AI-curated news for your industry

Recent research by Ernst & Young (EY) shows that only 21% of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) rate their artificial intelligence (AI) readiness as 'leading' or 'advanced.' The report notes that finance teams with higher AI readiness are more likely to identify AI's value in core business operations, but most CFOs remain challenged by measuring return on investment (ROI), and there are notable gaps in team capabilities.

In a report released in June, KPMG stated that after surveying 2,024 executives, it found that only one in five companies can quantify the financial impact of sustainability, with most companies having "blind spots" and significant differences across industries.

The CFA Institute released a survey indicating that nearly two-thirds of surveyed investors oppose switching from quarterly to semi-annual reports, even though most recognize the value of 10-Q filings. The SEC proposed last month allowing companies to opt for semi-annual reporting, but investors generally worry about information timeliness and market efficiency.

On June 17, Frontier Climate announced that AI company Anthropic has joined its carbon removal buyer group, with the group adding $915 million in new investments to support carbon removal technologies with gigaton-scale potential. This brings Frontier's collective purchase commitments to a cumulative total of $1.8 billion.

Recent cuts to employee benefits, especially parental leave, by companies like Deloitte and Zoom have drawn attention. Mercer consulting actuary Rich Fuerstenberg points out that amid continuously rising healthcare costs, companies should make cautious decisions, as actual savings from benefit cuts may be far lower than expected and could damage employee trust. He advises companies to assess the value of existing programs, benchmark against standards, and evaluate real savings before acting, while also considering other cost-control methods such as unlimited paid time off.

On June 17, CFO.com hosted the online event "Navigating the Corporate Tax Frontier," focusing on topics such as AI-human collaboration, the inevitability of tax increases, tax fraud, and R&D tax credit reform, bringing together forward-looking perspectives from financial and tax leaders.

For CFOs of SaaS companies, healthy growth metrics no longer fully reflect the overall state of the business. A company may show impressive sales figures and continuously expanding annual recurring revenue (ARR), yet subsequently face narrowing profit margins, slowing cash flow, and rising churn risk. This article points out that as businesses scale, operational gaps in post-sale processes—such as renewal delays, payment failures, billing anomalies, and global tax compliance—amplify costs. As the market shifts toward efficient growth and stronger cash conversion, CFOs must audit the post-sale transaction layer with the same rigor applied to the sales pipeline, distinguishing transactions that genuinely require human judgment from those that rely on manual intervention only due to process lag, thereby building true operational leverage.

CFOs currently face a highly volatile operating environment and need to make forward-looking strategic decisions, but traditional forecasts are mostly based on historical internal data, which is limited in perspective and lagging. Simone Ferrari, Product Manager at Board, points out that key external data (such as consumer sentiment, tariffs, and commodity prices) is crucial for planning, and modern FP&A methods can help companies predict the future more accurately through steps such as event-driven planning, unified data views, and signal filtering.

ABGi USA, part of the global ABGi Group, is a multidisciplinary consulting firm specializing in incentive strategies, tax consulting, and talent solutions. With over 35 years of industry experience, operations across nine countries, and a global network of approximately 600 professionals, the company helps businesses identify opportunities that support investment, innovation, and long-term growth. Its service areas encompass innovation, real estate investment, energy incentives, operational expansion, and workforce planning, and it collaborates closely with CPA firms and strategic partners to offer NASBA-accredited CPE continuing education courses.

According to the 2026 report by Compensation Advisory Partners (CAP), median CFO compensation at large US listed companies rose 8%, with long-term incentive awards growing 12%, higher than the CEO's 9%. Although CFO turnover has eased from its peak, it remains above historical levels, with companies favoring experienced financial leaders.