Deloitte’s CFO Signals Survey 2Q 2024 is out

Related post for anyone curious about the CFO path:

For this survey, Deloitte got 200 CFOs across the United States, Canada, and Mexico to participate and the “vast majority” of these respondents work for companies with more than $1 billion in revenue. This quarter’s survey is 84 CFOs more than they got last quarter.

Talking strictly succession planning, 1 in 4 respondents say their companies don’t have a formal plan at all. So that’s something. And only 12 percent of CFOs say their company has a framework for succession planning. So a surprising number of large companies are flying by the seat of their pants on that one. Cheers, we support that way of life.

For those that are putting some brain power to succession planning, placing would-be successors in managerial training programs (43%), working with successors to create a developmental/transition plan (39%), and mentoring/coaching them on how to do the job (39%) are the top three things CFOs plan to do with their replacements.

As for what they’re looking for in those replacements, accounting and FP&A skills aren’t at the top of the list:

The skillset desired for CFO successors underscores the changing nature of the CFO role, as a plurality of CFOs (37%) view operational experience as one of the three most important factors in identifying potential replacements. That was followed by familiarity with new technologies (30%) and network leadership (30%). More traditional financial skills, like accounting (28%) and FP&A (24%), did not make the top three.

“Fifteen years ago, you might have gotten a very different order,” wrote Steve Gallucci, Deloitte’s US CFO Program National Managing Partner, in the survey’s introduction.

The full list in graphic form. Don’t try to do the math to get to 100 on these, CFOs could pick more than one.

Side note: We should all use the word “plurality” more.

As you can see from Deloitte’s chart, FP&A skills, respect from others in the company, familiarity with the industry, and strategic acumen all rank equally around a quarter.

Let’s not confuse this priority list with CFOs signaling accounting and FP&A skills barely matter to them. Rather, if you suck at network leadership but are a modeling savant, you’re going to lose out against someone whose FP&A talents are marginal but who excels (no pun) at communication.

One last data point from the survey answers the question “Why do sitting CFOs exit their jobs?”

We asked respondents to name their top three priorities when considering a career move. Somewhat unexpectedly, compensation/benefits did not top the list. It was the fourth most cited response (46%). Number 1: work/life balance (51%)

Is it really unexpected? Some of them make good money. The 75th percentile pulls in $400,000 a year according to ZipRecruiter data.

CFOs Say They Want Operational Experience and Familiarity With New Tech When Identifying Successors; GenAI Tops List of Internal Concerns: Deloitte CFO Signals Survey 2Q 2024 [PR Newswire]

The post CFOs Don’t Really Care About Technical Skills When It Comes to Who’s Replacing Them appeared first on Going Concern.

TL;DR Are you an annoying person without any friends who can’t strategize your way out of a paper bag? If so, the coveted CFO position is — and will likely remain — out of your reach.

So, you think you’re ready to be a Chief Financial Officer (CFO)? Before you start fantasizing about that corner office and the fancy title, let’s get one thing straight: being a CFO is not as easy as you think. In fact, there are plenty of reasons why you probably won’t make it as a CFO (yet). Put down that financial calculator and dive into the harsh reality of why you are not ready to be a CFO.

1. You Have a Crappy Network

You won’t become a CFO if you don’t have the right connections. If your idea of networking is adding your colleagues on LinkedIn and calling it a day, you’re in for a rude awakening. A CFO needs to know the right people and have a network that extends far beyond their office cubicle. Build your network by maintaining connections with former classmates and colleagues. Don’t burn bridges because you never know who may provide the introduction to your next great career move or will take your call requesting expert guidance on human resources or tax issues.

Successful CFOs are out there rubbing elbows with industry leaders, attending conferences and building relationships that can open doors when it matters most. If your social calendar consists of Netflix marathons and the occasional happy hour with your coworkers, it’s time to step up your game. Pro-tip: Your couch won’t recommend you for a promotion.

Create a personal “board of directors” of trusted colleagues, business advisors, mentors and friends who understand your moral compass and know you well. You will be faced with difficult (and sometimes uncomfortable) decisions that may test your integrity. Use your personal board of directors to your benefit.

2. You’re Not Smart Enough

Sure, you might be a whiz when it comes to crunching numbers, but being a CFO requires more than just a knack for accounting. If you’re the type of accountant who can’t see beyond the balance sheet, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

CFOs need to understand the overall business. That means being well-versed in financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury management, investor relations and more. It’s not enough to be an accounting and numbers guru; you need to be a strategic thinker who can guide the company toward financial success. A CFO is brave enough to butt in when an initiative is going sideways to offer specific, actionable solutions. Know the business, industry, the markets your business serves, your customers, employees, the risks, and maybe then we’ll talk.

3. No One Likes You

If your coworkers can’t stand you, you’re not going to make it to the top. Being a CFO requires dealing with office politics and potentially conflicting directions from leadership. If you can’t navigate those treacherous waters, you’re sunk. Outstanding CFOs love to communicate with employees and customers.
Successful CFOs have mentors who can guide them through the political minefield and help them make the right decisions. If you’re flying solo and people underneath you aren’t clamoring to work with you, it’s time to reevaluate your approach.

4. You’re a Pro at the Blame Game

If you’re the type of person who always finds someone else to blame for your shortcomings, you’re not CFO material. CFOs work with management, make difficult choices and take responsibility for their actions and decisions, even when things go south. If your first instinct is to point fingers, maybe aim them at a different job application. People with public accounting backgrounds are often so “risk adverse” that they aren’t willing to experiment to drive change. A CFO is comfortable with taking managed risks, learning from mistakes and evolving as a leader.

Being a CFO means being laser-focused on what the company needs for the future. It’s about working tirelessly to ensure the financial health and growth of the organization. If you’re lazy or easily distracted, you’re not cut out for the role.

5. You’re Incapable of Delegating

Big shocker, you can’t do everything. CFOs need to delegate tasks and trust their team to get the job done. Hire smart people with energy who want to be the best in their position.

Hiring a great controller or financial planning analyst who excels at using financial tools and data analytics can be a game-changer. It allows the CFO to focus on the big picture and strategic decisions rather than getting bogged down in the minutiae of day-to-day financial operations.

The Art of Being a CFO

Now that we’ve shattered your CFO dreams, let’s talk about what it takes to be successful in this role. Being a CFO is more art than science. It’s about operating in the gray areas, setting priorities and making the right choices. Often, CFOs are operating with a deficit of time, money and resources. They must set priorities and communicate effectively.

A CFO must also be comfortable knowing that the unknown is lurking out there, ready to pounce. To generate confidence in your CFO abilities in the C-suite and the board room, show that you can calmly, confidently and quickly evaluate issues and create solutions.

CFOs are strategic thinkers who can assess risk and read the future to prepare for major challenges. Not only must the CFO be looking forward, they must also be taking a 360-degree view — not unlike a spin on the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland. They benchmark the company against competitors, think ahead and create the infrastructure needed to stay ahead of the game.

If you:
· Have killer networking skills
· Practice strategic wizardry
· Are an office politics Jedi
· Consider yourself a responsibility junkie and
· Delight in being a delegation ninja

Then, congratulations, you’re on the path to becoming a CFO!

But if you are:
· A lousy networker
· An accounting robot
· The office outcast
· A blame shifter or
· A control freak

Then you have some work to do! Have you considered meditation?

To sum it up: Being a CFO is not just about numbers; it’s about networking, politics, leadership, communications, negotiations and strategic thinking. If you’re still determined to chase that CFO dream, start building your network, expanding your skills and working on your leadership abilities. Good luck!

The post A Non-Exhaustive List of Reasons Why You Won’t Cut It as a CFO appeared first on Going Concern.

Twelve percent of business executives said they had too many employees, up four percentage points from last quarter. Some 38% said they have too few employees, but the percentage who said they were hesitant to hire because of economic uncertainty increased from 14% to 16%.

We trust this means we won’t hear any griping about the talent shortage from corporate finance departments going forward then.

Two quarters ago, 46 percent of decision-makers surveyed believed they had the right number of employees, up 1 point from the first quarter of 2023. Hesitancy to hire saw a 6-point jump to 17% in Q2, and 26 percent of respondents had plans to boost their workforce, a decrease from 33% in the first quarter. In Q3, half of respondents said their organizations have the right number of employees, so a four point jump from Q2.

Other key findings of the Q4 survey:

• Expansion plans fell slightly from 50% to 48% this quarter
• Business executives less optimistic about their own company’s prospects over the next 12 months (43% vs. 45% last quarter), although they are still ahead of where they were a year ago (35%).
• Some 28% of business executives said they expected their companies to raise prices by year end, down from 37% last quarter. Sixty-three percent said they expected no change, while 2% said they anticipated decreases.

“We’re seeing some softening on the hiring front and IT spending, which are classic areas of belt-tightening in uncertain times,” said Tom Hood, the AICPA & CIMA’s executive vice president for business engagement and growth. “At the same time, business executives’ expectations for their own organization’s prospects over the next year are down just a bit from the third quarter and ahead of where they were a year ago. So, there’s a lot of mixed signals right now on the economy.”

Business Executives’ Mixed View on Economy Reflects Continued Uncertainty, AICPA & CIMA Survey Finds [PR Newswire]

The post Making the Jump to Industry Might Be Harder to Do Next Year Per This CPA Survey appeared first on Going Concern.

Of the finance and accounting sector the report says:

In a field known for ‘churn and burn,’ last year was one for the record books with higher job turnover than in any other three-year period. Those now settled into new jobs are not in a hurry to leave. A turbulent economy plus healthy compensation packages over the past few years have decreased the pool of candidates and increased the competition for talent.

As employers continue to face a tight job market, they will need to take a closer look at their compensation packages and be prepared for counter offers. Beyond salary levels, evaluate what creative work/life balance and benefits may entice candidates from paid paternity leave to on-site daycare or more flexible vacation packages.

And:

Despite a complex economy that requires more guidance from financial and accounting professionals, there’s a serious talent shortage that’s going to worsen in the next few years. While 75% of CPA’s reached retirement age in 2020, the good news is that finance and accounting are now ranking as top career choices among Gen Z candidates.

Say what now? Whatever, moving on…

Recruiting for these positions goes beyond attractive compensation packages to revisiting upskilling of in-house teams as well as more focus on under qualified candidates who have potential but require training and certifications. Employers will need to reward employees who earn CPAs, CFAs, and CFPs or risk losing them to competitors. Many companies also expect to increase outsourcing to fill the gaps.

Now that you bravely skimmed four entire paragraphs of icky words, here are national average salaries for various accounting positions according to the report.

There are a few more operational and lower level roles in the report such as Bookkeeper ($51,989) and Data Entry Specialist ($41,020), let’s go ahead and skip those.

The report also offers a comparison of accounting function roles and average salaries in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte. The most lucrative of these is being a CFO in Boston ($302,309 versus national average of $261,739). The worst is being a data entry specialist…anywhere. To keep things simple, we’ll stick to the tax and audit roles.

Thoughts, feelings, complaints, and accusations of inaccuracy are welcome in the comments.

The post Here Are Even More 2024 Accounting Salary Projections appeared first on Going Concern.

Fun!

Key findings from the survey of 307 full-time CFOs in the US and UK:

• CFOs both sides of the pond are facing a talent crisis
  • 8 in 10 (81%) US and UK CFOs report a talent shortage in accounting roles.
  • Two-thirds (63%) of US and UK CFOs attribute this to a lack of experienced talent. Employee burnout (47%) and accounting and finance talent changing careers (47%) were also notable factors for the diminishing talent pool.
• However, as recession concerns loom, CFOs can’t afford a talent crisis.
  • To weather economic storms, half of CFOs (51%) are operating in “cutback mode” in preparation for an economic downturn.
• To help deal with the talent shortfall, CFOs are turning to AI
  • Almost all (92%) US and UK CFOs agree that AI tools will help businesses, with 89% planning to invest in AI to streamline finance functions and alleviate the global talent shortage in accounting.
• These changes may be happening quicker than we think, with nearly half (44%) of CFOs set to adopt AI by the end of 2023.

The belief that AI can save us from the critical talent shortage was echoed in Thomson Reuters’ 2023 State of Corporate Tax Department report released last month. In that particular report, more corporate tax leaders prioritized improving processes (32%) and acquiring additional software (14%) than hiring and maintaining staff (12%).

Two more interesting bits from Avalara’s survey:

• Nearly half (49%) of CFOs report the need for Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) expertise within their organizations
• Two-thirds (63%) of CFOs believe there’s a lack of experienced talent, a view supported by over half (54%) of respondents that consider today’s shortage a result of fewer people majoring in finance functions.

Once again we must remind you to keep all this in mind when you’re negotiating your next gig.

The post Research: A Majority of CFOs Face Significant Talent Shortage and Burnout of Existing Staff appeared first on Going Concern.

