CFOs Must Track and Budget AI Token Spend Now
Budgeting for AI: The Free Ride Is Ending I recently held a tech CFO meetup. A major topic was the rapid growth of AI usage and token spend. Some of the larger orgs are seeing material internal token spend. Others are dipping a toe in the water. I think the token reckoning will come this Fall when CFO's kick off budget season. Internal AI must be justified like any other spend. There is only so much capital to go around during budget season. Some existing budget line items will get cut (people, tools, etc.) to make room for increased AI spend. Here are 5 of the 10 takeaways from our meeting. Practical Takeaways for CFOs 1. Start tracking AI usage before it becomes material AI spend can scale quickly. CFOs should push for visibility by user, model, department, and use case. 2. Separate internal AI spend from product AI spend Internal productivity tools and customer-facing AI features may need different accounting, budgeting, and margin treatment. 3. Do not let everyone default to the newest model Model selection matters. Expensive models should be used when needed, but cheaper models may be sufficient for many tasks. 4. Assign budget ownership eventually Centralized AI spend may help during experimentation, but long-term, department leaders should probably own their own AI budgets. 5. Measure specific AI tools differently from general-purpose AI Customer support bots, sales tools, and marketing tools are easier to measure. General tools like Claude or ChatGPT require different ROI frameworks. #SaaS #CFO
HF Sinclair Governance Crisis Sparks CFO Dismissal, Guidance Uncertainty
HF Sinclair fires CFO after governance probe; CEO already left. Governance fallout clouds guidance and risks investor trust. Trade: cut HF Sinclair exposure until board resolves controls. — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA. More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Complex Recap Unnecessary; Simple Share Buyback Suffices
The company has capex needs, expects minimal growth next year. Costs will rise. Raising ¥250bn to buy back shares raises debt/EBITDA by more than one turn. This is easy. Buy back stock at X. Re-issue it years later at X...
AI Agents Cut Month‑end Close by One Day
We shaved 1 day off our already fast month-end close with accounting AI agents Here is how we built them... https://t.co/e7DsRg4Pcb
Intra‑month Cash Peaks Demand Daily Forecasting, Not Month‑end
Most cash and capital planning/forecasting is anchored to a monthly or quarterly level. Models built to month ends, using historical data closed at month ends. All ignoring the intra-month volatility. The implicit assumption, if you don't model it, is that your...
ESPN's Tiny Revenue Gains Mask Massive Rights Costs
⬆️ On the top-line: #ESPN paid significant equity (10% @ $30 billion valuation) to squeak out minimal top-line revenue growth in its first consolidated quarterly earnings reports (Q2/FY2026): reporting $4.6 billion I n revenue for its sports division, solely crediting...
Meta's AI Spend Isn’t Pure Speculation, Says Analyst
Wrote up Meta's Q1. The market is treating all of the AI capex as one big speculative bet. Most of it isn't, and I think that's where the disconnect is. https://www.steadycompounding.com/investing/meta-q1-2026/
Canceling Buybacks Shifts Money From Share Demand to Real‑Economy Investment
I'm told focusing on the shift from share repurchase to capex is a "dumb argument" 101 It most certainly appears dumb if you don't understand the implication. Google cancelled its share repurchase from 60BN per year to zero to...
DraftKings Keeps FY2026 Revenue and EBITDA Guidance
DraftKings maintains fiscal year 2026 revenue guidance range of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion and fiscal year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $700 million to $900 million, per Q1 earnings release
Pantheon Raises $1bn, Exceeding Private Equity CFO Target
Pantheon closes inaugural private equity CFO above target at $1bn Read the full story here: https://t.co/ST8ZEEgU9h https://t.co/wODadQ0XuM
McDonald's Confident in Expansion Amid Tough Market
"We have a tremendous amount of financial firepower in our system." McDonald's Chris K saying that the company has "no concerns" about its ability to open restaurants, etc., despite a tough environment. $MCD
Strong Revenue Growth Boosts Confidence in Margin Expansion
"When we generate solidd topline growth, we feel confident about our ability to grow margins over time." -McDonald's CFO Ian Borden. $MCD
Amy Howe Receives $4.37M Severance, over 4x Salary
Here are details of Amy Howe's severance from @FanDuel: - $4.37 million, which is more than 4x her annual base pay - A bunch of vested RSU and PSU stock options - Up to 12 months health insurance coverage https://t.co/ypr6BJhhzx
WBD Gains Streaming, Studios; Paramount Deal Triggers Massive Loss
Warner Bros. Discovery Saw Q1 Streaming, Studios Boosts, But Paramount Item Spurs Large Loss https://t.co/L585A2tXxX via @variety
Financials Need Context, Not Just Raw Numbers
One thing I will never do is close someone's books and just send a P&L with no context. I see it all the time. A PDF with numbers, no email explaining what changed, no insight into what's coming, no "hey here's...