CPAs in business and industry face intense competition to land a coveted CFO job. Learn how to best prepare yourself for the role.
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HR & talent management
How to deliver successful diversity and inclusion results and benchmark your progress
As leaders in the accounting profession come to understand the business case for diversity and inclusion, they often have a similar quandary. “The next natural question is, ‘So what do I do about it?’ ” said Kenneth Bouyer, CPA, chairman of the AICPA National Commission on Diversity & Inclusion and
ERISA: 40 years later
The 40th anniversary of ERISA’s enactment is a good time to look back at the problems with pensions that the legislation was intended to solve, and the problems that face today’s and tomorrow’s retirees, who increasingly must provide for their own retirement.
A pipeline for diversity
A professionwide effort to grow the ranks of underrepresented minorities in accounting has been developed by the Howard University School of Business Center for Accounting Education’s Pipeline Working Group, supported by the AICPA. The initiative is focusing on reaching out to high school and community college students in an effort to create a pipeline of talent to the profession.
The Sec. 4980H assessable payment for large employers
Know your business’s responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act.
Health care reform essentials
New health care regulations create many challenges and opportunities for businesses. Here are 10 things CPAs should know about the new rules to help the businesses they serve make wise decisions.
Finance professionals are upbeat, but they have staffing concerns
U.S. finance professionals are feeling good on a number of fronts. They are optimistic about the U.S. economy and their own businesses. Most expect to make a higher profit than they did a year ago, and an increasing number say they’d like to hire additional staff. That last part is,
Canadian financial executives getting more HR oversight duties
Senior financial executives in Canada are increasing their oversight of human resources, but many rate their knowledge of HR functions as moderate or average, according to a new survey. Sixty-one percent of Canadian financial executives reported that they have taken on more accountability for HR functions such as payroll, recruitment,
Businesses lagging in preparation for new health care laws
Many U.S. employers are lacking in preparation for—and awareness of—new health care laws, according to a survey. More than one-third (36%) of more than 800 corporate decision-makers said they are not very familiar with the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, according to a survey
Meeting the challenge of the young and the restless
Two themes should emerge when properly developing and retaining Millennial workers: Giving them room to develop their skills and time to build their network.
How to calculate employer health care responsibilities
In compliance with new health care employer responsibility regulations, two halves indeed equal a whole for employers when they determine their number of full-time employees. To determine whether a business is subject to the employer mandate penalty under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), P.L. 111-148, the business
Seven ways for small businesses to rein in health care costs
Editor’s note: On Feb. 10, the IRS delayed the penalty for employers with 50 to 99 full-time equivalent employees. Click here for details. New health care regulations in the United States have small business leaders bracing for increased costs and eager to save where they can. Although it was delayed
Honing your hiring
It takes some detective work to hire the right new employee. Management needs to piece together clues about the applicant’s personality and work history. It takes time to determine whether a candidate has the character and credentials to fit the company’s needs. Here are a few steps to help you
Internal auditors get modest raises in U.S., Canada
U.S. organizations gave internal auditors slightly more generous base-salary increases in the past 12 months, but the magnitude of raises fell slightly in Canada, according to a new survey report. The percentage of U.S. organizations that gave internal auditors base salary increases of 4% or more grew to 16% from
Six techniques for building a strategic finance department
Finance teams want to perform strategic duties in their organizations, but new research shows many of them are not building the right competencies to fulfill these duties. Typical finance teams are weak in the nontechnical competencies that matter the most, according to a white paper reporting results of a survey
SEC proposes rules to compare pay of CEO, median employee
A rule proposed Wednesday by the SEC would require U.S. public companies to disclose the ratio between what companies pay their CEOs and their median employee. SEC commissioners voted 3–2 to propose the rule, which was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, P.L. 111-203. If
Hiring optimism up among U.S. finance professionals
U.S. companies expect to make more money, and spend more of it, in the year ahead—and that could translate into more jobs. At the same time, finance executives’ outlook of the overall economy has cooled. Those are the key takeaways from the third-quarter Business & Industry Economic Outlook Survey, released
The opaque CFO bonus
Get a B on a math test, and you understand how that grade was determined: You got 88% of the answers correct. Get a B on an art project, and you’re wondering exactly what could have been better or what the instructor was looking for. CFOs would rather be graded
Can you succeed in finance without international experience?
As commerce increasingly transcends borders, international experience is becoming a valuable asset for accounting and finance professionals. Almost seven in 10 (69%) of more than 2,100 CFOs in large U.S. metropolitan areas said international experience will be at least somewhat necessary for accounting and finance staff five years from now,
North American CFOs feeling good, but not about hiring
CFO optimism is on the rise overall, but finance chiefs remain skeptical about hiring, according to a quarterly Deloitte survey. Meanwhile, expectations for earnings and sales growth are moderating. Nearly 60% of North American CFOs expressed rising economic optimism in the second-quarter CFO Signals survey, compared with 13% expressing a
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Smart Strategies in Data Security and Risk Management
In an increasingly digital profession, data security has become one of the most critical challenges facing finance and accounting professionals today. Stay up to date with practical guidance to help you mitigate these risks and strengthen your security posture.
From The Tax Adviser
August 30, 2025
2025 tax software survey
July 31, 2025