It’s worth noting — and in case you weren’t going to note it yourself, there’s a press release to note it for you — that SVB Securities was acquired in January 2019 by SVB Financial Group, the parent of Silicon Valley Bank, and has since “maintained its financial and operational independence and has operated largely autonomously as a standalone subsidiary.” So while it’s not directly in the eye of the shitstorm, it is part of the same landfill as the bank’s dumpster fire. The press release included a statement from SVB Securities CEO Jeff Leerink assuring clients and any lurking regulators that despite what happened to the bank, it’s business at usual at his unit: “We understand that the receivership of Silicon Valley Bank has caused concern among our clients and stakeholders. We want to assure you that SVB Securities is financially stable and will continue to operate as usual. We remain committed to providing the same level of high-quality products and services that our clients have come to expect from us.”

According to a news release SVB Financial Group pushed out today, they are exploring “strategic alternatives” for the subsidiaries (so, a sale):

SVB Financial Group (“SVBFG”) (NASDAQ: SIVB) announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed a restructuring committee consisting of five independent directors to explore strategic alternatives for the holding company and its SVB Capital and SVB Securities businesses, as well as its other assets and investments. Both of these businesses are separate divisions of SVBFG and not part of Silicon Valley Bank, which is undergoing resolution under the jurisdiction of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and Federal Reserve.

SVB Securities has a strong client base and solid financial position, with a healthy balance sheet, significant excess net regulatory capital, and no outstanding debt, the release said. It advised on about $9 billion in M&A transactions last year, and had had a loss of $95 million on revenue of about $508 million in 2022, said Bloomberg. Bloomberg also reported on Saturday that Leerink and his team are seeking help to finance a potential management buyout of the business, as told to Bloomberg by a source that did not want to be identified.

Just wanted to clear things up since we’re all memeing this guy and laughing at him today. You can still laugh and point anyway.

Earlier:
KPMG has served as SVB auditor since 1994. Per Part II, Item 8 “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” (SEC EDGAR link), KPMG issued an unqualified opinion two weeks before the bank failed.

The post This SVB Securities Exec’s Resume Reads Like a Wikipedia Page For 21st Century Accounting Trash Fires appeared first on Going Concern.

According to the SEC:

In March 2016, WageWorks, a provider of flexible spending account services, signed a contract with a large client to process benefits claims for certain public-sector employees. The order finds that on multiple occasions after the contract was signed, the client’s employees told WageWorks that it did not intend to pay for certain development and transition work associated with the contract.

As stated in the order, despite these statements, both Callan and Jackson believed that WageWorks was entitled to be paid for this work, so Callan directed WageWorks to recognize $3.6 million in revenue related to the development and transition work. According to the order, despite repeated questioning by WageWorks’s internal accounting staff and external auditor about the status of the $3.6 million that WageWorks had booked but not yet received, Callan and Jackson consistently failed to disclose that the client’s employees had denied that it owed these amounts to WageWorks.

In 2019, WageWorks restated its financial statements for the second quarter, third quarter, and fiscal year 2016, reversing the entire amount of revenue WageWorks had previously recognized in connection with the development and transition work.

The SEC’s order finds that Jackson and Callan violated Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, made false certifications and misled WageWorks’s auditor in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and failed to reimburse WageWorks for certain incentive compensation and stock profits they received during the period when the company was committing accounting violations in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The SEC’s order also finds that Callan and Jackson caused WageWorks to violate the reporting, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the Exchange Act.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Jackson and Callan agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the charged provisions. Jackson also agreed to pay a $75,000 penalty and reimburse WageWorks for $1,929,740 representing incentive-based compensation and profits from the sale of WageWorks stock, and Callan agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty and reimburse WageWorks for $157,590 representing incentive-based compensation.

KPMG was WageWork’s independent auditor until 2018 when the company’s audit committee cut ties with The Radio Station.

WageWorks was acquired by HealthEquity for approximately $2 billion in August 2019.

The post Your Naughty CEO and CFO of the Day appeared first on Going Concern.

— Richard Bove, an analyst at Odeon Capital Group LLC, told the Wall Street Journal when asked why accounting expertise seems to be no longer required for the CFO role. According to data from Korn Ferry, only 36% of CFOs in the 1,000 biggest U.S. public companies last year were CPAs—a six-year low.

Our friend Blake Oliver hypothesized on LinkedIn why Wall Street doesn’t care about that anymore:

Could it be that all these new accounting standards aren’t actually making the financial statements more useful to investors?

Maybe? Any other reasons you guys can think of?

Why You Don’t Need to Be an Accountant to Be a CFO [Wall Street Journal]

The post CPAs No Longer Have to Be CFOs When They Grow Up appeared first on Going Concern.

Finding a good CFO is tough. So tough, in fact, that one company recently got in a bit of hot water for pulling one right out of their ass. Allegedly.

WSJ reports:

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former chief executive of an oil-and-gas production company with fraud for allegedly falsifying the existence of its previous finance chief.

Tom Simeo, the former CEO of Viking Energy Group Inc., was charged with violating the antifraud provisions of securities laws, the regulator said Tuesday.

According to the SEC, Simeo “created the false impression to the public that Viking had an experienced financial professional involved in its operations and financial reporting as its CFO, when in reality, the Company had no CFO.” The complaint alleges that between November 2014 and May 2016, Viking’s filings identified a Guangfang “Cecile” Yang as the company’s CFO.

In addition, as alleged, certain SOX certifications accompanying these filings falsely represented that Yang, as Viking’s CFO, had performed an evaluation of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting and reviewed Viking’s annual and quarterly reports. The SEC alleges that Simeo created the false appearance that Yang served as CFO by repeatedly affixing Yang’s signature to Viking’s periodic reports and SOX certifications. The SEC alleges that, aside from Yang’s purported signatures on Viking’s filings, there is no evidence that Yang functioned as the Company’s CFO from at least November 2014 through Yang’s purported resignation in July 2016.

The SEC has been trying to get Simeo to produce communications relating to Yang since January 2018. A 2015 SEC filing lists Yang as a 37-year-old KPMG alum who joined Viking as CFO in 2013.

On February 7, 2013, Ms. Yang was appointed as the chief financial officer of the Company and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company.

Ms. Yang brings to the Company 15 years of general accounting and auditing experience, auditing private and publicly held companies in China, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Most recently before joining the Company, Ms. Yang was from 2009, director of finance and administration for the Grassroots Community Association where she was the financial controller for 5 major projects and the executive body of the association, responsible for cash flow forecast and management and budget control. Ms. Yang was also in charge of overseeing the fund-raising process and managing sponsor relationships. From 2007- 2009, Ms. Yang was a Senior Manager for Acquisition Audits with Moores Rowland CEC, where she among other things, led the acquisition audit team for Sinolog Logistic Group, a company consisting of six entities headquartered in Singapore. Ms. Yang was also an annual auditor for Acer during that time.

From 1998-2006, Ms. Yang was with KPMG where she held various positions, from auditor to manager. While Ms. Yang initially held a position as an auditor, she later led a field audit with multiple team members and later became an audit team member for middle- to large-size audit projects. She coordinated auditing for the Sinopec IPO, and worked in various capacities on the China Mobil IPO and annual audit as well as the China Constructional Bank and CITIC Bank IPO’s.

Ms. Yang graduated from Hult International Business School, UK, London, from the MBA Executive Track Program. Ms. Yang also graduated from Fudan University, Shanghai, China with a bachelor degree, major in International Finance.

The SEC’s complaint charges Simeo with violating the anti-fraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks a permanent injunction against future violations, a penny stock bar, and a civil monetary penalty. The SEC also seeks an order barring Simeo from serving as an officer and director of a public company.

The post Finding a Good CFO Is So Hard Companies Are Just Making Them Up Now appeared first on Going Concern.

Randstad

Randstad organizes executive titles in its salary guide by interquartile ranges across three levels of company revenue: small ($50 million), mid ($100 million), and large ($250 million or more). Here’s its 2019 salary projection for CFOs:

• Small: $170,990 – $305,618
• Mid: $193,311 – $345,514
• Large: $228,874 – $409,077

Robert Half

Robert Half reported starting pay ranges by four percentiles in its salary guide: 25th (newbies), 50th (average experience), 75th (above-average experience), and 95th (significant experience and expertise).

Salary figures represent the national averages. Bonuses, benefits, and other forms of compensation aren’t factored into the starting salary ranges, according to the guide.

Here’s Bob Half’s 2019 salary projection for CFOs:

• 25th: $121,250
• 50th: $196,750
• 75th: $239,250
• 95th: $497,250

Accounting Principals

If you’re looking for salaries and total cash compensation figures, Accounting Principals’ salary guide has you covered. The data in the guide is broken into three categories: average base salary by company size (small, medium, and large; base salary (low, high, and average); and total cash compensation (low, high, and average). Here’s its salary projections in each of the three categories:

Base salary by company size

• Small: $226,637
• Medium: $287,404
• Large: $471,511

Base salary

• Low: $201,254
• High: $580,610
• Average: $375,291

Total cash compensation

• Low: $251,708
• High: $1,066,705
• Average: $545,296

Honestly, I would have expected these salary ranges to be higher. They actually seem on par (maybe a little higher) with a public accounting firm partner. But, seriously, who wants to work in public accounting their whole career?

The post Compensation Watch ’19: CFOs appeared first on Going Concern.

Well, if talent shortages are your bag, you’re in luck! It’s in the news again.

CFO Magazine tackles your favorite topic thusly:

For the past several years, CFOs have regularly rankled at their difficulties recruiting and retaining skilled people in finance, selecting the subject as their primary or secondary concern. As the most recent second-quarter survey from Deloitte states: “When it comes to internal risks, talent concerns again top CFOs’ list. With CFOs cited growing struggles to execute on initiatives supporting their growth strategies, their focus on talent acquisition, quality, and retention further intensified.”

In other words, talent recruitment and retention is an even bigger problem than it was in years past. This is not completely surprising. The labor market for skilled accountants is tightening, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting that the demand for accountants will rise 10% through 2026, faster than the average growth rate for all occupations. With the supply of quality accountants shrinking, CFOs aren’t going to allay their concerns about talent any time soon.

According to the freshest available data from the AICPA, we’re still seeing record numbers of accounting undergrads, so the pipeline is plenty full, just not, you know, full enough. It’s kinda like when you’re at a nice hotel with a great big showerhead that merely trickles rather than rains.

Here’s the thing. There’s the large yet malnourished elephant in the room we can’t help but address: PAY. If everyone is so desperate for top talent, then why don’t they show it in the form of competitive salary and benefits? I don’t mean competitive relative to similar positions at other firms; I mean TRULY competitive. You want to recruit top accounting talent? PAY THEM. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either naive or blessed with parents who pay their rent.

Many years ago, another publication was trying to poach me from GC. The money was significantly better for a much smaller workload. You know what I did? Like an idiot, I turned it down because I did not want to leave Going Concern in the lurch just to better my own situation. A year later, the company that owned GC at the time laid me off. What I learned from that fun little experience is that yeah, things like culture and enjoying your work are important and all, but I was an absolute moron to turn down more money just because I felt some emotional attachment to my job; clearly my job did not feel the same about me. Thankfully, accountants are generally smarter than professional writers, especially when it comes to money.

As my esteemed former colleague handwrung over last year, the profession is filled with complicated issues that don’t necessarily have easy solutions. Diversity and inclusion, workloads, work quality, reluctance to embrace technology, you name it. All that stuff is tough to figure out; it’s going to take some time if it even gets solved at all. But the talent thing could be fixed tomorrow if firms just dug deep in the ole pockets and paid people more. Simple, right? You’re welcome, profession.

The post Yes There Is Still a Talent Shortage, and Yes We’re Tired of Discussing It appeared first on Going Concern.

The reasons for preferring smaller companies offered by the CFOs in the article are what you would expect: more autonomy, immediate feedback, "influence on the success and, potentially, the failure" of projects and working with a "certain personality type" described by Andrew Webb, CFO of Candescent Health:

“For a startup you want to find people who are really motivated to be in an environment in which there’s always an element of uncertainty,” explains Webb.

That uncertainty may range from where the next round of financing may be coming from to the nature of the work itself. Webb wants to hire people who are flexible enough to adjust when he says, “I know we told you your job was this, but today it’s going to be this, too.”

The idea that a person is motivated by uncertainty is sorta strange, but I think it's something acquired over time. Most of us had "job security" drilled into us by family, teachers and others to the point that joining a company with an uncertain future would seem reckless or even stupid. Not to mention that most people get antsy when they're told "your job was this, but now it's going to be this, too." Basically, the trick to a startup is that you have to be comfortable with the constant discomfort.

That kind of experience just isn't going to happen in larger companies where roles are more well-defined and career paths more static. Plus, people like those jobs because they offer good money, outrageous benefits and bonuses that are all but guaranteed.

