Strategy & Operations


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    Deep Dive

    Accounting talent shortage eases as layoff fears creep up

    The increasing use of AI and offshore outsourcing to help with financial tasks, such as closing the books, is loosening the accounting labor market, experts say.

    By Aug. 28, 2025
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    Work from home reduces ‘motherhood penalty’ in ‘family-unfriendly’ jobs

    The expectation of working from home may prompt young women to pursue higher career ambitions, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study.

    By Aug. 28, 2025
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    Trendline

    CFO best practices in the evolving generative AI era

    As the initial frenzy around the launch of generative artificial intelligence subsides, a new GenAI era appears to be taking shape.

    By CFO Dive staff
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    Tariffs pose ‘elevated risk’ of unleashing high inflation: Atlanta Fed

    “Firms with supply chains that rely on imported goods have revised up their year-ahead [price] expectations markedly,” economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said.

    By Aug. 27, 2025
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    Consumer confidence dips on anxiety about jobs, income: Conference Board

    The average 12-month expectation for inflation jumped to 6.2% this month from 5.7% in July, the Conference Board found in a consumer survey.

    By Aug. 26, 2025
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    Jack Daniel’s maker CFO to retire after 4 years in seat

    Leanne Cunningham plans to retire from Brown-Forman on May 1. The Louisville, Kentucky-based spirits maker faces pressures from tariffs and changing alcohol consumption habits.

    By Aug. 26, 2025
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    Most economists see inflation persisting above 2% through 2026: NABE

    Six out of 10 economists deem fiscal policy as “too stimulative,” the largest share in seven years, the National Association for Business Economics found in a survey.

    By Aug. 25, 2025
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    Courtesy of UHY
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    UHY’s new CFO on being a CPA’s CPA: They ‘need numbers’

    Laura LaPeer took the CFO seat at the accounting firm of UHY, which plans to grow organically and via private-equity-backed deals.

    By Aug. 25, 2025
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    CPA licensing changes poised to hit half of all states by year-end

    While a growing band of states have passed new CPA licensure laws, employers, universities, students and regulators are just beginning to grapple with how the new rules will work.

    By Aug. 22, 2025
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    Powell clears path for Fed rate cut, flagging labor market weakness

    A speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell prompted futures traders to increase the odds that policymakers will trim borrowing costs on Sept. 17.

    By Aug. 22, 2025
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    Solid manufacturing, services signal rebounding Q3 growth: S&P Global

    Economic growth will likely quicken during the third quarter and expand at a 2.3% annualized rate, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said.

    By Aug. 21, 2025
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    Cybersecurity startup Horizon3.ai taps new CFO

    Founded in 2019, San Francisco-based Horizon3.ai in June completed a $100 million Series D funding round. 

    By Aug. 20, 2025
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    IRS underreports wait times for taxpayers phoning in for help: TIGTA

    “More transparency is needed when reporting IRS telephone level of service and average wait time,” the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said.

    By Aug. 20, 2025
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    CFO turnover spikes after record CEO exits last year

    Starbucks is among the public companies that have named a new CFO this year following a CEO departure.

    By Aug. 20, 2025
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    Courtesy of Aclara Resources
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    Rare earth CFO’s financing strategy hinges on auto contracts

    The Canada-based mining company Aclara's finance chief is priorizing securing contracts from customers who will use its products in order to secure more than $1 billion in financing.

    By Updated Aug. 20, 2025
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    State data highlight stability in US labor market: San Francisco Fed

    Release of a report on gauging employment by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco precedes an annual Fed meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, titled “Labor Markets in Transition.”

    By Aug. 19, 2025
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    Lax IRS review opened way for Form 941 business fraud: Inspector General

    The report identifies errors that preceded a historic agency shakeup this year under the Trump administration.

    By Aug. 18, 2025
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    Retail sales rise despite persistent inflation, soft labor market

    After robust buying in July, consumer sentiment faltered in August for the first time in four months, according to a University of Michigan survey.

    By Aug. 15, 2025
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    Producer prices rise as high tariff costs trickle through supply chains

    “It’s going to take another two to three quarters for tariffs to play through” the inflation data, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem said.

    By Updated Aug. 15, 2025
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    Opinion

    New cloud-based digital tax rules are here. They warrant CFO attention.

    With remote work driving cloud spending to new heights and states competing aggressively for the related tax revenue, CFOs face mounting pressure to comply with a growing patchwork of tax obligations.

    By Winston Post • Aug. 14, 2025
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    AI cuts monthly financial close time by 7.5 days: MIT/Stanford study

    Accounting firms that adopt artificial intelligence can yield “remarkable improvements in productivity, task allocation and reporting quality,” researchers said.

    By Aug. 13, 2025
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    Opinion

    Why CFOs must stop treating compensation as a cost

    Today’s economic uncertainty presents an opportunity for CFOs to get ahead of competitors struggling with the whiplash of boom-and-bust pay tactics, Payscale’s Philip Watson writes.

    By Philip Watson • Aug. 13, 2025
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    Core inflation heats up to 3.1%, fueled by resurgence in services prices

    Despite higher-than-forecast price pressure data, traders in interest rate futures held to their bet that the Federal Reserve will trim the main interest rate next month.

    By Aug. 12, 2025
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    Why the EU AI Act could be a wake-up call for US CFOs

    Staggered effective dates and uncertainty about which companies must comply could yield fresh financial pressures for CFOs, according to an attorney who specializes in cybersecurity.

    By Aug. 12, 2025
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    Fed to cut rates next month as tariffs give prices one-time spur: survey

    A handful of Fed officials have voiced optimism since July that the highest U.S. tariffs since the 1930s will stoke just short-term price pressures.

    By Aug. 11, 2025
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    How Salesforce’s finance chief is leveraging AI

    With artificial intelligence tools, the time it takes to prepare for earnings calls has “been reduced to hours instead of days,” the executive said.

    By Aug. 11, 2025