Financial Reporting
GitLab's new CFO, Jessica Ross, stated on Tuesday's first earnings call that the company is recalibrating its approach to investor guidance with a greater focus on transparency. She noted that despite a strong overall fiscal year 2026, the U.S. market has shown weakness, and some large customers have experienced deal delays. The company has incorporated these factors into its forward guidance.
The latest reports from Cornerstone Research show that in 2025, the number of accounting and auditing enforcement actions initiated by the SEC fell from 31 in 2024 to 10, a decrease of 68%; the number of enforcement actions finalized by the PCAOB fell from 51 to 37, a decrease of 27%. The SEC's total monetary settlements plummeted from $907 million to $31 million, with 98% occurring in the final weeks of outgoing Chair Gary Gensler's tenure. The PCAOB's monetary penalties decreased by 50% year-over-year to $17.6 million.
Marvin Pyles, former Chief Financial Officer of Indian River State College, filed a lawsuit on February 25 in the Circuit Court of St. Lucie County, Florida, against the college, President Timothy Moore, and the Board of Trustees, alleging whistleblower retaliation, defamation, and breach of contract. Pyles claims that during his tenure from April 2021 to April 2024, he discovered financial irregularities at the college, including fake vendors, improper purchase orders, and mismanagement of donated funds, and was subsequently terminated. The lawsuit seeks reinstatement, back pay, and damages of up to $50,000 for each claim.
Connor Augustyn, Managing Director at consulting firm West Monroe, says CFOs have lost patience with vague AI promises and must define specific KPIs for ROI, recommending pausing AI projects and realigning strategies when outcomes cannot be quantified.
Asana announced on Monday that Aziz Megji, currently head of financial planning and analysis, will be promoted to Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Sonalee Parekh, who is departing. Parekh submitted her resignation on February 26 and is expected to remain until March 23. The company emphasized that her departure is unrelated to operations or accounting policies. Megji will receive an annual salary of $600,000 and a target bonus of 35%.
Orbia announced on Wednesday that current CFO Jim Kelly will retire on March 15, with his successor being Cristian 'Cape' Capellino, the company's Vice President of Financial Transformation. Kelly will remain until mid-year to ensure a smooth transition. The company released its Q4 and full-year 2025 results the previous day, also mentioning progress on its cost-saving program.
Lucid Motors announced on Tuesday that it will cut about 12% of non-hourly positions in the United States, expecting to incur costs of $40 million to $42 million and achieve cost savings of about $500 million over three years. This move aims to optimize operations, advance the development of mid-size platforms, robotaxis, and ADAS technologies, while addressing industry regulatory and tariff uncertainties.
Westlake Corporation's securities filing on Monday showed that Chief Financial Officer M. Steven Bender announced he would retire after a successor is appointed, ending a tenure of nearly two decades. The company also expanded its board to 14 members and appointed President and CEO Jean-Marc Gilson and former Chevron executive Bhavesh Patel as new directors. Fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results released on Tuesday showed revenue missed expectations, with continued declines in performance and materials segment sales, and a full-year net loss of $1.5 billion.
Gartner released a report on Tuesday stating that modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are increasingly integrating advanced features such as artificial intelligence, which is expected to deliver tangible outcomes for CFOs. The firm predicts that by 2028, finance teams using cloud ERP applications with embedded AI assistants can increase the speed of financial closing by 30%.
The EU suspended progress on the framework trade agreement with the US due to uncertainty caused by the US Supreme Court ruling and Trump's new 10% global tariffs. The European Parliament postponed the vote, and the EU demanded that the US adhere to the agreement's caps.