After a while though, some people get bored and find that they thrive on the change/chaos, whether that's a fluid job description or career wanderlust. Like this Andersen alum:

In 1991, after eight years in public accounting at now-defunct Arthur Andersen, Bill Price had an opportunity to join one of his clients, MediQual.

Bain Capital had just invested in the medical software firm, which had a newly installed chief executive and was looking for a CFO. The leadership of the then-$2 million company “reached out to me, and the timing was right,” recalls Price.

Thus began his current 24-year run as a finance chief of nascent software firms. Following MediQual, where he led and managed the company’s IPO and helped sell it to Cardinal Health in 1997 for $35 million, Price moved on to stints at NextPoint Networks, MarketSoft, and Zoominfo. Since 2013, he’s headed up finance at MineralTree, a venture capital-backed software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm that sells accounts-payable software.

At that clip, you're moving jobs every five years. I don't know many people willing to sustain that pace. Although job-hopping is more or less the norm now, it's still stressful and the day-to-day uncertainty is probably what prevents most people from going the startup route for long stretches.

Does anyone out there see themselves bounding around from startup to startup as a CFO or any role for that matter? Anyone doing it now that can share more? Discuss below.

[CFO]

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Memo to SEC: If Weiner and Spitzer can run for office again, why am I still banned from being an officer or director of a public company?

— Sam E. Antar (@SamAntar) July 23, 2013

A regular reader of GC wondered to us: "In Spitzer's case I thought this was an especially good question. I mean, Spitzer broke the law when he was responsible for enforcing the law…and now he wants to be the guy in charge of managing hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money."

Crooked CFOs > Politicians with problems keeping it in their pants? Discuss. 

[@SamAntar]

The post Ex-Crazy Eddie CFO Wondering Why He Hasn’t Got a Second Chance Like *Some* People appeared first on Going Concern.

Someone needs to warn this child. @going_concern #busyseason #CPAproblems twitter.com/_JonEmerson/st…

— Jonathan Emerson (@_JonEmerson) March 21, 2013

Er… daredevil kid in a helmet? What exactly is the problem here? Did he try to mount a 2 foot plywood ramp just moments after this photo was taken, thereby getting his first taste of the importance of risk assessment? And what's with that pansy ass handlebar grip? This kid will never be a CPA unless he learns to grab on with both hands and pedal like his life depends on it, pfft.

Side note: #CPAproblems is actually a fascinating hashtag. Keep tweeting, people.

The post Remember When You First Wanted to be a CPA? appeared first on Going Concern.

The post Ex-Nortel CFO Rendered Speechless After Accounting Fraud Acquittal appeared first on Going Concern.

Fastow was released from prison in December 2011 and since his release has gone on record about some of the decisions he made since things didn't really turn out so well for anyone connected to Enron. Except for maybe bankruptcy lawyers.

Anyway, you should know that Fastow will be one of the keynote speakers at the ACFE's annual conference in Las Vegas later this year. (Don't worry, he's not be compensated for his appearance.)

So if you consider yourself a connaisseur of fraud history (or want to be one), this might be worth your while. It probably won't be as entertaining as playing Crazy Eddie commercials on a loop, but it's something.

[ACFE]

The post Here’s Your Chance to Hear Andrew Fastow’s Story in Andrew Fastow’s Own Words appeared first on Going Concern.

The abrupt dismissal of Scott Dubs came as the Star-Telegram was inquiring about financial problems he faces, including a personal bankruptcy case and circumstances of his 2009 firing by firms controlled by Fort Worth filmmaker Johnny Langdon. Dubs filed for bankruptcy in November 2010, five months after state District Judge Dana Womack ordered him to pay a $480,285 judgment. Dubs, who stated assets of $1.45 million and debts of $2.8 million, tried to withdraw the bankruptcy case this summer but the court ruled against him. It was his second bankruptcy filing in 10 years. The judgment stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a group of six companies for which Dubs previously served as CFO. The firms operated by Langdon, a colorful Westover Hills millionaire, accused Dubs of giving himself huge raises without authorization and having a company bank account pay more than $100,000 of his wife's personal credit cards, according to the complaint.

Lying about being a cheapskate to the Texas State Board of Accountancy? Dubs is probably lucky he isn't on death row.

The post It’s Difficult to Pinpoint Exactly Why Life Partners Fired Their CFO After He Was on the Job for 11 Days appeared first on Going Concern.

One of these idiots was a CFO of a company called Vante out of Tucson, Arizona. His name is Adam Smith. Apparently he thought he it would be neat to spend his lunch videotaping himself being a monster prick to a random Chick-fil-A employee who was just doing her job. A job that was made extraordinarily more difficult thanks to Mike Huckabee, who came up with the idea that people who also oppose gay marriage should eat at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday. So, really, we wouldn't be having this particular conversation if Mike Huckabee hadn't decided to encourage people to show support for a fast food chain that is complicit in the rapidly declining health of our citizens and has given millions to anti-gay groups. 

Anyway, back to the idiot at hand. Adam Smith thought he would "do something really good" on Wednesday by getting "a free water" at Chick-fil-A and well, here:

Of course this ended up on the Internet and this "nice guy" who is "totally heterosexual" and "not a gay in me" was fired yesterday by his company effective immediately.

The post CFO Gets Fired After Videotaping Himself Being a Total Dick to a Chick-fil-A Employee appeared first on Going Concern.

What has been your worst day on the job?
The WorldCom meltdown was likely the worst day on the job. I knew only how little we knew then about the state of the company’s financials, and had a growing sense of the enormity of the task ahead to “right the ship”: a $71 billion restatement, and 15 million lines of accounting code to be re-written!

[via CFO] 

The post Why Yes, Cleaning Up an Enormous Accounting Fraud Is as Bad as You Might Imagine appeared first on Going Concern.

The Seattle Times reports that after the theft was discovered in May 2010, Goodrich repaid about $45k "for so-called loans he allegedly paid to himself by forging another executive's signature" but he was still fired. Seattle police launched a criminal investigation in early 2011 after an audit was performed. No word if Pearl Jam has replaced Goodrich with a better man. [ST]

The post Pearl Jam Had a CFO? appeared first on Going Concern.

~ Bruce Bensanko, CFO OfficeMax [E&Y]

The post This CFO’s Concept of the Center of the Universe Is Materially Overstated appeared first on Going Concern.

The post BREAKING: Balancing Work, Life Is Stressful appeared first on Going Concern.

According to a recent Grant Thornton/Financial Executives Research Foundation survey, public company CFOs saw their average base salaries climb from to $286,500 to from $277,400 with average total cash compensation being $459,301. Unfortunately for private company CFOs, they saw their base average salary decline from $206,900 to $197,400. Still, an average total cash comp of $277,979 is nothing to sneeze at. And while more than 80% of those public and private CFOs surveyed did receive an annual bonus, when only 9% are getting a country club membership.

Kinda makes you wonder if it's all worth it.

[via GT/FERF]

The post Comp Watch ’12: CFOs appeared first on Going Concern.

On April 30, Oleksik was in a business meeting with the CEO of Talos Partners, and a member of the board of directors at the company’s office at 175 South Main St., according to court records. Oleksik didn’t like the way the conversation was going between him and the CEO of the company, so he abruptly got up and stormed out of the conference room, court records state. The CEO saw Oleksik jump out of his chair and leave the room while slamming the door behind him. A few seconds later Oleksik returned holding a full-sized baseball bat over his shoulder with both hands, court records state. The CEO said Oleksik shouted, "you wanna talk, let’s talk," as he walked toward his boss, court documents state. The CEO said he asked Oleksik multiple times to put down the bat, but he refused. The CEO thought he would get hit with the bat and said he feared for his life since Oleksik was blocking the only exit, court records state. Oleksik eventually cooled down enough to sit down with the bat in his lap.

The post CFO May Have Considered Reenacting a Scene from The Untouchables appeared first on Going Concern.

Board meeting.Good numbers=Happy Board.

— theoldcfo (@theoldcfo) March 7, 2012

Seems harmless, right? Here's Exhibit B:

Earnings released.Conference call completed.How do you like me now Mr. Shortie?

— theoldcfo (@theoldcfo) March 14, 2012

Perhaps this sad attempt at trash talking was the last straw? These tweets along with Facebook status postings going back to December and a blog that were kept by Morphis were enough to send him packing:

"We are disappointed by this situation but we expect our executives to comply with all company policies," said Greg Brenneman, chairman of Francesca's board of directors and the chairman of private-equity firm CCMP Capital, in a statement.

Let this be a lesson to all of you who are happily kvetching about your jobs online.  

Facebook and Twitter Postings Cost CFO His Job [WSJ via NYM]

The post Here Are a Couple of the Tweets That Helped Get the Francesca CFO Fired appeared first on Going Concern.

Federal agents served warrants and seized contents of her bank accounts, seven trucks and trailers, a $2 million motor home  and a Ford Thunderbird—all of which prosecutors allege were paid for with money taken from city bank accounts by Crundwell. […] Bank records obtained by the FBI allegedly show Crundwell illegally withdrew $30,236,503 from Dixon accounts since July 2006 , money she used, among other things, to buy a 2009 Liberty Coach Motor home for $2.1 million; a tractor truck for $147,000; a horse trailer for $260,000; and $2.5 million in credit card payments for items that included $340,000 in jewelry.

So a decent haul, but a Ford Thunderbird? Good Christ, spring a bit for the Lincoln Continental at least. Questionable taste in automobiles aside, one can't help but wonder how Dixon – a city with a population of just ~15,000 – could not notice millions of dollars missing. But they did! It's strange because in a city of that size, people gossip about one another's $35 overdraft fees, never mind millions of dollars being spent on multi-million dollar motorhomes. Anyway, Crundwell (who has a thing for horses apparently) had a good thing going, but then made the mistake of taking a little extra vacation: 

[L]ast year she took an additional 12 weeks of unpaid vacation. A city employee substituting for Crundwell examined bank statements and notified the mayor of activity in an account that, according to the complaint, he didn't know existed. Bank records list the primary account holder as the City of Dixon. An entity named RSCDA also is named on the account, with checks written on the account more expansively identifying that second account holder as "R.S.C.D.A., C/O Rita Crundwell."

So basically the city discovere the missing cash by the virtue of dumb luck, which sometimes is what it takes for these things to get uncovered. Better late than, oh whatever… seriously, a Thunderbird?

Prosecutors: Dixon CFO embezzled $30M [CT]

The post Somehow the City of Dixon, Illinois Just Noticed That $30 Million Was Missing appeared first on Going Concern.

There have been questions about Groupon's financials since we all were given a taste last summer, and things haven't let up and now that they're taking a mulligan, everyone is all over them like I'm all over the today's offer to save 84% off air-duct and dryer-vent cleaning. Anyway, this has some people wondering if Groupon's Chief Financial Officer, Jason Child, should pack it in. I stumbled across this little quote from MarketWatch just a short time ago:

Sam Hamadeh, chief executive of PrivCo, which analyzes private companies and has been following Groupon through the IPO process, believes that it is time for Jason Child, Groupon’s CFO, to step down. […] “The CFO has got to be replaced,” Hamadeh said late Monday on Bloomberg West, noting that Groupon’s financials, including its restatements of its S1 filing during the IPO process, have been “one disaster after the other.”

1. Creation of the COSI pro-forma metric that garnered market and SEC scrutiny.

2. Restatement of revenues for the "gross vs. net" bust.

3. Material weaknesses in controls over financial reporting that created accounting revisions.

The post Groupon’s CFO Should Quit appeared first on Going Concern.

“As TBW’s chief financial officer, Mr. de Armas concealed a massive $1.5 billion deficit in TBW’s funding facility and another large deficit on TBW’s books,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “He tried to conceal the gaping holes by falsifying financial statements and lying to investors as well as the government. Ultimately, Mr. de Armas’ criminal conduct, along with that of his co-conspirators, contributed to the collapse of TBW and Colonial Bank. With today’s guilty plea, Mr. de Armas joins seven other defendants—including the former chairman of TBW, Lee Bentley Farkas—who have been convicted of participating in this massive fraudulent scheme.” 

De Armas' sentence will be made known on June 15th and he faces up to ten years in prison. That's quite a stretch for anyone, although checking out de Armas' LinkedIn profile, we see that he keeps a blog, so it'll give him a chance to write but unfortunately, he'll probably miss the frustration that we all occasionally experience with Asian takeout:

Fail with the @PeiWei mobile site. Had to come home to order to get the 20% online discount. Grateful for the 20%…can use that toward gas!

— Delton de Armas (@delton70) March 17, 2012

Despite the technological snafu, de Armas is forgiving man and he appreciates the effort on PeiWei's part to make it up to him:

@PeiWei Of course! Whatever you think is appropriate. I'm already a fan, and that really hasn't changed. I appreciate the response…

— Delton de Armas (@delton70) March 17, 2012

[via DOJ]
Delton de Armas [LinkedIn]
@delton70 [Twitter]

The post Ex-CFO of Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker Faces Up to Ten Years Without PeiWei appeared first on Going Concern.

