Blockbuster Tax Trade: Less Complexity for More Transparency

This is one of five articles offering opinions on what kind of tax reform would be best. See the others, below left.Another calendar year is coming to an end, and accounting and finance teams are frantically closing their books, scrutinizing numbers, preparing for year-end audits, and reporting t...

By Rick Smetanka • Nov. 18, 2015

CFOs to Boost Capital Spending in 2016

Chief financial officers in the are planning to significantly boost capital spending in 2016, despite probable interest rate increases and the uncertainty of an election year, according to TD Bank’s fifth annual CFO Survey, released Monday.A majority (61%) of 300 U.S. CFOs and other corporate fin...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 18, 2015

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

What Kind of Tax Reform Do We Need?

This is an introduction to a package of five articles offering opinions on what kind of tax reform would be best. Scroll down below the introduction to see the articles.There’s one thing about corporate tax reform that everyone agrees on: that we should have it. But what should it look like? On t...

By David McCann • Nov. 17, 2015

Major Reform Needed to Boost Investment in U.S.

This is one of five articles offering opinions on what kind of tax reform would be best. See the others, below left.The last time there was a major overhaul of U.S. tax law was in 1986, and since then, our corporate tax system has become outdated and noncompetitive. Given the global nature of the...

By Frank Calderoni • Nov. 17, 2015

Tax Reform’s First Goal Should Be Simplicity

This is one of five articles offering opinions on what kind of tax reform would be best. See the others, below left.With the ascent of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to Speaker of the House, there may be reason for renewed optimism that tax reform will get the legislative attention that many advocates h...

By John Gimigliano • Nov. 17, 2015

The Reform We Need Is Unlikely to Occur

This is one of five articles offering opinions on what kind of tax reform would be best. See the others, below left.Politicians complain about the Internal Revenue Code. They grumble about how the tax rules are far too complex and that the statutory rates, at least on the corporate side, are far ...

By Philip G. Cohen • Nov. 17, 2015

Finance Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance Marriott acquires Starwood Hotel and Resorts for $12B making it the world’s largest hotel operator. Marriott was especially interested in the presence of young travelers at Starwood. Marriott now operates 5,500 hotels in over 100 countries. Get the details of this acqui...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 17, 2015

Ernst & Young Found Liable for Madoff Losses

In the first trial of an auditor arising from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, a Washington state jury has found Ernst & Young liable for the losses of an investment firm that invested $200 million with Madoff through a feeder fund.FutureSelect Portfolio Management claimed it was entitled to rec...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 16, 2015

Finance Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance TodayFacebook has become a gold mine for data, especially by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Global demand rose 18% in early 2015, with U.S. agencies accounting for a third of that total. Facebook has also been told to restrict more of its content by countries worldwide....

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 13, 2015

5 Metrics for Measuring Recurring Revenue

Companies that rely on recurring revenue business models are rapidly growing market share and Wall Street is rewarding their performance with higher multiples. More and more successful enterprises such as Amazon, Adobe, Salesforce, Netflix, Audi, and Uber are employing recurring revenue models ac...

By Tom Dibble • Nov. 13, 2015

Companies Should Update Lease Accounting Systems, Experts Advise

With the timetable for the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new leasing standard all but nailed down, corporate lessees should start updating their lease accounting systems to cull the documentation needed to comply with the new rules, according to a number of sources.On Wednesday, the boar...

By David Katz • Nov. 12, 2015

Finance Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance Today… Apple is growing to the tune of 1,000 new jobs in Ireland. CEO Tim Cook reassures that the European Union ruling over Apple’s tax arrangements will not affect Apple’s growth. This expansion makes Apple the largest private sector employer in Cork, Ireland. Read mo...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 12, 2015

Clawbacks Trigger Disputes Between CFOs and Auditors

CFOs whose pay is strongly linked to their employers’ financial fortunes are likely to push back against auditors proposing accounting restatements if the companies have clawback policies, according to a new study published in The Accounting Review.The research complicates the theory that restate...

By David Katz • Nov. 11, 2015

CFOs Reveal Their Top Issues for 2016

What are finance executives’ top priorities for 2016? Consulting firm Protiviti tries to capture them in its 2016 Finance Priorities Survey, released on Tuesday.No matter how it slices and dices the data, Protiviti finds that the top priority for CFOs next year is margin and earnings performance....

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 11, 2015

Finance Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance on Today… Three men have been accused of the largest hack in finance history. The accused allegedly manipulated stock prices, compromised the personal information of 83 million individuals and small businesses, as well as many other crimes; 23-count in total. The compan...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 11, 2015

Align Finance, Operations to Improve Working Capital

If you survey CFOs across different industry sectors, you’ll find that they consistently strive to improve the efficiency of working capital and the metrics of the cash conversion cycle.Erik Wanberg ????????????????????????????????????Often, however, there are goal conflicts that decrease the imp...

By Erik Wanberg • Nov. 10, 2015

Finance and Accounting Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance Today? Online dating apps are all the rage. Why not invest in digital social interaction when everything else is on the Internet? Match Group is seizing opportunities with an IPO of nearly half a billion. They own Tinder, OkCupid and Match.com and with 9.6M active daily...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 10, 2015

N.Y. Probing Exxon Mobil Over Climate Research

New York’s attorney general has launched an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil misled the public and investors about how climate change might affect its business.A spokesman for Exxon Mobil confirmed Thursday that the company had received a subpoena from the office of Attorney General Eric Sc...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 6, 2015

One-Third of Leveraged Loans Structurally Weak

U.S. banks have improved their leveraged loan underwriting practices but more than one-third of leveraged deals originated in the past year showed structural weaknesses, according to regulators.In the annual Shared National Credits Review for 2015, three financial overseers found “improved compli...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2015

Finance and Accounting Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance Today? From Google to Tesla, CFO Jason Wheeler is making moves. The executive starts his journey on November 30, with a base salary of $500k, and an initial equity award of $15M over four years. Find out what Tesla has in store for Wheeler and the companies future in th...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 5, 2015

U.S. Budget Clears Way for IRS Audits of Partnerships

Tucked away near the very end of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 is a section that could make it easier for Internal Revenue Service agents to audit private-equity firms, hedge funds, and other large, intricately structured partnerships.Seen as an attempt to raise revenue for the politically im...

By David Katz • Nov. 5, 2015

Should You Rethink Assumptions About M&A Valuations?

Global mergers and acquisitions have reached high levels this year. Yet many chief financial officers, treasurers, and other executives assessing M&A opportunities continue to remark, “I just can’t make this deal pencil out.”For every buyer, it seems, another dozen potential buyers have been ...

By Michael Robbins and Hubert Shen • Nov. 5, 2015

Mobile-Ad Sales Power Strong Q3 for Facebook

Facebook stock rose to an all-time high Wednesday after the social media giant reported an 11% increase in third-quarter profit fueled by strong growth in mobile advertising sales.Facebook earned 57 cents per share, excluding some items, on $4.5 billion revenue in the third quarter. Analysts had ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2015

BofA Sells Money-Market Fund Unit

Bank of America has agreed to sell its $87 billion money-market fund unit to asset manager BlackRock, simplifying its business in the face of low interest rates and costly regulatory reforms.Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the agreement is expected to lift BlackRock’s global cash-managem...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2015

Finance and Accounting Roundup for Executives

What’s Going on in Finance Today? Check out the CFO ‘Metric of the Month’ as we take a look at internal audit cost. Will the SEC soon require all public companies to have an internal audit function? It certainly is a possibility if the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has their way. Companies...

By Kerry Maruna • Nov. 4, 2015