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Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell predicted on Friday that sweeping tariffs enacted by the Trump administration will spur inflation, slow growth and jar the economy more than initially forecast. The Fed intends to keep monetary policy unchanged until the impact of shifts to U.S. trade, tax, regulation, and immigration policies becomes clearer, Powell said. “We don’t need to be in a hurry,” he said in reply to a question. #Tariffs #inflation #interestrates https://lnkd.in/eBeYgdZN

Businesses are struggling to contain class action defense costs amid a more aggressive litigation environment, an activist workforce and increased creativity among plaintiffs’ attorneys, law firm Carlton Fields said in a recent report. In-house corporate lawyers are being forced to rely more and more on outside counsel as they become overwhelmed with class action matters, Carlton Fields attorney John Clabby said. "“I think for CFOs it would be worth having a conversation with their general counsel about approaches for using outside lawyers to defend cases of this type, and the report gives a fair amount of practical tips that can help guide that conversation,” Clabby, who worked on the research, said. #classactionlawsuits #legalmatters #labormarket https://lnkd.in/e4GGdWyi

The impact of new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump this week will be “widespread,” affecting many products and industries, according to KPMG’s Andrew Siciliano. Following Trump’s announcement Wednesday of his sweeping new levies on imported goods, on top of his previous tariff actions, Siciliano offered CFO Dive his view on the best ways to minimize the harm. Options include the “first-sale-for-export” tool, he said. He also said finance executives might also want to consult with their boards about the potential for lobbying or negotiating through trade groups to make their organization's case on tariffs. "It’s important to remember that while we don’t know how short or long-term the tariffs will be, speaking up may be beneficial to certain industries," Siciliano says. #tariffs https://lnkd.in/gF5a3dF8

Continuing claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected, hitting the highest level since November 2021 as businesses trim hiring in the face of shifts in economic policy, including the biggest hike in tariffs in decades. Recurring applications for unemployment insurance increased to 1.9 million during the week ending March 22 from 1.8 million the prior week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The high number of claims “provides further evidence that businesses are slowing hiring sharply amid heightened policy uncertainty,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist Samuel Tombs said in a client note. “The risk ahead is that this gradual upward trend in unemployment gathers momentum as the pace of layoffs also begins to increase,” he said, predicting unemployment by the fourth quarter will rise to 4.5% from 4.1%. #tariffs #labor https://lnkd.in/g7sRcrw5

Georgia and Indiana have become the latest states to have passed or signed into law new legislation easing the path to CPA licensure with an aim toward solving the accounting talent shortage, according to Corey Butler, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Society of CPAs which is closely tracking the state initiatives. The two states join Ohio, Virginia, New Mexico, Utah and Hawaii. Boyd Search, CEO of the The Georgia Society of CPAs, in a statement emailed to CFO Dive Thursday expressed his support for the law. “The new pathways to CPA licensure and expanded practice privilege mobility are essential steps toward addressing the growing demand for skilled accounting professionals,” he said. “By allowing greater access to licensure and enabling CPAs to move freely across state lines, Georgia is positioning itself as a leader in the profession, ensuring that we continue to attract top talent from both within and outside the state.” #accounting #CPAs https://lnkd.in/g8K5-sTc

Macy’s is clawing back over $600,000 in executive bonus compensation after determining its previously reported $151 million accounting error led to overinflated pay, according to a securities filing. The New York-based department store chain tied executives’ cash bonuses to adjusted 2023 EBITDA, among other metrics; given the $151 million error correction, EBITDA for that year was overstated by just over $81 million, which shifted overall payout under the company’s 2023 annual incentive plan, or STI plan, from “60.47% to 51.59% of target,” according to the filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a consequence, the company issued “erroneously awarded compensation of $609,613” under its 2023 STI plan, according to the filing. #accounting #clawback https://lnkd.in/gAZfw8qw

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a report Tuesday clarifying how companies should apply generally accepted accounting principles to construction contracts that include retainage provisions, according to a press release. Also called retentions or holdbacks, retainage refers to a portion of a client’s payment that is withheld until certain project milestones are reached, a common practice in the construction industry.  “Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, establishes guidance on the presentation of a contract with a customer on the balance sheet as a contract asset or a contract liability and related disclosures, but Topic 606 does not include specific guidance on retainage,” the four-page paper states. As such, the report fills in the gaps and explains GAAP presentation and disclosure requirements for construction contracts. #accounting #GAAP https://lnkd.in/gkuPcNH4

Deloitte’s recent 2025 Tech Trends report identifies several disruptive forces that will require the attention of finance leaders during the coming two years. These include the further evolution of AI — especially its increasing role in the IT function and other key areas — and sharper attention to hardware rather than software, Deloitte said. Even before the current explosion of interest in generative AI, there was a growing need for CFOs to “become far more fluent in technology and work with their technology partners in a more constructive way than historically they may have thought their role was aligned,” said James Glover, principal, finance & enterprise performance for Big Four accounting and consulting firm Deloitte. “If you’re going to be a finance leader in the next decade, you need to understand enough about how the technologies work and how they can be deployed to generate outcomes and benefits for your organization,” he said. #AI #CFO https://lnkd.in/gJEmiiMn

Capri Holdings Limited CFO and COO Tom Edwards will become Macy's will CFO and chief operating officer, effective June 22, replacing Adrian Mitchell, the company said. The change in financial leaders comes as the company is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround initiative, and a little over four months after the company revealed that an employee made ”erroneous accounting accrual entries” that were determined to have hidden about $151 million in delivery expenses. #leadership #accounting https://lnkd.in/eqMK83ps