It remains true that there is a subculture of Crocs haters, who are put off by the shoes’ colorful appearance and minimalist construction. For example, there’s a Facebook page called, “I don’t care how comfortable Crocs are you look like a dumbass.” It has two million “likes.” Offers Lasher, “Well, there are all kinds of different hater groups out there. But there is a lot of demand for casual comfortable shoes for boating, at the beach, in the snow, or on rainy days. If there are some detractors, then OK.”

The post Crocs CFO: Haters Gonna Hate appeared first on Going Concern.

Take consolidated segment operating income (CSOI) for example.  It starts with GAAP operating income and adds back very large expense amounts for stock-based compensation and acquisition-related expenses.  Or how about pro-forma net income which starts with GAAP net income and again adds back the very same large expenses related to stock based compensation and acquisition-related charges.  These metrics pretend that stock-based compensation and acquisition-related costs are unimportant when they are very real costs that the entity has incurred.  Instead of being transparent, managers who eliminate these items are merely trying to find a nonnegative number to report. We just don’t see how such metrics (which only bias reported performance upward) help analysts unless you believe analysts can’t read financial statements or add and subtract.  Could the Company be feeding the “sell side” analyst community performance results that will make it easier for them to sell Groupon stock?  After all, these are the only analysts we know of that don’t read and can’t add.

Of the course the most important point that the Grumps made is that Jason Child actually took the time out of his otherwise, what I imagine to be, maddeningly busy schedule. Sure, a CFO is a face of the company in certain respects, and CFO probably egged him on a bit but why would a CFO of a flavor-of-the-month company like Groupon go to the trouble to respond to what academics who run an wonky obscure accounting blog say? Just because CFO quoted them? GOA were talking about this months ago and now their opinion has found its way into the sterling digital pages of CFO it's suddenly worth addressing? Christ, that's lame. All due respect to Tony and Ed, but GOA doesn't demand the same kind of attention as, say, Paul Krugman. But then again, maybe it, and they, should. To wit:

Groupon’s CFO took exception to our criticism about providing only aggregate cash flow data that failed to explain the 234 percent improvement in 2011 [operating cash flow].  But even he recognizes that “it is pretty unusual to have a business that loses money from a GAAP income perspective, but actually generates free-cash flow.” Sorry Mr. CFO, “pretty unusual” does not hack it…this situation refutes all logic!

Maybe the Groupon spinmeisters will get to Child and prevent him for getting down into mud further but hopefully he takes his communication cues from his boss. 

Groupon CFO's Spin Raises More Red Flags [GOA]

The post Groupon CFO’s Defense of Sketchy Accounting Does Not Impress appeared first on Going Concern.

S&P provided the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations with an excerpt of the e-mail from MF Global CFO Henri Steenkamp. S&P also informed the panel that Jon Corzine, then MF Global’s chief executive officer, met with its analysts on Oct. 20 to reassure them that his $6.3 billion bet on European sovereign debt was no threat to the firm, according to a Jan. 17 letter obtained by Bloomberg News. […] “MF Global is in its strongest position ever,” Steenkamp told S&P on Oct. 24, according to the letter to Representative Randy Neugebauer, a Texas Republican, from Craig Parmelee, a managing director at S&P in New York.

The post Today, in Regrettable CFO Emails appeared first on Going Concern.

[F]rom at least June 2006 through April 2008, Li and Chow engaged in a complex scheme to overstate Syntax’s financial results by publicly reporting significant sales of LCD televisions in China, when in fact the vast majority of these sales never occurred. Li and Chow initially concealed the scheme through the use of fake shipping and sales documents.

Of course, they couldn’t do it alone. They needed a CFO. A CFO who would backdate things when asked and ignore obvious signs of bogus revenue. That man was Wayne Pratt who, from the sounds of it, wasn’t too concerned about ANYTHING:

The SEC alleges that Wayne Pratt, Syntax’s Chief Financial Officer, ignored red flags of improper revenue recognition and participated in preparing backdated documentation that was provided to Syntax’s auditors to support fictitious fiscal 2006 year-end sales. Pratt also ignored indications of impaired assets, agency sales, and potential collectability issues.

So, budding criminals, get on the look out for a guy/gal who is accustomed to shrugging their shoulders and responding “Meh. Whatever.” to your demands. Should work out well for you.

Litigation Release [SEC]
Complaint [SEC]

The post When Booking Bogus Revenue, Ideally Your CFO Is the Type to Not Give a Rat’s Ass appeared first on Going Concern.

According to accounting firm BDO, middle market CFOs typically earn 55% to 60% of their CEO’s pay, but in 2010 they earned just 40%, on average.

In a study of 600 public companies with annual revenues ranging from $25 million to $1 billion, BDO found that CFOs earned an average of $927,743 in 2010, a 19% increase from 2010, while CEOs earned an average of $2.34 million, representing a 25% increase from the previous year.

[via CFOJ]

The post Even After Obtaining That Sweet CFO Gig, You’ll Probably Still Bitch About Your Salary appeared first on Going Concern.

Having said that, it appears the Wall St. Journal seems to think that Oppenheimer’s statement are akin to fighting words, as illustrated by the headline: “Apple CFO Snipes at Google’s Motorola Bid” which included the following:

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, took a shot at Google when asked about the company’s $12.5 billion bid for Motorola Mobility Holdings during a conference call with investors hosted by Gleacher & Company. Oppenheimer said that companies should invent their own technology rather than buy it from the outside, adding that “$12.5 billion is a lot of money,” according to a report from Apple Insider.

First of all, to look at Peter Oppenheimer you wouldn’t think he’s capable of “sniping.” Secondly, “snipe” is defined as “To make malicious, underhand remarks or attacks” according to Wiktionary. For example, if Oppenheimer had said something like, “Larry Page couldn’t get laid in a monkey whorehouse with a bag of bananas” or “Androids are the Yugos of the smartphone world,” those would qualify as snipes. They are malicious, underhanded and are attacks.

Conversely, “$12.5 billion is a lot of money” is not a snipe. It is a statement of a fact-ish. It is a lot of money. You could argue that it is Oppenheimer’s opinion but as posited above, very few would argue that it isn’t a lot of money. Is Google overpaying for Motorola? That’s the question Michael Hickins ultimately asks in his article but somehow the hook for this was that Apple’s CFO brings the same level of snark as the CEO.

Apple CFO Snipes at Google’s Motorola Bid [WSJ]

The post Apple CFO’s Seemingly Banal Statement Interpreted Quite Differently by The Wall St. Journal appeared first on Going Concern.

The post Google CFO Addresses Company’s ‘Evil’ Tax Savvy appeared first on Going Concern.

During a conference call with analysts, Viniar said the potential headcount reduction is “as we sit here now and, of course, things can change,” adding that such layoffs would “come over the course of this year.” Viniar said the cuts could be “some senior, some junior people,” but “it’s really more dollar focused than head focused.” [MW]

The post Goldman Sachs CFO: Layoffs Are About the Numbers appeared first on Going Concern.

Citigroup Inc. (C), American International Group Inc. (AIG) and UBS AG (UBSN) are among other companies raising the profile of risk executives. The derivatives meltdown that sparked the 2008 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapse and an 18-month recession catapulted the role from obscurity to contention for future chief executive officers. “The person sitting in the risk chair now is reporting to the CEO so the caliber has to be higher,” said Neil Hindle, who runs the CRO search practice at Egon Zehnder International in New York. “There has been a real increase in power over the last two years.” That’s evident in the compensation, which can reach $10 million at large financial institutions now, compared with $500,000 as recently as 2001, Hindle said. Five years ago, a CRO typically reported no higher than the CFO, he said.

Granted, if you’re someone like Dave Viniar, you’ve got very little to worry about since you’re irreplaceable. But if you’re slightly lower on the intellectual scale, you best watch for that CRO buzzing right by you on the meeting that you weren’t invited to. Next thing you know, CFOs will be picking up their shirts and dry cleaning.

Chief Risk Officer Rises to $10 Million Job [Bloomberg]

The post Disturbing Trend: Chief Risk Officers Blowing Past CFOs On the Way to Meeting with the Boss appeared first on Going Concern.

The company disputes this, saying that Lataillade was actually doing a little double-entry magic for about $20 million or so in order to earn himself a nicer bonus. Lataillade has now pulled a Chinese stunt of sorts, claiming that Deloitte said everything was hunky dory and that should convince anyone that doubts his CFO prowess:

Lataillade and his lawyers said that the company, which fired Lataillade last September, never had any trouble with his monitoring of its finances in his long tenure at Marc Jacobs International. His work was checked and rechecked not only by accountants for LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate that owns Marc Jacobs International, but also by the company’s accounting firm Deloitte and Touch [sic]. Lataillade claims he never heard a complaint about his performance, and that he was really fired for speaking out against sexual discrimination at work.

Fired Marc Jacobs Exec Says Company Is Ignoring The Facts [Styleite]

The post Fired Marc Jacobs CFO Will Have You Know That Deloitte Never Complained About His Work appeared first on Going Concern.

“We didn’t join the metric system when everybody else did,” says W. Anderson Bishop, [Hallador Energy Co.’s] chief financial officer. U.S. accounting rules are “the gold standard, and why would we want to lower our standards just to make the rest of the world happy?”

U.S. Firms Clash Over Accounting Rules [WSJ]

The post CFO Seizes Opportunity to Unite Disgust for IFRS, Metric System appeared first on Going Concern.

In case you lost count, the U.S. taxpayer has thrown $86 billion at the company but Suz is still “incredibly excited to join the Fannie Mae team and to help lead the company into the future.” Mmmmhmmm. [WSJ]

The post Fannie Mae Hoping the Third CFO Is the Charm appeared first on Going Concern.

In response to a question from Bank of America’s CFO, Chuck Noski, Schapiro said, “We have not heard from a lot of shareholders that we have to go (to IFRS). We’ve heard the contrary… ‘Why would we take this step toward international accounting standards?’” [CFOJ]

The post Confidential to Sir David Tweedie: Mary Schapiro Isn’t Hearing Encouraging Words on IFRS appeared first on Going Concern.

This all came out because Lataillade sued the company alleging that he was fired for entirely different reason altogether. Apparently MJI co-founder and President Robert Duffy likes to have a little fun around the office that wasn’t appreciated by everyone, namely Mr. Lataillade.

“Examples of Duffy’s conduct which created a hostile work environment include his displaying gay pornography in the office and requiring employees to look at it; his production and dissemination of a book which includes photos of MJI staff in sexual positions or nude; his requirement that an MJI store employee perform a pole dance for him,” the suit said.

Accounting/finance types can be get a little stuffy, that’s a given but seeing co-workers in various compromising positions and/or working a pole at the boss’s behest could make for some awkward looks/conversations later. Not that it excuses running through some bullshit journal entries for your own personal financial benefit but I suppose there may be a legitimate beef in there.

Marc Jacobs COO fired for ‘cooking books’ not harassment: court filings [NYP]

The post Marc Jacobs Says Former CFO Was Fired Because He Was Cooking the Books Not Because He Complained About a Pole Dance, All the Porn Floating Around appeared first on Going Concern.

You see, the company that the media loves to figuratively fellate, Apple, opted to put their audit business out to bid every five years and not only have costs gone down, “it has reported no problems with its financial results as a result of the change.” So now Apple is also more progressive and transparent with their corporate governance processes than your company. And you don’t have the iPad. [CFO Journal]

The post Memo to CFOs: Apple Voluntarily Switched Auditors and Things Are Just Dandy appeared first on Going Concern.

Personally, I’m not sure why Vin is trippin’, since it’s pretty clear that most people don’t think Goldman is going the way of the dodo Andersen. [Reuters]

The post Goldman Sachs CFO Admits That the Company Is Sensitive to Trash Talk, Doesn’t Go Looking for Trouble appeared first on Going Concern.

Things started unraveling when Tim up and resigned on May 5th, leaving his boss a Dear John letter of sorts:

“Effective immediately, I resign from Flint Hydrostatics, Inc.,” said the letter Timothy W. Mask left on the president’s desk.

“Flint has been a true blessing in my life,” wrote Mask, 46, of Corinth, Miss. “I will always cherish friendships that I have built and my fellow employees. It has just come time for me to move on to new endeavors.”

You see, Kevin Fienup, Flint’s director of business development and secretary, as well as the son of the company’s president, started looking into Mask’s old endeavors and found a number of checks that were made out to Mask and the company’s janitor. Allegedly, Mask would have his assistant cut checks to the janitor (or Mask if the janitor wasn’t available) who would cash them and then place the cash in a locked drawer in Mask’s office. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Fineup “left his office door open and had documents on his desk about the irregular transactions the night before Mask resigned.” One might conclude that Tim saw said documents, figured the jig was up and sat down to write his heartfelt letter.

