Financial Reporting
Caleres announced on Thursday that Chief Accounting Officer Daniel Karpel will serve as interim CFO, succeeding Jack Calandra, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities. The company has initiated an external search to identify a permanent CFO. Meanwhile, Caleres updated its fourth-quarter performance guidance, assessing potential sales fluctuations from Saks Global's bankruptcy and indicating a downside risk of up to $0.06 in diluted earnings per share.
U.S. Accounting Program Enrollment Up 7.3% Year-Over-Year, Growth Rate Far Exceeds All-Field Average
Undergraduate enrollment in U.S. accounting programs grew by 7.3% year-over-year in fall 2025, marking the third consecutive year of growth, with a rate significantly higher than the 1.2% average across all majors. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) stated that this trend is related to factors such as industry-driven licensure reforms and the impact of AI on employment prospects for computer-related majors. Despite the rebound in enrollment, the number of graduates continues to decline, with accounting degree graduates down 6.6% year-over-year in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Audit software provider AuditBoard has appointed Hugo Doetsch as its new CFO. In an interview, Doetsch stated that he will prioritize building an efficient team and gaining a deep understanding of the company's business to become a strategic partner, driving the company's annual recurring revenue of over $300 million to continue growing.
According to the latest report by Interact Analysis, after experiencing tariff shocks, the global mobile robot market's sales outlook has improved as macroeconomic uncertainties ease. Revenue is expected to grow from nearly $5 billion in 2024 to $14 billion by 2030, though this is lower than the previously revised forecast of $15.6 billion.
In a rapidly changing business environment, small and medium-sized businesses need more strategic financial leadership. Jarrod Randall, Senior Enterprise Advisor at Xero, suggests that hiring a fractional CFO can help SMEs plan for the future and achieve non-financial goals. Randall also points out that AI and automation technologies make fractional CFO services more sustainable and scalable, but finance professionals must continue learning new technologies to verify the accuracy of AI data and provide professional judgment to clients.
Paramount Skydance announced the appointment of Dennis Cinelli as Chief Financial Officer, with an annual salary of no less than $2.6 million, plus an annual target bonus of $1.1 million and a signing bonus of $500,000. Cinelli will succeed interim CFO Andrew Warren, having previously served as a financial executive at Scale AI, Uber, and GE Ventures. Meanwhile, Paramount is pursuing legal action and a proxy fight regarding the Warner Bros. acquisition.
Duolingo announced on Monday that current audit committee chair Gillian Munson will become chief financial officer on February 23, succeeding outgoing Matt Skaruppa. Skaruppa, who served for six years, led the company through its 2021 IPO, which valued it at $6.5 billion. He will remain as an advisor until November 20 to ensure a smooth handover. Munson previously served as CFO at companies including Vimeo and Iora Health and has been a Duolingo board member since 2019.
International Airlines Group (IAG) announced on Friday that British Airways' Chief Financial and Transformation Officer, José Antonio Barrionuevo, will take over as Group Chief Financial Officer from June, with current CFO Nicholas Cadbury remaining for six months to ensure a smooth transition.
Financial software provider OneStream announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to accept a $6.4 billion acquisition offer from software and data investment firm Hg. After the transaction is completed, OneStream will become a private company, less than two years after its IPO, which was driven by KKR. CEO Tom Shea stated that this partnership will accelerate its AI-first market strategy and the expansion of Finance AI capabilities.
Plant-based meat substitute supplier Beyond Meat announced on Monday (January 12) the appointment of Tony Kalajian as Chief Accounting Officer and principal accounting officer, effective January 12. The appointment follows the dismissal of former Chief Accounting Officer and Controller Yi (Jevy) Luo on December 23 due to material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting. The new CAO will take over financial reporting responsibilities, while the company continues to face pressures from declining sales, a stock price below $1, multiple lawsuits, and shareholder investigations.