Opinion
In most companies, the finance department is often seen as a natural "gatekeeper," habitually saying "no" to requests that lack sufficient assurance. As CFO of Agiloft, a contract management software company, Angel Lange is trying to rewrite this narrative. She proposes a work philosophy centered on "help me find a way to say yes," advocating that finance teams should deeply understand business goals and balance cost control with supporting growth through creative modeling and collaboration. The article uses examples such as sales expansion, product investment, and M&A integration to illustrate how this "affirmative-first" mindset helps companies remain agile in high-growth environments, and suggests that financial leaders can gradually shift from "gatekeeper" to "enabler" by recruiting better employees and empowering teams to participate in strategic discussions.
The recently passed U.S. "One Big Beautiful Bill" makes significant adjustments to the tax treatment of R&D expenditures, restoring immediate expensing for domestic R&D costs, offering two options for unamortized balances, and providing retroactive relief for eligible small businesses. This article outlines the strategic points CFOs need to focus on, including cash flow optimization, tax rate management, coordination with the R&D tax credit, and investor relations impact.
Amid ongoing economic uncertainty, APQC research finds that 43% of organizations view inflation as the primary factor affecting liquidity, and 54% of respondents consider cash flow forecast accuracy the biggest challenge. CFOs are responding to pressure by improving forecasting processes, applying automation and AI technologies, and adjusting capital and financing strategies, while nearly half of organizations believe current strategies are limited in effectiveness and require stronger contingency planning.
As global trade and tax policies become increasingly intertwined, VAT and tariffs are often confused in public discourse. Written by George L. Salis, Chief Economist and Senior Director of Tax Policy at Vertex, this article systematically explains the multi-stage collection mechanism of VAT, the border adjustment function of tariffs, and the differences between the two in terms of trade neutrality and economic impact. The article notes that VAT is adopted by over 175 countries worldwide and is trade-neutral, whereas tariffs can distort trade and raise indirect taxes. As one of the few developed economies without a nationwide consumption tax, the United States requires its enterprises to navigate complex international tax systems with precision.
Financial services institutions are at a tipping point in leveraging AI agents to achieve more streamlined, efficient, and automated operations. This article provides an in-depth analysis of how agentic AI is applied in areas such as banking, capital markets, insurance, and asset management, highlighting the key steps in building agent roles, the challenges and solutions in orchestrating complex workflows, and the broad prospects for its future development.
Trump's tariff policies not only increase federal import costs but may also trigger state-level sales tax, income tax, and property tax, creating a 'tax-on-tax' effect. The tax dispute between Apple and Florida highlights this risk. CFOs need to pay attention to importer identity, contract terms, and related risks to avoid hidden tax burdens.
Expanding B2B companies into markets beyond the US is full of opportunities and challenges. Anteriad CFO Jim Ogle, drawing on multiple international expansion experiences, proposes three key strategies: doing thorough homework first, choosing partners and investments that reduce complexity, and committing firmly to cross-cultural communication, to help companies achieve smooth implementation and growth.
The enactment of the U.S. GENIUS and CLARITY Acts provides a clear federal legal framework for dollar stablecoins and digital asset markets. From the perspective of corporate financial decision-makers, this article analyzes the potential value of stablecoins in retail payments, settlement efficiency, customer relationships, and reserve yields, and compares regulatory differences between the U.S. and Europe to explore the conditions required for large-scale adoption.
Recent cases such as Apple's lawsuit over a $26 million tax bill in Florida highlight the urgency of determining the tax sourcing of digital transactions. States adopt different sourcing rules, and federal and state requirements may diverge. CFOs need to proactively address this from four aspects: audit risk, system upgrades, cost allocation, and compliance documentation.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act restores 100% bonus depreciation and expands Section 179 deduction limits, aligning tax incentives for AI-related hardware, R&D, and internal system upgrades with the technology roadmap for the first time.