The only Covenant that Counts
The $1.7 trillion private‑credit market is facing its first systemic stress test, shifting focus from fund liquidity to borrower health. Andres Pinter argues that the 13‑week cash‑flow forecast is the only covenant that truly matters for assessing a company’s ability to service debt. While historically a restructuring tool, the forecast is now used by healthy firms for working‑capital planning, but in distress it becomes a weekly control surface. The article warns lenders to prioritize concrete cash generation over abstract covenants and complex financing structures.
The 6 A.m. CFO: How TreviPay’s Joel Campbell Starts His Day
TreviPay CFO Joel Campbell starts his day with a latte, a habit he adopted after his daughter introduced him to coffee. He uses a calm, problem‑solving mindset to address unexpected disruptions, then implements preventive controls. Recently, Campbell stepped beyond traditional...
Lamborghini CFO on Managing the ‘Small but Steady Demand’ for Luxury Vehicles
Lamborghini CFO Paolo Poma says the brand generated roughly €3 billion (about $3.3 bn) in revenue, delivering about 8% of Audi Group profit while representing less than 1% of total turnover. The finance team safeguards margins by tightly controlling pricing, avoiding discounts,...
Former Manufacturing Firm CFO’s Case Against CBIZ Moves Closer to Trial: Trial Balance
Former AmeriTex CFO Christopher Podlasek is suing accounting firm CBIZ, which acquired Marcum in a $2.3 billion deal, alleging a low‑ball valuation that deprived him of more than $25 million for his 1.5% equity stake. A federal judge on March 24 rejected CBIZ’s...
CFOs On the Move: Week Ending March 27
A wave of CFO appointments swept multiple industries this week, with Kieran Kelliher joining the Dallas Mavericks, Lee Quackenbush moving to indoor‑farming operator Cox Farms, and Brittany Cerwin promoted at Middleby. Nu Skin named Chelsea Lantz interim CFO, while Phyllis...
In a More Automated World, How Do CFOs Think About Succession Planning? CFO Peer Audit
CFOs are rethinking succession planning as automation erodes traditional entry‑level finance roles. They cite rotation programs, cross‑training, mentorship, and formal talent reviews to keep junior staff engaged and develop future leaders. Process documentation and AI‑enhanced decision‑making are used to preserve...
Uncle Nearest Founder’s Bankruptcy Attempt Is Denied: Trial Balance
Federal Judge Suzanne Bauknight denied founder Fawn Weaver's request to place Uncle Nearest into Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the brand was placed in receivership following a $108 million default lawsuit by Farm Credit Mid‑America. The judge ruled only the court‑appointed receiver, Phillip Young,...
Insurers Rank Financial Volatility as This Year’s Top Risk
A recent Society of Actuaries and Casualty Actuarial Society survey finds financial volatility ranked as the most impactful risk for insurers in 2026, cited by 25% of respondents. The concern is strongest among life insurers, where 63% selected volatility, while...
What CFOs Should Know About the ‘Jock Tax’
The article explains the “jock tax,” a multi‑state income‑sourcing rule that taxes athletes based on the number of duty days spent in each jurisdiction. It uses Sam Darnold’s $249,000 California tax bill after the Super Bowl to illustrate how the...
Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Meet The People CFO on Transforming Finance Teams
Lu Hur, newly appointed Group CFO of Meet The People, leverages a background at IAC, United Airlines, Microsoft and Washington Mutual to reshape finance across a network of 750 agency employees. She has replaced fragmented, siloed finance operations with a...
The 6 A.m. CFO: How Fundrise’s Alison Staloch Starts Her Day
Fundrise CFO Alison Staloch outlines a disciplined morning routine that centers on sleep, hydration, light exercise, and data‑driven decision making. She begins her day around 7 a.m., skips caffeine, reviews fundraising dashboards, and limits email by favoring Slack and batch processing....
Internal Audit Functions Lose Budget Bucks and Headcount
Internal audit functions are facing tighter budgets and reduced headcount, with 19% reporting lower budgets for 2025—up from 11% a year earlier—and staff cuts rising to 18%, matching the pandemic peak. Funding sufficiency is markedly higher for audit teams that...
