Opinion
After record-breaking US IPOs in 2021, the market cooled, and IPO numbers plummeted in 2022. For companies intending to go public, CFOs need to initiate IPO preparations early, including financial audit compliance, building quarterly reporting capabilities, and talent acquisition, where external advisors' practical experience may be crucial to a successful listing.
Surveys show that over one-third of CFOs will devote 30%-50% of their time to sustainability-related matters this year, and 81% plan to increase investment in the climate transition. The Head of Sustainable Finance for the Americas at ING believes that the public and private sectors need to collaborate to provide multi-layered capital to support corporate decarbonization and the energy transition.
Facing multiple economic pressures, inventory management has become a focus for CFOs. EY expert Peter Kingma advises CFOs to optimize inventory by challenging assumptions, clarifying decision rights, and becoming proactive investors, while leveraging AI for scenario planning to navigate an uncertain environment.
Layoffs are one of the toughest decisions CFOs face, involving employee livelihoods and corporate interests. Based on recent layoff communication missteps at companies like Google and Twitter, this article proposes a six-step professional communication framework: developing a communication plan in advance, clarifying notification hierarchy and methods, showing empathy, responding quickly to compensation issues, maintaining transparency and accountability, and having senior executives continuously engage in external communication. These steps aim to alleviate the pain of layoffs, ensuring messages are delivered clearly, humanely, and in line with corporate values.
Against the backdrop of increasingly widespread DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, Black professionals account for only 13% of the U.S. financial services workforce, and only 8% of C-suite executives are Black. Christopher Johnson, President of Global Financial Services at Pitney Bowes, drawing on his own experience, points out that systemic barriers still exist and proposes four concrete actions: increasing participation rates, reforming credit assessment, shifting to skills-based hiring, and cultivating the next generation of Black leaders, urging the industry to open dialogue to catalyze change.
Persistent inflation continues to impact supply chains, with CFOs facing rising costs for raw materials, transportation, energy, and labor challenges. This article proposes three key practices: optimizing inventory management to balance agility and resilience, using financial derivatives to hedge against energy price volatility, and integrating scenario planning with short-term cash flow forecasting to develop medium- and long-term strategies, thereby maintaining profitability in an uncertain environment.
In an article by Kathryn Kaminsky, Vice Chair of PwC US, she notes that CFOs are placing talent strategy at the core, rethinking the role of the office and hybrid work models, while addressing multiple challenges such as inflation, tight labor markets, and a potential economic recession.
As revenue rebounds in 2022, businesses still need to be wary of future uncertainties. This article argues why accounts receivable should be a priority in 2023 from three perspectives: rising default risks, high hidden costs of overdue receivables, and the importance of prompt collection in maintaining customer relationships, supported by quantitative data.
In this article, Ewout Steenbergen, CFO of S&P Global, reviews the execution journey after the company completed its merger with IHS Markit in 2022, and looks ahead to 2023: despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, there may be opportunities for accelerated growth in the second half of the year. He proposes that CFOs should adhere to 'future-proofing' investments, tell the story of corporate purpose, and embrace digital tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, thereby laying the foundation for 2023 and beyond.
The collapse of FTX revealed systemic flaws in the cryptocurrency industry regarding risk management, regulatory arbitrage, and centralized power concentration. Metallicus Chief Financial Officer Irina Berkon proposes three key reforms: adopting true decentralized architecture to protect user assets, curbing global regulatory arbitrage, and building a compliant future through forward-looking legislation and technical solutions.