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Financial Transformation: How Robert Swan Rescued eBay 💼 We’re launching a series where we’ll showcase CFOs who’ve been game-changers in their companies by driving financial transformation, leading to growth, turnarounds, and improved efficiency. Robert Swan is a seasoned financial executive with a strong track record of driving operational efficiency and strategic growth. Before joining eBay, he held key financial roles at companies like Intel, TRW Inc., Webvan, and GE. During his tenure as CFO of eBay, Swan played a pivotal role in the company’s remarkable financial turnaround. When Swan joined in 2005, eBay was generating around $5 billion in revenue. By 2013, under his leadership, that number had more than tripled to over $16 billion. 🚀 Here’s how he did it: - Operational Efficiency: Swan identified and eliminated inefficiencies, optimizing eBay's operations and saving millions. ⚙️ - Strategic Acquisitions & Divestitures: He led the spin-off of PayPal, enabling eBay to focus on its core e-commerce business and unlock shareholder value. 💡 - Capital Allocation: Swan’s robust share repurchase program maximized shareholder returns, helping eBay rank #2 on Yahoo’s top finance companies list in 2012. 📊 - Data-Driven Decision Making: He championed data-driven strategies, enhancing eBay’s forecasting and decision-making capabilities. 📈 - Collaborative Leadership Style: Unlike some of his predecessors, Swan was known for his more collaborative and team-oriented leadership style. This approach brought much-needed stability to eBay during a turbulent time, fostering a culture of teamwork and strategic alignment across the company. 🤝 Under Swan’s guidance, eBay not only stabilized but flourished, ultimately earning him the title of 2013 CFO of the Year (Public Company, +$500 million category) from the Silicon Valley Business Journal. 🌟 Key Takeaway: Robert Swan’s tenure at eBay is a prime example of how strategic financial leadership can drive a company’s transformation and lead to substantial growth. Stay tuned for more insights in our #FinancialTransformation series, where we explore how CFOs are reshaping the future of business. #CFOInsights #Finance #Turnaround #RobertSwan #eBay #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #CFO

Lyft's CEO Says 'My Bad' on Margin Error, 'It Was One Zero': Lyft Chief Executive Officer David Risher's response to a clerical error that unintentionally inflated the company's earnings outlook on Tuesday and sent shares soaring: "My bad." From a report: "First of all, it's on me," Risher said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, taking the blame for a typo in a company press release Tuesday that erroneously projected a particular measure of earnings margin to expand by an eye-watering 500 basis points. (In reality, Lyft expects margins to grow by 50 basis points.) "This was a bad error," he said, "but it was one zero in a press release." The typo, which actually appeared in multiple company documents on Tuesday, helped drive a 67% surge in Lyft's shares in after-hours trading. The mistake was a serious one, Risher said. But it shouldn't take away from Lyft's "butt-kicking" financial performance, he said. Risher said his team at Lyft was taking the error very seriously and noted it was corrected "within seconds of finding it." But in fact, on a call with analysts to discuss the quarterly results, Lyft executives didn't immediately note the error in their opening remarks. Lyft Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer just began referring to the company's outlook for a 50-basis-point expansion. It wasn't until later in the call, when an analyst pointed out the discrepancy, that Brewer acknowledged her outlook was "actually a correction from the press release." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A brutal couple of weeks coming up for Macy's PR and IR teams given the timing and stakes for the holiday shopping season and their reputation. Macy’s finds itself in hot water after an internal investigation revealed an accounting department employee intentionally concealed $130-150M in delivery costs over nearly 3 years. This scandal comes at a crucial time—right before its highly anticipated Q3 earnings release which was scheduled for tomorrow and where investors and analysts expected guidance for the rest of the year. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿: ➡️ Macy’s discovered that one employee made “erroneous accounting entries” to hide $132M-$154M in delivery fees, spanning multiple fiscal quarters. ➡️ The employee acted alone and has since been terminated. ➡️ The revelation forced Macy’s to delay its Q3 earnings announcement until Dec. 11, 2024. ➡️ Macy’s issued preliminary results to stabilize investor confidence: a 2.4% decline in net sales to $4.74B, narrowly beating analyst expectations. 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀: 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 / 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: • The scandal broke right before earnings, raising questions about oversight. • Delaying earnings casts a shadow over Macy’s accountability during the critical holiday season in a year where the stock is down 20%+. • Macy's T-G Day Parade is on Thursday. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: • Investors saw an immediate 8% dip in stock value. • Macy's must balance transparency with maintaining trust among shareholders, employees, and customers. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹: • Framing the issue as isolated to a single employee helps mitigate fallout. • However, it raises concerns about systemic oversight and internal controls. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤: • Any perception of instability could impact Macy’s brand during its busiest revenue period. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝘆’𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗿: • Acted quickly to terminate the employee and conduct an independent investigation. • Shared preliminary earnings to reassure investors, preventing further market panic. • Maintained consistent messaging i.e. isolated incident, with no impact on cash flow or vendor payments. • CEO Tony Spring immediately emphasized Macy’s ethical values and focus on a successful holiday season. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁: • Provide clear findings from the independent investigation during the Dec. 11 earnings call to restore credibility. • Implement and communicate enhanced internal controls to prevent similar incidents. • Show strong holiday performance metrics to shift the narrative away from this scandal. • Leverage consistent, empathetic communication to remind stakeholders of Macy’s legacy and resilience. 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀: 𝟏) Transparency isn’t a choice; it’s a necessity. 𝟮)The Communications team must be in the room from the beginning.

