When it comes to risk management, CFOs are invariably at the center of the action. This is especially true during a black-swan event such as the current global pandemic but even in normal times, CFOs must deal with identifying and mitigating risk every day.

Among the key tools that CFOs use in risk management are hedging strategies, particularly regarding foreign exchange (FX) rates and portfolio investments.  This blog provides an overview of hedging strategies, methods and technology tools that can help CFOs mitigate risks while optimizing returns.

In March 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2019-02, Entertainment—Films—Other Assets—Film Costs (Subtopic 926-20) and Entertainment—Broadcasters—Intangibles— Goodwill and Other (Subtopic 920-350): Improvements to Accounting for Costs of Films and License Agreements for Program Materials.

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity provides an important strategic element for many companies that can help boost growth, open new markets and enable economies of scale for driving profitability.  Over recent decades, there has been a steady upswing in the usage of M&A exemplified by increases in the number and size of deals, along with an expanding range of different types of deals.

One of the major trends facing many businesses today is the move away from discrete product sales transactions and toward providing subscriptions for experience-based and outcome-focused services.

SAP S/4HANA represents one of the most significant and transformational changes in the history of the SAP ecosystem as well as within the wider scope of ERP technologies in general.  By bringing together comprehensive ERP functionality with a high-performance data transaction and analytics engine, S/4HANA is a true game changer that provides exciting opportunities for improving productivity and transforming enterprise-wide business operations.

Payment processing is a fundamental requirement within every company. 

Many CFOs and other company leaders are currently grappling with the challenges of planning and executing their movement to S/4HANA. Everyone in the SAP ecosystem knows that adoption of S/4 will be mandatory by 2025 but a large percentage of companies are struggling to figure out where and how to get started - often resulting in "analysis paralysis".

In previous blogs, I’ve addressed several key topics that are critical for the Office of the CFO, including Working Capital Management, a Global Approach to Cash, and leveraging In-House Cash Management.

All companies need to carefully manage their cash in order to ensure that sufficient funds are always available to support business operations, however, in today’s global enterprises, it can be difficult to maintain clear visibility and management of diverse cash repositories. This can be especially challenging when subsidiaries and other operating units maintain separate external banking relationships within their regional or local environments.

I’ve previously touched on related issues in blog posts on Working Capital Management and the need for a Global Approach to Cash Management. In this post, we are going to take a closer look at another key tool which is called In-House Cash Management.