How Lush ditched manual invoicing for automated accounts payable

Before 2017, the skincare company printed hundreds of thousands of supplier invoices annually. Now 92% of invoices are touchless.

By Deborah Abrams Kaplan • Jan. 30, 2020

2020 M&A trends: ‘Scope’ deals to take center stage

Deals that move companies into new business areas have a spotty record of success, but companies aren't deterred from making them the centerpiece of their M&A strategy this year.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 29, 2020

Explore the 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

When forecasts are misaligned

Coordinating plans across finance, operations, procurement and logistics can be a challenge, especially at large businesses. A central forecasting team can help. 

By Deborah Abrams Kaplan • Jan. 28, 2020

What's the right forecasting method? It depends on your data.

Time-series forecasting is a method that goes back decades, but as new computational power provides new options, what's the best way to go?

By Matt Leonard • Jan. 28, 2020

New credit loss accounting standard expected to pummel retail income

FASB's CECL standard took effect for public banks at the beginning of this year. Analysts at Morgan Stanley say it's going to hit some retailers hard.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 27, 2020

2020 Trends: Rise of the CFO-COO

The combined role is gaining popularity across industries. But is it really that much of a change?

By Jane Thier • Jan. 26, 2020

How to combine external data with AI to improve forecasting

Understanding the external factors that affect business can mean the difference between revenue gains and value destruction.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 26, 2020

Rolling forecasts support your enterprise risk management

This kind of projection can provide an incentive for long-term, value-maximizing behavior over short-term, bonus/target-based decisions rooted in the current fiscal year, writes Bryan Lapidus of the Association for Financial Professionals.

By Bryan Lapidus • Jan. 25, 2020

ThoughtSpot exec: CFO must be company's 'objective source of truth'

Mohit Daswani, who has worked on the finance teams at Square and Paypal, told CFO Dive what he prioritizes as incoming CFO, and what he will expect of his team in preparation for a potential IPO. 

By Jane Thier • Jan. 23, 2020

AI enables biopharma CFO to reduce costs while trials underway

CFO Richard Steinhart can tout the company's efficient use of funds as he meets with potential investors and partners. 

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 23, 2020

Currency exchange rate volatility leaves companies $12.3B poorer

The negative impact is historically high, but represents an easing from a peak $27.7 billion impact in the first quarter of 2019. 

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 22, 2020

'Persuader,' 'strategist' roles to lead finance departments in 2020

A Gartner Finance study divides professional personas into five groups and identifies the ones expected to bring the most value to the finance function. 

By Jane Thier • Jan. 22, 2020

Study: Mission-motivated employees perform better despite lower pay

Offering mission-oriented employees higher pay can correlate to weaker performance, research shows.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 22, 2020

CFO discovered need for new business model through bankruptcy

CFOs can help leaders see beyond their business to how the broader industry is shifting, Stephen Grist of Bohemia Interactive Simulations says.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 21, 2020

CFO touts simplified biopharma cap structure

Capital transparency helps investors measure the performance of a $60M clinical-stage company. 

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 16, 2020

Planful: FP&A company rebrands to emphasize continuous planning

CEO Grant Halloran spoke to CFO Dive about the company's new identity and how it better aligns with their vision for finance professionals. 

By Jane Thier • Jan. 15, 2020

How M&A drove CFO's review of company culture

Mediafly CFO-COO John Evarts saw a bigger project when he was asked to assess the company's first acquisition target.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 14, 2020

Why your organization needs finance-governed analytics

CFOs are the ideal internal champions to create governed analytics strategies that extend planning and reporting capabilities beyond finance into sales, marketing, operations and HR.

By Bill Koefoed and Scott Stern • Jan. 14, 2020

CFO in the Know: The 3 most common forecasting errors retail CFOs make

Smart investment on the planning side can help retailers better align forecasts with actual sales.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 14, 2020

Casper files for IPO despite reporting consistent losses

The mattress company made the bed-in-a-box model famous, and has spent over $500 million on marketing to become a known disruptor. But does it have the forecasting and inventory management to ensure it won't run out of cash? 

By Kaarin Moore • Jan. 13, 2020

5 CFO trends to watch in 2020

Greater adoption of rolling forecasts and subscription pricing models are among the trends you'll see this year. 

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 12, 2020

CFO sentiment down amid concern over trade policy and tariffs

Virtually all multinational company CFOs think the U.S. is on a downward path. "There’s a sense of frustration ... not having the clarity to plan and budget properly," Deloitte's Sandy Cockrell said.

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 9, 2020

Coupa adds travel cost reductions to spend management platform

The acquisition of Yapta will position Coupa to compete with SAP Concur in the travel and expense spend category.

By Shefali Kapadia • Jan. 9, 2020

Global success starts with shared ERP system

As simple as it sounds, if you and your foreign affiliate aren't using the same ERP and shared services, your push into another country could be needlessly bumpy.  

By Robert Freedman • Jan. 8, 2020

Finance chief must be a vital decision-maker, Captivate CFO says

Throughout 20 years in finance leadership, Jenny Buchholz said she has found some things to be consistently true. "Numbers don't lie," she said.

By Jane Thier • Jan. 7, 2020