Small-Business Confidence Drops Sharply

Small-business owners’ optimism about the economy took a surprisingly sharp turn for the worse in June, likely reflecting five months of “lousy growth,” according to the National Federation of Independent Business.In its June report, the NFIB said its small-business optimism index fell 4.1 to 94....

By Matthew Heller • July 14, 2015

What the Delay of FASB’s Revenue Recognition Standard Means

On July 9, the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to defer the effective date of its revenue recognition standard by a year, while still allowing companies to adopt the standard as initially planned.Anne-Lise Vivier Anne-Lise VivierFASB listened to the concerns preparers voiced about the ...

By Anne-Lise Vivier and Kara Peterson • July 13, 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

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending July 10

Paulo Basilio will become finance chief of The Kraft Heinz Co. once the merger between the two firms is complete. He has headed finance at Heinz since joining the company in 2013. James Kehoe, CFO of Kraft, will leave the combined firm.Hugh Johnston PepsiCo has named CFO Hugh Johnston to the addi...

By Joan Urdang • July 10, 2015

Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen SEC Penalties

U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle on Thursday introduced legislation to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to crack down on violations of securities laws.Senate Banking Committee members Senators Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 10, 2015

How to Create a World-Class Finance Function

Like seemingly every company today, you want to “transform” your finance function. But how to do it?Luckily for you, a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report describes eight “differentiating focus areas that define leading finance functions generally.” Actually, the report may not always tell you “how...

By David McCann • July 10, 2015

BEPS Tax Storm Is Coming This Year

Remember when Dodd-Frank was just a series of angry speeches and calls for consumer protection from a group of impassioned politicians? If you’re old enough, you may also remember when Sarbanes-Oxley was little more than a rag-tag collection of ideas about changing corporate auditing policies and...

By Joe Harpaz • July 9, 2015

PCAOB Mulling New Form for Naming Audit Partner

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is seeking public comment on a “middle ground” proposal to disclose the names of lead audit partners in a new form to be filed with the regulator rather than in the auditor’s report.Since 2005, the board has been exploring how to make auditors’ report...

By Matthew Heller • July 8, 2015

Former MF Global Execs Settle Claim for $64.5 Million

Former CEO Jon Corzine and nine other former MF Global officials, including two CFOs, on Tuesday settled for $64.5 million a class-action claim that they were liable for the futures brokerage’s 2011 bankruptcy, according to Reuters.U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan Tuesday granted p...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 8, 2015

Univision Planning Possible $1 Billion IPO

Apparently thwarted in its efforts to find a buyer, powerhouse Spanish-language broadcaster Univision has announced plans for an initial public offering.In a prospectus filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company described itself as “the leading media company serv...

By Matthew Heller • July 3, 2015

PayPal Buys Money Transfer Provider Xoom

PayPal said Wednesday that it had struck a deal to buy Xoom, a digital money transfer provider, to broaden its services across the globe.PayPal would pay Xoom’s shareholders $25 a share, or about $1.09 billion. Excluding Xoom’s cash and short-term investments and including its debt, PayPal would ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 2, 2015

Centene Goes West With $6B Health Net Deal

A whirlwind of merger-related activity in the U.S. health-insurance industry continued Thursday as Centene Corp. announced it had agreed to acquire Health Net for $6.8 billion.The deal combines two managed-care providers that have more than 10 million members between them and an estimated $37 bil...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2015

More Firms Have Positive View of Obamacare Ruling

Employers are more likely to have a positive than negative view of the Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare’s premium subsidies for all public exchanges, according to a new Mercer survey.The research firm reports that of nearly 600 employers it polled after the landmark decision in King v. ...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2015

Unemployment Down in June, yet Wages Stagnant

Jobs rose by 223,000 in June, slightly under economists’ forecasts, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.3%, the Labor Department said Thursday. However, the size of the workforce receded and wages were unchanged from May at $24.95, and up only 2% over the past year.The unemployment rate in Ju...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 2, 2015

Green Giant Not So Jolly for General Mills

General Mills reported Wednesday that fourth-quarter profits fell 53% to $186.8 million, or 30 cents a share, largely because of a $260 million asset impairment charge from its struggling Green Giant frozen and canned produce line.Excluding the Green Giant write-down and other charges, the compan...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 1, 2015

White House Planning to Extend Overtime Benefits

The Obama administration is planning a radical overhaul of overtime regulations that it expects will benefit nearly 5 million workers next year.Under the new rules, private-sector workers who make up to $50,400 a year will be guaranteed the right to earn additional pay if they work more than 40 h...