As for his “new endeavors” it appears that Mask may have been trying to make a break for it, as the Appeal also reports that he had a “two-week vacation to Hawaii” scheduled to start yesterday, had recently sent mail to a passport processing center and had started transferring $200,000 from his 401k. But instead he got arrested which probably kinda threw a wrench into his plans.

Former chief financial officer at Memphis company accused of stealing nearly $1.2 million [MCA]

The post Man Who Left CFO Job for ‘New Endeavors’ Failed to Mention That His Old Endeavors Involved Embezzlement (Allegedly) appeared first on Going Concern.

Here’s the good news via the Journal of Accountancy:

On the demand front, hiring is back on the upswing after decreasing from 2007 to 2008. In 2007, the total number of accounting hires was 36,111. That dropped to 25,488 in 2008 but climbed to 33,321 in 2010. A large portion of that increase was in firms with fewer than 10 CPAs on staff. Firms of that size increased their hiring projections from 11,432 in 2008 to 16,342 in 2010 (see Exhibit 1).

In terms of the types of positions CPA firm new hires were recruited to fill across firms of all sizes, accounting and auditing still commanded a narrow majority at 51%; followed by taxation at 25%; other at 16%; and information technology at 8%.

The accounting and auditing share of new hires was down from 60% in 2007, with the declines coming from firms with 50 or more CPAs. Hiring of new CPA graduates likewise decreased for information technology (down 5 percentage points from 13%). Tax showed a slight increase (2 percentage points) with the strongest gains coming from firms with fewer than 10 CPAs, while the largest growth since 2007 was in the “other” category.

The percentage of overall firms expecting to hire the same or more new accounting graduates than last year also is up—to 89% from 74% when the question was asked in 2008.

Here’s the next obvious question: are we talking about real, created-from-nothing jobs or are we talking about covering massive staff turnover popularized in public accounting by serf-like working conditions and disappointing compensation? Because hiring the same guy in four different firms doesn’t add up the same as hiring four new accounting grads. Duh.

Oh, and something else – where’s 2009? It doesn’t appear in any of the included exhibits, nor is it mentioned in the Journal of Accountancy article even once. The full survey, available from the AICPA’s website, doesn’t specifically mention the exclusion of 2009 in the survey methodology. We aren’t one for conspiracy theories (yeah, right) but it seems suspect that an entire year would just disappear and fail to get a single mention. I mean it was only two years ago.

We’ll dig into the survey results in more detail later, maybe once we track down 2009. Though not specifically mentioned in the above charts, the entire 2009 Trends in the supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits report can be found here.

The post If You Believe the AICPA, Hiring Is Looking Good appeared first on Going Concern.

However, Drew won’t be able to apply for a position at one of those Chinese companies who are losing CFOs left and right. He still has to get reacquainted with society and whatnot:

“It’s a bridge, if you will, a transition period,” said bureau spokesman Edmond Ross. The purpose of the halfway house is for prisoners to reestablish family ties and adjust to society outside of prison, he said. Prisoners are allowed to leave the facility to go to their jobs, but their movements are still controlled. “They cannot come and go as they please,” said Ross. “Their lives are restricted to the rules of the halfway house.”

First things first, Andy – Twitter account. Oh, and maybe subscribe to our enewsletter.

Enron exec Fastow nears prison release [CNN]

The post Andy Fastow Is Out of Prison appeared first on Going Concern.

Virgin Galactic, a leader in the race to launch commercial space flights, is looking to hire the first CFO in a brand-new industry sector. “It’s a historic thing,” says George Whitesides, the former NASA chief of staff who is the company’s chief executive. “The executives here are thinking back to the early days of aviation, when companies like American Airlines were getting started. For the right person, it would be tremendously exciting.”

Naturally, this particular job isn’t for just any ol’ finance and accounting sage. You need experience in aerospace, raising both private and public money, and a little exuberance might be nice:

The right person will have strong experience in raising funds from private-equity investors and public offerings, ideally some prior experience or relationship with the aerospace industry, and a hint of merriment.

Virgin Galactic wants a CFO who “fits the Virgin brand,” which means someone who is hard-working but also dynamic and able to integrate work and fun, à la company founder and committed thrill-seeker Richard Branson. Yes, this will not only be the first CFO in a new sector, but quite possibly the first one to rocket into space.

So for you buttoned-up types, just keep moving along. Virgin will be needing for someone who won’t be ashamed by wearing adult diapers and projectile vomiting in front of the billionaire boss.

Virgin Territory for One Lucky CFO [CFO]

The post Any Budding CFOs Who Had Dreams of Being an Astronaut Should Get Their Résumés in Order appeared first on Going Concern.

USANA Health Sciences, Inc. […] today announced that Fred W. Cooper, President and Chief Operating Officer; Jeffrey A. Yates, Chief Financial Officer; and Mark H. Wilson, Executive Vice President of Sales have each stepped down from their respective offices to pursue other business endeavors. […] Continuing on the realignment of the executive team, [CEO Dave] Wentz said “I also want to offer Fred, Jeff, and Mark our sincerest appreciation for their years of service to USANA. We wish them well in their future endeavors.”

Of course it could be that these guys had a foursome at Pebble Beach they weren’t about to reschedule OR they knew there was going to be openings at Novartis. Other theories are welcome. PwC’s Salt Lake City office serves as USANA’s auditor so if you’ve got the scoop or heard something interesting, email us.

The post USANA Health Sciences Hits the Superfecta as President, CFO, COO and EVP of Sales All Bolt appeared first on Going Concern.

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Of course Carney is talking Lehman Brothers and Erin Callan. Oh and Ian Lowitt too. Both served as Lehman’s CFO prior to the bankruptcy. Funny thing – Francine McKenna wrote a post about the problematic situation of having a CFO with no accounting experience three months before Lehman went bankrupt. But BofA, JPM and Wells aren’t Lehman are they? GAAP is really NBD, right? [CNBC]

The post What Do We Make of All These Non-Accountant CFOs? appeared first on Going Concern.

Chief financial officers at large North American companies polled by Deloitte LLP said it would take a 20% surge in revenue before they felt comfortable adding to their payrolls.

The quarterly survey released Thursday found that nearly half of respondents would seriously consider adding employees if revenues rose 20%, but few would be moved by a 5% increase. A 10% bump in revenue would only be a major hiring consideration for 11% of CFOs.

Worse yet, perhaps, actual growth isn’t expected to reach such heights: respondents estimate top line growth at North American companies will be just 8.2% this year. (This is, however, a rosier picture than the fourth quarter when respondents forecast 6.5% for the coming year.)

And don’t bother trying to bait them with tax reform, revisions to the healthcare reform bill or payroll tax incentives because they’re all non-starters.

CFOs: Revenue Surge Needed to Boost Hiring [WSJ]

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The post GM CFO Says Company Is Committed to ‘Low-debt Strategy’ For Real This Time appeared first on Going Concern.

Plus they’re planning to file their fiscal 2010 results a month ahead of schedule. The company’s stock was down 12% for the week prior to today’s announcement and unfortunately, all this fresh news doesn’t seem to have calmed anyone down. [Dow Jones, Earlier, Earlier]

The post Chinese Company CFO Resignation Du Jour: Qiao Xing Universal Resources Inc. appeared first on Going Concern.

According to KPMG’s Steve Lis, “By adopting a unified approach to technology, CFOs and CIOs can transform their organizations to become more proactive, innovative and flexible.” That’s a pretty interesting thought but another possibility not addressed in KPMG’s press release was: spending money. I know, I know. Pretty crazy concept so it’s probably best to just keep things the way they are. [KPMG]

The post Survey: CFOs Find Outdated Technology Slightly Maddening appeared first on Going Concern.

Duoyuan Global Water Inc. (DGW) said Chief Financial Officer Stephen C. Park would resign from the China-based water treatment equipment supplier to pursue another professional opportunity. Park will remain with the company until the completion of a third party review or until June 30, whichever is earlier. Duoyuan said it is in the process of selecting an international search firm to assist in appointing a successor. The company’s American depositary shares slid 7.3% to $3.70 in after-hours trading.

Duoyuan Global Water CFO To Resign [Dow Jones]

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“Our business is really pretty simple,” Sloan, 50, said in an interview last week at the bank’s San Francisco headquarters. “When you look at the deal and its structure looks like an octopus or a spider, just don’t do it. That kept us out of a lot of things.”

Wells Fargo’s Sloan Avoids Spiders, Octopuses in Rise to CFO [Bloomberg]

The post New Wells Fargo CFO: Arachnophobia Is Partially Responsible for Bank’s Success appeared first on Going Concern.

The post Disney CFO: ESPN Will Be Fine If There’s a NFL Lockout appeared first on Going Concern.

Robert Half interviewed 1400 CFOs across the country for their Robert Half Financial Hiring Index and here’s what they came up with:

Most (85 percent) chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed for the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index said they expect to make no changes to their current staffing levels during the second quarter of 2011. Seven percent anticipate adding full-time accounting and finance professionals, while another 7 percent plan personnel reductions. The net 0 percent projection is down two points from the first-quarter 2011 forecast.

As businesses navigate the current economy, they remain optimistic about the outlook for their own companies. Eighty-nine percent of CFOs expressed confidence in their firms’ growth potential in the second quarter, up one point from the first-quarter survey.

Looking to relocate? Try the Pacific or Mid-Atlantic regions. Twelve percent of CFOs plan to add full-time accounting and finance professionals and 5 percent foresee cutbacks, a net 7 percent increase.

“Many Pacific-region companies, particularly those in the manufacturing and technology sectors, are rebuilding their teams to meet renewed demand for their products and services,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “In particular, firms are looking for skilled financial analysts to help them control costs and prepare for potential growth.”

In the end, a net 0 hiring projection is a lot better than previous recent surveys which were in the negative however we’d be remiss if we did not point out that the last time the survey showed a net 0 projection was for 3rd quarter 2008. And we all know how that particular period of time went.

What does this mean? New grads who are still waiting around for jobs can keep waiting, and more seasoned professionals who have been out of work for quite some time should probably just give up. Thanks for the great news, RH!

The post New Robert Half Survey Reveals CFOs Will Need You to Go Ahead and Come in on Saturday appeared first on Going Concern.

Weatherford International Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Becnel called a $500 million accounting error disclosed by the oilfield-service company late Tuesday an "embarrassment," the damage of which is "impossible to quantify."

But you know who's taking this whole snafu in stride? CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner that's who! BDD told investors on a conference call today that nothing is fucked and that this will all be yesterday's news in no time:

Chief Executive Bernard Duroc-Danner said there is no risk of a U.S. government investigation or of any tax penalties or fines related to what he characterized as a mistake in calculating the tax rates on dividends moved from one subsidiary to another.

Geez. Give the SEC some credit wouldja? Just because they missed a few things here and there doesn't mean they won't ask any questions about your material weaknesses.

Weatherford Finance Chief Calls Accounting Error an 'Embarrassment' [WSJ]

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At the end of the tax year, the IRS office sent an inspector to audit the books of a local hospital. While the IRS agent was checking the books he turned to the CFO of the hospital and said, “I notice you buy a lot of bandages. What do you do with the end of the roll when there’s too little left to be of any use?”

“Good question,” noted the CFO. “We save them up and send them back to the bandage company and every now and then they send us a free box of bandages.”

“Oh,” replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way. “What about all these plaster purchases? What do you do with what’s left over after setting a cast on a patient?”

“Ah, yes,” replied the CFO, realizing that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. “We save it and send it back to the manufacturer, and every now and then they send us a free package of plaster.”

“I see,” replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all CFO. “Well,” he went on, “What do you do with all the leftover foreskins from the circumcisions you perform?”

“Here, too, we do not waste,” answered the CFO. “What we do is save all the little foreskins and send them to the IRS office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick.”

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“The departure of Atkins, we are led to believe, was not merely the result of personal issues, but reflects an ongoing internal dispute within [Wells Fargo’s] executive suite regarding the bank’s disclosure,” he writes.

Whalen then goes on to argue that Wells Fargo’s “public behavior suggests significant problems in the bank’s internal systems and controls as defined by the Sarbanes-Oxley law. We further understand that some officials of [Wells Fargo], increasingly uncomfortable with the bank’s aggressive public disclosure regime, have reached out to regulators because of concerns regarding accounting issues.”

The Stagecoach Gang, for their part, is sticking to their story citing the “personal reasons” and their spokesman dismissed Whalen’s report with “pfffft” and a wave of the hand, saying, “I haven’t heard anything like that. It’s speculation. I’m not going to comment on it.”