Yikes! This is why the world needs more qualified accountants. My question is, how did the independent auditors not catch something like this? I would think basic analytical procedures would have raised a few eyebrows. #accounting #fraud #creativeaccounting #externalaudit #cpas #macys

The situation at Macy's serves as an important lesson for small business owners, particularly when it comes to accounting practices and the integrity of financial reporting. Even though the employee's actions were isolated, the $154 million in hidden expenses highlights the potential risks of inadequate oversight and weak internal controls. For small businesses, this underscores the importance of maintaining transparent and accurate accounting practices from the start, especially as a business grows. WOW... 😯 Small business owners can take this as a reminder of the value of regularly auditing their financial records, even if they operate with fewer resources than large corporations. Implementing clear, strong internal controls, and ensuring that employees understand the importance of ethical conduct, are key steps to prevent similar issues. Additionally, while hiring trusted accountants or using external audits can be an investment, these measures can help avoid costly mistakes or fraudulent actions that might otherwise go unnoticed. While Macy's investigation found no impact on cash management or vendor payments, small business owners should also ensure they have systems in place to track and verify expenses, making it easier to catch discrepancies early. By fostering a culture of accountability and transparency, small businesses can safeguard their financial integrity and reduce the risks of financial mismanagement or fraud, which could severely damage both operations and reputation.

As a CFO, I help CPG founders simplify. Part of the reason that founders don't "know their numbers" is that there are 9,999 different numbers floating around. How could they possibly? Bucket your costs by channel and customer to model out how that channel works. Gross Revenue - Trade Spend/Deductions = Net Revenue - COGS (Landed cost) = Gross Profit - Fulfillment - Advertising = Contribution Margin (not GAAP) - Overhead = Net Profit Contribution margin is not GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States). You won't see it in QBO or NetSuite, but it's incredibly important to understand on your path to profitability. Optimize for both: - Contribution margin (⬆️revenue/pricing ⬇️COGS/trade spend/fulfillment/advertising) - AND Net Profit (⬆️contribution margin ⬇️overhead) ------------------------------------- I help innovative and #betterforyou #CPG founders grow their emerging brands with #finance leadership. Please reach out if you think I can help.

Lyft's CEO Says 'My Bad' on Margin Error, 'It Was One Zero': Lyft Chief Executive Officer David Risher's response to a clerical error that unintentionally inflated the company's earnings outlook on Tuesday and sent shares soaring: "My bad." From a report: "First of all, it's on me," Risher said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, taking the blame for a typo in a company press release Tuesday that erroneously projected a particular measure of earnings margin to expand by an eye-watering 500 basis points. (In reality, Lyft expects margins to grow by 50 basis points.) "This was a bad error," he said, "but it was one zero in a press release." The typo, which actually appeared in multiple company documents on Tuesday, helped drive a 67% surge in Lyft's shares in after-hours trading. The mistake was a serious one, Risher said. But it shouldn't take away from Lyft's "butt-kicking" financial performance, he said. Risher said his team at Lyft was taking the error very seriously and noted it was corrected "within seconds of finding it." But in fact, on a call with analysts to discuss the quarterly results, Lyft executives didn't immediately note the error in their opening remarks. Lyft Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer just began referring to the company's outlook for a 50-basis-point expansion. It wasn't until later in the call, when an analyst pointed out the discrepancy, that Brewer acknowledged her outlook was "actually a correction from the press release." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Second quarter earnings season is in the books, and it was a good one, and the S&P 500 companies collectively grew earnings at a double-digit pace for the first time in three years. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSt-Nyhe

Second quarter earnings season is in the books, and it was a good one. S&P 500 companies collectively grew earnings at a double-digit pace for the first time in three years. Click below to learn more. https://lnkd.in/gBPsgTd4

Recently, I was interviewed by Grace Noto from CFO Dive, along with several noted Chief Accounting Officers, Lauren Hotz, CAO of Intuit, and Patrick Villanova CAO of BlackLine, about the growing trend for accounting and finance departments to be populated with individuals who understand data science and AI, and how this changes the profile of the ideal CAO to someone who is far more business savvy. #chiefaccountingofficer #cfoinsights #leadership #executivesearch https://lnkd.in/g4ZYHgZi