Category: CFO

India Execs Tops U.S. As World’s Most Optimistic CFOs

Where are corporate financial executives most optimistic? Hint, it’s not Russia. It’s not France. The eighth annual American Express/CFO Research And Global Spending Monitor shows CFOs are most optimistic in India, followed by the U.S. and, believe it or not, European problem child Spain.

More than two-thirds of financial executives in Asia and Australia predict expansion in their local economies this year. But Indian CFOs are far and away the most optimistic, with 94% expecting great things from the economic policies of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s up from 86% in 2014 and 78% in 2013. On the flip side, China’s confidence dropped significantly since 2013 to 78% from 94%. Read the full story.

by

Why CFOs Need to Care About Accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission is on a mission — gunning for instances of accounting fraud. For the first time since 2007, the SEC’s enforcement actions against companies alleged to have cooked the books is higher than the previous year, up 46% to 99 enforcement actions.

This year’s enforcement actions could be even higher, given the release of the first cases by a new SEC task force tasked with ferreting out financial reporting misconduct. If caught within the commission’s crosshairs, the sanctions are severe — tens of millions of dollars in penalties plus the ignominy of public revelations on business prospects. Read the full story.

IIA Merges with Auditing Roundtable

The Institute of Internal Auditors is merging with the Auditing Roundtable to create a new Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Center that will serve environmental, health and safety auditors around the world, starting in 2016.  Read the full story.

by

SEC Claws Back Money from Tech CFOs for Accounting Fraud

In a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, two former CFOs of a Silicon Valley technology company agreed to return nearly a half-million dollars in bonuses and stock sale profits received while the company was allegedly engaged in accounting fraud. Read the full story.

Congress Should Not Undo Progress on Financial Data Reform

Financial statements submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are used by regulators and investors alike to assess risk and detect fraud, and are an important tool in promoting corporate transparency. In 2009, the SEC issued rules requiring public companies to submit financial statement information in the machine-readable eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) data format, as opposed to traditional, text-based formats like PDF or HTML. This decision had the potential to increase the speed, accuracy and utility of this data. However, company submissions were often rife with errors, frustrating investors and regulators who were unable to perform reliable, automated analysis of this information, causing some to see the practice as wasteful and unnecessary.

In response to these shortcomings, Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) introduced the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act in January 2015. The legislation would, among other things, exempt small companies from the XBRL reporting requirement. Read the full story.

by

Finance and Accounting Skills Gap Vexes CFOs

While CFOs generally say on the record that they have no problem finding young accounting and finance talent, research suggests that such assertions are less than candid.

Indeed, a shortage of top-quality, entry-level employees in the field is worsening as companies raise the bar for the skills they require from newbies, largely because of today’s advanced information systems and complex data-analytics tools. Read the full story.

Latin American Corporate Finance: Is There a Dark Corner?

Since last year there has been much talk of possible financial stress stemming from increased debt leverage in non-financial corporates of emerging markets economies. A recent study has brought to light some key evidence on the Latin American case (Bastos et al, 2015). Read the full story.

by

CFOs reveal 2020 objectives

A new Ernst & Young survey of insurance CFOs has revealed that insurers are looking to place a greater focus on data management and analytic capabilities to spur growth in the next five years.

The 2014 Global Insurance CFO Survey reveals the top priorities for some of the top priorities for insurers with 66% of respondents saying that achieving growth, expanding into new markets and expanding through merger and acquisition activity was one of the top three priorities to 2020. Read the full story.

Auditing Passion Is the Goal of Deloitte’s New CEO

Cathy Engelbert, incoming chief executive officer at Deloitte, talks about nurturing and developing talent in the audit and accounting industry and her focus for the company. She speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” Watch the video.

by

FASB Likely to Weigh Proposal To Defer New Revenue Rules

Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to decide early in the second quarter whether to propose a delay in the Jan. 1, 2017 effective date by which companies have to shift to new, far-reaching standards on revenue recognition.

A number of U.S. companies, particularly telecom and technology companies, have sought a deferral of the rules, issued jointly by FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board last spring. The companies have said that applying the new standards would entail burdensome systems and other changes that would require more time. Read the full story.

Obama’s Corporate Tax Plan? CFOs Weigh In

President Barack Obama’s proposed 2016 budget calls for a one-time 14% tax on companies’ overseas earnings. Future foreign profits would incur a 19% tax, lower than the current 35% rate. Finance chiefs with overseas operations will have to adjust their balance sheets should the budget be approved with this provision in its current form.

CFO Journal is talking to finance executives today about the proposed budget and, if passed, the implications it could have for their companies going forward. Read the full story.

by