Wells Fargo CFO Exit Tied to Disclosure: Analyst [The Street]

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Wells Fargo & Company announced today that Timothy J. Sloan, the company’s current chief administrative officer and a senior executive vice president, has been named its new chief financial officer, effectively immediately. He succeeds Howard I. Atkins, who turns 60 this week and is retiring as CFO and senior EVP for personal reasons. Atkins’ retirement is unrelated to the company’s financial condition or financial reporting.

The retirement is effective in August but Atkins is taking “an unpaid leave of absence he will begin immediately,” according to reports. Maybe this is typical and we’re sure he’s not starving but that still kinda sucks, especially since we don’t see any cake – neither day of birth nor of the retirement variety – in his future. Theories about motives are welcome, especially from any Klynveldians on the audit team or others familiar with the sitch.

The post Wells Fargo CFO Celebrates Birthday Week by Retiring appeared first on Going Concern.

“The political turmoil in North Africa, especially Egypt, is of course hurting our business,” said Vasant Prabhu, vice chairman and chief financial officer of the hotelier during a post-earnings conference call Thursday. He noted Starwood has 16 hotels across North Africa that generated between $10 million to $12 million in fees last year.

“We expect that our fees will be hit in North Africa,” he added. “It is too early to tell how we will be impacted, but this is clearly a risk that needs to be closely monitored.”

The post Starwood Hotels CFO Not in Denial About This Egypt Situation appeared first on Going Concern.

The controversial chief financial officer (CFO) of Nkomazi municipality in Mpumalanga, Sheila Mabaso, allegedly submitted a sick note laying her off for three months – only to hold her wedding during that period. Mabaso might be charged with dishonesty after the Mpumalanga municipality discovered that the sick note booking her off for September, October and November was “actually meant for her to prepare for the wedding”. Though Sowetan could not establish who Mabaso got married to, it can reveal that she got married to a pastor from the North West and that the wedding took place in Nelspruit on September 25 last year. Mabaso apparently flew to Malaysia for the honeymoon but allegedly told the municipality she was going to see a specialist doctor.

We’ve never known a CFO to be “controversial” to the point that it goes into print so we Googled “controversial CFO” and it came up with less than 100 items (although Erin Callan did sneak in there). Although, if you read further, one would discover that Ms Mabaso is nothing if not a little sassy:

[She] told Ziwaphi, a local fortnightly newspaper, that getting married while sick was none of anybody’s business. “It’s true that I was sick for three months and I have a doctor’s note to prove it. If I got married in that period, it’s none of their business. Who said a person can’t get married when they are sick?” Mabaso was quoted as saying.

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Food prices are rising around the globe and the world’s biggest restaurant chain expects its costs to rise 2 percent to 2.5 percent this year in the United States and 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent in Europe. Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said McDonald’s would “raise prices where it makes sense” to offset some, but not all, of the cost increases. Diners around the world remain cautious with their spending on food away from home and McDonald’s will be very careful not to turn customers off with higher prices, Bensen said.

Hopefully this won’t eliminate Mickey D’s from your eligible take-out options this busy season.

McDonald’s likely to raise prices in 2011 [Reuters via DB]

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And what does one do when you commit an act of such allegiance? You tell the boss, natch:

Apple Inc. approached Blackstone Group LP Chief Financial Officer Laurence Tosi to become its finance chief, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Tosi told Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman that he plans to stay, rather than join Apple, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.

The ‘Berg reports that because Apple has cash burning a hole in their pocket, they may be looking for a CFO who has acquisition experience and in case you haven’t heard, that’s sorta what Blackstone does. Apple gave the classic “non-denial denial” telling Bloomberg that they are “not conducting a CFO search,” and Pete “loves the company and is extremely happy in his role.”

But that doesn’t make him Laurence Tosi, does it?

The post Stephen Schwarzman Has Got Himself a Pretty Loyal CFO appeared first on Going Concern.

Pichette told The (London) Times that it was not the end. “China has 1.2 billion people. For Google to say, ‘We’re going to live on our mission, but not serve 1.2 billion people’ — it just doesn’t work. China wants Google.”

He spoke of the “great firewall of China,” where censors filter the information that China’s internet users can view.

He said: “[If] you were in China last week, two weeks ago, and you typed in Nobel Peace Prize — there were no results. Think of Google’s brand now. You’re Chinese, you know that’s not true, that the Nobel Peace Prize has not disappeared from the face of the earth. There lies the issue of brand. There lies the issue of our mission.”

The post Google CFO: We Can’t Quit You, China appeared first on Going Concern.

Sister Marie E. Thornton (aka Sister Susie) was doing the Lord’s work as the CFO at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY and it appears that she was embezzling around $80k a year for nearly 10 years to fund a wee bit of a gambling problem. She surrendered to authorities last week over said embezzlement of ‘more than $850,000,’ according to Talk of the Sound, a New Rochelle blog, that quotes a DOJ press release.

The school fired Sister Suz last year, along with another employee, in relation to the embezzlement and the DOJ got around to charging her last week.

The story got picked up by several outlets, including Fox News who reported that Sister Suz had been blowing the money on trips to Atlantic City:

As chief financial officer at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. from 1999 to 2009, Sister Marie Thornton, 62, bet her six-figure income and school money away during frequent trips to Atlantic City, federal prosecutors said.

Thornton was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan. She was released without posting bail. Sources confirmed to MyFoxNY that a former Iona basketball coach has said that Sister Marie definitely had a gambling problem.

Now why the former coach, Jeff Ruland (who was fired from his job, according to the Post), felt obligated to dish on the gambling issue is not clear, although it does provide a motive for Sister Susie’s (alleged!) stealing, which would have probably come out of the investigation. Odd revenge theories aside, the good news is that Sister Suz had seen the error of her ways and has been “cloistered at the Sisters for St. Joseph Order, near Philadelphia,” according to the Fox News report.

However, that is a lot closer to AC, so maybe we’re jumping the gun on repentance.

BREAKING: Sister Susie Arrested, U.S. Attorney Charges Former Iona College VP of Finance in $1.2 Million Embezzlement [Talk of the Sound]
Nun Accused of Embezzling $850,000 From College, Then Gambling It Away in Atlantic City [Fox News]
Nun charged with embezzling $1.2M from Iona [NYP]

The post Nun-cum-former CFO, Who May Have a Gambling Problem, Allegedly Made Off with Some Iona College Cash appeared first on Going Concern.

But if you’re the King of All Media and you hear through the grapevine that your company’s Chief Financial Officer says this: “At the time of the [Sirius and XM Radio ] merger we were in many long-term contracts. As they come up for renewal, we’ll have the opportunity to get more favorable economic terms there.”

You might react with the following:

“I am not taking a f—ing paycut,” Stern said. “Why would I have to take a paycut? … Who is this guy to say this in public?”

“I know what I have done in this company,” he said. “I am more important than Oprah, in this company anyway. Oprah’s out getting the Kennedy Center honor and I’ve got the CFO announcing to Wall Street that I have to take a paycut.”

“Nevermind getting respect from the industry,” Stern continued, “I want respect from the company.”

Which you might follow up with this:

“I am calling my agent today that want more f—ing money. I don’t want it perceived that I took a paycut,” Stern railed, disclosing that Frear got a raise in 2008, putting his annual salary at $3.3 million. “Where’s your paycut, David?”

To be fair – if you tell someone who makes 3% of what you’re pulling in to take a paycut, it may be time to get some perspective.

Howard Stern May Have to Take a Paycut [ABC News]
Howard Stern Slams Sirius CFO: ‘I’m Not Taking a F—ing Paycut’ [The Wrap]

The post Sirius CFO’s Subtle Suggestion That Howard Stern May Have to Take a Paycut Doesn’t Go Over So Well appeared first on Going Concern.

And now she’s even closer to the mystery meat reality because she has been laid off by the nonprofit for whom she worked:

Velma Hart, the chief financial officer for Am Vets, a veteran services organization based in Maryland, said Monday in an interview with CNBC that she was laid off as part of the nonprofit’s effort to cut expenses.

“I want to focus on the positive and be optimistic,” said Hart, who lives in Upper Marlboro, Md. “And assume that somehow things will work out, that there’s an opportunity out there with Velma’s name on it that’s right around the corner.”

A positive outlook, we like this gal. We’re sure you’ll be back to the corner office in no time. One word of advice though when you’re in the hot dog aisle – Hebrew National is not kosher, not matter what the package says.

Velma Hart Laid Off: Woman Who Told Obama Of Financial Fears Loses Her Job [HuffPo via DI]

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So does that mean CFOs are indifferent about which party is in actually in power but more generally speaking, Republicans give them the warm fuzzies while Dems give them the heebie jeebies?

Despite the fact that more than 70 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) at Deloitte’s annual CFO Vision conference earlier this month believe current government financial policy has either had no effect or negatively impacted their business, the tide is turning toward a more positive outlook. A majority (59 percent) of the same group of CFOs expect the recent Congressional midterm elections to have a positive impact on their industry.

Maybe we’re a little slow (especially this week) but Sandy Cockrell (he introduced us to the “bathtub recovery“) attempts to clarify:

“CFOs are confident that they can pull the levers within their own companies to do their jobs, but they are most worried about external issues involving economic recovery and regulations,” said Sanford Cockrell III, national managing partner of Deloitte’s U.S. CFO Program. “The biggest risk they see is a prolonged, stagnant recovery. Industries are also concerned about too much government intervention. If the employment picture does not also improve and if general pessimism continues to rise, we would expect pessimism to start having a larger impact on companies’ earnings and investment expectations.”

Okay so 70% of the CFOs polled “believe current government financial policy has either had no effect or negatively impacted their business,” yet they still fear government intervention? And if what Cockrell is saying rings true with the majority of CFOs polled, the second John Boehner holds the gavel as the new Speaker of the House, the employment picture may slowly begin turn around? Do we have that right? Really, finance chiefs of America? That’s what you’re pinning your hopes on?

Are they all confused or did Deloitte just throw together a poorly designed poll? We’re stumped but if you’ve got the time and energy, we’ll entertain some theories.

The post CFOs Are More Optimistic About Business Now That the Democrats Don’t Control the House appeared first on Going Concern.

“I’m not worried about today, I’m worried about the three months and the six months and the nine months” from now, GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview this morning on CNBC.

Liddell also had some frank talk about how GM can never go back to the bad, old days, when he said GM was a financing company with a car company “attached,” and the auto maker used its pension plan as a “piggy bank.” GM needs to have a “fortress” balance sheet to support its business plan, Liddell said.

So the intention is there but old habits die hard, amiright? Francine McKenna thinks so and makes a prediction:

My prediction: GM needs another accounting restatement before the 2012 election. This time it shouldn’t be retail investors who end up with the short end of this stick.

Any takers? November 6, 2012 is the over/under. We’ll take the overs (post-election day) and if we lose, we’ll take FM to dinner at the restaurant of her choosing.

The post GM CFO: Today Is No Big Deal appeared first on Going Concern.

~ Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams in an email to employees announcing the resignation of CFO David Johnson.

The post The Housing Crisis Didn’t Stop the Fannie Mae CFO From Keeping Everyone in Stitches appeared first on Going Concern.

If financial executives could get one thing off their plates, it would be administrative tasks, according to a recent survey by Robert Half Management Resources.

More than one-third (38 percent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said that if they could eliminate one responsibility, it would be basic clerical and administrative work.

“Today’s need to do more with less extends to all levels of the organization,” Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half Management Resources, said of the survey results.

“At small and mid-size companies, in particular, this often means financial executives have had to take on tasks once handled by others,” McDonald said. “The demands of the current economic environment make it even more essential for senior-level managers to use their time wisely.”

CFOs were asked, “If there was one responsibility you could hand off from your job, what would it be?”

• Basic clerical/administrative – 38%
• Accounting-related – 19%
• Human resources-related – 14%
• Managing – 7%
• Operations-related – 3%
• Interactions with vendors – 1%
• Nothing – 8%
• Other – 10%

The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources, a provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals on a project and interim basis. It was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 795 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.

Robert Half Management Resources offers executives six tips for maximizing their time:

1. Set realistic expectations – High standards are a must, but setting impractical goals can cause frustration and waste valuable time. When initiating a project, consider what you would like to achieve if resources and time were unlimited. Then determine what can reasonably be accomplished considering available resources and other priorities.

2. Don’t procrastinate – It’s tempting to postpone less challenging assignments for more exciting initiatives, but it can backfire if projects start to stack up. Procrastination strains working relationships and creates unnecessary stress as everyone strives to catch up.

3. Delegate – Distribute more routine tasks to other staff members. Look for opportunities that allow your top performers to gain visibility and build their expertise and decision-making skills.

4. Keep meetings on track – Distribute a detailed agenda prior to the discussion so everyone is prepared. Meetings should begin and end on time. If information can be easily covered in e-mail or phone, a meeting might not be warranted.