By Matthew Heller • July 1, 2015

SEC Proposes to Vastly Expand Clawback Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission, as expected, proposed on Wednesday to expand the circumstances under which companies must “claw back” performance-based bonuses awarded to executive officers. The proposal, aimed at implementing the clawback provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, did contain at ...

By David McCann • July 1, 2015

Sony To Raise $3.6 billion in Equity and Debt

Sony plans to raise about 440 billion yen ($3.6 billion) in a sale of shares and convertible bonds in Japan and overseas, the company said Tuesday. Stock will make up 321.5 billion yen of the transaction while convertible bonds account for 120 billion yen.Sony will use the funds to develop and pr...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 30, 2015

Puerto Rico’s Governor Calls For Debt Restructuring Under U.S. Bankruptcy Code

Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla wants the commonwealth’s $73 billion debt to be restructured under Chapter 9 the U.S. bankruptcy code.Padilla spoke in a televised address Monday, the day after a group of former International Monetary Fund officials released a report concluding that ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 30, 2015

From Algebra to Calculus: Financial Planning in the XaaS Economy

When it comes to cloud-based anything-as-a-service (XaaS) businesses, the types of planning, budgeting, and forecasting (PBF) strategies that have worked for more traditional product-focused enterprises just don’t fit. From long-term strategic plans to annual budgets, the reality of recurring rev...

By Hyoun Park and Scott Pezza • June 30, 2015

Finance Software Firm Adaptive Raises $75M

Adaptive Insights, a 12-year-old Silicon Valley firm that provides a cloud-based alternative to finance management software such as Microsoft Excel, announced Tuesday that it had raised $75 million in new funding.The Series G investment brings the total raised by the company to $176 million. Adap...

By Matthew Heller • June 30, 2015

Towers Watson and Willis To Merge

Insurance broker and risk adviser Willis Group Holdings and and professional-services firm Towers Watson announced plans to combine in a $18 billion deal dubbed as a “merger of equals.” The phrase is a euphemism of sorts, though, because Willis shareholders would own 50.1% and Towers Watson share...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 30, 2015

Congress Faces Transport Funding Deadline

Highway programs could be shut down in August if Congress doesn’t agree on a multi-year transportation bill by the end of next month, The Hill reports.Many Republicans want another short-term extension of highway funds, while many Democrats favor President Barack Obama’s six-year, $478 billion tr...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 29, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending June 26

Aflac has appointed Frederick Crawford to the top finance spot, effective June 30. Previously, he headed finance at CNO Financial Group, a post he had held since 2012.Frank Calderoni Frank Calderoni has been named to lead the finance function at Red Hat, effective July 13. He takes over for Charl...

By Joan Urdang • June 26, 2015

Sloppy Benefit Plan Audits Putting Employers at Risk

Up until recently, employee benefit plan audits were a routine matter for CFOs — something you had to have done each year to comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, but nothing to worry about overmuch. Well, not anymore.Adam S. Lilling With the quality of those audits reportedly ...

By David Katz • June 25, 2015

Toshiba Chief Apologizes for Accounting Crisis

Toshiba president Hideo Tanaka vowed Thursday to “create a new Toshiba” in response to an accounting scandal that he called the worst crisis in the company’s history.In April, Toshiba launched an internal investigation of accounting irregularities that involve nearly 55 billion yen ($445 million)...

By Matthew Heller • June 25, 2015