Hospital Finance Chiefs Say Half or More Tech Pilots Fail: Survey
A SmartSense survey of 150 U.S. hospital CFOs found that 60% see half or more of their financial and administrative technology pilots fail, even as 73% increase tech budgets. Failures are attributed to vague objectives and low employee adoption. CFOs...
Chipotle CFO on Expanding Globally While Maintaining a Debt-Free Model
Chipotle CFO Adam Rymer outlined a growth plan that relies on a debt‑free balance sheet, using cash flow to fund 350‑370 new restaurants in 2026, most of which will be company‑owned. The chain is accelerating international expansion, targeting Europe, the...
Is Your Company Ready if Liquidity Returns?
CFOs are hearing early signs that liquidity is returning after years of capital scarcity, prompting a shift from cash preservation to strategic flexibility. The article urges finance leaders to assess whether their organizations are structurally prepared to deploy fresh capital...
Nidec Looks to Determine Execs’ Liability in Accounting Scandal: Trial Balance
Japanese motor maker Nidec has formed an Executive Responsibility Investigation Committee to assess legal liability for current and former directors, auditors and executives tied to a massive accounting scandal. The misconduct, spanning fiscal 2020 through Q1 2025, is expected to...
US Finance Chiefs Are Ready Enough to Deal with Today’s Risks, Study Says
A Kyriba survey of 1,400 finance chiefs across eight developed economies placed U.S. CFOs in the "measured" confidence bracket, scoring an average of 100.93. This sits above the global average of 93.3 but below the higher tiers of "assured" and...
Introducing the Contractor Management Platform
Papaya Global has launched a full‑stack Contractor Management Platform that unifies onboarding, contracts, invoicing, approvals, payments and reporting into a single finance‑grade system. The solution promises sub‑one‑day invoice‑to‑payment initiation, guaranteed payment landing dates, and flat global transaction fees with transparent...
CFOs On the Move: Week Ending March 13
A wave of chief financial officer changes swept across multiple industries this week, with Nissan naming George Leondis as its new CFO, Planet Fitness installing interim CFO Tom Fitzgerald, and Peloton appointing Saqib Baig as interim finance chief. Angi promoted...
What Finance Teams Should Know About the World of Subrogation
Finance leaders are being urged to grasp subrogation, a legal practice where insurers recoup payouts from at‑fault parties, as an untapped lever to curb soaring health‑care costs. Intellivo, a pure‑play subrogation firm, showcased the potential by recovering up to 1%...
SEC and PCAOB Enforcement Grinds to a Near Halt Under New Leaders
The SEC launched only ten accounting and auditing enforcement actions in 2025, the fewest in nine years, and collected just $31 million in settlements, a sharp drop from $907 million the previous year. Most of the 2025 penalties were imposed during outgoing...
Lantern CFO Greg Chisholm Talks Health Care, AI and Capital Allocation
Lantern appointed Greg Chisholm as CFO, leveraging experience from HelloFresh, Wayfair, and McKinsey. He is focused on mapping the health‑care business’s complexity and shaping capital‑allocation decisions as the company scales at roughly 50% annual growth. Chisholm points to structural cost...
Managing Employee Learning Time Like Capital: Metric of the Month
Finance and accounting teams face accelerating skill gaps as AI and automation reshape core workflows. Benchmark data shows the median organization provides six paid learning days per employee, while top performers allocate eight days, double the lowest quartile. Adding eight...
CFOs and Private Equity Sponsors Diverge on IPO Timing and Approach
A new Accordion survey of 200 CFOs and 200 private‑equity sponsors reveals a sharp misalignment on IPO timing and responsibility. While 85% of CFOs say boards or sponsors control the exit, 65% of sponsors expect finance chiefs to own IPO...
The Cash Flow Lever that Most CFOs Are Missing in the Tariff Environment
Export‑focused CFOs are defending margins against 2025 tariffs, but many overlook a cash‑flow lever: the Interest‑Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation (IC‑DISC). IC‑DISC can transform ordinary‑rate export income into qualified dividends, delivering permanent federal tax savings of roughly 5.8% to 13.2%....
