Opinion
Every financing has two closing dates
Every major financing has two closing dates: the date financing documents are signed, and the date stakeholders (lenders, suppliers, customers, investors, directors, employees, etc.) judge whether management can successfully execute the transaction. The latter often arrives before the former. Between the determination of the financing plan and the completion of the transaction, the company continues to operate, disclosure deadlines approach, and stakeholders' decisions continuously affect the company's financial flexibility. Financing progress may align perfectly with the plan, but stakeholder confidence may not necessarily keep pace. This article uses a recent refinancing as an example to illustrate how a CFO manages the two key assets of 'cash' and 'confidence' before closing, ensuring execution progress outpaces the timeline.
Your strategic plan is missing competitive response
Financial planning often misses the mark by ignoring competitors' responses. Using case examples, this article shows that incorporating competitive responses as scenario ranges into budgets and establishing a continuous signal-monitoring mechanism can significantly improve forecast accuracy.
KPMG Australia to axe 5% of workforce
KPMG Australia announced on Monday the layoff of 360 employees and 27 partners, approximately 5% of its total Australian workforce. This move comes amid a decline in consulting revenue and allegations of client data breaches. Revenue for fiscal year 2026 fell 1% to A$2.257 billion, with consulting revenue down nearly 17% year-over-year. CEO John Sampson stated that the layoffs are mainly concentrated in the consulting division and acknowledged the challenges arising from the firm's own shortcomings. The company plans to conduct multiple internal and external reviews over the coming months to drive remediation and rebuild trust.
New York beats out San Francisco for top tech talent hub: Trial Balance
CBRE's latest Tech Talent Scorecard report shows that in 2025, the New York metropolitan area's tech workforce reached 394,300, surpassing the San Francisco Bay Area's 375,730 for the first time, making it the largest tech talent market in the U.S. AI positions grew by 45%, intensifying talent competition between the financial industry and tech companies.
CFOs On the Move: Week ending Aug. 21
In the week ending August 21, several companies announced chief financial officer personnel changes. Aon's former CFO Edmund Reese departed, with Nadin Virani succeeding as interim CFO; Baxter appointed John Rogers as the new CFO, effective October 1; Boston Beer's Diego Reynoso will move to Ingredion; Klarna's Niclas Neglén plans to step down in early 2027; GE HealthCare and Xylem confirmed the CFO appointments of William Grogan and Andrea van der Berg, respectively; Coty, Edible Garden, and 84 Lumber also announced new finance leaders.
Texas CFOs reckon with the rise of ‘shadow finance’
At recent CFO Alliance roundtables across Texas, finance chiefs flagged the spread of 'shadow finance'—employees using unvetted AI subscriptions to generate metrics. With AI adoption at 63% but ROI clarity at only 21%, leaders are drawing boundaries around ERP systems and redefining the CFO role as 'guardian of narrative integrity.'
What the SEC’s proposed filer rule means for companies going public
SEC拟议新规将申报人简化为两类，大幅提高大型加速申报人门槛，并给予新上市公司至少五年的非加速申报人身份，免除审计师对财务报告内部控制的鉴证。此举显著降低上市成本，但管理层对内部控制有效性的评估与认证义务不变。专家建议企业利用窗口期尽早建立风险导向的内部控制体系，而非推迟合规建设。
Healthcare spending projected to spike by nearly 8% in 2027
As annual contract negotiations with insurers and providers near, U.S. companies forecast a 7.7% average cost increase for 2027. The survey of 408 employers reveals that fully insured firms face the steepest hikes, while those with full claims data access are better positioned to curb spending. Hospital costs remain the largest driver, and executives express frustration over limited data access and rising cost-shifting pressures.
Why does your AI keep getting the numbers wrong?
Financial AI projects often fail because the data scale exceeds the model's processing capacity, leading to incorrect answers. This article analyzes the reasons and proposes four principles and three questions to ask before purchasing.
What CFOs can do about small- and mid-cap valuation gaps
The number of listed companies in the United States has dropped from approximately 8,000 to fewer than 4,000, but small and mid-cap companies have not found it easier to attract capital attention as a result; instead, they face intensified valuation discounts, insufficient analyst coverage, and dramatic shifts in the competitive landscape. Based on data from institutions such as T. Rowe Price, Federated Hermes, Bank of America, and Barclays, this article dissects the causes of valuation gaps and proposes that CFOs respond through systematic measures including diagnosing drivers, developing roadmaps, and strengthening investor relations communication.