Opinion
The period of capital constraints may be ending, with private equity pipelines building, strategic buyers reopening dialogues, and refinancing discussions taking shape anew. But liquidity does not automatically create value; it only amplifies the existing foundation. CFOs should answer in advance: if new capital arrives tomorrow, where will it be deployed? Can leadership align on key initiatives within 24 to 36 months, supported by credible modeling for decision-making?
In an article, Josh Schauer, CFO of insightsoftware, points out that the finance industry is at an inflection point of AI transformation, yet only 39% of finance teams are confident in actually using AI. Drawing on his own shift from lightly experimenting with ChatGPT in 2022 to using it as a thought partner, he illustrates AI's value in boosting efficiency and freeing up human capacity, while stressing that human judgment, ethics, and accountability remain irreplaceable. The article also shares the challenges he faces as a CFO in quantifying ROI and governance considerations when evaluating AI investments.
Facing tariff measures targeting Canada, Mexico, and China since 2025, export companies are responding to pressure by reshoring production and switching to domestic suppliers. However, these operational decisions may unexpectedly unlock eligibility for IC-DISC tax benefits. This article explains how IC-DISC converts export income from ordinary tax rates to preferential dividend tax rates, yielding permanent federal tax savings of 5.8 to 13.2 percentage points, and analyzes compliance and strategic considerations following the Supreme Court's ruling in February 2026.
The CFO role is shifting from traditional financial reporting to forward-looking value creation. Gartner data shows that 76% of CFOs have begun leading or co-leading enterprise data and analytics strategies; Tipalti research indicates that 74% of finance teams are being given more strategic responsibilities; and Deloitte's CFO Signals survey reveals that 50% of finance leaders rank digital transformation as their top priority for 2026. The article proposes that financial leaders must build on data integrity as a foundation, restructure talent, lead with strategic conviction, and refine business narratives to successfully navigate this role transition.
Self-funded health plans are becoming an important option for companies to control healthcare costs, but their essence is shifting from purchasing insurance to operating a health plan. The finance department must confront new responsibilities such as cash flow volatility, reserve strategies, employee cost sharing, HIPAA compliance, and multi-vendor reconciliation. Based on industry observations from Michael Paull, President and CFO of Ahola Corporation, this article outlines the core work and potential benefits of finance under the self-funded model.
AI project failures often stem from inadequate data preparation rather than algorithmic issues. Runway CEO Siqi Chen points out that CFOs, with their comprehensive view of data touchpoints, should lead data governance. This article proposes six specific actions: mapping data usage, appointing data stewards, clarifying data definitions, prioritizing integration of key data, promoting cross-departmental data flow, and establishing continuous optimization mechanisms to ensure AI is built on a solid data foundation.
Sandy Peters, Head of Financial Reporting Policy at CFA Institute, writes that SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has revived the "disclosure overload" narrative, but in an era where AI is reshaping information production and consumption, this narrative lacks a technological perspective and empirical support. The article questions the SEC's logic of measuring disclosure burden by page count and advocating for reduced disclosures to increase the number of listed companies, and lists a series of questions the SEC must answer before issuing a concept release.
The audit industry is entering an era of fundamental transformation driven by artificial intelligence. Trullion CEO Artie Minson points out that in 2026, AI will reshape five core aspects of audit work: manually extracting data from client documents, reformatting data across workpapers, searching emails for audit evidence, using sampling as a constraint, and coping with time compression caused by client closing delays. These changes are expected to improve profit margins, enhance client experience, increase accuracy, and create more meaningful work content for young professionals.
APQC research shows that despite high awareness of cyber risk, most enterprises still keep it outside enterprise risk management (ERM), leading to insufficient risk visibility and slow decision-making. Based on data from 5,000 organizations globally, this article points out that only 41% have achieved meaningful integration, and 23% apply unified risk management to suppliers. CFOs can use four levers—governance embedding, financial articulation, process integration, and ecosystem extension—to make cyber risk an enterprise-wide responsibility and enhance organizational resilience.
Every year before the Super Bowl, CFOs face an $8 million advertising budget request from CMOs. The author, Jason Hershman, breaks down the true cost of this investment from a financial perspective—beyond media purchases, there are production, celebrity, legal, and subsequent digital marketing expenses, with total investments often ranging from $15 million to $50 million. The article proposes four key questions, a three-step break-even calculation method, and discusses opportunity costs and measurement metrics to help financial decision-makers rationally evaluate the true return on Super Bowl advertising.