Block CFO Interview Highlights Surge in Profit per Employee: Trial Balance
Block, the parent of Square and Cash App, announced a 40% workforce reduction of about 4,000 employees while reporting Q4 gross profit of $2.9 billion, up 24% year‑over‑year, sending its shares up nearly 20%. CFO Amrita Ahuja highlighted an internal AI agent,...
As Claude Expands Into Finance, Outage Raises Risk Questions
Anthropic’s Claude suffered a widespread login outage early this week, while the API remained functional. The disruption arrived as Claude topped Apple’s App Store and the company amplified its "Claude for Financial Services" push, embedding the model in Excel, PowerPoint,...
The Framework Awaiting Berkshire’s Next CFO: Trial Balance
Berkshire Hathaway’s 2024 shareholder letter outlines a new finance leadership mandate as long‑time CFO Marc Hamburg prepares to retire, with Charles Chang, current Energy CFO, slated to take over in June 2026. The letter reiterates the conglomerate’s stewardship ethos, massive liquidity—over...
Arctic Glacier CFO Stephanie Choudri Talks Sale to Reddy Ice
Reddy Ice, backed by Stone Canyon Industries Capital Partners, has completed the acquisition of Arctic Glacier Premium Ice from Carlyle, creating one of the largest packaged‑ice distributors in North America. The transaction required U.S. DOJ‑mandated divestitures and initiates a multi‑phase...
Private Equity Deals Hit $2.6T in 2025
Private equity deal value surged to $2.6 trillion in 2025, a 19% increase over 2024 and the second‑largest total on record. The total number of deals fell 9%, continuing a post‑2021 decline in transaction volume. Holding periods have stretched, with the...
Protos Security CFO on the Convergence of Finance and Operations
Anthony Escamilla, CFO of Protos Security, says the modern CFO has morphed from a budget keeper into a strategic leader who oversees finance, data analytics, technology, risk and even operational functions. He highlights the accelerating pace of decision‑making, with stakeholders...
Finance and Sales Teams Don’t Match up on Criteria for Deal Approvals
A CreditSafe survey of over 200 finance and sales leaders reveals a stark mismatch in deal‑approval criteria. While 49% of sales executives rate company size and revenue as very important, only 33% of finance leaders share that view, with finance...
CFOs On the Move: Week Ending Feb. 13
A wave of CFO appointments and departures unfolded this week, spanning automakers, retail, crypto, and fintech. General Motors hired Lucid veteran Claudia Gast to steer strategy and technology partnerships, while Warby Parker tapped former Macy’s CFO Adrian Mitchell. Kraken dismissed...
How Match Group’s CFO Runs the Finance Function Behind Modern Dating
Match Group CFO Steve Bailey, marking his first year in the role, has tightened capital discipline across a portfolio that includes Tinder, Hinge and dozens of international brands. He introduced the PRISM framework to standardize ROI measurement for a $600 million marketing...
How Todd Patriacca’s 30-Year Finance Career Led to BVI Medical
After a three‑decade finance career that included auditing at Arthur Andersen and senior roles at Altra Industrial Motion, Todd Patriacca joined ophthalmic‑equipment maker BVI Medical as CFO in early 2023. He helped grow Altra from $300 million to roughly $2 billion in...
What CFOs Can Do to Close the Cyber-ERM Integration Gap
A new APQC study shows only 41% of firms integrate cybersecurity into enterprise risk management (ERM), leaving a critical visibility gap. The report highlights that merely 23% apply unified risk structures to suppliers, despite third‑party breaches rising. CFOs can close...
IBM Spin-Off CFO Departs Amid Cash Management Review: Trial Balance
Kyndryl, the IBM IT‑infrastructure spin‑off, announced the immediate departure of CFO David Wyshner as it launches a review of its cash‑management practices. The review follows voluntary document requests from the SEC's Division of Enforcement and includes scrutiny of internal controls...