5. Bring in help – If you and your team are overloaded, consider bringing in outside support during peak activity periods or for large-scale initiatives that are finite in nature.

6. Recharge – Financial executives are accustomed to long hours and demanding work, but that doesn’t mean they should sacrifice breaks and vacation. Scheduling time for even a short respite can restore energy and a sense of control.

About Robert Half Management Resources:
Robert Half Management Resources is a provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals to supplement companies’ project and interim staffing needs. The company has more than 145 locations worldwide and offers online job search services at www.roberthalfmr.com. Follow Robert Half Management Resources at twitter.com/roberthalfmr for workplace news.

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What we learned is what we already knew, which is that the job market sucks and will continue sucking if we are to believe the 516 CFOs surveyed from October 5th to October 15th:

In a national survey of U.S. Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, only 29% plan to increase hiring in the next six months, while 21% plan to decrease hiring.

Not so good, huh? Well fortunately for all of you looking for a job out there, the GT methodology is severely flawed for two reasons: 1) It included the extra-super-tragic days of October 5th and October 15th when CFOs were feeling especially negative and 2) They survey far too many CFOs.

Had they performed their survey on October 6th through the 14th like FEI and Baruch College and kept cut their population by roughly half (FEI/Baruch interviewed 249 CFOs), they would have discovered that things aren’t really that bad at all:

While CFOs this quarter continue to forecast high unemployment nationwide (on average predicting at least nine percent through October 2011), hiring prospects at their own companies paint a rosier picture. More than half (56%) plan to hire additional employees within the next six months, and overall they anticipate a four percent increase in hiring over the next six months.

So obviously Grant Thornton just needs to tweak their methodology a bit and then we’ll all be on the same page.

Until that happens, feel free to get some of your hapless friends together and start asking CFOs for their broad-based economic outlook. It appears that as long as you have a shell of a methodology and manage to get at least 250 responses, it’s perfectly acceptable to share the findings with everyone and claim that things are turning around.

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Having liquidity is key to any business and it is important to build it before any crisis, said Ford Motor Co.’s (F) chief financial officer Thursday.

“We have to assume that when you really need liquidity, it won’t be there,” said Lewis Booth, speaking at Treasury & Risk’s 15th annual Alexander Hamilton Awards ceremony in New York City.

After those insightful comments, Booth gushed about how the company that Hank built was doing.

“We expect our automotive cash to be about equal to our debt by year-end 2010, earlier than expected,” Booth said, adding “this has been a magic year.”

Just a CFO walking the talk (almost anyway).

The post Ford CFO: Having Ready Access to Cash Is a Decent Business Practice appeared first on Going Concern.

Similarly, when the SEC comes calling, the Sage of Omaha can ring up Berkshire CFO Marc Hamburg. On the one hand, you might expect WB to shoot the breeze with the SEC employees since they likely share a fondness for a certain film genre.

However, when the conversation turns to business, the old man probably claims that he has an interview on tax cuts, a bridge match with WHGIII or a lunch date with Z-Knowles. This allows him to turn the SEC scamps over to Hamburg who plays a little bit of a bad cop to the Buffet’s chatty, dirty Grandpa. The CFO then lets the SEC know, in no uncertain terms, that they’re barking up the wrong tree:

In an April letter, the SEC asked Berkshire why it was not recording write-downs on shares with $1.86 billion in unrealized losses, all of which had been in that position for at least a year.

Given the duration of those losses, the SEC said they appeared to be more than temporary and as such should have been written down.

In a detailed response, Berkshire Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg said most of the losses with more than 12 months’ duration as of December 31 were concentrated in Kraft and U.S. Bancorp, shares it had acquired in 2006 and 2007.

Hamburg said that as of December 31, Berkshire determined both companies had enough earnings potential that their share prices would eventually exceed the original cost of the stock. It also has the “ability and intent” to hold the shares until they recovered, he said.

“We believe it is reasonably possible that the market prices of Kraft Foods and U.S. Bancorp will recover to our cost within the next one to two years assuming that there are no material adverse events affecting these companies or the industries in which they operate,” Hamburg said.

And if this doesn’t work, they’ll just schedule Munger for another speech.

SEC questioned Warren Buffett’s Berkshire on loss accounting [Reuters]

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Anyhoo, most of the coverage on this story is in and around Chicago but naturally, analysts that cover the company were asked about the whole ordeal and frankly, since jumping behind the wheel after a few highballs doesn’t seem to have any effect on Wade’s professional capacity, it’s really NBD:

Dereck Leckow with Barrington Research […] sees no reason for investors to be concerned.

“Certainly, it’s rather embarrassing, but he’s not been found guilty of anything at this point,” said Leckow.

“At this point in time, it’s not something to be concerned about,” he concluded. Leckow has an “Outperform” rating on Walgreen shares and a $46 price target.

The risk for investors, if anything serious were to result from the latest charge, is that Miquelon is regarded as key to restructuring that’s been going on at Walgreen.

“Wade has been very valuable for the company’s cost-reduction efforts,” observes Scott Mushkin of Jefferies & Co. “If there were any problem that would take him away from his responsibilities at Walgreen, that would be a negative,” said Mushkin.

As we noted yesterday, WAG isn’t commenting on this “personal matter” but some people are wondering aloud about Wade’s decision-making ability:

Companies have to disclose “events that occurred during the past 10 years and that are material to an evaluation of the ability or integrity” of an officer. This includes whether the person “was convicted in a criminal proceeding … (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses),” according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

So the question becomes when does such an issue stops being a “personal matter” and starts becoming a “material” one. And what does it say about a person who makes such repeated mistakes, risking himself and others in the process? Can shareholders trust him with running the finances of their company?

The answer is, it depends.

“Some companies might have disclosed the second arrest right away; some might have said something somewhere,” said Edward Best, a partner at law firm Mayer Brown. “Other companies could reasonably have concluded, ‘Hey, the guy still showed up Monday morning.’ He’s still able to fly to New York to meet with rating agencies, investors and bankers. It’s not a material issue.”

One thing is for certain – Miquelon is losing his license for three years effective November 10th, so Walgreen has a couple of weeks to arrange for that car service.

Walgreen: Street Unperturbed By CFO DUI Arrest [Barron’s]
Walgreen CFO Arrested on Drunk Driving Charges … Again [Daily Finance]
Walgreens CFO charged for 2nd time with DUI [Chicago Breaking Business]

The post Some People Aren’t Too Concerned About the Walgreen CFO’s Second DUI appeared first on Going Concern.

Walgreen Co. Chief Financial Officer Wade Miquelon was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last month, his second such arrest in a little more than a year, according to Kenilworth and Glencoe police.

Miquelon stonewalled officers when they requested a breathalyzer test which goes over well approximately 100% of the time. As for the past incident:

In Sept. 2009, he was stopped at 12:51 a.m. at Green Bay Road and Glencoe Drive and charged with speeding, improper lane usage, DUI and having alcohol in his system. In May, he accepted a one-year supervision for the latter offense, according to a Cook County District Court clerk.

“We’re aware of it,” said Walgreen’s spokesman Michael Polzin. “It’s a personal matter, and we don’t comment on personal matters.”

Are they also be aware that it’s relatively inexpensive to hire a full-time driver for a senior executive when you have profits of $2 billion? Just so, you know, no one gets killed.

Walgreens CFO charged for 2nd time with DUI [Chicago Breaking Business]

The post Walgreens Is ‘Aware’ of CFO Being Charged with Second DUI in Just Over a Year appeared first on Going Concern.

Jeff claimed in a lawsuit that he was fired, more or less, for his integrity and trying to keep Tyco out of trouble, again.

Fast-forward to present day and Christopher Coughlin is retiring as Tyco’s CFO. Rather than promote someone from the inside, presumably letting the good times continue (tone at the top is everything, yo know), the company has appointed Eastman Kodak CFO Frank Sklarsky to take over effective December 1.

Now, if you’re a Tyco employee that happens to be on a regular on these legendary ragers, you’ve got to be concerned. Years of debauchery in exotic locales could be coming to an abrupt halt (right before the holidays!) if the transition doesn’t go right.

However, there is a ray of hope, “Coughlin, 58, who has been Tyco chief financial officer since 2005, will advise the company on some projects until his retirement in 2011.”

So it appears that Chris will have to explain “how we do things at Tyco” to Frank before he hangs it up. Judging by how things have gone at Kodak for the last few years, Sklarsky is probably thrilled to be out of there and maybe willing to play ball the Tyco way. Think of the mermaids, Frank.

Tyco Int’l hires CFO away from Kodak [Reuters]

The post Mermaid Greeters, Awesome Party Favors Potentially at Risk as Tyco Names Outsider as New CFO appeared first on Going Concern.

A strong moral compass can give high-potential managers a leg up the career ladder, according to the results of a recent survey.

One-third of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said that, other than technical or functional expertise, integrity is what they look for most when grooming future leaders. Interpersonal and communication skills also ranked high, cited by 28 percent of respondents.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources, a provider of senior-level accounting and finance professionals on a project and interim basis. The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from more than 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.

CFOs were asked, “Other than technical or functional expertise, which one of the following traits do you look for most when grooming future leaders at your organization?”

Their responses:
• Integrity – 33%
• Interpersonal/communication skills – 28%
• Initiative – 15%
• Ability to motivate others – 12%
• Business savvy – 10%
• Other/don’t know – 2%

“History has shown time and time again the importance of ethics in business – even a single lapse in judgment by one employee can significantly affect a company’s reputation and its bottom line,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half Management Resources. “Leaders who are principled and forthright inspire this same behavior in their teams, creating a culture in which integrity is a core value.”

McDonald pointed out that communication skills also are requisite as executives take on greater responsibility.

“Especially during difficult periods, managers must be able to promote open, two-way communication with their teams,” McDonald said. “Executives in companies that have moved successfully through the downturn understand the importance of listening intently to feedback from employees and are always on the lookout for this skill in potential leaders.”

The post Future CFOs, Partners Best Not Check Integrity at the Door appeared first on Going Concern.

Higher costs for commodities like beef and bacon will take a bite out of margins at Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (WEN.N) in the second half of 2010, an executive for the No. 3 U.S. fast-food chain said on Tuesday.

“Beef and bacon are two commodities that have been troublesome to us in this current environment,” Steve Hare, Wendy’s/Arby’s chief financial officer, said at an investor conference.

Beef, bacon to bite margins at Wendy’s/Arby’s: CFO [Reuters]

The post Wendy’s/Arby’s CFO: Killing Cows and Pigs Isn’t as Profitable as It Used to Be appeared first on Going Concern.

Albany International (NYSE: AIN) announced on Sept. 23 that it terminated CFO Michael Burke without cause. Burke was also senior vice president at the manufacturing company headquartered in Menands, New York.

Albany International’s board of directors tapped John Cozzolino to serve as acting CFO. Cozzolino is a vice president overseeing strategic planning.

The moves are effective immediately. Albany International would not say why Burke was fired.

“There were absolutely no ethical, legal, accounting or personal issues involved,” said Susan Siegel, a company spokeswoman.

Just a board of directors channeling a little bit of Steinbrenner.

Albany Int’l Corp. CFO terminated [The Business Review]

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Time Warner Inc. (TWX) Chief Financial Officer John Martin said Thursday that the television advertising market is “really strong,” while the print advertising market is “okay–but not really robust.”

Not to worry though, there are no signs that things are getting worse.

Meanwhile, he said the company’s publishing arm, Time Inc.–which he called “the most secularly challenged part of our company”–faces difficult comparisons in the second half of this year, though he added that he didn’t see any slowdown ahead.

The magazine business was pummeled by the recent economic downturn at a time when it was already declining due to the rise of digital media.

Time Warner CFO: TV Ad Market `Really Strong,’ Print Less So [Dow Jones]

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Look at the bright side, you were on the front page of the Post!

[via Gawker]

The post Sign of the Times: CFOs Living on Franks and Beans appeared first on Going Concern.

Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto is leaving the NFL after two years to return to Goldman Sachs.

Tony will be slumming it in IBD as the co-head of the Global Media Group. The NFL is cool with it though; they understand that not everyone is cut out for the big leagues. The good news is they’ve still got a Team Jehovah alum heading up the Finance Department:

The league said Monday that Eric Grubman will oversee the finance group at least until the end of collective bargaining negotiations with the NFL Players Association. Grubman is executive vice president of business operations and led the league’s finance operations when he joined the NFL in 2004.

NFL CFO Anthony Noto returning to Goldman Sachs [AP]

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While there are many paths to ascending to such a heralded position, one has to wonder if the skill set obtained in public accounting will really prepare you for all the demands and headaches that will inevitably come with a CFO position.

Because so many accounting grads get their start in public accounting, one of the first steps is obtaining the CPA credential. There’s no question that obtaining your CPA is a must for anyone that intends on spending a significant portion of their career in public accounting and little debate about the advantage of having those three letters on your résumé when you start looking outside public.

