2016

Stopping the Madcap Sprint to Close the Books

See Therese Tucker’s second column on this subject, “Putting Continuous Accounting to Work.”Ever wonder where the term the “last mile” of finance originated? This oft-used phrase to describe the month’s worth of work painfully squeezed into a few days to close the books refers to the final steps ...

By Therese Tucker • March 2, 2016

Boardroom Doors Still Closed to Female Execs

The glass ceiling is still looming over U.S. corporate boardrooms, with more than three-quarters of qualified women having yet to serve on a board of directors, according to a new survey.The research firm Equilar and the U.S. 30% Club found that of the 8,517 women who are C-level corporate office...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 2, 2016

Finance Roundup for Executives

Standout StoriesIT costs… For years, enterprise information technology organizations have been measured by a few simple metrics to give business executives and CFOs high-level insights into IT spending. The most widely used metric is the well-known IT Spend as a Percentage of Revenue or its corol...

By Kerry Maruna • March 1, 2016

Valeant Discloses SEC Probe

Valeant Pharmaceuticals stock fell as much as 9% Tuesday after the troubled drug maker disclosed it was under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.A Valeant spokeswoman said Monday that the company confirmed that it had “received a subpoena from the SEC in the fourth quart...

By Matthew Heller • March 1, 2016

Baidu Sales Surge 33% on Mobile Ad Growth

Chinese Internet search giant Baidu reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue as it continued to make progress with its mobile initiatives.Baidu’s stock rose nearly 10% Friday on news that revenue surged 33% to 18.7 billion yuan ($2.86 billion) for the quarter, beating analysts’ expect...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 29, 2016

Budgeting Buildup

The beginning of the year for finance chiefs often means gaining board approval for their forthcoming annual budgets, and CFO wants to share some insights. The following stories cover performance measurement, rolling forecasts, annual, zero-based budgeting, and starting your budget from scratch.T...

By Kerry Maruna • Feb. 29, 2016

Finance Roundup for Executives

Standout StoriesFive CFO action items…The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s issuance yesterday of its updated lease accounting standard ushers in a new era in which companies will recognize most leases on their balance sheets. This change will increase reported assets and liabilities for com...

By Kerry Maruna • Feb. 29, 2016

Tech Firms Could Get Tax Windfall From Intel Case

Google’s parent company Alphabet and other multinational firms stand to reap a tax benefit in the billions if Intel wins a high-stakes international tax battle with the Internal Revenue Service.The U.S. Tax Court sided with Intel in July in the dispute over cost-sharing arrangements between U.S. ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Feb. 29, 2016

FASB Leasing Update: Five CFO Action Items

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s issuance yesterday of its updated lease accounting standard ushers in a new era in which companies will recognize most leases on their balance sheets. This change will increase reported assets and liabilities for companies across all sectors – in some ca...

By Kimber Bascom and Dean Bell • Feb. 26, 2016

Reaching a Consensus on Management Review Controls

Requirements from the Public Company Acccounting Oversight Board are causing auditors to require a level of precision and specificity for management review controls beyond prior years. Auditors are also reviewing far more documentation than they use to. At the same time, there is a lack of clarit...

By John Fogarty • Feb. 25, 2016

Microsoft Buys Xamarin

After a longtime partnership, Microsoft is finally buying Xamarin, a platform provider for mobile app development, executive vice president Scott Guthrie said in a blog post Wednesday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.In conjunction with the Redmond, Wash. giant’s Visual Studio, Xamarin p...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Feb. 25, 2016

New FASB Lease Standard Could Inflate Balance Sheets

In a long-anticipated move that could make corporate balance sheets look a good deal fatter than they seem today, the Financial Accounting Standards Board on Thursday updated its lease accounting standard.James Kroeker James KroekerUnder the new guidance, companies that lease property or equipmen...

By David Katz • Feb. 25, 2016

‘Uncontrollables’ Are No Excuse for Missing Your Numbers

Over the past decade, companies on average have given less guidance on expected financial results than they had previously. One reason for that is an increase in the volatility of uncontrollable factors, such as those facing the oil industry.Tom Conine In the past year in particular, the strength...

By Thomas E. Conine Jr. • Feb. 25, 2016

Etsy Stock Climbs 7% as Q4 Sales Hit $88M

Etsy shares rose nearly 7% Wednesday after the online marketplace posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue but analysts remained skeptical about its long-term prospects.In a strong finish to a difficult year, Etsy reported $87.9 million in revenue and a loss of 4 cents per share. At the...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 24, 2016

Online Sales Fuel 1.9% Growth at Target

Target’s turnaround efforts continued to gain traction in the fourth quarter but the retailer’s aggressive promotions aimed at boosting online sales cut into profits.Target on Wednesday posted comparable-sales growth of 1.9% in the three months ended Jan. 31, fueled in large part by a 34% increas...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Feb. 24, 2016

Financial Regulators Have Cyber on Their Minds

Financial regulators, struggling to keep up with the onslaught of new threats to the public’s sensitive financial and personal data, have spent the last few years examining corporate cybersecurity practices, policies, and procedures and communicating their expectations to executives.This year, ex...

By John B. Kennedy and Michael T. McGinley • Feb. 24, 2016