Tthe timing of that move may determine what kind of path you have ahead of you in order to land that coveted CFO gig. If you manage to stick out life in public until partner or in some cases the director or senior manager level the path is more clear. You may jump right into it immediately or you assume a position that reports to the current CFO and be groomed to assume the big chair at the appropriate time.

But what if you’re just starting your career and you’re fed up with public already? Or what if you’ve gotten laid off and you took a job in private. Are your dreams crushed at this point? What’s a wannabe CFO to do?

Speaking with John Kogan, CEO of Proformative, an online resource for finance, accounting and treasury professionals, obtaining the Certified Management Accountant credential is something that often gets overlooked.

“It’s the Rodney Dangerfield of finance certifications,” John told GC, “it doesn’t get enough respect.” The argument for today’s CFOs to have a CPA are being made and statistics have shown that more and more CFOs are, in fact, CPAs. The most recent data we can find shows that in 2009, 45% of Fortune 1000 CFOs were CPAs, up from 29% in 2003.

However, the viewpoint of “Warren Miller” in the comments of Francine McKenna’s guest post at FEI Blog on the subject, is that accountants usually make terrible CFOs:

[A]ccountants tend to make lousy CFOs because (a) they see everything as an accounting problem, (b) their ignorance of finance AND of human nature (where incentives are concerned) can be breathtaking, (c) they look backwards, and (d) they are conflict-avoiders. If accountants wanted to deal with the ambiguity of the future, they’d have never become bean-counters.

In addition, most accountants LOVE “rules.” They avoid conflict by hiding behind rules. They are go-along/get-along people. I’m fond of saying this: “If accountants had been running our country in 1776, we’d still be working for the King.”

So if the gamut of accountants are ignorant about finance matters, does the CMA provide a bridge to closing that knowledge gap? John Kogan thinks so, “The CMA designation wants to be the ‘CPA’ for finance professionals,” he said, “but it’s so far from being that.”

When you look at the two sections of the CMA exam on the Institute of Management Accountant’s website, you certainly get the impression that the CMA could be the “CPA for finance professionals” based on the curriculum:

PART I – Financial Planning, Performance and Control
• Planning, budgeting, and forecasting
• Performance management
• Cost management
• Internal controls
• Professional ethics

PART II – Financial Decision Making
• Financial statement analysis
• Corporate finance
• Decision analysis and risk management
• Investment decisions
• Professional ethics

So why isn’t the CMA a more coveted credential? John Kogan claims it’s due to poor marketing on the IMA’s part, “The CMA [credential] has similar requirements, not identical but similar, and they don’t enjoy the reputation of the CPA,” John said. “The CMA is getting its butt kicked because it doesn’t market itself well.”

You can easily make the argument that the AICPA has the distinct advantage of partnering with the Big 4 – firms that’s primary purpose is to serve as CPAs – on marketing and promotional efforts while the IMA has no apparent equivalent.

That being said, our recent conversation with IMA Chair Sandra Richtermeyer shed some light on the careers that are available for accountants moving into a financial role that the CMA designation complements well. She was of the notion that the CMA is simply not about cost accounting and John Kogan agrees, “I think anyone who knows anything about [the CMA] knows that the [designation] is broader than that, it’s just that very few people know what the heck it’s about,” he said. “Without a doubt, the skills that the IMA are teaching and certifying are corporate finance skills.”

If you consider yourself to be on the path to CFO Rockstar, maybe you have the CPA locked up but what’s next? Having the CPA credential may make you an attractive candidate on paper but it’s won’t guarantee success with the wide range of knowledge that CFOs need. So, while it may not hold a candle to the CPA in terms of prestige, the skills and knowledge that fall under the CMA are essential for any successful CFO.

The post The Path to CFO: Is the CMA Credential Just as Important as the CPA? appeared first on Going Concern.

The Kansas City Chiefs have hired Dan Crumb as their chief financial officer, the team reported Friday.

Plus, dude is a CPA so we like the move. The real question is, are the Chefs for real?

Crumb has a bachelor’s in finance from the University of New Orleans and an MBA from Tulane University. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institution of Certified Public Accountants.

The Chiefs did not have a CFO before Crumb’s appointment. Crumb’s hiring comes two days after the Chiefs announced that Denny Thum had stepped down as president and that Chairman Clark Hunt had taken the title of CEO.

“Dan has a proven track record of success as a financial officer, and his leadership and experience make him a key addition to our business operations,” Hunt said in a release.

Kansas City Chiefs add a new CFO to executive roster [Kansas City Business Journal]

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Halliburton Co. (HAL) remains bullish on the recovery of its oil services business, which was hit hard last year by the economic downturn, Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum said Thursday.

“We continue to be very bullish about the recovery itself,” McCollum said in a webcast presentation to investors. The company is seeing increases in the pricing of contracts in North America, where activity in the third quarter “remains high.” The North American market “continues to do very well,” he said.

You people with poor attitudes really aren’t helping matters.

Halliburton CFO: Still Bullish About Economic Recovery [Dow Jones]

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The environment for cable television subscribers is “very, very weak,” according to Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) Chief Financial Officer Robert Marcus, and the company may actually see the total number of subscribers to its television, Internet and telephone services shrink during the current quarter.

The statement, made Wednesday at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference in California, caused Time Warner Cable stock to lose as much as 5.3% in Wednesday afternoon trading immediately after Marcus delivered his opening remarks.

Marcus said August saw the “usual uptick in subscriber performance,” as children went back to college, but unemployment, high vacancy rates in housing and “really anemic new home formation” are “resulting in some pretty weak subscriber numbers.”

Time Warner Cable Stock Sinks After CFO’s Downbeat Remarks [Dow Jones]

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CFOs and CIOs have very different priorities when it comes to IT spending, and that dichotomy is not likely to change any time soon, even as IT budgets are starting to once again increase.

After being slashed to almost nil during the height of the crisis for many corporations across sector and size, IT budgets are beginning to rise.

But CFOs are keeping a keen eye on where that money is going and still expect a relatively swift return on investment (ROI) in order to consider anything beyond maintenance and upgrades.

They want to clearly see that ROI—whether it be through qualitative measures, like better compliance or improved risk management, or through quantitative measures like reductions in days sales outstanding (DSO) or decreased cost-per-check.

As Craig Himmelberger at SAP said in a recent interview I did for Global Finance magazine: “People don’t want to rip and replace systems that are still functioning well, so a lot of the investments we see now are incremental.”

This IT budget allocation is likely to continue for the near future, at any rate, regardless of what CIOs may want. However, there does have to be a balance. At some point when liquidity risk fears begin to subside, CFOs will once again be more open to their CIOs’ suggestions for IT spending.

And what CIOs want to see is more spend on innovation, as Ellen Pearlman noted in her blog on CIOZone.com last month.

She quoted CXO Art Sedighi as saying: “In the current time and environment, the biggest challenge is [to] convince upper management to open up their wallets again after almost 3 years. The IT staff has been pulling things together with nothing short of band-aids since 2008, and things are about [to] fall apart. All management sees is the fact that spending was down, and they survived.”

Pearlman points out that while most execs believe that IT innovation is important, companies have consistently slashed spend on innovation over the past decade. In an AT Kearney study, executives cited IT innovation spend of 30 percent in 1999, compared with just 14 percent by 2009.

In the study, 45 percent of IT budget went to improving operations and 41 percent went to business enablement/process improvement. Most respondents felt that 24 percent of the IT budget should be directed towards innovation.

The current budget split certainly meshes with the continued corporate focus on driving down costs across the working capital chain. Indeed, it may be quite some time before CIOs get their dream IT allocation.

The post CFOs Want Tech Investments to Pay Off…Stat! appeared first on Going Concern.

A recent study, “Why Do CFOs Become Involved in Material Accounting Manipulations,” by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Washington attempts to answer just this question. Their finding? Pressure from the companies’ CEOs, more than the possibility of financial gain, tends to drive the actions of crooked CFOs.

Of course, the researchers couldn’t actually divine the motivations that drove the CFOs who manipulated numbers. Instead, they reviewed a group of firms subject to SEC enforcement, analyzing the role of the CFOs, as well as the costs they incurred and any benefits they gained from their actions.

They found – not surprisingly – that the CFOs involved faced stiff penalties for their actions. More than half of the CFOs (54 percent) employed by the nearly 300 firms in the sample that were charged by the SEC for accounting manipulation were prohibited from serving as an officer, director or accountant with a public company in the future. About 48 percent of CFOs were fined as a result of their wrongdoing, with a median fine of $50,000. A small number – about 4 percent – also faced criminal charges. Clearly, monkeying with the numbers can be quite costly for CFOs.

On the other hand, the CFOs that engaged shady number crunching didn’t have significantly higher equity incentives than CFOs in the control sample. That means the CFOs involved in misstatements took on a lot of risk, yet couldn’t expect to come out much further ahead financially than their counterparts at law-abiding firms.

Conversely, the CEOs of firms in trouble exhibited both greater power and equity incentive than CEOs of control firms. For instance, these CEOs were more likely to be company founders and to serve as chair of their boards than the heads of the other firms. “This evidence is also consistent with the pressured CFO explanation; that material accounting manipulations are more likely in the presence of powerful CEOs,” the researchers write.

What’s more, CFO turnover jumped during the three years before the misstatements occurred. That suggests that at least some CFOs either left or lost their jobs because they refused to participate in the manipulation.

The SEC also seems to have taken note of the larger role that CEOs, rather than CFOs, typically played in the schemes. When the researchers examined 188 companies in which both the CFO and CEO were charged with manipulating numbers, they found that the SEC had charged 18 percent of CFOs with orchestrating the schemes. When it came to CEOs, however, 32 percent were charged – almost double the CFO number.

Moreover, when the SEC charged just the CFO with wrongdoing, 30 percent of them benefited financially. That’s a lot, but it’s significantly less than the 46 percent of CEOs who were charged and also gained financially.

Given these findings, are there changes that could reduce accounting shenanigans? To be sure, the research doesn’t mean that CFOs who cook the books can simply blame their actions on their bosses; clearly they could have acted differently, as difficult as doing so might have been. The findings do suggest, however, that one step to reducing the opportunity for wrongdoing would be to provide CFOs with greater independence from their CEOs. One way to accomplish this would be to expect greater participation from corporate boards or audit committees when it comes to hiring and evaluating their firms’ chief financial officers.

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Boeing Co is confident it can deliver the first 787 Dreamliner in the middle of the first quarter of 2011, the chief financial officer of the world’s largest aerospace and defense company said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley, James Bell reiterated the updated delivery target for the long-delayed carbon-composite commercial aircraft.

Last week, the company announced another Dreamliner delay — this one related to a a delay in the availability of a Rolls-Royce Plc(RR.L) engine needed for the final phases of flight testing. The plane is already more than two years behind schedule.

Boeing CFO repeats 787 deliver target [Reuters]

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Moves are underway around the world to define and mandate reporting on the sustainability of companies’ operations. Using the aftermath of the crisis as a cover, securities regulators, industry bodies such as FASB and IASB and investor groups are looking at how companies can usefully report on the sustainability – environmental, operational and financial – of their businesses.

The latest move comes from Singapore where the stock exchange SGX has issued a policy paper on whether or nor to mandate sustainability reporting for all companies listed on the exchange. The policy paper calls for expressions from the public prior to a deadline of October 29. SGX does not say whether or not it will introduce mandatory sustainability reporting, but it hints that it might.

“Investors who lead world opinion expect listed companies to be accountable for their financial results, how they achieve the results, and what impact they have on the communities within which they operate. SGX encourages more listed companies to commit to sustainability practices and reporting,” it says in the preamble to the policy document.

The move comes a few weeks after the creation of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), a working group of companies, investors and industry bodies to find ways to improve corporate reporting.

The scope of the IIRC is wider than sustainability, but sustainability is nevertheless likely to form a major part of any upheaval in the reporting process. Indeed, no less a body than the G20 has said that it wants changes to the global system of reporting so that all company reports follow the same global standard. Such an overhaul is likely to be very protracted. But in the meantime, it looks as if sustainability reports will form part of the eventual package. CFOs who are still behind the curve had better start planning now.

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However, we came across a little mistake that could worry voters that Drew doesn’t really pay attention to the little things that matter. Like people’s names.

You’d think that if Cuomo was going to traipse all over town throwing allegations at people, he’d at least know what those people’s names are.

Case in point, the first line of the response from former CFO (and current consumer banking CEO) Joe Price had to go to the trouble of pointing out that his name is not, in fact, “Joseph,” it is “Joe.”

Talk about a low blow, Cuomo. You think you can run Albany and just get people’s names wrong? They’ve threatened to shut down the whole government for less than that.

Hey, Cuomo, The Name’s Joe, Not Joseph [Charlotte Business Journal]

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